Chapter 3

Every eye in the group snapped to me.

Homing was the codename I used back when I worked mountain rescue.

I didn't waste time explaining. Tucking my soaked hair behind my ears, I quickly zoomed in on the map.

"Let's set up a search grid. The child's eight years old, wearing a yellow jacket. It rained briefly within the last six hours, so odds are she looked for shelter."

I circled two spots on the map. "Low-lying ravines and the old patrol cabin are our highest probability zones."

Derick cut in with a warning. "That ravine is going to flood fast, so we've only got an hour."

Without another word, I climbed into the truck.

The off-road vehicle crawled up the muddy mountain trail until we hit the patrol trail entrance.

Sure enough, the iron barrier had collapsed into the weeds, and the yellow warning tape was shredded, fluttering violently in the wind.

We moved in on foot.

The trail was so slick after the rain that it was nearly impossible to keep our footing. I slipped twice, jagged rocks slicing open my palms.

Derick reached out to steady me, but I pushed myself up against a tree trunk.

"Forget about me. Focus on finding Eva."

A few hundred yards in, a splash of yellow caught my eye on a bush.

That was Eva's hair tie. It was knotted twice around a waist-high branch.

Further up, faint chalk arrows appeared on the rocks.

The rain had almost washed them away, but they clearly pointed northwest.

Eva had remembered what I had taught her.

"If you ever get lost, don't run around blindly. Leave markers only family would recognize."

I remembered her lying on the rug that day, awkwardly practicing knots.

I had asked her why she wanted to learn so badly.

She had wrapped her little arms around my waist, grinning. "Because if you come looking for me, you'll know what it means."

"What about your dad?" I asked.

Eva had paused and touched the red whistle around her neck. "Dad will come when he hears the whistle."

My nose stung, and I didn't dare dwell on the memories.

"Head northwest."

The rain poured down harder.

The drone feed began to shake violently. Moisture blurred the thermal camera into useless red smudges.

The operator had no choice but to call it back.

"Derick, visibility is shot. There's a cliff right ahead. Pushing forward is too dangerous."

Someone suggested backing off to the cabin to wait for dawn.

I checked the time.

Eva had been missing for 7 hours and 48 minutes, and every extra minute meant gambling with her life.

"You guys can fall back," I said, clipping the safety line to my harness. "I've waited six hours already. I'm not waiting through the night."

Derick didn't try to stop me. He checked my carabiner latch, then turned to the crew. "Keep searching."

Rain streaked down my forehead and into my eyes.

We edged closer to the cliff. The sound of the wind mixed with the rustle of leaves.

Just as I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, a faint sound drifted up from the valley below.

I heard three short whistles, followed by a long pause. Then came three more.

It was faint but unmistakable.

I threw myself against the edge, my knees slamming hard into the mud. "Eva!"

My voice echoed into the pitch-black ravine.

"Mom…" A child's trembling, tearful voice called back from below.

Tears welled up instantly. I bit my lip hard, fighting to hold back the sob. "I'm here! "Don't be scared, Eva. I'm getting you home!"

We dropped the rescue rope over the edge.

I rappelled down step by step, the coarse rope chewing through the skin on my palms.

As my headlamp swept past the fallen timber, I finally caught sight of Eva.

A heavy trunk was pinning her left leg, and her face was deathly pale.

Her chest rose and fell weakly, but her fingers were still locked tightly around that red emergency whistle.

"Eva, look at me." I dropped to my knees in the mud and wrapped Eva in the foil emergency blanket.

Her body was freezing, her lips blue, but her forehead burned hot against my hand.

Her left leg was badly swollen and misshapen where the tree trunk had pinned it down, and her pant leg was soaked through with blood.

Derick checked her pupils and breathing, then said seriously, "Severe hypothermia, a broken left leg, and possible internal injuries. We need to get her to a hospital right now."