Anna sagged against the car, scrubbing a hand over her face. “God, why does everything have to go wrong at once?” she said, voice thick with emotion. “I thought George’s return was the worst possible thing that could happen today. But now Kinsey ismissing? I just… I can’t believe it.”
Erin took a step closer and tentatively patted her arm. “We’ve been looking for her all night, Ms. Holland,” she said in a soft tone. “And we’re not going to stop.”
“Exactly.” I lifted my chin and braced my shoulders. “Wherever she is, we’re going to find her.”
Anna wiped her cheeks. “How?” she asked, voice coming out in a broken murmur. “God, I can barely even think straight.”
“You need to go to the police station and file a missing persons report for Kinsey. They’re more likely to listen to you because you’re her mother,” I said. “Once they hear she’s not at home, they’ll take a look at her ankle monitor data to confirm it. Then they’ll send someone to her exact location and pick her up.”
Anna nodded. “All right,” she said in a tremulous tone. “I’ll head to the station now.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. “Take this with you,” I said, handing over my credit card. “When you’re done at the station, drive to Woodsen’s Bay. There’s a hotel there that my family has nothing to do with, so they won’t turn you away. We can stay there while we’re trying to figure everything out.”
“I’m sure the police will find Kinsey as soon as possible,” Erin said, leaning in to give Anna a hug. “Everything will be okay soon.”
“Thank you, honey,” Anna murmured. She glanced over Erin’s shoulder at me. “Both of you. I… I can’t thank you enough.”
I gave her a tight smile. “You don’t need to thank me. Just text me updates about the police and let me know which hotel rooms you end up booking.”
“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath and unlocked her car. Then she turned back, flashing a quizzical glance at Erin and me. “What are you two going to do?”
“We’ll drive around looking for Kinsey, just in case she’s wandering along the edge of a road somewhere.”
Anna nodded, sniffing back more tears. Then she got in the car and slowly headed down the driveway.
When the gate slid shut, Erin turned to me, brows furrowing. “Are we really just going to drive around all night looking for Kinsey?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No. We need to figure out a backup plan to find her.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m worried something’s going on with her ankle monitor,” I said. “I’m not sure she was ever actually here tonight.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean you think someone might’ve cut it off her and brought it here to trick the police?”
“Yeah, I think it’s possible,” I replied. “And if it’s true, the cops won’t be able to track her down from the data.”
“Okay.” Erin looked over at my car and snapped her fingers toward my jacket, motioning for me to grab my keys. “Let’s go and find her.”
I dug into my pocket and grabbed my keys, letting the cold metal dig into the palm of my hand as I clenched it tight and strode toward my car. I had to make this right. Had to find Kinsey and put a stop to whatever was happening to her right now.
No one fucked with my girl.
Ever.
4
Jax
“I’ve been thinking about something.”Erin turned to look at me from the passenger seat, brows knitting. “Something you said earlier.”
“What?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. I kept hoping to see Kinsey running behind the car, frantically waving for us to stop and pick her up, but the road remained dark and empty.
“When you told me how you and Kinsey thought I might be the killer,” Erin replied. “You guys also thought I might be RXorcist.”
“Right. What about it?”
Erin sat up straighter, tugging on her seatbelt to loosen it. “Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t think RXorcist is the killer. That doesn’t make sense to me. But I do think he or she could help us find Kinsey.”