Truth Avenged (Green Division Series Book 1) by Ashley Monahan Page B

didn’t hang up the phone in panic instantly dropping everything.  No, Paul bickered with himself about his job.  When Tuck told him not to rush over, he didn’t.  If he was as close a friend as he made himself out to be, he’d look for her himself.  His leg was probably immobilized due to a blister, the spineless dick.
    “ Did she call you?  How do you know she’s up there?”
    “ She called her friend Amy and told her she was going back.  Amy called me while I was in a meeting, I just got her message.”
    Tuck held the bridge of his nose in frustration.  “ What time did she leave?”
    “ About two hours ago.  I’ve called and texted a dozen times, but she won’t answer me.  She’s going to ignore me until she gets back.”
    Smart woman .  Tuck needed to be careful or his smartass words would escape his mouth.
    “ She doesn’t do well with people telling her what to do.  And she knows I’d tell her to get her ass back here.”
    “ You were the one who sent her up there alone, in the middle of nowhere, to begin with.”  The words escaped Tuck’s mouth coming out venomous and accusatory.
    “ You don’t need to remind me of that.  I’m well aware.”  The words cut through Paul, but his voice remained even.  “Don’t think I haven’t felt guilty about that every day.”
    Son of a bitch .  Personal…professional line…blur.  Tuck cleared his throat.
    “ I’m not working today.  I’m on injury leave.  My hands are tied.”  Maintain a professional line , he reminded himself.  He was not her babysitter and shouldn’t feel the need to run every time someone called with a request like Paul’s.
    “ I shouldn’t have called.  I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”  Paul shook off Tuck‘s harsh words.  “I’ll figure something out.”
    “ Hold on.”  Tuck sighed.  “I’ll check on her.”
    “ Don’t put yourself out, I’ll find someone.”  His voice now mimicked Tuck’s sharp tone.  If the two were face to face there would have been danger that fists could have flown.
    “ I said I’d go.”  He hung up the phone.  Tuck was not a rude person, nor was he malicious, but Paul brought out the worst in him.  
     
    *****
     
    Chance parked her Jeep at the trailhead and studied the ominous trail in front of her.  Did she want to do this?  Did she dare to go up there alone, again?  Her gut told her not to go.  Her hands were sweaty and she knew she shouldn’t do it.  Yet she swung her feet out of the Jeep and grabbed her light pack.  She could do this.
    Scouring the trail, she found nothing.  What were t he odds she’d find the compass among all the undergrowth of the trail?  It was hopeless.  Giving up was not an option though.  Amy obviously told Paul of her hike.  The missed calls and text messages were an indicator that he knew something was up.  She didn’t have to breathe a word of her escape, but on the slim chance something happened, she wanted someone to know where she’d disappeared off to.  Amy wasn’t the person she should have told.  She was too decent a person and worried too much. 
    Daylight flew by.  She grew more and more frustrated that her search would end in failure, as everything had thus far.
    “ Where is it?  Where is the compass!  Where is the fucking plane!  I don’t understand why you did this to me!  What do you want?!”  She yelled out in frustration through the vacant woods to ghosts that wouldn‘t answer.  Silence followed.  “What the hell am I doing?” 
    She swept the ground with her hiking pole in anger, pushing the leaves aside searching the ground.  One overly pissed off swipe with the hiking pole and she lost her balance flopping to the ground.
    “ I don’t understand.”  She pulled herself up to a sitting position, curled her legs together, and looked at the sky above.
     
    *****
     
    Sure enough, Chance’s Jeep was where he’d found it the week prior.  She was incorrigible.  He grabbed