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“Shh. Sweetheart, it’s okay. You’re safe now.” She ran her fingers through the boy’s hair, whispering comforting words despite her terror. His sobs subsided to whimpers, his small body trembling in her arms. “There you go. I’m Rhiannon. What’s your name?”
The boy only stared at her with watery eyes and stuck his dirty thumb in his mouth.
“I don’t think he can hear.”
Rhiannon looked over at the young woman who had spoken. She was college-aged, with streaky blonde hair now coated in dust.
Rhiannon returned her attention to the boy and signed,“What’s your name?”
He signed back with shaky hands,“Michael.”
“Hi, Michael,”she signed.“I’m Rhia, and this is my friend Pierce.”She looked back at the girl. “How did you know he’s deaf?”
The girl eyed Pierce. He was hovering nearby, somehow looking both menacing and protective in the fading light, but she must have decided he wasn’t a threat because she moved closer. “I saw him and his parents on our tour bus. They were all using sign language.”
“How many people were on the tour bus?”Pierce signed, and Rhiannon translated it for the girl.
Again, she eyed him warily. “Is he deaf, too?”
He scowled at her, and she backed up a step.
“Oh. Um, I don’t know. Like, maybe fifteen or twenty? We were on our way to see the redwoods.”
“Are his parents here?” Rhiannon asked.
The girl scanned the small group, and Rhiannon also took the opportunity to study the people huddled along the rock walls of the gift shop. There was an older couple, a Japanese family with a teenage daughter, and another family with two young boys who looked to be twins. There was also the older woman in the gift shop’s blue polo shirt, two younger people—a college-age boy and a teenage girl—wearing the same uniform, and a man who didn’t appear to be part of the family units.
The girl shook her head. “I don’t see them.”
“What about your family?”
“They’re safe in Missouri. My boyfriend was supposed to come on this trip with me.” She made a face. “But he’s my ex-boyfriend now because I caught him cheating. I decided I wasn’t going to waste a vacation and came by myself.” She stuck out a hand. “I’m Brooke.”
“Rhiannon.” She accepted the handshake and nodded toward Pierce. “That’s Pierce.”
Brooke squinted at Pierce through the dust-laden air, then refocused on Rhiannon. “Nice to meet you.”
Pierce’s attention shifted to the room around them. His gaze was hard, sweeping over each individual before he whistled to get her attention and motioned toward the door.
“Is it safe?” the older of the gift shop workers asked. She had a poof of gray hair, and her name tag said her name was Dorothy.
Pierce shook his head and signed, his hands moving quickly.
Rhiannon translated aloud. “The landslide—” She broke off, realizing maybe she shouldn’t be translating word-for-word. She shifted to ASL and asked him,“Are we trapped?”
His lips thinned into a hard line, and he gave one short nod.
She exhaled a shaky breath and looked at the group, who were all staring at them with wide, frightened eyes. She cleared her throat. “We… we can’t leave right now. The entrance is blocked.”
chapter
two
As the crowdexploded with protests and cries of panic, Pierce watched Rhiannon.
She held up her hands in a soothing gesture, her green-gold eyes radiating calm patience. “Please, everyone, remain calm!”
Rylan fucking Cross’s little sister.
