Serendipity (Book 1 of the Dana Halliday series)

MR. MOORE. TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER. BILLIE.

Joker used to run away from Neil all the time. Each time, Neil would swear to me he'd keep him on a leash on their daily hikes, and by the next week or two he'd be calling me at work to come look for him. My ex loved animals, but he obviously never agreed with the "fool me fifty times" adage.

Which is to say, I was familiar with the awful, nauseating, hollow panic that results from having a missing dog. I can't begin to imagine what having a lost child must be like. This dog wasn't even mine, didn't have a name, and had been with me for less than two weeks, but I was suddenly useless.

My heart began to sprint enthusiastically, and I spun round. "Hey!" I shouted into the shadows. I must have let go of her leash while I was stargazing, and she had slipped away as quietly as a cat. "Hey, pup! Come on!" I ran back down the road, cursing. "Oh my god, I'm so fucking stupid."

I couldn't hear any movement in the vicinity, no snapping branches or rustle of leaves, and the dog didn't have tags on her collar. I whistled and clapped my hands, called again, paced from one side of the road to the other. "Oh my god, why now?"

"Dana!" Flynt called from where he still stood. "Come back."

I had almost forgotten my companion. I jogged back up to him, panting with anxiety. "Do you see her?"

"Be quiet for a minute." His voice was utterly calm, and he swiveled his head. Then he turned around in place, his eyes remote, slow breaths pluming from his lips and nose. Finally he stopped and looked at me as though from a great distance. "How fast can you run?"

"Um..." I shook my head. "Not as fast as that dog."

He released a sigh. "Try to keep up." And he took off down the road.

For the record, I prefer a mountain bike for self-propelled travel. And daylight. And not being stoned. Flynt apparently had no such requirements; he was fast. He ran with light, silent strides down the other slope of the road, the rest of the low mountain rising above us. I followed, sliding and cursing in the gravel, and found him at the bottom.

He was looking at the rutted remnants of a dead logging road, which climbed toward the higher reaches of the mountain. In the light, it was just recognizable as a path. It was after midnight now, and if I hadn't known it was there I might not have been able to see it. "Are you kidding?"

"No. She went up there." He gestured impatiently and started up the path. I groaned and went after him.

Thank goodness, I'd thought to bring a light, otherwise I would have lost him. Even with it, I could only stay within earshot of his voice. I jumped over branches and roots, stumbled through tangled weeds, and generally tried to cause grievous harm to myself on the frosty ground. I'm not sure how long it took, but by the time we were going downhill again I was gasping for breath.

I stopped and wheezed for a few minutes, casting my dinky light about. There was a solid wall of tree around me, and the mountain was blocking most of the moonlight. It was stupefyingly dark. I could almost hear the creak of my ribcage as I breathed.

"Dana?"

"Gah!" I yelped. Flynt's voice had come from just outside the radius of my flashlight. "I might be having a heart attack. If I die, tell Adrian he's a jerk."

"I think your dog is up ahead. Are you all right?"

I was quite certain I was going to find a hundred tiny injuries to my lower half once I got home and the adrenaline wore off, but I shrugged. "I was kidding about the heart attack. Did you see her?"

"I think so. Turn the light off, you're blinding me."

I did, grumbling. "This is ridiculous."

"It's not so treacherous here." His hand grasped my wrist, heat seeping through my coat. "Come on, just walk. I've got good night vision."