Josh Read Free

“Sure. A little rain doesn’t bother me. I can lend a hand. You doctoring some cattle, Doc Conway?”
    Jake nodded. “Pretty routine stuff. But the work goes a lot faster with an extra pair of hands.”
    When Josh’s cell phone rang, he idly glanced at the caller ID. His voice took on a businesslike tone as he answered. “Josh Conway.” He listened in silence before saying, “Okay. I’m on it.”
    As he tucked his phone into his shirt pocket he turned to Jake with a grin. “Guess I’ll have to take a pass on going along with you and Big Jim. I’m needed on the mountain.”
    Cole shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to climb those peaks in this storm. How come they never call on you to climb on a sunny day?”
    “I guess because no fool hiker ever gets himself lost in good weather, Pa.” Josh drained his cup and pushed away from the table. “I think it’s some kind of rule of the universe that every careless hiker in the world decides to climb the Tetons just before the biggest storm of the century blows through.”
    He left the room to fetch his gear, which he always kept packed and ready for emergency calls. Through the years Josh Conway had built a reputation as a fearless, dependable climber who could be counted on to locate lost hikers who couldn’t be found by the rangers.
    When he returned to the kitchen, Phoebe handed him a zippered, insulated bag.
    At his arched brow she merely smiled. “Something to eat on the drive to your mountain.”
    “Thanks, Phoebe.” He brushed a kiss over her cheekbefore giving a salute to the rest of his family. “See you soon.”
    “Take care, boyo,” Big Jim said gruffly, as Josh turned to leave the room.
    Big Jim listened as his grandson’s footsteps echoed through the mudroom and out the back door and then glanced at his family gathered around the table. Though their conversation had resumed, it was muted. And though they never spoke of it, every one of them knew that there was no such thing as a routine climb. Not when the one doing the climbing was there because the professionals had already tried, without success, to find a missing hiker.
    Josh was their last resort. The strong, capable loner who would never give up until the one who was lost was found.
    See you soon.
    Josh’s parting words played through Big Jim’s mind.
    Funny, he thought, that ever since Seraphine disappeared all those years ago, none of them could ever bring themselves to say good-bye.
    Maybe it was just as well.
    Good-bye
seemed so final.
    “The missing hiker’s named Sierra Moore.” Mitch Carver, a ranger who had been working the Teton Range for over twenty years, tipped back his chair and idly tapped a pen against the desktop, the only sign of his agitation. “A professional photographer and veteran hiker. When she filled out the required backcountry use permit, she was warned of possible storms in the area, and she said she was hoping to capture them on film. I didn’t thinkmuch of it until she failed to check in with our station. I tried her contact number, and she never responded. It could mean that she simply forgot to power up her cell. Or the storm may have knocked out any chance of a signal. But her lack of response could mean she’s in trouble. And since she didn’t fill out the names of any friends or family to contact, I decided to send Lee to track her. But she wasn’t found in the area where she’d said she was heading.” He glanced at the papers she’d filled out. “Midlevel, possibly climbing as high as the western ridge.”
    “Lee knows his stuff.” Josh had worked with rangers Mitch Carver and Lee Haddon for years, and was comfortable that neither of them would ask his help unless they were convinced that they’d chased every lead they could.
    Mitch returned to his pen tapping. “Lee found no trace of her. None of the rangers spotted her. So far she hasn’t taken advantage of any of the rest areas or campsites, though they’re all on alert to watch for