Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Shrugging, I jumped out of the truck and kicked through the snow on the unshoveled walkway to climb the stairs to her now abandoned apartment. She wasn’t there. I knocked on several doors, and like before, nobody answered. Either folks were out working or didn’t want to be disturbed.
Saying a silent prayer for Violet’s safety, I made my way back to the still-warm truck and turned on the heat. I hoped Violet wasn’t too cold, wherever she was. I called Aunt Yara again. “You have something?” she asked instantly.
“No. Do you? I should have used the group text, but I just wanted to hear your voice,” I said quietly.
She sighed, sounding worried. “I can’t believe we can’t find her. I raised six kids, and I’ve had foster kids stay with us before. They always go somewhere familiar when they’re afraid. Somewhere they first felt safe.”
“She first felt safe with you,” I said.
“No,” Yara said. “She first felt safe with you.”
Violet and her dog had stayed at my place with Aiden there, and I thought she’d learned to trust us. How could she leave her dog behind? She loved him and must have been terrified to leave him. “She hasn’t come to our place.” Even my bones felt tired. “I’m going out to that diner where she used to work. I’ll call or text you later.”
“Okay. Thanks, honey. We’re going to search around the school here again.” Yara clicked off.
I did a U-turn and headed back toward Lilac Lake. Yara’s words kept spinning around in my mind. Violet had first felt safe with me. I’d taken her to Smiley’s Diner, then back to her crappy apartment, and then finally home with me.
Wait a minute. At that time, I wasn’t living with Aiden. I’d lived in my little cabin on the outskirts of a bigger estate, and my place had partially burned down. But only partially. My heart leapt into my throat, and I pressed the pedal down, driving faster. It wouldn’t be a good place to hang out, so she probably wasn’t there, but it was the one place I hadn’t thought to look.
We’d abandoned it because it wasn’t safe.
I pulled up to the cabin and noted the horrible fire damage not only to the structure but also to several of the outlying trees from the bombs. I’d had a stalker for most of my life, and he had made his move by finally bombing my place and burning half of it down. But Jareth Davey was dead. The owners of the estate had decided not to rebuild, and a part of me wondered if it was because they didn’t want me renting from them again.
If so, I couldn’t really blame them.
I jumped out of the truck and kicked my way through the snow to what had been the front door. It hung haphazardly, with the framing burned black beneath a dusting of snow. Wincing, I stepped inside, noting that most of the roof had burned away.
Snow covered the entire living room. The left side of the house, which had held the laundry room and my bedroom, had taken some damage, but not as much. I opened the bedroom door to see an empty room with snow scattered across the formerly pretty wooden floor. My gaze caught on the sliding glass door to the outside deck.
Man, I’d loved that deck.
I looked closer. A makeshift fire was at the edge of the deck, still smoldering. Excitement grabbed me. “Violet,” I called out.
I looked around and noticed the closed closet door. Running forward, I yanked it open, looking down to see Violet huddled beneath her coat, her eyes wide. Several empty potato chip bags were scattered on the floor to her side. I ducked in and grabbed her, pulling her out for a hug.
She pushed against me. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I snapped. Although I had to give her props for building the fire outside to stay warm. If she kept the glass door open, some of the heat would still come in, although it was lucky she hadn’t burned the rest of the place down.
“I told you I was sorry. I can’t come back with you.” Tears filled her eyes.
I looked at her. “You’re hungry and wet. You’re cold and exhausted. You think you can take me right now?” Now that I’d found her safely, anger at what she’d put us all through filtered through me. Even so, the concern ran deeper.
“Probably,” she said, her chin lowering.
I grinned. “Okay, I like the spunk. Come on, let’s get in Aiden’s truck and turn the heat on full blast.”
She looked beyond me. “Aiden’s here?” Hope filled her voice.
“Hey, he’s my crush, not yours.” I slung an arm over her shoulders, trying to sound normal and not start bawling since I’d found her safe. I didn’t want to scare her away again. “Come on, you have a million people out looking for you. You’ve even hit the press.”