Free Fierce Protector (Sierra Pride Book 3) by Liza Street Page B

had another thirty minutes of daylight left. If she hoofed it for twenty, she could get camp set up in ten. She’d rather put a full thirty minutes between her and Barefoot—actually, she’d rather hike all night—but it would be worse to not get a good campsite, and hell’s balls if she was going to use a headlamp or a light source of any kind. It would draw Barefoot right to her.
    She hiked as long as she could, counting by nines to quell her rising panic. Thirty-six. Forty-five. When she’d reached five hundred fifty-eight, she found a flat area to set up her tiny, one-person tent. She’d forgo a hot meal tonight and munch on another granola bar. Sliding into her tent, she brought her pack inside with her and found her satellite phone. She dialed by touch and got out her GPS device.
    The other line rang once before someone picked up. “This is Dr. Gutierrez.”
    “Dr. Gutierrez! It’s Miranda. I’m checking in—”
    A loud hissing noise issued from the satellite phone, and Miranda yanked it away from her ear until it quieted.
    “Dr. Gutierrez? Are you there?”
    A click, and then the satellite phone expressed more static. Miranda scowled at it. It figured the phone would go on the fritz right when she had something to report. But then Dr. Gutierrez’s high voice came on. “Ms. Hsin? Is that you?”
    Miranda had told her thousands of times to call her Miranda. Ms. Hsin didn’t exactly roll off the tongue, and Dr. Gutierrez never pronounced it correctly, anyway. Miranda wished they’d call each other by their first names, like she knew other PhD candidates did with their advisors. But Dr. Gutierrez was old-school, a woman in science who demanded respect. At least she gave respect, too.
    Still, it was a little lonely, being so formal.
    “Yes, it’s me, Miranda. I wanted to check in with my coordinates.”
    It was their safety procedure. Gutierrez wasn’t going to forbid Miranda from being on her own out in the field, but she insisted on knowing Miranda’s whereabouts. Miranda rattled off the numbers listed on her GPS.
    “How are the samples?” Dr. Gutierrez asked.
    “I, uh, I have a few.” Miranda winced. She hated sounding like she didn’t know what she was doing. She tried again. “I collected a new one today and I’m tracking the cougar to get a visual.”
    “How long do you think you’ll be?”
    “I don’t know. As long as it takes. I just…” Finally, Miranda realized her problem. She didn’t want to get off the phone because despite the fact that she enjoyed solitude, she was also spooked after seeing those footprints.
    “Is there something else?” Dr. Gutierrez sounded impatient.
    “It’s probably nothing,” Miranda said, “but it was so strange. I was tracking a cougar, but then I lost it. Then, about thirty feet away, I found human tracks.”
    “New ones?”
    “Yes, quite fresh.”
    “Could be a hiker,” Dr. Gutierrez mused.
    “Nope, I don’t think so.”
    Dr. Gutierrez paused. “Why not?”
    “The person wasn’t wearing shoes.”
    Dr. Gutierrez’s tone became brisk and serious. “Tell me the exact location of the tracks.”
    “I don’t know, exactly. I didn’t think to write them down.” What a strange idea. Miranda was tracking cougars, not crazy people. But she could hear Dr. Gutierrez’s disapproval through her silence on the other end of the line. “They’re about a twenty-five minute hike east of this location.”
    “Thank you, Ms. Hsin. If you find any more human prints, call me immediately.”
    Dr. Gutierrez hung up without a goodbye. Miranda stared at the phone in her hand, its outline barely visible in the darkness. If only, just once, Dr. Gutierrez gave Miranda some sign of approval. Praise for a job well done. Encouragement for all the work Miranda was doing out here in the field. Sometimes Dr. Gutierrez’s brusque manner sparked all of Miranda’s feelings of inadequacy, igniting them. Miranda would never get a good paper written. She’d never