“Want out of here.”
“Okay, baby.” Tanner kisses my forehead, and I notice for the first time that his hands are shaking.
“You okay?” I ask him.
“No. No, I’m not okay. But I will be.”
“How did you know?”
“She okay?” I glance up at the voice and see Belle standing next to us.
“You found something.”
She grins at me and nods. “Yeah, I did. And it’s a good thing because it looks like this party was about to go south real fast.”
“What did you find?”
“Baby, we can talk about this later.”
“I want to know.”
Belle squats in front of me and licks her lips. “Bridget’s parents reported her as a missing person a couple of months ago. There’s been no trace of her until last week when she used her debit card to rent a camper.”
I feel my eyes go wide. “How did they miss that?”
“Yeah, someone dropped the ball. I found she used her card a couple of times after that, once here in Huckleberry Bay. Knowing her connection to your ex, the puzzle fit together.”
“Belle called me and asked if you were with me, and when I said no, we raced over here,” Tanner finishes. “And her hunch was right.”
“Thank God.”
Scott arrives with a gurney. “We’re taking you to the hospital. You’re going to need stitches for that, and I want your head checked for concussion.”
“I’m not arguing.”
The guys help me up onto the gurney, but before they wheel me out, I stop them.
“Take me to her.”
“Sarah,” Scott begins, but I stop him.
“Take me to her.”
He wheels me over, and Bridget looks up at me. She looks pitiful and sad. And lost.
“There’s help, you know. He really messed with your head, but it doesn’t always have to be like that. You and your baby can get help and be safe.”
She swallows hard and nods. “Yeah, well, I’m probably going to jail, anyway.”
“Maybe. But you can turn this around. Just stay far away from me.”
She nods again. “I won’t be back.”
“Do you want to talk to the asshole motherfucker?” Scott asks.
“Absolutely not.”
“It’s good to be home.”I cuddle Petunia close and kiss her soft cheek. As soon as I walked through the door, she came racing to meet me. “I was only gone one night, but you’d think it was a year, as far as she’s concerned.”