“I have search dogs on the way.” Boone planted his hands on his hips. “I’m hopeful we’ll find her but ... what if we don’t?”
Cooper felt sick to his stomach at the prospect. “We’ll find her.”
“And what if she’s dead when we find her?”
The uneasy sensation in his stomach continued to eat Cooper from the inside. “She’s not dead.”
“How can you be certain of that?”
“I’m not certain. I just ... there’s no reason for her to be dead.”
“Oh, well ... there’s no reason.” Boone threw his hands in the air, fury positively rolling off him in waves. “Do you have any idea how bad this is going to be if we can’t find that girl?”
“I’m not particularly worried about how bad it’s going to be for us. I’m more worried about Angel.”
“Oh, don’t even.” Boone rarely lost his temper with Cooper, but he was a man on the edge and couldn’t seem to control his emotions. “I am listed as that girl’s temporary guardian right now. She’s my ward. That means I could be arrested if we can’t find her ... or if something worse has happened to her.”
“We’ll find her.” Cooper was insistent. “She couldn’t have gone far.”
“If she wandered off on her own, perhaps that’s true. What if she was taken, though?”
Cooper had been entertaining that thought himself, although he didn’t want to acknowledge it. “Why would somebody take her?”
“How should I know? Why would somebody cause that accident last night? She’s at the center of two mysteries. Maybe there’s something different about the girl.”
Cooper’s heart sank. He honestly didn’t want to acknowledge it as a possibility. It made a sick sort of sense, though. “You think some paranormal creature caused that accident last night because of her.”
“I wouldn’t have said that last night. Now, though ... I don’t know. It’s too much of a coincidence to think these two incidents aren’t related.”
“I know.” Cooper heaved out a sigh and dragged a hand through his hair. “We need to figure it out.”
Boone practically lost it. “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
“I’m not suggesting that you’re doing nothing. You’re not the only one with something to lose here, though. On top of Angel, who is a vulnerable teenager, Hannah is also at risk. Do you think Casper Creek is going to survive if there’s yet another unexplained death up here so close to the others?”
Boone was taken aback. “I didn’t think about that.”
“Well, I guarantee it’s all Hannah can think about. She’s also the one who invited Angel up here. She will drown in guilt if we can’t figure out where that girl is and get her back safely.”
All of the anger Boone had been hoarding like gold eked out of him. “I didn’t consider any of that.” He was rueful. “I couldn’t see beyond myself. I just don’t want anybody coming into my house and accusing me of anything. I could lose Lindsey if that happens.”
“What?” Cooper’s mouth dropped open. “How do you figure that?”
“If I get arrested because of Angel, who is going to take care of Lindsey? I have no family in the area. At best they’ll send her to my sister’s place in Nebraska. At worst—” He broke off and swallowed hard.
“At worst they’ll put her in the system,” Cooper surmised, nauseated. “I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry.”
“She’s been through enough. Between the loss of her mother and having to navigate all those teenage hormones without a woman’s influence ... it’s too much.”
Cooper read between the lines to what he wasn’t saying. “You think the loss of Angel is going to traumatize her further.”
“They barely know each other, but it doesn’t matter. Lindsey is a strong girl. She’s also dramatic and prone to hysterical fits. We need to find Angel.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I think to do that, we have to track down Hannah. It’s going to take all of us working together to figure this out.”
For the first time since arriving on the scene an hour before, Boone cracked a smile. “I think you’re just worried about Hannah and want a reason to chase her.”
“I would be lying if I said that wasn’t my primary motivation.” Cooper was sheepish. “You didn’t see her. She was really upset. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Well, I think you’re going to have a chance ... and I don’t think you’re going to have to do any wandering to find her.” The sheriff inclined his head toward the far end of town, to where Hannah, Jackie, and Danielle were emerging. “Apparently they didn’t have any luck.”
“It doesn’t look like it.” Cooper tamped down his leaping heart and waited for Hannah to stop in front of him. He wanted to pull her in his arms and soothe her, but the wild look in her eyes had him taking a step back. “Did you find anything?”
“There aren’t any footprints out there that we can find,” Jackie replied. She seemed to be the calmest member of the group. “We did find something else, though.”
Cooper’s forehead wrinkled. “Do I want to know what?”
“Probably not, but it’s a problem for all of us so we have no choice.” She hesitated, sparing a glance for Hannah and then barreling forward. “Somebody erected what looks to be a magical forcefield around Casper Creek.”
Whatever he was expecting, it wasn’t that. Cooper glanced between Jackie and Hannah, his mind busy, and then shook his head. “I don’t know what that means.”
“We’re going to need more information,” Boone prodded.
“We don’t have a lot of information,” Jackie countered. “We don’t know what it is. We found it over the hill and followed it around for a bit. We’re pretty sure it covers the entire town, although we didn’t track it the entire way because it would’ve taken the rest of the day.”
“And what does it do?”
“We’re not sure. We tested it. We can walk through it. It doesn’t stop us from leaving or empty any magical reserves.
