I fought for calm. Maybe there was a simple explanation. Maybe Nichele had just gone to the latrine. Not likely. I’d only been gone for an hour, and she had sounded pretty serious about staying in her tent. Okay, maybe Orion had dropped by and she had succumbed to temptation and gone to his tent… My fear mounted. Orion and Ratboy were friends. Oh, God, what if both of them had come for her? Oh, God, oh God… Stay calm. Eliminate the most likely possibilities first. I turned and fled back along the path. The latrines were all unoccupied. Gasping for breath, I shot a desperate glance around me. Dammit, I needed a vantage point. Skidmark’s bench would work, but I’d waste precious time getting up there and even more rushing back the way I came. Unless they were holding her at the garage… Sudden realization hit me and I swore at my own stupidity and checked Orion’s tracker. Still in the vicinity of the renter’s camp. He could have come over and snatched Nichele and taken her back there, but it seemed unlikely.
