“We’re definitely going to look,” Cooper promised in his most soothing tone. “You need to call your dad, though. Tell him what happened. Tell him we can’t find Angel.”
“And tell him we need bodies for a search party,” Hannah added darkly, starting for the door. “We need to start looking before he gets here.”
“I agree.” Tyler moved to follow. “With any luck, we’ll have her before the search party arrives.”
“Probably,” Cooper agreed.
Hannah didn’t bother responding. She knew better than believing them. Angel was gone, and every warning alarm in her heart screamed that the girl wasn’t going to be found.
BOONE WAS FURIOUS WHEN HE LANDED at Casper Creek. Lindsey had slowly eroded during the search for Angel and was a crying mess when she caught sight of her father.
“Daddy!” She raced across the street and threw herself at him.
Boone’s expression reflected surprise when he caught her, frowning at the way she clung to him. “Are you okay?” He pulled back to study her face, his hands automatically checking her head for signs of a bump. “You weren’t hurt, were you?”
Lindsey shook her head. “Cooper took me in the saloon and made me hide behind the bar. He wouldn’t take his shirt off to make me feel better or anything, so I’m really sad.”
Boone rolled his eyes. “Somehow I think you’ll survive.” He released his daughter and focused on Cooper. “Where’s Angel?”
The earlier optimism Cooper had been holding onto regarding the second teenager had evaporated in the thirty minutes they’d been looking for her. “We don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Boone’s eyebrows practically flew off his forehead. “How can you not know?”
“I just ... don’t know.”
“It’s not his fault, Daddy,” Lindsey chided. “The storm came out of nowhere. We were all separated when it hit. Angel was down at the barn by herself and Cooper yelled at her to hide inside. The last time we saw her, that’s what she was doing.”
“Then where is she?” Boone was not a man who liked unexplained events, and if the daughter of a critically injured couple were to disappear under his watch, he would never be able to explain it ... or live with it.
“She wasn’t in the barn when the storm let up,” Cooper replied. “Tyler is back checking behind the buildings in case she left before we did and took cover someplace else, but we’ve been behind those buildings once already. I don’t think she’s back there.”
“And Hannah?”
Cooper swallowed hard. “She’s really upset.”
“I’m really upset, too,” Boone snapped. “That little girl is gone and we have to find her.”
“I agree. Hannah is ... really ... upset, though.”
Boone held out his hands, incredulous. “What are you even saying?”
“Hannah called some women who work here and demanded they come right away,” Lindsey volunteered. “I heard her on the phone, something about using magic. I thought I misheard her, but when the other women showed up, I heard one of them use the same word. They took off that way.” She pointed toward the west side of town. “They seemed really serious.”
Cooper pressed the tip of his tongue to the back of his teeth. He had no idea Lindsey had been eavesdropping when he tried to talk Hannah out of leaving Casper Creek with Danielle Garrett and Jackie Metcalf in tow. The three of them made up Casper Creek’s coven these days, and they had magic on their minds when they departed.
“Don’t worry about the magic stuff,” Boone said blandly as he absently patted Lindsey’s shoulder. “Why don’t you head over and have a sarsaparilla in the saloon, huh?”
Annoyance galloped into Lindsey’s eyes. “I’m not a kid. I don’t need sarsaparilla to soothe me.”
“Then get some sarsaparilla for me.”
“But—”
“Just go.” Boone didn’t mean to snap at her, but his temper was frayed. He corrected his tone the moment he saw the tears spring into her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell like that. I’m just upset. I need to focus on Angel, though. That means you have to get out from underfoot.”
Lindsey wasn’t ready to cede defeat. “I can help look for her.”
“No, you can’t.” Boone was grim. “You have to go into the saloon and let the rest of us work.” His eyes slid to the parking lot as a steady stream of vehicles started pulling in. “Angel has to be our priority, Lindsey. I’m sorry but that’s just the way it is.”
HANNAH MARCHED ALONG THE PATH THAT led to the creek, grim determination fueling her. Jackie and Danielle trailed several feet behind, worry cascading over them.
“I don’t understand how she just disappeared,” Danielle said. “I mean ... you don’t think she voluntarily wandered off into the storm, do you?”
That was one of the scenarios Hannah had been playing with. The other was that something evil had entered the barn during the storm and taken Angel ... perhaps the very same something that caused the accident the previous evening.
“I honestly don’t know.” Hannah skimmed the ground looking for fresh footprints. Even though she would’ve enjoyed the dog’s comforting presence, she opted to lock Jinx in the apartment so she wouldn’t have to worry about him. She had no doubt he would seek retribution in her absence. In fact, she was resigned to it.
“I don’t see why anyone would leave in the middle of a dust storm,” Jackie volunteered. “The sand hurts when it pelts your skin. She wouldn’t have made it five feet without having to turn back.”
“Maybe that’s what she tried to do,” Danielle noted. “She likely couldn’t open her eyes because of the sand and could’ve gotten lost. Maybe she didn’t mean to wander away.”
“Or maybe she was taken,” Hannah growled, planting her hands on her hips and looking around. She was frustrated beyond words, her blood pressure threatening to cause a meltdown, and her stomach threatening a revolt.
“Taken?” Jackie licked her lips, uncertain. “I
