Page 51 of The Cabin-A Reverse Harem Romance
The logical part of my brain though, knowing what I knew of Brad, didn’t think that was looking like a real strong possibility. The dude had kidnapped her, after all. That took a certain level of commitment to an idea. A level of commitment that told me we weren’t getting her back without a fight, and I had to brace myself for it. I had to be ready to act on a moment’s notice. I had to act like a Ranger.
It had been a while, but I needed to dust off my killer instinct and readiness to act without a moment’s hesitation. If the moment came, I didn’t want to spend it waffling, or looking for a reasonable solution. I didn’t want to be the one to try to talk things out when Brad inevitably wasn’t going to be reasonable, or willing to actually listen. As much as it galled me, since I was the one who always looked for a satisfactory, non-violent solution, I needed to stand ready to commit violence without thinking twice about it.
Elise’s very life may have been dependent upon it.
“Okay, Rangers,” Chase called out, harkening back to our days together in the Army. “Let’s hit it. Keep your eyes open. They could be anywhere. Look for caves, any sort of a structure – anything at all. And be ready for anything, and everything.”
“Oorah,” we all grunted the standard Army reply.
The four of us fanned out as we hit the forest. There was room for two to walk on the path, but I took the left flank, and Sean took the right. We walked through the woods, the snow crunching beneath our boots. My eyes were in constant motion as I scanned the inky black pockets of shadow, searching for any sign of movement or life.
It didn’t stand to reason they’d be out there in the forest. If they stayed out there, they’d be dead. The freezing air would kill them sooner rather than later, which meant they’d need to have a fire. And given that I couldn’t see a fire anywhere around us, I assumed they’d found a structure to shelter in somewhere.
Thought I continued to search around us, I came around to thinking that we were going to find them in one of the cabins that dotted the landscape around here. I let my mind continue to work the problem over, trying to use logic to narrow down our search area. The problem we had was that we didn’t know where they’d gone exactly. Nor did we have an idea where the path we were on led to.
For all we knew, this path was going to lead to an open field where the footprints we were following disappeared entirely, thanks to the storm that was raging.
I gave myself a swift mental kick. One thing at a time. That was all I should have been focused on – solving the problem right in front of us. At the moment, the problem in front of us, was keeping our eye on the trail of footprints we were following and see where they led. It was very clearly Brad and Elle’s trail, so that was a start. Everything else, we’d have to figure out as we came to it.
“Anything?” Chase called to me.
I shook my head. “Nothing out here, man,” I called back. “I don’t think we’re going to find them out here. Brad’s an idiot, but even he would know they need four walls and a roof on their shelter.”
“Agreed,” Trevor said.
“Wait,” I said and put my hand up. “Hold up.”
The others stopped and turned toward me. I raised my nose into the air and inhaled deeply. It was faint, and I wasn’t sure it was actually there.
“What is it, man?” Chase asked.
I held my hand up to quiet him. I closed my eyes, and inhaled even deeper, taking in a long breath of air, despite the fact that the frigid temperatures made it feel like my lungs were burning. It really was faint, like the barest, most subtle hint of perfume on a woman as she passed you by. It was definitely there though. I opened my eyes and turned to the guys.
“Fire,” I said.
“Fire? What are you talking about?” Trevor asked. “There’s no way anything is burning in this cold, wet shit.”
I shook my head. “No, like a fire in a fireplace,” I said. “Not a wildfire, idiot. There are houses – or at least, a house – around here. And I’d bet my ass that’s where they’re holed up.”
Chase and Sean both had their heads back, eyes closed, and were inhaling deeply. A moment later, Sean opened his eyes and shook his head.
“I don’t smell anything,” he said.
“I do,” Chase said, opening his eyes. “Nolan’s right. There’s a cabin or a house somewhere nearby.”
