Page 58 of Shattered By the Currents

“Search and Rescue, this is Ethan. Go ahead.” There was a pause before he spoke again. “Can you send your location or describe where you are?” Another pause. “Thanks. I’ll send a guy out.”

“Someone need help?”

Ethan set the phone down. “Yeah, he was following the GPS map on his phone, but the trail isn’t there anymore and he can’t find his way out.”

“I’ll go.”

“You sure? Ryan and Zac are already out there. I can?—”

“No. I need something to keep me busy.”

“Okay.” Ethan hit something on his phone. “I just sent you the area.”

“Thanks.” He moved down the hall and put his stuff into a locker before grabbing a pack. It held most of the essentials. First aid. Sat phone. Flashlight. GPS.

The second he stepped into the forest, he breathed in a lungful of air. He could already hear the river, and damn, he needed that right now.

He moved through the mountains at a steady jog. The guy wasn’t far, so it wouldn’t take long to get to him.

A lot of people made the mistake of thinking that with modern technology, they couldn’t get lost in woods like these. That wasn’t the case. If anything, phones gave the illusion of safety, which only made people take more risks. Go off trail. Stay out for longer than they should.

GPS on a phone didn’t guarantee safe passage out of a forest, particularly if the person wasn’t trained or familiar with the environment.

Three more minutes and a man came into view. Tall. Black hair. He looked to be early thirties and wore shorts and a T-shirt. He had a string of tattoos down his neck.

“Alex?”

The guy looked up from where he sat against a tree. “Hey. You’re SAR?”

“Yeah, Connor. I heard you need help getting out of here.”

The guy laughed. “I do. Afraid I got a bit cocky and went further than I should have.”

“You wouldn’t be the first. Where’d you park?”

The guy scratched his head. “Uh…Outer Banks trailhead parking lot?”

“Come on. I’ll lead the way.” He started walking. “You from out of town?”

“Kind of. I haven’t been back for a while.”

“What has you visiting?”

“An old friend.” Alex shot a glance around the forest. “You out here a lot?”

“I have to be. This job keeps me busy.”

Alex kept pace with him as they returned to a trail that would take them to the proper trailhead. “You must see people at their worst.”

“This is nothing compared to what I used to see.”

“Firefighter? Wait, no, cop. Those guys have a tough slog.”

“I was military.”

“Oh. Explains the look.”

Connor frowned at him. “Look?”