Rock Harbor Search and Rescue

by Colleen Coble

  Emily’s cheeks felt like they were on fire. “No, no, nothing like that.” If she’d ever even thought about it before, she definitely couldn’t now.

  Brandon stepped forward. “Emily’s trying to protect me, Mrs. O’Reilly, but I can’t let her. I did kind of force her to come with me.” He tugged on the necklace around his neck. “She saw this, and I wanted to talk her into keeping quiet about it.”

  “The necklace?” Sheriff Kaleva asked with a hand on his holster belt. “You took the necklace?”

  He shook his head. “Not exactly.”

  Emily couldn’t stand to watch him struggle. “His aunt took her own necklace for the publicity. She was going to recycle the glass and make something else, but Brandon’s mom talked her out of it.”

  The sheriff put his hand on her shoulder gently. “Let him talk, Emily.”

  She hung her head. “Sorry.”

  Brandon took off the necklace and stared at it. “It’s blessed, and my mom didn’t want my aunt to mess with the magic.” He held out his hand. “Here’s the necklace. I wanted to say something, but I was afraid. My aunt told me that the Windigo would come for me if I told anyone. And I didn’t want to get my aunt into trouble.”

  The sheriff took the necklace from Brandon and dropped it into his front shirt pocket.

  Emily clenched her hands together. “He couldn’t really turn in his own family, Sheriff. You don’t have to arrest him, do you?”

  The sheriff hesitated, then shook his head. “It was his aunt’s property, and she gave it to his mother, who gave it to him. If anyone did something illegal, it was his aunt for filing a fake police report.” The sheriff took off his hat and rubbed his hair. “I guess I’d best go arrest Mary Dancer for filing a false police report.” He stared hard at the boy. “It says a lot that you told the truth now. I’ll make sure the DA knows you told me what really happened.”

  Brandon sagged with visible relief. “Thanks, Sheriff. And my mom?”

  “We’ll see what the DA says. I hope you know better than to do something like this again, Brandon.”

  “I do, sir. Absolutely.”

  The sheriff glanced at Naomi and Bree. “I assume you can handle this from here and get Emily home. Brandon, come with me.”

  “How did you know to look for me?” Emily asked as she watched Brandon walk off with the sheriff.

  Naomi kept her arm around her. “When you weren’t where Olivia left you and you didn’t answer her call, she came and told us. We immediately sent the dogs looking. We were a little worried that your mother had found you.”

  Emily shivered, then sighed. “I’m really glad it wasn’t her. You know, Brandon is hoping to apply to Stanford. This could kill his chances. It’d definitely put him out of the running for a scholarship. We need to pray for him.”

  “I will, honey.” Naomi hugged her yet again. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’ll call your dad and let him know.” She walked a few feet away with her cell phone in her hand.

  Now that it was all over, Emily was exhausted. She sank onto a rock. Samson came to push his head into her hands, and she rubbed his ears.

  Bree stepped a few feet closer. “I’m so proud of you, Em.”

  Emily looked up. “Really?”

  Bree nodded. “You were really brave today.”

  It meant a lot coming from Bree. Emily straightened and smiled. Her name was cleared, but right now all she wanted to do was get home and go to bed.

  This whole adventure thing had turned out pretty well. Now she wanted to focus on training Sherlock and hanging out with her friends. Wait until Olivia heard the whole story. She was going to seriously freak.

  EPILOGUE

  The evening air whooshed around the backyard as Sherlock chased the ball Emily tossed. Timmy and Dad laughed at the puppy’s clumsiness. Bree and Naomi sat on the picnic table with Emily.

  “Here you go, Bree.” Emily leaned across the picnic table and counted out the money into Bree’s hand. “That will take care of training Sherlock. I’m excited to get started.”

  Bree sighed and tucked the money into her wallet. “I wish you’d let me teach you for free. I don’t want to take your money.”

  Emily glanced at Naomi. “It’s the responsible thing to do.”

  Mary Dancer had paid back the money she’d accepted from Emily, though she was still in trouble for filing a fake report, and it felt good to be able to hand the cash over to Bree. And Brandon wasn’t in any serious trouble. As far as Emily knew, nothing would go on his permanent record. If he didn’t get into Stanford, it wouldn’t be because she’d gotten him busted.

  Bree snapped her fingers and called Samson to her side. “It’s getting late. Kade will be wondering if the Windigo got me.” She winked at Emily.

  Emily wanted to sink into the grass. Did everyone know how stupid she’d been about that dumb Windigo? “See you at training on Saturday.”

  She waited until Bree and Samson got in the SUV. “Thank you again, Naomi. For Sherlock. For helping me. For everything.”

  “You’re welcome. I love you, Emily.”

  “I love you too.” She smiled as Sherlock tripped over his own feet. Timmy lay on the ground beside the puppy, letting the dog’s tongue wash his cheeks.

  Dad turned and winked at Emily, then sat on the other side of Naomi, reaching for her hand.

  Her heart pounded in her chest. She loved her family. Matthew. Dad. Naomi. And Timmy, even when he annoyed her.

  Emily closed her eyes. Thank you, God. My life’s looking pretty good right now. And if my mother shows up, Dad will deal with her.

  She opened her eyes as Sherlock jumped against her leg.

  Yep, her life was pretty good indeed.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  FROM COLLEEN

  I can’t imagine doing a joint Rock Harbor project with anyone but Robin. We first became friends when she emailed me after reading Without a Trace. It was super fun to do this together!

  Thanks to the great team at Tommy Nelson! It was a dream come true to get to do this book with you! I look forward to my granddaughter Alexa reading it one day.

  My special thanks to my great husband who took the added workload in stride the way he does everything. And as always, I’m in awe of what doors God has opened for me and thank him daily for his blessings in my life.

  FROM ROBIN

  My most heartfelt thanks to my dear friend, prayer warrior, and mentor, Colleen, who came to me with this project and asked if I was interested. This has been such a blessing to work with you . . . and I am grateful you allowed me to play with some of my favorite people—the characters from Rock Harbor.

  As for the publishing team at Tommy Nelson, I could not have asked for a better group of talented folks who welcomed me into their fold. Special thanks to Mac and Molly, for all your suggestions and editing.

  As always, there are many in the writing community who help me in so many ways, I can’t even begin to name the ways. My heartfelt thanks to: Pam Hillman, Ronie Kendig, Tosca Lee, Dineen Miller, Cara Putman, and Cheryl Wyatt.

  My extended family members are my biggest fans and greatest cheerleaders. Thank you for ALWAYS being in my corner: Mom and Papa, BB and Robert, Bek and Krys, Bubba and Lisa, Brandon, and Rachel.

  I couldn’t do what I do without my girls—Emily Carol, Remington Case, and Isabella Co-Ceaux. I love each of you so much! Thank y’all so much for everything. And my precious grandsons, Benton and Zayden. You are joys in my life. There aren’t enough words to express the love and gratitude for my husband, Case. Thank you for putting up with my moods, deadline insanity, and for following me into the crazy industry and loving it. I could not do this without you and I love you with all my heart.

  Finally, all glory to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

 

 

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