Chapter 4

Eva slowly forced her eyes open.

Seeing it was me, she tried to smile, but a tear slipped down her cheek first. "Mom, is Dad saving another kid?"

I pulled her body into mine, trying to transfer every ounce of my body heat to her.

My throat was so tight I couldn't utter a word.

Eva went ahead and answered for Jordan. "Is that other kid… worse off than me?"

Her teeth were chattering violently from the cold, yet she was still trying to make excuses for him. "Dad isn't ignoring me. He's the captain. He has to save the people in the most danger first, right?"

My tears dropped onto the foil emergency blanket.

It seemed that those who were constantly pushed aside eventually learned to justify the favoritism on their own—just like I used to.

Derick and his crew hauled down the cutting gear.

As they slowly wedged the tree trunk away, Eva's body spasmed in agony, but her cries were nothing more than soft whimpers.

I covered her ears and kissed her freezing forehead over and over. "Almost done. I'm right here."

After they splinted her and secured her to the rig, they managed to hoist Eva up the cliff.

But when we reached the foot of the mountain, my heart sank all over again.

The parking area was completely desolate.

Every official rescue truck, ambulance, and medical team had been sent to the south side of Mount Sarthia on Jordan's orders.

The civilian team had to park their vehicles further out on the paved road, separated from us by a stretch of mountain road that the storm had turned into a muddy bog.

A regular car couldn't even make it through.

I called Jordan over and over, but he never answered.

I finally resorted to texting him. "We found Eva. She fell down the cliff and is in critical condition. I need an ambulance and med team right now."

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed.

It was just one cold, detached sentence. "Stop exaggerating her injuries to force a truck. Follow the on-site medics' instructions."

Raindrops splattered against the screen, blurring his words.

He must have forgotten there were no medics left on site. He had personally ordered the very last first aid kit hauled over to the south.

Derick caught sight of the message, and his face instantly hardened.

Wasting no time, he radioed a nearby tunnel construction crew.

Ten minutes later, an off-road utility truck caked in mud rumbled up.

The back seat was crammed with tools. There wasn't even enough space to lay a stretcher flat.

We had to lash a piece of plywood to the seats with climbing rope just to lay Eva down.

I squeezed into the narrow gap beside her, holding her close, feeling even colder than she was.

Lightning flared, and thunder cracked outside the window.

At that exact moment, Jordan and his team found Layla's daughter, Demi Barton.

The so-called missing child had been hiding in the equipment tent back at the camping site the whole time.

She had gotten into a spat with a friend, decided she didn't want to join the group activities, and crawled into the tent to snack.

When Jordan zipped the tent open, Demi was halfway through her second bag of chips.

She was clean, rosy-cheeked, and completely uninjured.

Seeing the dozens of rescue workers gathered around, she simply frowned in annoyance. "What took you guys so long?"

Jordan froze.

A split second later, Layla lunged forward and threw her arms around Demi, sobbing uncontrollably. "Demi, you scared me to death!"

She looked up at Jordan, her eyes brimming with sheer relief. "Jordan, thank you. I would have been completely lost without you."

Jordan didn't say a word.

He pulled out his phone and finally saw the 20-plus unread messages I'd sent.

The last one had been sent 40 minutes ago.

His expression dropped, and he immediately hit redial.

But I wasn't the one who answered.

Derick's voice came through, cold as ice. "Captain Reid, your daughter is already in the operating room."