Right way

“You realize that this is totally illegal.”

Jason looks out through the rain, seeing the road below. “You realize by obeying my orders, you’d get in trouble with me, yet you’re doing it anyway.”

Ben grins. “I sure do. See anybody coming?”

“Nope. It’s a quiet road – anybody out here this time of night, and in this weather is crazy anyway.”

“Alright. Hang on.”

The plane circles around, the area and Jason can make out the lights of the ranch. It was the middle of the night, and obviously, no one would be up. But he wasn’t sorry about waking someone up. This was important enough.

His stomach does a flipflop as the plane starts to descend. It never failed.

The plane hits the ground with a lurch, the pilot skillfully keeping it straight as they head down the center of the road. Slowing down, they pass the sign to the ranch before coming to a stop.

“Sorry. Misjudged that one.”

Jason looks to Ben and rolls his eyes. “Yeah. You did a terrible job. Now I have to walk, what…. A few hundred feet?”

Ben grins. “TJY Airlines at your service. Now get out before some poor car comes along and we get called in.”

“Right.” Jason gets up from the seat and heads to the back. “Thanks, Ben!”

Within minutes, he’s walking in the rain. He was glad he’d brought a baseball cap to at least keep the rain from hitting his face directly, but it was still cold. Pulling his jacket tighter, he bends against the weather, heading up the driveway.


Mick’s eyes fly open as a roll of thunder passes, followed by a knock at the door. “Since when does thunder stop on our doorstep?”

He sighs and sits up. “I’ll go see who it is,” he speaks quietly. Pulling on a pair of jeans, he finds his handgun, sticking it in the back. At this time of night, he didn’t trust anything.

He goes cautiously to the front door, resting his hand on the knob. “Who is it?”

“Jason.”

Mick’s eyebrows raise and he immediately opens the door, ushering Jason inside. “What on earth…”

“I came to look for Katie,” Jason explains lamely.

Mick sees his boots and backpack, and gives a nod. It looked like it. “How on earth did you get here so quickly?”

“Uh…” Jason can’t help a crooked grin. “Did you know your road makes a perfect runway?”

Mick rolls his eyes. “Great. Well now what? You really think something is wrong?”

“I don’t know. But I figure better safe than sorry, right?”

“I suppose. You want someone to go with you?”

Jason shakes his head. “No. I’ll go alone. I got my phone if I need help, and if everything is fine, there’s no need to take anyone else along.”

“How you gonna find her?”

“I don’t know.” Jason shrugs. “But I gotta try. I just wanted you to know that I was here and looking for her. Don’t spread the word though. I don’t want to stir up worry, especially if everything is just fine.”

Mick gives a tired nod. “Alright. Whatever. Give a call if you need something, and be careful. It gets mighty slippery out there.”

“Yeah, thanks, Mick.” Turning back around, Jason heads out into the rain once more. He’d tossed around the idea of asking to take a horse, but the ground was too unstable, and that would be unwise. On foot it would have to be. At least for now, his knee was holding up.


Mick stands in the doorway for a few minutes, watching Jason disappear into the dark. Whether the man admitted it or not, his actions proved he did care for Katie deeply. Mick could only hope that Katie really was alright…he couldn’t worry until he heard otherwise.


Jason slips and slides up the back trail, not even sure where he was heading, but up. He stops again, reaching down deep for any feelings….that faint pull had to be there somewhere… otherwise he’d be dead by now.

There…Jason almost cringes…. There it was… so faint. He walks a while longer, ignoring the time, ignoring the rain. It had subsided a bit, though the trail was left dangerous. An hour later, he stops again, digging down deep and trying to sense anything. It was stronger. Not much, but he could feel it. He was going the right way.