up a quick prayer that he’d found Brady as he stepped to the side of the path, keeping the glow of his headlamp focused in the direction of the person racing toward him. He rested his hand on his gun.
A man came into view, shielding his face from the light trained on him. “Help,” the man said. “We have an injured hiker.”
Alex moved the headlamp enough to keep the man in the glow but not blinding him. “I’m Deputy Trevino. Your name?”
The man held up his hands. “Roger. Roger Dempsey.” He lowered his hands. “I’m with a group of hikers and we found an injured teenager. He’d fallen down a ravine and twisted his ankle.”
It had to be Brady. Relief and worry mingled, tightening Alex’s chest.
“The others are trying to make a sled or something to get him back up the hill,” the man continued. “But it’s not going so well. There’s no cell service up here. I was going for help. What are you doing out here?”
Ignoring the question, Alex thumbed the radio’s mic on his shoulder and quickly called in the situation. The sheriff promised to send up the EMTs, and Chase responded he was on his way.
“Show me where.” Alex gestured for Roger to take the lead. No way would Alex turn his back on a stranger.
“Right.” Roger retraced his steps.
“Do you know if the teen you found is named Brady?”
Roger drew up short, forcing Alex to step to the side. “Yeah, that’s his name. How did you know?”
“We’ve been looking for him. He didn’t return home when he was supposed to.”
Roger nodded. “That makes sense, considering...”
Alex understood what the man wasn’t saying about Brady’s Down syndrome. It was a part of Brady, but it wasn’t who he was. Alex knew Brady was smart and kind and loved his sister.
They reached the summit and started toward the trail on the back side of the mountain when Roger stopped and called, “Sybil! Greg!”
“Here,” a female voice called back.
“This way.” Roger trudged into the dense forest.
Before following him, Alex relayed his location to the others. Keeping his headlamp trained on Roger, Alex descended into the steep ravine. Finally, they came to a spot near the creek where two women and two men crouched around Brady, who sat on the ground, his hands wrapped around his right ankle. As Alex and his escort arrived, the four strangers stepped back.
Thankful to have found the other Gallo sibling, Alex knelt down beside Brady. Alex positioned his headlamp so that it didn’t blind the young man but rather reflected on the creek water not too far away. “Hey, Brady. I hear you hurt yourself.”
Brady blinked at him, and then a slow smile curled his lips. “I know you. You come to the store.”
“That’s right. I’m Alex. Can you tell me what happened?”
Brady’s gaze bounced away. “Maya’s gonna be so mad at me.”
“She’s worried about you, Brady,” Alex said. “She sent me to find you. What happened?” he asked again.
Brady’s mouth closed, his lips pressed together tight.
A tall woman with white-blond hair and wearing a bright pink down parka touched Brady’s shoulder. “I’m Sybil. I think he may have been coming down to the creek to get some water and fell.”
Alex looked at Brady. “Was that what you were doing?”
Brady stared at him for a long moment before saying, “I’m thirsty, and my ankle hurts.”
The other woman moved forward. This one was a brunette, shorter than the other woman and dressed in a less flashy dark jacket. “I’m Claire. We’ve been trying to get him up the hill, but it’s just not happening.”
Claire moved over to Roger. “Thanks for bringing help.”
“They were already out here searching for Brady.”
“You did better than I did,” one of the men standing to the side said. He was just outside the circle of light so Alex couldn’t make out his features. “I got lost but managed to find my way back here.”
“That’s because you have no sense of direction,” the other man, also standing in the shadows, shot back.
Roger made a scoffing noise. “That’s Greg and John.”
Alex eyed the five people surrounding him. Was one of these men Maya’s attacker?
Could one of these Good Samaritans also be a killer?
The combination of anticipation and restlessness made Maya antsy. Her body fairly vibrated. Maybe from the residual adrenaline of being attacked twice or from the memory of Alex’s arms around her as they made their way down the mountain trail. Whatever the case, she hated being left behind, not knowing what was going on while Alex searched for her brother.
The handsome deputy had radioed in that he’d found Brady and that her brother was injured. But how bad? Injured enough that the EMTs left her in the care of Deputy Kaitlyn Lanz as they hurried up the Aspen Creek Trail with a gurney and their equipment.
A sick feeling in the pit of Maya’s stomach made the worry that much worse. Had Brady broken something? Was he conscious? Terrified?
Dr. Brown had said Brady was progressing admirably, but she feared that today would blast all their hard work to smithereens. She’d been told that one day Brady would be able to live on his own. She knew his independence was possible, yet the thought filled her with anxiety. There were others with Down syndrome who made lives for themselves apart from their caretakers. But Brady wasn’t ready for a life without her. If nothing else, today proved it.
This was her fault. Her heart sank.
She should never have let him go looking for the treasure. She was such a bad parent.
A soft scoff escaped. She wasn’t a parent; she was his sister, but the only maternal figure he’d known for the last ten years. A deep ache throbbed in her heart. She missed their parents so much. It wasn’t fair they’d been taken from them.
The sheriff walked over to her side. “Miss Gallo, how are you doing?”
She reined in her tumultuous thoughts and said, “I’ll do better once I’m able to talk to my brother and make sure he’s okay.”
The sheriff nodded. “I understand. It’s hard when we have someone we love in jeopardy. But you also had your fair share of danger today,” he replied. “Can you tell me about the attacks?”
Was he just trying to distract her? She kept her gaze on the trailhead. Where were they?
