“Jace, come in.”

I grabbed my walkie, wishing I had the option to ignore Cooper. “Yeah?”

“Urgent response requested. Gabby has gone missing.”

“What do you know?”

“She was last heard from by her coworkers just before heading out on patrol. Kylie tried to contact her numerous times through texts and calls, then tried her walkie, but didn’t get a response.”

I took notes as he talked. I had badly wanted to solve this case before, but now that a Ranger had gone missing—Kylie’s best friend—I had even more of a reason. I pictured going to her and telling her I’d found her friend. I wanted to be her hero.

“There’s one more thing,” Cooper said. “Don’t run this through the office, contact me directly.”

“Why?” It seemed like a setup to me. Would he try to get me fired?

“Right now, Kylie just thinks Gabby is between shifts. I’d like to keep her from knowing as long as possible. She’s been through enough, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but she’s not weak. She might be pissed at you for keeping this from her and not letting her help. She’d want to feel like she’s a part of the efforts.”

“I’ll take the risk.”

“Well, you’re the boss. I’ll be on patrol right away.”

“I thought you were done for the day.”

I looked at him pointedly. “I was.”

I grabbed my gear pack and headed out. I drove the Ranger Jeep to the outpost and quickly undressed, putting my pack in place carefully for the shift. I left the outpost and started running in a strategic pattern. I would follow a grid, covering as far as I could.

When I had gone over three grid lines, I paused to spin around, getting a full sniff in. Gabby. I circled out to find the scent’s direction, and I started that way. I kept my nose down, but took frequent higher sniffs to see what else was around. The trail didn’t go for long. Apparently, she had been on patrol. Her scent followed a familiar route, but it stopped abruptly.

I ran all around the area, sniffing to see if the scent picked up again, but found no further trace of her. My heart fell. Dammit, I was so close. At least it was something, though. If she’d been in one of the Ranger vehicles, I would have picked up on its scent at the point she’d entered it, but no dice. This changed everything, though my “evidence” would have to be withheld from many of the Rangers. Only those who were shifters could’ve known how the latest information had presented itself.

I headed back to the station to make my report. When I saw Kylie’s car was still in the parking lot, I thought my newfound evidence would be a good excuse to go talk to her. She’d be glad there was something, even if that something didn’t lead right to Gabby. I took a deep breath, readying myself before going inside.

When I walked in, the first voice I heard was Cooper’s, talking to Kylie at her desk. So much for that idea; there’s no way I could go in there if he’s there. But I could listen to their conversation… The hour was late enough that visitors and most employees had gone home, including the receptionist who usually sat at the front desk.

“What else?” I heard Kylie ask.

“That’s all we know so far, but I will let you know the second I hear anything more.”

There was a pause and I think a sniff. “Thanks. I just can’t believe Gabby is missing.”

“I was hoping we’d find her before you even knew.”

I could tell she was crying. Her voice had that thick, nasal quality it always developed when she’d gotten upset.

“We’ll find her,” Cooper said. “In some ways, having a Ranger go missing allows us to put even more people on task than normal and put more resources on the investigation. I’m not glad Gabby’s missing, but I am glad that we’ll be able to do a lot to find her and, hopefully, the other missing women, as well.”

“We have an awesome team”—she stopped to sniff—“and I know that if she’s out there, our people will find her.”

“You’ve got it.”

“I just want to be able to help with the search, you know?” Kylie sniffed.

“Well, I’m glad you’re not. I’d be worried sick every time you were on patrol. That’s what Gabby was doing. What if it were you instead of her?”

“I wish it were!”

Even from outside the office, I felt her pain at his remark. Cooper could be insensitive sometimes.

“You don’t get it,” she continued.

“Jace would have, though.”

My heart jumped when he said my name.

“Why would you bring him up? I have enough going on without thinking about him.”

I swallowed hard.

“Sorry,” Cooper grumbled. “He just…I’m just really pissed at him for what he did to you. I never thought he’d be like that.”

“I know,” Kylie muttered.

There was a long pause.

Cooper added, “I’ll let you know the second I hear anything more.”

It sounded like he was about to leave, so that was my cue to hurry into my office. I had just started my report when he walked in.

“Got something,” I told him.

“Yeah?”

I nodded and held up a finger. The moment I finished typing, I hit print, then handed him the printed page.

He read it and raised an eyebrow. Then he went to the large map on the wall and ran his finger along the coordinates. I walked over and jammed my finger at the spot he was searching for.

“That’s near the scent trails of the other disappearances,” he said.

“Which is probably why Gabby was there. Investigating?”

He nodded. “She was on patrol. Watching the area closely.”

“Any chance she’s undercover?”

“Not under my authority.” He turned and left the room.

A moment later, I heard him talking to Kylie. Fuck! He must be telling her already. He hadn’t been kidding when he said the second he’d heard something, he would let her know.

Twice now, I’d missed my chance to tell her something about Gabby; to show her how concerned I was and how dedicated I’d been to finding her best friend and the others. Twice I could have seen her and made my own assessment of how she was. But she seemed to be as against me as ever. Was me loving her really so terrible?

When Cooper returned, we continued discussing the case and made a plan for the following day.