My SUV bumped over a series of potholes as I made my way up the drive to the Kemper ranch. Pulling to a stop in front of the series of buildings, I forced my hands to release their stranglehold on the wheel. I flexed and fisted my fingers, trying to get a bit of feeling back in them. But they remained numb, just like the rest of me.
I couldn’t feel a damn thing. From my fingers to my toes. Some part of me registered that my heart was still beating inside my chest, but I felt so removed from it that the organ might as well have not existed.
My gaze swept over the buildings and ranch roads, but everything looked eerily still. There were trucks and a beat-to-hell sedan parked next to the house, but I didn’t see one sign of life. I flexed my hands again. Was Everly here? In one of these buildings? In a shed like Shiloh had been held in? Or worse, was I too late?
I shoved that thought from my head and pushed open my door. Mom kept saying when Shiloh was missing that she would know if her baby was gone. I had to believe I would know if Ev had left this Earth. I would feel it in my bones.
As I slammed the door to my vehicle, Allen stepped out onto the front porch of his house. “You’re not welcome here.”
“I don’t care where I’m welcome. I have some questions, and you’re going to answer them.”
Allen’s jaw worked back and forth. “We’ve talked to a lawyer. We’ll be filing harassment charges against you and the department next week.”
“Good luck with that.” It wouldn’t be the first suit Allen and his family had filed. They were always thrown out of court at one point or another, but they clogged up the legal system—sometimes for months. And the department would have to waste resources to deal with it.
The door swung open again, and Ian appeared, a sneer on his face. “Here to throw your bullshit papers around again? I already told you. I’ll go wherever the hell I want. Talk to whoever I want. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
I rested my hand on the butt of my gun. “Where’s Everly?”
Ian’s face immediately blanked. “How the hell would I know? Can’t keep track of your woman, Sheriff? That’s because you don’t take a firm enough hand with her.”
My fingers tightened around the metal, the grip like an extension of my hand. Rage pulsed through me like a second heartbeat. I closed my eyes for the briefest of moments, trying to pull it back. “I’m going to ask you one more time, where is she?”
“Is Evie missing?”
The soft voice came from my right, and I whirled around to see Addie. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and she moved stiffly. But even with those struggling movements, I hadn’t heard her coming. “Yes. She was taken about an hour ago, give or take. Have you seen her?”
Addie’s eyes widened, fear streaking through her expression. But it was Allen who spoke, his words cracking out like a whip. “Don’t say another word to him, Adaline.”
She straightened, but I didn’t miss the wince of pain as she did so. “She’s not here. No one’s come or gone in over two hours.”
“Adaline, be silent.” Allen charged from the porch, but I stepped between him and his daughter, pulling my gun.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to stay there, sir.”
“This is my property, and that’s my daughter.”
“And she’s answering my questions right now.” I glanced back at Addie. “Who has been here recently?”
Addie tore at the side of her nail, a bit of blood springing up. “Ben. He came a few hours ago to talk to Ian.”
“Is that typical?”
Her gaze flittered from me to Ian and back, always checking to see where her father was. “Sure. He comes by every few days, usually. But…”
“Addie, shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you,” Ian hissed.
“Tell me,” I urged. “I can keep you safe.”
Her expression went bleak. “No one can do that. But you’ll keep Evie safe, right?”
“I’ll keep you both safe.”
Addie looked off into the distance, towards the seemingly never-ending national forest land that wrapped around our mountains. “Ben was agitated. He said Evie needed to come home, to be protected. He hasn’t been himself since his wife died.” She glared at Ian. “And Ian just gets him riled up. I couldn’t hear everything they said, but Ben tore out of here pretty fast.”
My rib cage gave a painful squeeze around my lungs. Ben. If he was the one who had her, that could be good or bad. He wanted to protect her, but it also sounded like he was in the midst of a mental break. I turned to Ian. “What did he say to you?”
“I don’t have to tell you a damn thing. But maybe he’ll be the one to finally teach Everly her place.”