Noah’s face turns a shade paler, but I can tell he’s trying not to let on that he’s shaken. I, on the other hand, feel like I’m going to throw up. If there were anything in my belly, I probably would.
“It might not be Warner’s blood,” Noah says. “Maybe it’s an animal.”
“Maybe,” Jack mumbles.
Noah looks off in the direction of where Jack came from. “Can you show us?”
I don’t want to see a big pool of blood. But if we have any chance of finding Warner, we have to know what we’re dealing with. And I’m not about to stay behind while the guys go off in the distance. So I grudgingly follow Jack as he takes us to the spot where he found the blood.
He wasn’t kidding. There’s a lot of blood all over the ground—even worse than yesterday. Crimson droplets are staining every blade of grass. There’s no doubt what it is.
Then I look up at the tree nearest to us. There are five deep gashes in the wood. Like claw marks.
I close my eyes and try to imagine what could have made all this blood on the ground. Is it Warner’s blood? If so, what happened to him? Did the coyote Jack saw get the better of him and then drag them away?
But it couldn’t have been a coyote. A coyote would be too small to carry off someone as large as Warner. And it wouldn’t leave those huge claw marks in the tree. if an animal did this to Warner, it would have been something much larger than a coyote.
I can’t help but remember Emma’s words when she begged me not to go on a trip. I had a dream that a monster ate you.
I wish I had listened to my daughter. A lump rises in my throat. I hope I get to see her again.
Jack is staring down at the puddle of blood, that glassy look still in his eyes. There’s another possibility, of course. I heard a gunshot. Maybe Jack wasn’t shooting at a coyote. Maybe Jack shot Warner.
If he did, he had just enough time to hide the body between the gunshot and when we found him.
“We should look for Warner,” Noah says. “If an animal attacked him, he might be lying somewhere, badly hurt.”
“Right,” Jack says, but there’s no conviction in his words. I know how he feels. We didn’t find Michelle yesterday, and I don’t believe we’re going to find Warner now. It’s a waste of our time and energy. We need to focus on finding help.
Whatever happened to Michelle has now happened to Warner. He’s gone. And we may never know what happened to him.
Chapter 28
CLAIRE
We spend an hour looking for Warner. Really, we’re looking for the map. If we found that lying in the dirt somewhere, we would probably call off the search immediately.
I stay near Noah the whole time. The thought of getting lost on my own is too horrible to comprehend. Jack goes off on his own, but all three of us stay close to the camp we made.
“Warner!” Noah yells. He’s called out his name so many times, his voice is getting hoarse. The lack of water doesn’t help. “Warner!”
No answer.
“Jesus,” Noah mutters as he drops into a sitting position on a large rock. He wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. “It’s getting hot, isn’t it? I don’t think he’s out there. We should find Jack and get going.”
“Yeah.”
The sun has risen in the sky, telling us which way is east. We can figure out north and start moving in the direction of the inn. We may not have the map, but we’re bound to hit something.
“Noah?” I say.
“Uh-huh?”
“Do you…” I clear my throat and cough. “Do you think Jack is telling the truth about shooting at the coyote?”
Noah blinks up at me. “Are you asking me if I think Jack killed Warner?”
“No…”
He’s quiet for a moment, looking up at the sky. “Listen, I know Jack and Michelle were acting lovey-dovey the other day, but he wanted out of that marriage. Badly.”
I cough into my hand. “He did?”
Noah nods solemnly. “He was miserable. He kept telling me he didn’t know what she was like when he married her. He knew he made a mistake. Also, he was… you know, cheating on her. And not just once.”
I avert my eyes. “Oh, I… I didn’t realize.”
“Yeah.” He lets out a sigh. “But what could he do? She’s the best divorce lawyer in the state. He didn’t want to lose everything.”
I cover my mouth. “What are you saying, Noah?”
He glances around us. “I’m not saying anything. I just think this whole setup was sort of convenient. He packs this rifle. Michelle gets lost in the woods, even though she had a sprained ankle. I mean, if Michelle disappeared forever, it’s not like it would be a bad thing for him.”