Free Search and Rescue by Gail Anderson-Dargatz Page B

search-and-rescue gear. I felt ridiculous coming to this camp in my miniskirt and heels.
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing here?” Matt demanded.
    Hello to you too, I thought as I climbed into the bus. When we’d first met, I had hoped Matt would ask me out. I liked his honest, frank manner, not to mention his rugged good looks. He was fair-haired and muscular. My mother called him “the Viking.”
    However, I’d quickly realized he didn’t much like me. More to the point, he didn’t like reporters.
    â€œI saw the chief at a car fire just now,” I said. “He told me Amber Miller is missing.”
    â€œAmbulance chasing again, were you?” Matt asked.
    â€œActually, I was on my way to dinner,” I said. “I just happened on the accident.”
    That wasn’t quite true, of course. I had followed my intuition—my gut feeling—to that burning car. Matt didn’t need to know that. He would think I was as crazy as my mom.
    â€œOut on a date, huh?” he said. He glanced down at my miniskirt. “That explains the getup.” He turned away as he continued talking, as if he was uncomfortable. “You’re seeing that firefighter now, right? Trevor Bragg.”
    His question surprised me. Matt rarely asked about my personal life. Then again, before Trevor I didn’t have much of a life outside work. I hadn’t dated anyone in over a year.
    I pulled my notepad from my camera bag. “I take it you haven’t found Amber yet?” I asked. “What time did she go missing?”
    I was a reporter, just doing my job. I was also trying to figure out why I was here. I knew I had to help save Amber. But how was I supposed to do that?
    Matt sighed, impatient with me. “I’ll email you a press release in the morning.”
    â€œI’m here now,” I said. “Can’t you take a few minutes to fill me in?”
    Matt scratched behind his ear. “Fine. Amber went jogging on these trails after lunch. She didn’t return. That’s her car over there. She was only wearing a light jacket, and we found that along the trail. Before she left, she told her mother she wouldn’t be out long.”
    â€œIs her mother here?” I asked. “Can I talk to her?”
    â€œI sent Helen home to get some rest.” Matt glanced at me sideways, like he knew what I was thinking. “Don’t call her on your cell. She’s scared out of her wits. The last thing she needs is some newspaper reporter asking a bunch of questions.”
    â€œNo, of course not,” I said. Although that was what I’d planned to do. “Do you think Amber is simply lost? Or was she kidnapped?”
    â€œKidnapped?”
    I wrote on my notepad as I talked. “Is there any reason to believe someone took her?”
    Matt eyed me. “Do you have any reason to believe that?”
    â€œWell, no.” I stopped writing, wondering why I had asked. The question had just popped out of my mouth.
    Matt leaned over a map of the wilderness trails. “Look, can we do this in the morning? As you can imagine, I’m a little busy at the moment.”
    â€œMay I at least take a picture of the jacket Amber was wearing? If she isn’t found tonight, we could run the photo in the paper. Maybe someone saw her in it.”
    Matt thought a moment. “That may be useful,” he said. He pulled the jacket from a box and laid it on the table. “But I will find her tonight.” He sounded determined, but I also heard the worry in his voice. Amber had been missing for several hours, and the sun had just set.
    â€œYou can run her photo too,” he said. He handed me her high-school picture. Amber was a pretty girl, with long blond hair. Her skin was fair and her eyes were blue. She was taller than most girls her age. Her height made her a natural for basketball.
    I tucked the photo into my camera bag. Then I turned to Amber’s