River's End (River's End Series, #1)(42)

Today, she had nowhere left to go. The pain in her stomach increased. She had nowhere else to go. Literally. There was no friend in Seattle. No job. No family. Very little money and no home. She was homeless. She was illiterate. And she was nearly the street whore Joey accused her of being.

She pushed her hair back into a headband and secured it with a rubber band. She brushed her teeth and threw cold water on her face, looking towards the front of the trailer. It was empty. Not unusual. Starting towards her clothes, she abruptly stopped. With a frown, she realized it was gone. Her duffel bag wasn’t sitting next to the table. Her heartbeat sped. Shit. No! She got to her feet and looked outside the trailer. Her stomach pain nearly knocked her onto her knees. Her breathing stopped, and her hands clenched. Her car was gone! And her money was gone! She sank into a chair and closed her eyes as hot tears fell over her cheeks.

Her brother had just stolen her entire life.

Dropping her hands from her face, she couldn’t just sit there. She crossed the trailer, jerked the door open, and threw on her sneakers before running across the yard, up onto the porch, and pounding loudly on the front door of the Rydells’ house. She tapped her foot until Joey answered.

He rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face. “God, Erin, I meant it. Don’t start already.”

She pushed past him. They were all there: every big, intimidating man who held her entire life in his hands. Even Ben and Charlie were at the table, eating cereal, and paused to stare at her.

She was still wearing her pajamas, and hadn’t even put a coat on. Or a bra, she now realized. Still, it didn’t matter. There was no time to waste.

“Erin?” Ian spoke when no else did.

“He stole my car. Chance stole my car and everything in my duffel bag. He’s gone.”

They didn’t move and she frowned. No one acted as if they’d even heard her.

“Didn’t you hear me? He stole my car. You have to call the police. We have to go after him. Don’t you understand? We have to do something.” Hysteria tinged her words, and tears started to fall down her face. They didn’t get it. Her entire life was that little bit of money and her car. Without them, she was destitute.

“Uh, Erin, why don’t you calm down a little bit and start over? And maybe you want to borrow this.”

She glanced up when Ian came towards her carrying a coat. Looking down, she nearly screamed with annoyance. They were not reacting to her simply because she was wearing a thin tank top? If there had been anything to throw nearby her, she would have hurled it at the first head she could find. She grabbed the coat and wrapped it around her.

Turning, she found Jack at the stove. He was pouring coffee when she burst in. “Jack… Jack, please you have to do something. He’s gone.”

Jack finally seemed to hear her and slammed the coffee pot down before stepping forward. “Are you sure? Maybe he just borrowed it.”

“I kept the keys hidden under the couch that I slept on. Not easily found. He took all my money. He didn’t borrow it. He’s gone.”

Jack frowned and glanced at his brothers. “All right. Ian, you and Shane go south; Joe and I will go north. Ben, call the police for me, okay? Tell them where we’re looking. Write down the make, model and license plate of your car for Ben. You have any idea where he might go?”

She shook her head. “No. None. He didn’t talk about anything to me.”

“There’s one highway up and down the valley, so it’s doubtful he got too far.”

“I should come.”

Jack hardly spared her a glance. “You should get dressed and wait for us to get back. Ben, get Charlie to school, okay?”

“Sure, Dad.”

Jack was putting his hat on. He looked at her one last time before walking out the door with the keys in his hands, followed by his brothers.

****

Erin paced for an hour. Then, a squad car pulled in. She ran out and met the officer, describing her car and Chance, along with the theft of her items. He wrote it all down. But she felt like screaming because no one seemed to comprehend how dire the situation was.

The officer left, claiming he would search above the ranch. There were miles of dirt roads that trailed through the back of the mountains. There were dozens of spots to hide and plenty of abandoned buildings for temporary cover.

She finally sat down and put her head into her hands. There was nothing more she could do. She never felt so useless, stupid, or helpless in her life. She jumped when she heard a knock at the trailer door. Standing up, she quickly crossed the small space to open it.

Jack stood there. He was so big, he had to duck his head to enter the trailer. He took his hat off first and his red hair glistened in the sunlight. His eyes looked around, taking in every detail of the trailer, then he looked at her. He frowned when he saw what she was still wearing.

“Did you find him?”

Jack shook his head. “No. No one’s seen your car.”

She dropped to the chair and glared angrily at her hands.

“You probably should get dressed. The police intend to come by here.”

“They did already. I gave them a statement.”

“O-o-o-kay,” Jack said as he finally sat across from her. She looked up at him. He was so big, he didn’t fit in the trailer chair and had to rest his long legs at the side of the small table. He made the trailer seem like a car. He was quiet for so long, she finally couldn’t stand it.