Page 68 of Clearly Charmed

Bryce stayed quiet, but his narrow focus said he was mentally taking notes on the scene. Putting every movement, every snippet of sound, into his memory for the article.

For the first time this thought did not make me nauseous. Lia and her team were extraordinary, and if Bryce could document that for the world it was a good thing.

As we waited for Lia to finish her meeting, Jessa and Bree jogged in our direction.

‘What can we do to help?’ Bree asked, her stare narrowing on Bryce.

‘We’re waiting on Lia for instructions,’ I said.

‘I’m Bree. This is Jessa. We work with Dr McGuire. Who are you?’

‘Bryce O’Dell. I’m a… friend.’

Jessa’s brows shot up.

‘You’re that reporter? The one with the dog who got into the weed?’ Bree’s tone was venomous, but Bryce didn’t wither.

‘That’s right.’

‘Why are you here? This is a town matter,’ Bree snapped.

‘I want to help. The more hands the better, right?’

Jessa bobbed her head. ‘We need to find Mara and Banjo quickly. That dog is nearly thirteen. The terrain farther into the forest will be tough for him to navigate.’

Bree continued to stare daggers at Bryce until the rescue team broke, and Lia stalked toward us. Her attention flicked once to the blond guy, and the line of her shoulders quickly tightened.

‘What do you need?’ I said as soon as she stopped at the edge of our circle.

‘Why is he here?’ Lia gave Bryce a tense stare.

‘I just asked the same question,’ Bree said.

The tension was already neck high and none of this would help us find Mara.

‘You need another set of eyes. I can be helpful if you’ll let me.’ Bryce spoke up before I could.

Lia scrubbed a hand through her poof of curls. Huffed out an irritated breath. ‘Go join the crew over in that small huddle near the entrance. They’re going to do another sweep of the festival and the shops. Make sure we didn’t miss Mara somewhere. Jessa and Bree, please go with him. Check the library and that spot behind the candy store with the picnic tables the kids like.’

‘Does she have a phone you can track?’ Bryce asked.

‘No. Darren, her dad, hasn’t allowed her to have one yet, and he’s kind of beating himself up over that right now.’ Lia’s stare darted to where the poor man was pacing and yanking on the ends of his dark hair. ‘He thinks that’s the reason she took off. Her friends have been teasing her about it.’

‘Okay. I’ll go with the group,’ Bryce said. ‘Hopefully, we’ll find her.’

‘Stay with Bree and Jessa. Don’t wander off. I don’t need to send out another search party.’

He gave Lia a mock salute and jogged off.

Darren stayed huddled with the blond guy.

‘Is that a new volunteer?’ I said.

She let out an irritated breath. ‘Nope.’

‘You want to talk about it?’

‘Again, no. What I do want to discuss is how far you need to go into the forest before Banjo can sense you.’