apprised and assured Anita that a search-and-rescue crew would remain at the sight for the next twelve hours.
“I don’t feel right about leaving,” Anita announced, as he got in the truck next to her.
“They’ll call if there’s anything. We’re in the way here.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line, brown eyes fiery. “No. My brother is down there somewhere and I’m staying right here. I’ll go find someplace else to sit if you don’t want me in your truck.”
Uncertainty shot through him. “It’s not that.”
She picked up on it right away. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Not nothing. You don’t think they’re going to find him alive.” Tears began to spill down her face. “How can you believe that? He’s all I have. He’s the only person in the whole world who…” She kept her face turned to him, the agony written plainly there.
He grabbed her hand to stop the anguished flow of words. “That’s not what’s on my mind, Anita. I’ve got a strange feeling, is all, but I don’t want to mislead you.”
Her mouth opened in a shocked gasp. “What? What do you think? Please tell me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she squeezed his fingers. “Please.”
He picked his words carefully. “Something’s wrong. This road.” He pulled his hand away to gesture to the desolate stretch. “It doesn’t lead to town or to the Painted Cliffs. There’s really no reason for Drew to be here. The spot where the bike went over. It’s not a sharp turn, wouldn’t have been a problem for an experienced biker to manage.”
She nodded. “And?”
“And there’s nothing in his saddlebags. No provisions, work stuff, camera, anything. No backpack found at the scene.” His eyes scanned the horizon. “Williams says it looks like the gas tank was empty.”
“So you think maybe the accident was staged? That Drew isn’t dead?” Hope sparkled in her eyes.
“Listen. I’m no cop. Just a gut feeling. I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
“Too late, they’re up,” she said, flinging her arms around him and kissing his cheek. “Please help me figure out what happened to my brother. I know I’m the last person in the world you want to be with, but I’m asking, anyway. Please.”
The pressure of her body pressed to his made his head swim.
You’re in it deep now, Booker.
Anita let go of Booker and hastily slid to the other side of the seat. Her cheeks burned, but she could not ignore the heady feeling of hope that had sprung up inside her. Drew might be alive. Alive. She pressed her hands together and breathed a silent prayer. Please, Lord. Please don’t take my brother from me.
She opened her eyes to find Booker watching her. “We need to go to the Painted Cliffs.”
Booker arched an eyebrow. “What will that accomplish?”
“I don’t know, but my brother was headed there, according to Gershwin. He might have left some kind of a clue to his whereabouts, maybe spoken to someone about his situation.”
“There’s no one there to speak to. The police should handle the search.”
She tried to keep the impatience from her voice. “They’re busy with the crash investigation. Besides, my brother didn’t involve the police in whatever problem he was having. He must have had a reason.” She looked closely at him. “Do you trust the police around here?”
“Williams is okay.”
“How about Rogelio?”
Booker shifted on the worn seat. “He’s tight with Cyrus Leeman. I don’t trust anyone who buddies up to that snake.”
She jerked. “I wasn’t anyone’s buddy, if that’s what you’re implying. Leeman came to me on an environmental issue that happened to impact your land. I did my job, and so did he.”
“Yeah? So you think he’s just a great guy out to save the earth, huh?”
The anger in his eyes made her falter. “We did the right thing.”
“Glad you can sleep easy at night.”
Sleep easy? She’d not had a peaceful night’s rest since she left Rockridge. Thoughts of Booker and the dangerous feelings he’d awakened in her had made that impossible. She’d done the right thing, but the cost had been high. She looked at his profile: strong, proud, lined with fatigue and worry. What had her decision cost him?
She pushed the feelings away and took a deep breath. “I’ve got to focus on the here and now. I need to figure out what happened to my brother. Will you take me? If not, I’ll find someone else.”
He gazed at the brilliant blue of the sky. “It’ll take an hour to drive out there. Won’t have much time. We’ve got to head back before sunset.”
“What happens after sunset?”
He didn’t look at her as he pulled onto the road. “Desert comes alive.”
FIVE
Anita tried not to dwell on Booker’s ominous warning as they headed farther away from civilization. She was a wildlife scientist, after all. Nothing in this desert would send her screaming for help. She busied herself checking her phone for any kind of message from her brother. Who would be after him? His salary was good, she imagined, but knowing her brother he hadn’t socked away enough fortune to tempt anyone. At times he didn’t even make the rent payments. He must have heard something, seen something. Maybe he photographed something he shouldn’t have?
She wished she had someone to discuss her wild theories with, but Booker remained silent. It was just as well. They should avoid anything that would rekindle old feelings. Remember Jack and what could have happened. Drinking, partying, making stupid choices that would have ruined your life if God hadn’t saved you. Don’t put yourself there again.
A massive saguaro cactus thrust prickled branches into the late-afternoon sunlight. In the spring, it had been crowned with showy yellow blossoms, a treasure for the bat species she’d been studying. Now it was bare of blooms, a patch of green against acres of chollas and creosote plants with their fuzzy seed capsules thrust out like fingers. There were no cars here, no tourists crazy enough to venture out into the sizzling nowhere.
Booker pulled off down a narrow path that she never would have noticed. It led to the mouth of a mesquite-lined wash on one side and a massive cliff rising up on the other. The cliff outline was broken up by piles of roughened rock that had broken away and tumbled down, leaving mountains of rubble dotting the ground.
He handed her a bottle of water and grabbed binoculars for them both. “There.” He stabbed a finger at a gap between the cliff and a massive rocky outcropping. “Good view from there. Let’s go.”
She followed him. The heat immediately soaked her in sweat and heated her face until it felt like it would burst into flame. Grateful that she’d remembered to wear a hat, she struggled to match his long strides.
They climbed the sandy cliff trail until they reached the gap. Binoculars ready, Anita scanned the view below. The Painted Cliffs, striped with shades of gold and pink, had earned their name. The recent rain made bits of mica glitter and shine as she strained to see any signs of human presence there.
Nothing.
The only movement came from a golden eagle that soared down to land on a jagged rock far above them. She sagged, head whirling. What had she expected? That Drew would pop up around some rock pile, a smile on his face? She groaned at her own stupidity. That was exactly what she had hoped.
Booker lowered his binoculars and looked