揑 need a nap,?he murmured. 揑 need to recover.?
I nodded, smiling. 揙kay.?
It was early afternoon when we got back into town.
揕et抯 grab a coffee,?Wyatt suggested, and I agreed. We parked and waited for a break in traffic before jogging across the street.
Miri Yang stood in front of the coffee shop with a stack of papers and a small group of people gathered around her. I recognized a few faces.
搮between ten and eleven at night.?Her eyes were wide and animated. 揥e have almost no details but we do know she抯 in extreme pain.?
揝he may have slipped on a hike,?Randeep Singh added behind her. He was a hiking guide for tourists. He crossed his arms over his chest. 揙n some of those trails out there, you take one foot off the path and you抮e falling down a cliff. The way she was crying out, I抦 sure she broke something.?
They noticed us standing there and Miri shoved flyers at us. 揙h, good, you two. Here, take some flyers and pass them out at your businesses.?
揥hat抯 going on??I glanced down at the paper and read.
Missing hiker in distress in the Pacific Rim area. Thought to be unprepared and severely injured. Airlift may be required.
I frowned. 揟hat抯 awful.?
揥e have search parties leaving in an hour to canvas the area,?Miri told the group of us.
揑f you and Holden are free,?Randeep added to Wyatt, 搘e could use your help. You two are always camping in that area.?
I froze and turned to Wyatt. It couldn抰 be? He wore a funny expression on his face and my stomach plummeted through my feet to the core of the earth. His mouth ticked like he was trying not to laugh and he nodded, rubbing his jaw.
The woman they had heard, crying out in pain, was me. Crying out for a different reason.
A reason I did not want to have to explain to everyone.
揝orry,?I cleared my throat. My voice was thin and high. 揢m. Why do you think there抯 a woman in distress??
揑 was camping out there last night and heard her,?Randeep repeated with wide eyes. 揝he was moaning in pain. Again and again. Loudly, too. She was hurt. I抦 sure of it. We have to help her.?He shook his head. 揟here was so much moaning.?
揥hat did the noises sound like??someone asked Miri.
揟hey were like unh, unh, unhhhh,?Miri moaned, and my eyes bugged out of my head. 揜ight, Randeep??
Randeep shook his head. 揕ouder and longer, like UNHHHHHHHHH, UNHHHHHHHH.?The crowd around Miri and Randeep grew as people stopped and stared at Randeep moaning. 揝he even said, I抦 gonna die, I抦 gonna die.?
Wyatt抯 hand twitched on my shoulder, and I wished I would die right there. My face blazed with heat.
Don stuck his head through the crowd. 揕ike unhhhnnn, unhhhhhh? Or like unh-unh-unh??
I cleared my throat. 揑 don抰 see why this level of detail is important.?My voice warbled and Wyatt抯 squeezed my shoulder.
Randeep pointed at Don. 揟he first one. Really drawn out.?
Don nodded and made a note in his notebook. 揟hank you for the clarification. Can I list you as a source??
My head was about to explode from embarrassment. 揇on, are you writing a blog post on this??
He glanced up at me over his glasses with a frown. 揙f course.?
Wyatt rubbed his hand over his mouth and our gazes met, my wide eyes full of fucking mortification and his full of laughter and amusement. His chest shook and he covered a laugh with a cough.
揈xcuse us a moment.?He led me away, glancing over his shoulder at them.
We got all the way around the corner before he burst out laughing.
I slapped his arm. 揥yatt! You said we抎 be alone.?My voice sounded like a goblin.
His grin stretched ear to ear as he laughed and leaned against the wall. 揑 thought we would be.?
揟his isn抰 funny.?
揙h, bookworm.?He wiped his eyes. 揟his is so, so funny.?
I peeked around the corner, where the group around Miri grew in number. Randeep was explaining where to meet for the search and rescue, and I winced.
揟hey抮e sending out search parties,?I whispered to Wyatt.
I wanted to hide. I wanted to run into my bookstore, lock the door, flip the sign to closed, and disappear into a book. The search parties would go out and find no one, because there was no one.
But that would be wrong. Super wrong. It would be a waste of everyone抯 day. A police cruiser pulled up, and then a firetruck came around the corner.
揥hy the hell is the fire department getting involved??I hissed over my shoulder at Wyatt, who stuck his head out to look.
It would be a waste of town resources. I had to say something. My hands wrung and I swallowed thickly, taking a deep breath. 揥e have to say something.?
Wyatt抯 hand rested on the back of my neck. 揧ou want me to take this one??