Rylan doesn’t speak, he looks like he’s trying to swallow, but his throat won’t work.
“I’ll go around back, just peek in some of the windows,” Beaumont offers.
“Should we wait for the sheriff?” Rylan finally asks. I look at Rylan like he’s crazy.
We already know the sheriff ain’t gonna do shit when it comes to this situation, he’s been called multiple times, and at this point, I don’t even know if he’s going to show up out here. No way in hell are we going to just wait for him.
“Can’t get my ass locked up, not when I got a woman and baby to take care of,” he states.
Looking back at the house, then over to Rylan, I let out a sigh. I open my mouth to speak, but then that goddamn sheriff proves me fucking wrong. Ford’s old piece of shit ranch truck pulls up with two goddamn cruisers behind him, lights flashing. The sheriff quickly parks, then exits his car and jogs toward us.
“You boys didn’t do nothin’ stupid, did ya?” he asks, his eyes dancing as he looks between all of us.
“Nope, just looking around, wondering if she’s here,” Beaumont shrugs.
“Beau,” the officer warns.
Beaumont lifts his hand between him and the officer. “Has nothing to do with my past, it has everything to do with this pregnant friend of mine. Those two,” he says, pointing at James and Jennifer’s house before he continues. “Have been terrorizing her for weeks. We know they have something to do with her disappearance, Robby.”
The sheriff nods, his eyes shift from the house, then over to Rylan. “You don’t think she’s just gone back to her little boyfriend, do you?” he asks, his eyes continuing to focus on Rylan and not turning away. The fucker.
“No. We were moving to Fredericksburg in a few days, getting out of town,” he explains, cool as a goddamn cucumber.
I clench my fists together, wanting nothing more than to throw down with Sheriff Robby.
“I’ll knock on the door, but that’s all I can promise. She could be anywhere. She’s an adult, I can’t file her as missing after only a few hours,” he says lamely.
Glancing down, I notice that Rylan is doing the same thing that I am, flexing his hand, making a fist and releasing it, over and over. I’m surprised he isn’t losing his shit. Channing isn’t even my woman, and I’m on the fucking edge.
“She’s not in there,” Beaumont grunts loud enough for the sheriff to hear.
Rylan nods, agreeing. “No, she’s not.”
“Where do they have her?” Ford asks. He lifts his hand to his jaw and scrubs his five o’clock shadowed face.
Nobody answers the door, just as we suspected, and the sheriff makes his way back toward us with a worried look and a shrug.
“Call us if she comes home. I’ll make sure to put the word out at the station. We’ll find her, if she wants to be found, that is.” He doesn’t wait for us to respond, he walks away, slips into his cruiser and drives off.
“Prick,” Beaumont grunts.
“Why do you hate him so much?” Louis asks.
All of our eyes shift over to Beaumont. He spits, then he lifts his eyes to us. “I don’t hate him. I hate his sister,” he shrugs.
“Who, Chelle?” Ford asks, with a frown.
It dawns on me. Chelle was always a bitch, I remember who she was, and I remember her dragging Beaumont through the wringer before he left town and got himself famous.
The story about Chelle isn’t new, I’ve heard it a million times. It’s practically town legend, or maybe more lore. Whatever the fuck it is, it has nothing to do with our task at hand—finding Channing.
Then it hits me. “What about James’ brother?” I ask, interrupting their story time.
All of the men slowly turn to face me, different looks of surprise on their faces.
“Do you know where he lives?” Louis asks.
Me and Ford both nod. Gallup isn’t that big, and with my job, I know where pretty much everyone lives, including that fucking piece of shit, Jacob.
“Let’s go in one car. Drop the trucks off at the diner and head out from there together,” I mutter.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Louis nods.
We all split up and Rylan climbs into the passenger seat of my truck as I climb into the driver’s seat. “You think she’s at the brother’s?” Rylan asks.
“I honest to God do not know, Ry. We’re going to exhaust every option though. We will find her,” I state.
“Fuck,” he grunts.
I stay quiet as I focus on driving toward the house. A million different thoughts fill my head. I hate all of them, and I try to keep them from infiltrating, but fuck, they have her, I know that they do.
“We will not stop until she is found. We know that they have her. She didn’t just run off, not Channing. Not after the other night. If she went anywhere, she knows she can come to me, but her car is there, her check is there. She did not just run off on a whim,” I mutter to Rylan as much as I say it to myself.
EXETER
I’m helping MawMaw with her famous chocolate sheet cake when there’s a pounding on the door.
“Just pop that in the oven, child, and I’ll get the door,” she says, giving me a wide smile.
I don’t argue with her, this is her house and I’m just here to spend the afternoon with her.
“The house next door? Have you seen two pregnant women go inside?” I hear a masculine voice ask.
Shoving my hands under the warm water, I wash them and grab a drying towel quickly just as I hear MawMaw’s voice respond to the man.
“There are always young girls going in and out of there. You know it ain’t right, he’s a grown man. It’s none of my never mind, but those girls don’t look of age,” she explains.
“I think he kidnapped my girlfriend, she’s pregnant. Do you think you could try and get them out of the house? I just want to talk to him, see if she’s in there,” he rambles.
My heart stops. Jacob. He’s a sick piece of shit, but I didn’t think he could hurt a pregnant woman, though it wouldn’t surprise me, not with the evidence I’ve seen of how he handles women on Emily’s skin.
“I’ll call the sheriff,” MawMaw states, and she takes a step back.
My feet are somehow glued to the floor and they only move when I hear the panicked man’s voice again. “I already called, they said because she’s an adult they won’t file a missing person’s report yet. She’s missing though, and I think they took her.”
MawMaw looks over toward Jacob’s house again, then back to the man as I arrive at her side.
“MawMaw, what’s going on?” I ask.
I look at the man, he’s handsome, his dark blond hair and familiar light brown eyes looking up at us, pleading. He’s covered in tattoos, and although they should probably look frightening, they don’t. They only make him look even more handsome than he naturally is.
Lifting my gaze, I look past him to the other men at his back and I see him. Wyatt. I can feel my face get hot, and I know that my cheeks are bright red at the sight of him.
Oh my God.
He’s here, standing right in front of me, and I realize once again, that I could never have him, not really. He’s absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.