Page 89 of Rescuing Brinley

Suddenly, all of Shadow’s doubts fell away. It was ridiculous, there was no reason for anything to be any different than it had been a moment ago. But something about that moose made him believe he and Grinder were on the right track. That Brinley was alive. She might be struggling, but she was alive.

Many of his fellow Delta operatives talked about “gut feelings,” sharing stories about life-or-death decisions based on nothing but pure instinct, and he was no different.

He’d been just about to tell Grinder to turn around. They were on the edge of the area of where Tex calculated Tamika and Louis might’ve traveled. There were several dirt tracks they’d skipped to stay on the path they were on, and they’d planned on driving down each one after reaching the perimeter of their assigned search area.

But something was screaming at Shadow to stay the course. To keep going down the road they were on.

“Keep going,” he told his friend.

“Are you sure? Tex said⁠—”

“I’m sure.”

Grinder didn’t question him again, simply nodded and took his foot off the brake and inched forward. Shadow alternated between scanning the trees to his right and watching out the front windshield. He didn’t know what he expected to see, but anticipation swam in his veins. A feeling of expectation.

He and Grinder moved along the barely there ruts in the road for another ten minutes. They were driving at a snail’s pace, but Shadow wasn’t annoyed in the least. He wasn’t wishing they could go faster, wasn’t feeling helpless.

Out of the blue, Grinder slammed on the brake, the seat belt catching Shadow tightly as his body rocked forward. He didn’t need to ask why his friend had stopped so suddenly. He saw the reason.

Something was moving on the side of the road.

Whatever it was had to be at least a half mile away, and with the dim morning light it was hard to make out.

“Is that…”

“Go! Go, go, go!”

Shadow’s heart was beating out of his chest.

That was no moose.

Not a bear.

It was a person.

And there was literally only one person in the world it could be, as far as Shadow was concerned.

Grinder floored it, tires spinning as they fought for traction in the dirt. Shadow had his seat belt undone and his fingers around the door handle, ready to jump out the second they got close. He heard his friend using the radio to call Atlas and inform him of what was happening.

As they neared, Shadow didn’t dare take his eyes off the figure now just standing on the side of the road.

It was Brinley.

They’d found her!

It was a fucking miracle.

She was stock still, staring at the car with wide eyes. No, with one wide eye. As Grinder stopped the car, Shadow could see that one eye was completely swollen shut.

He jumped out of the car and rushed to her side.

“Hi.”

Her greeting was so nonchalant. So typical Brinley. She wasn’t hysterical. Wasn’t crying. Was simply swaying on her feet with a small smile on her face.

Shadow wanted to grab her. Hold her tight. But he could tell by the way she was standing that she was in extreme pain. And the bruises on her face and neck told the story of the hell she’d been through.

“Brin…!” he croaked.