Beary And Bright (Fire Bear Shifters 6) by Sloane Meyers Page B

tried his best to apply pressure with his hand and the sleeve of his hoodie. Finally, the bleeding had slowed and then subsided. He had several other scratches and bruises, but nothing that seemed too serious. The biggest miracle, perhaps, was that his legs didn’t seem to be broken. They were pinned under the huge beam and were going numb from poor circulation by this point. But Carter didn’t feel the kind of pain he would have felt if one of his bones had cracked. His largest concern right now was going into shock or suffering from hypothermia. The temperatures were not obscenely low, but the rain was keeping things damp, and the chill in the air was already making his body shiver uncontrollably. He also worried a little bit about an animal finding him. He knew there were bears and mountain lions in this forest. He soothed his fears by telling himself that most of the animals out here were probably hunkered down quietly, taking refuge from the rain.
    But all of his other concerns paled in comparison to the thought of what would become of him if no one realized he was missing. He already felt dehydrated, and the occasional splashes of rain hitting him didn’t give him an opportunity to quench his thirst. Even if the weather and the animals cooperated, he wouldn’t be able to survive a week lying here without water. Eventually Miss Edna would realize he hadn’t been around. Eventually, the guy who had hired him for this job would grow concerned that Carter wasn’t answering phone calls. But it would take a while for that to happen, especially since most people were too preoccupied with holiday celebrations right now to bother noticing that a quiet, reserved construction worker had gone missing. Carter felt a pang of anguish hit him in the gut as he realized that if he didn’t make it out of here, he would never get the chance to tell Clara how deep his feelings for her ran.
    Carter squeezed his eyes shut and prayed for a miracle.

Chapter Twelve
     
    Clara felt herself frozen to the spot as she stared down at Carter’s name, dumbfounded.
    “Are you sure?” she asked the flower shop employee.
    “I’m sure,” he said, exasperated. “Why would I make that up? What’s the matter? Not the guy you were hoping for?”
    Clara shook her head. “No, it’s just not the person I was expecting at all. Do you know his address?”
    “I don’t, sorry. Only his billing zip code, which is the zip code for Red Valley. And besides, I’m not sure I should be giving away addresses. It’s kind of private information. I gave you the name. You have to take it from there.”
    Clara nodded, and went back to her car. She could tell she had long since worn out her welcome with the flower shop guy. The rain continued to pound down around her as she stared at the paper in her hand with Carter’s name on it. What next? Maybe she should call Zach and see if he had any ideas where Carter might be. He and Zach seemed to be buddies.
    Clara dialed Zach, but the call went to voicemail. She left a generic sounding message, asking Zach to call her back when he got a chance. Then she pulled up an internet browser on her phone. She searched for Carter’s name, trying to figure out whether there was any information out there that might give her more hints on where he might be. She found a website for his construction business, the uncreatively named Carter’s Construction Company. She called the number for the business but it went to voicemail. From the sound of the voicemail greeting, it sounded to Clara like she had just dialed Carter’s cell phone. She opted not to leave a message, and instead turned her attention to the business address listed on the company’s website. Clara would drive there and see if she could uncover any more clues about where Carter might be. Her worry was growing, and she contemplated calling the police. But, even though she had a name to give them now, she didn’t have anything else to back up her suspicion that