Total pages in book: 193
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 920(@200wpm)___ 736(@250wpm)___ 613(@300wpm)
“Fine,” Thorin says. “We’ll go and let you know if we find anything.”
“Take Deputy Green with you, will you? Show the new kid the ropes?”
I glare over at the creepy fucking deputy who keeps staring at me like he has an eye problem. I can’t actually see his eyes behind those dark shades, but I know he’s watching me and has been ever since we arrived.
“Nah,” I snarl. “I don’t like him.”
The sheriff’s brows raise at the unprovoked hostility in my tone, but I ignore him and walk off to stand near the ATVs. I hear Thorin murmur something to the sheriff, and then he and Khalil join me with deputy fucking Green.
I straddle my ATV and try again to radio Aurelia.
To my immense fucking relief, she finally answers, sounding like she was asleep. “Seth?”
“Sunshine,” I greet with an exhale. “Where were you? We’ve been calling you.”
“Sorry. I fell asleep. How’s the search going?”
I press on the receiver. “Shitty. We haven’t found a thing. Not even a set of footprints.”
“Really?” Aurelia sounds surprised. “Why?”
“My theory? We’ve been using the wrong M. I’m thinking murdered, not missing.” I release the receiver, and Aurelia’s tone changes.
“That’s…disturbing.”
I grin and press the receiver. “Aren’t you glad you told us to come?”
“Be careful, Seth. I don’t like this.”
“Is that Goldilocks? What’s she saying?” Khalil asks before I can reply to her.
I turn my head toward where he’s sitting next to me on his own ATV and smirk. “She wants us to come home.”
Thorin snorts and shoves his helmet over his head.
“Seth?” Aurelia calls over the radio when I take too long to reply.
“I’m here, baby.” The deputy walks by, and I watch him climb into one of the pickups. “We’ll be careful,” I promise her. “Gotta go, but we’ll be checking in. Don’t fall asleep.”
Her response comes through immediately. “I won’t.”
The snow is coming down even harder by the time we reach the caves on the far east side of Maia. We’re so far away from the rest of the search team that even the helicopters searching from the air are a distant thump-thump-thump. They’ll have to give up the aerial search soon once the visibility becomes too limited and to avoid the blades from icing over.
The knowledge soothes some of the agitation that’s been riding me since we started and injects some urgency in its place. Before we head inside though, I radio Aurelia one last time to check on her, since we’ll probably lose signal. Once I’m satisfied she’s safe, the four of us head inside the first of the caves.
I make sure to keep the deputy within my sight at all times as we search high and low for the missing and possibly dead campers.
AURELIA
I promised Seth I wouldn’t fall asleep, and after what he told me, I don’t think I could, so I set aside the book I’m reading and rise from the bed Khalil built for me and stretch. Leaving the room I’ve been sharing with Zeke and Seth, I walk out onto the lower deck for some fresh air. I haven’t been out here since the guys locked me out to freeze to death that first night. I push the memory away and focus on everything I’ve learned about them since.
It’s snowing now, but the cold doesn’t deter me.
My guys are out there, and the worry stirring in my gut still won’t abate even with the cool air filling my lungs. I head back inside when I can no longer feel my toes and I get to work lighting the fires in all of the wood-burning stoves.
I want the cabin warm when they return.
Hopefully, in one piece.
Feeling like I need to do something, I recheck all our packed bags waiting by the door to make sure we’re not missing anything from the list. We packed pretty light even though we’ll be gone for months.
We have no way of knowing how long it will take Isaac to take the bait, and then there’s my uncle and cleaning up the mess he’s making of my name. After we deal with them both, the four of us plan to lie low in the Caribbean for a few weeks until we’re sure it’s safe to return.
It’s a good plan, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s a loose thread taunting me. One that I can’t seem to grasp no matter how much I try. A blemish in an otherwise flawless plan.
At night, it makes me toss and turn, so now I sleep whenever I can, which is usually at random times during the day.
Oni will be arriving with the plane tomorrow, and the idea of boarding one again makes me nauseated. I groan miserably as I shuffle into the kitchen with my hand clutching my cramping stomach under Khalil’s shirt. I grab the kettle to make tea and stare out of the window at the whiskey barrels and the strawberries I planted months ago, when I thought there was time. They aren’t mature yet and would have gone dormant soon, but I’ll never know now if I succeeded in growing the fruit, since I won’t be here to care for them.