I don’t care. He can blame me if he wants. Because I don’t care. If Carly is gone…
Fuck!
The oncoming car screeches to a halt, dredging up water and splashing the three of us.
I don’t care.
I don’t care about any of this.
“Where is she?” Vance demands as he exits his vehicle.
“There’s no evidence of a collision,” Chance says. “She’s not here, Mayor.”
“Damn it!”
I hear him stomp his feet on the wet road.
I don’t move.
“Damn it all, Bridger,” he says, although I’m not sure who he’s talking to. Until he gets in my face.
“Hey”—Chance’s voice—“you leave my brother alone. Can’t you see this is killing him?”
“Killing him?” Vance snarls. “What do you think it’s doing to Darla and me? We already lost her once.”
I don’t bother moving my head. I don’t bother facing Mayor Vance.
I don’t bother doing anything, because I have no will left.
I came back from Seattle for Carly. I chose her.
And now…
She’s gone. My Carly is gone.
“Let’s call the sheriff,” Chance says. “Get a search party started.”
“Search party?” Vance says. “No search party will find her. They couldn’t find her the last time.”
“Mayor, listen to reason,” Miles says. “It was a bad storm. She may have just left her car when the water— Wait. What the hell is that?”
“Oh my God,” Mayor Vance gasps. “Carly? Carly, are you all right?”
Carly?
Finally, I move, and I look toward their voices.
And I see an angel.
An angel coming down from the hillside the creek was carved from, the rain, a hazy fog around her.
“Carly!” Vance shouts.
I don’t say a word. I run. I race toward her, nearly slipping on the wet grass, and I grab her in my arms. “Oh my God, Carly. Thank God!”
She melts into me. She’s soaked through and chilled. It’s a warm morning, but she’s been out in the elements for a while and the wind is strong.
“What happened, baby?” I hold her tight and then pull back, hold her shoulders so I can trace over her body. Make sure she’s not hurt. That she’s whole.