Whispers of You (Lost & Found #1)(31)

All the pain; the destruction of a life that had been so beautiful and held such promise. And for what? Because of five minutes. Three hundred seconds. Because Holt took the world on his shoulders and couldn’t release that Superman mentality.

Five minutes had cost me a lifetime of happiness—or maybe Holt’s stubborn bullheadedness had.

As livid as I was with him, my heart broke for Holt, too. The weight he carried was clearly crushing him. It had cost him his home, his family. Me. And for what? So he could play the noble, tortured hero?

My phone rang again. Grae’s face lit up the screen. When the ringing stopped, a text popped up.

Grae: If you don’t answer the next time, I’m coming over there.





My cell instantly started ringing again, and I slid my finger across the screen. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve always been a horrible liar.”

I laughed, but the sound was hoarse. “Okay, I’m not fine, but I will be.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Want some company? We can watch Little Women for the eighty millionth time and eat our weight in popcorn.”

“Thanks, G, but I think I’m just going to take a shower and go to bed.”

“I’m sorry I pushed you to come. It was selfish. I just kept thinking that maybe I could have all my favorite people together again. But I hurt you, and that makes me a carp friend.”

“Carp?”

“Gotta keep it clean for the little monsters.”

I snorted. “You’re not a carp friend. Not a crap one, either. I get you want things to go back to the way they were. But that’s impossible. Tell me you see that.”

The other end of the call was silent. She’d loved when Holt and I got together. Said it just meant I’d officially be her sister one day. And it wasn’t easy for her to give up on that dream.

“G, I love you. Soul sister for life. But I can’t give you this.” My throat clogged, and tears filled my eyes for the millionth time tonight. “It hurts too much.”

“Wren—”

“I don’t hate him. I want nothing but good things for him. But I can’t have him in my life the way you want me to.” If he moved back for good, I might be able to see him in town occasionally and wave. Have a polite, surface conversation, even. But I couldn’t watch him move on. I couldn’t see him every day, watch him with Lawson’s kids—maybe even his—knowing that we were too broken to ever find our way back to each other.

“Okay,” Grae said softly. “No more meddling. I promise.”

I let out a silent breath. “Thank you.”

“Love you to the ends of the Earth, sister.”

“And to the moon and the stars.”

“Lunch tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure. Wildfire?”

“Yes, please.”

My fingers sifted through Shadow’s fur. “I’ll text you when I figure out my break.”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan.”

“’Night, G.”

“Sweet dreams.”

I hit end on the call. I doubted my dreams would be anything resembling sweet.

Shadow let out a low whine.

I climbed to my feet. “Sorry, girl. Let’s take you out.”

The snap of a twig outside my window had my movements slowing. Shadow’s whine turned to a low growl.

“Probably just a curious critter.” But I moved to the table in the entryway, my fingers searching the bowl of odds and ends until it closed around my Taser.

I hooked a leash to Shadow’s collar and wrapped it around my wrist, then turned on the flashlight app on my phone. I listened for a moment. Nothing. Opening the door, I stepped outside.

The usual sounds greeted me. Wind rustling the pines. The scurrying of nocturnal animals.

I tightened my grip on the Taser as I moved around the house to where I’d heard the sound. The beam of my flashlight didn’t land on any creatures, but as I got closer to the window that gave the best vantage point of my entire downstairs, my gaze caught on something.

A depression in the soft soil that would soon be my flower beds. A smudged shoe print.

My fingers numbly skated over my cell’s screen as I stared out at the woods. It rang twice before Lawson answered.

“Everything okay, Wren?”

“I think someone was outside my house. Watching me.”





13





HOLT





Everything in me went wired at Lawson’s words. I moved in closer, trying to make out the other end of the conversation, but he shoved me away.

“What makes you think that?” He was silent for a moment but nodded. “Get back inside. Lock the doors and windows. I’ll be over in ten.”

That was how long it would take to make the journey from here to Wren’s cabin.

“What happened?” I barked the second he got off the phone.

Lawson held up a hand. “She’s fine, but she thinks someone’s been nosing around her place.”

Everything in me tightened at his words. “Press?”

The tenth anniversary of the shooting was this year. My office had fielded so many inquiries for interviews I’d lost track. The media had a sick fascination with what had happened in Cedar Ridge, and thanks to some since-fired deputy, the fact that I had been the one to find Wren had gone public.