Read Online Hide'n Go Seek by Dale Mayer - Free Book Online
Authors: Dale Mayer
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Romance, Thrillers, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Crime, Paranormal
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past the point of exhaustion. They slept in relays. Industrial spotlights flung their weird yellow glow, magnifying shadows around every corner. By dawn, exhausted determination ruled as they forced one foot in front of the other.
Soon rescue would turn to recovery.
The building had sprawled and shifted like a sliding deck of cards, with the center of the building taking the worst damage. The rescuers were focusing on the outer areas, where the odds of finding survivors were the greatest.
With no new survivors found since the two neighbors to the family of four, most of the teams knew in their hearts that they were in recovery stage. Though there was always hope, there was talk of some of the teams heading home soon. Several of the survivors they'd helped earlier had slept out here with the rescuers, waiting, hoping that family members and friends would be found. Many were silent, frozen in place with shock and despair as the workers toiled on.
Kali tried to give them hope. She'd seen miracles happen. She never let herself forget that.
She returned to the rescue center. The local coffee shop had delivered huge urns of coffee and someone had dropped off cases of donuts, muffins and cookies. A sugar rush to boost the caffeine. Great. Still, having moved beyond tired, she was happy to have sustenance. She'd gone from adrenaline junkie to numb endurance.
Just like Shiloh and everyone else here.
Standing beside Todd, Brad held a hot cup of coffee toward her.
Accepting it, she studied his weary face. Brad rarely missed helping out when he could. He always seemed to be one step ahead of her, anticipating her needs, her wants. She loved that about him. That he was a compassionate, sexy male with an endearing crooked grin didn't hurt either. She was just damn glad attraction hadn't gummed up their relationship. They were good friends, best friends.
He needed to take a break. The stress and exhaustion had to be getting to him. She frowned, knowing he'd race for the closest bottle when this was over.
Brad poured himself a cup of coffee before choosing a blueberry muffin. "They haven't gone into recovery mode yet, but it probably won't be long."
Todd stared across the huge area of destruction. "There's talk of some of us heading home, leaving the recovery teams to carry on. More equipment is coming to move the rubble. Should be here within the next hour or so."
Brad grimaced. Professional crews could handle much of the clean up along with local search and rescue crews. Almost thirty-five bodies had been recovered. Kali had no idea how many survivors were still buried. Due to the circumstances, they might never know. The building would have to be scraped up and moved off while the authorities did their best to determine a list of those who had and hadn't survived.
As she stood quietly enjoying her coffee, a twinge of energy bounced up her spine and latched onto the base of her brain.
Where it tugged - hard.
Kali casually looked around. Lauren spoke quietly with Brad. Todd had moved to the first aid area and appeared to be in a heavy discussion with the medics. She glanced in the other direction. The streets were full of crews and equipment, the noise deafening. Shiloh was in her crate in a tent behind Kali, sleeping. She'd worked hard these last days. Kali didn't want to disturb her unnecessarily.
Excusing herself, Kali walked away from the disaster site. The apartment had been the last building on the block. A large wooded area lay behind and to the left. A thick wall of trees started fifteen feet from the pavement, making it hard to see any deeper.
The tug happened again.
She frowned.
The tug turned into a yank.
Kali strode forward. Dark waves curled off in the distance. Waves most other people had no idea existed.
She passed a couple standing wrapped in each other's arms. She walked by unnoticed. At the forest's edge, she stopped for a moment, checked her direction, and walked forward a few more
Soon rescue would turn to recovery.
The building had sprawled and shifted like a sliding deck of cards, with the center of the building taking the worst damage. The rescuers were focusing on the outer areas, where the odds of finding survivors were the greatest.
With no new survivors found since the two neighbors to the family of four, most of the teams knew in their hearts that they were in recovery stage. Though there was always hope, there was talk of some of the teams heading home soon. Several of the survivors they'd helped earlier had slept out here with the rescuers, waiting, hoping that family members and friends would be found. Many were silent, frozen in place with shock and despair as the workers toiled on.
Kali tried to give them hope. She'd seen miracles happen. She never let herself forget that.
She returned to the rescue center. The local coffee shop had delivered huge urns of coffee and someone had dropped off cases of donuts, muffins and cookies. A sugar rush to boost the caffeine. Great. Still, having moved beyond tired, she was happy to have sustenance. She'd gone from adrenaline junkie to numb endurance.
Just like Shiloh and everyone else here.
Standing beside Todd, Brad held a hot cup of coffee toward her.
Accepting it, she studied his weary face. Brad rarely missed helping out when he could. He always seemed to be one step ahead of her, anticipating her needs, her wants. She loved that about him. That he was a compassionate, sexy male with an endearing crooked grin didn't hurt either. She was just damn glad attraction hadn't gummed up their relationship. They were good friends, best friends.
He needed to take a break. The stress and exhaustion had to be getting to him. She frowned, knowing he'd race for the closest bottle when this was over.
Brad poured himself a cup of coffee before choosing a blueberry muffin. "They haven't gone into recovery mode yet, but it probably won't be long."
Todd stared across the huge area of destruction. "There's talk of some of us heading home, leaving the recovery teams to carry on. More equipment is coming to move the rubble. Should be here within the next hour or so."
Brad grimaced. Professional crews could handle much of the clean up along with local search and rescue crews. Almost thirty-five bodies had been recovered. Kali had no idea how many survivors were still buried. Due to the circumstances, they might never know. The building would have to be scraped up and moved off while the authorities did their best to determine a list of those who had and hadn't survived.
As she stood quietly enjoying her coffee, a twinge of energy bounced up her spine and latched onto the base of her brain.
Where it tugged - hard.
Kali casually looked around. Lauren spoke quietly with Brad. Todd had moved to the first aid area and appeared to be in a heavy discussion with the medics. She glanced in the other direction. The streets were full of crews and equipment, the noise deafening. Shiloh was in her crate in a tent behind Kali, sleeping. She'd worked hard these last days. Kali didn't want to disturb her unnecessarily.
Excusing herself, Kali walked away from the disaster site. The apartment had been the last building on the block. A large wooded area lay behind and to the left. A thick wall of trees started fifteen feet from the pavement, making it hard to see any deeper.
The tug happened again.
She frowned.
The tug turned into a yank.
Kali strode forward. Dark waves curled off in the distance. Waves most other people had no idea existed.
She passed a couple standing wrapped in each other's arms. She walked by unnoticed. At the forest's edge, she stopped for a moment, checked her direction, and walked forward a few more
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