Read Online Red by Kait Nolan - Free Book Online Page A

something?
    I turned my face into the wind to do exactly
that.
    And I smelled Rich Phillips.
    It made no sense. We were miles from where
I’d tracked him last night. And yeah, okay, I didn’t actually know
where he’d ended up because I’d been busy trying to find that other
wolf. What the hell was he doing so far from the original
trailhead?
    Elodie’s expression was uncertain, as if she
wasn’t sure of her own reaction. Hell, I wasn’t certain I’d
actually seen her do what I thought she’d done. It was completely
insane and I was probably just engaging in wishful thinking. She
couldn’t possibly be . . . like me.
    “ You okay?” I
asked.
    She shook her head as if to clear it and
flashed an embarrassed smile. “Yeah. Woolgathering. Hearing you
talk about your mom makes me wonder about mine. Dad doesn’t talk
about her much, so other than the bad stuff or whatever they
reported in the papers following her death, she’s a blank. I don’t
know what she sounded like, or what her favorite foods were or what
kind of music she liked. All I really know is that I look like her.
And according to Dad, I’m starting to act like her, which scares
the shit out of him.”
    “ That must be
hard.”
    “ We have a weird
relationship.” Now she pulled away, releasing my hand and starting
to trudge up upwind in the direction of the scent.
    It had to be a coincidence.
     
    ~*~
     
    Elodie
     
     
    I was losing my mind. There was no other
answer. We were miles away from the trailhead where Rich and Molly
had gone missing, so there was no way that I’d actually caught his
scent. And way to take a trip into Weirdsmoville by totally zoning
out while Sawyer told me about his mom. Yes, invite deep, personal
sharing and then ignore it as if you can’t be bothered to pay
attention.
    The wind shifted and I caught the scent
again, jerking my head in that direction to get a better whiff. I
wouldn’t be sure except that Rich had been so in my face yesterday
that I couldn’t help but get the smell of him imprinted in my brain
if for no other reason than to be able to identify and avoid him
for self preservation in the future.
    I searched the ground for the usual signs of
passage, something to corroborate the idea that they’d passed this
way. But there was nothing. Frustration simmered, and I wished I’d
been paired up with one of the handlers with a dog. Sawyer wasn’t
trained for this, and I couldn’t track them when there were no
physical signs.
    The next trace scent proved me a liar.
    Okay, so I could track them if I gave in and
tried to actually use my newly sensitive nose, but what would that
mean for me? Would intentional use accelerate the change? Could I
really risk that? This could be, probably would be my last
summer. Did I want to risk shortening that time on behalf of
arrogant, entitled Rich Phillips?
    Unbidden, an image of Molly hiding behind
her curtain of hair sprang into my mind. She was a child. Innocent.
No matter what kind of an asshole her brother might be, she was out
there. Tired. Likely dehydrated. Hungry. Probably terrified.
    The radio crackled at my waist, pulling me
out of my thoughts. “Elodie, do you copy? What is your
position?”
    I tugged it off my belt. “I copy. Just a
sec.” I checked the compass and the topographical map and relayed
the coordinates back to base camp.
    Eileen repeated them back to me, then asked,
“Any signs?
    There was nothing I could officially report
back. Not yet anyway. “No. Have there been any alerts from the
other searchers?”
    “ Bill Throckmorton’s Lucy
alerted to Rich in Sector Four, but the trail’s gone cold. It’s
looking like a vehicle may have been involved.” She paused. “There
were traces of blood on the scene. You and Sawyer stick close
together. Check in every ten minutes.”
    “ Will do.” I dialed the
radio volume back down and looked over at Sawyer. His face was
grim.
    “ Foul play,” he said. “Has
to be.”
    “ Not necessarily,” I