“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.”
The urge to use my fists to get the information out of him was almost unbearable. My fingers flexed and tightened around the grip of my gun again. “You’re right, you don’t have to tell me anything. But if anything happens to her, you can be arrested and charged as an accessory. I’ll make sure that happens.”
Ian scoffed and spat off the porch in my direction. “Your lies and trumped-up charges don’t scare me.”
I pulled out my cell phone with my free hand and typed a text to Ruiz, letting him know to pick Ian up for questioning. Then I looked at Addie. “Do you have any idea where he would go?”
She glanced in that same direction again, out to the national forest land. “He has a place out there. He would never tell me where exactly. It was his emergency place. But it’ll be within a day’s ride from here. Likely, half a day.”
That was a hell of a lot of land to cover. And I knew this wasn’t property Ben owned. He was squatting and hoping not to be discovered by the Forest Service. “Anything else you can think of?”
Addie shook her head. “Can I come with you?”
Her voice shook as she asked the question. But the bravery beneath the trembling meant I would forever admire this woman. “Of course, you can.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Allen bellowed, charging forward. “And you’re going to answer for your insolence.”
I shoved him back, tightening my hold on my gun. “Step back. Addie is an adult. And she is free to leave whenever she wants.” I glanced at her. “Do you have anything you need to get?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but Allen cut her off. “If she removes anything from this property, she’ll be shot for stealing and trespassing.” His eyes narrowed on his daughter. “If you leave now, you’ll be cast out. Dead to me and everyone else in this family.”
Addie raised her chin. “It would be a sweet relief to be dead to you.”
Allen’s face turned so red, I wondered if he was having a stroke. I motioned Addie towards my SUV. “Get in. It’s unlocked.” I kept my gaze trained on the two men as I waited for her to get safely inside the vehicle.
Allen’s fists clenched and unclenched as he spluttered. “You’re going to pay for this.”
“You won’t touch me or Addie. If you do, the department will come for you first. And this won’t be something you can get out of.”
Allen was silent but clearly raging as I walked backwards towards my vehicle. Opening the door, I climbed inside. “You know how to shoot?” I asked Addie.
“I know enough.”
I handed her my gun. “Take this, just in case.”
Her hands trembled as she took hold of the metal. “I’m sorry if I made trouble for you.”
I started the engine and took off down the drive. “Don’t be sorry. You were brave as hell.”
“W-where are you going to take me?”
“To my mom. You’ll be safe at our ranch, and your dad and cousin will likely think I have you at the station.”
Tears slipped from her eyes and tracked down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
I wanted to reach out and pat Addie’s shoulder, to give her some sort of comfort, but I could tell any sort of touch wouldn’t be welcome. I tore down the main road towards our ranch. It was still startling how close our land came to the Kempers’. A mere ten minutes’ drive. But it might as well have been a world away. And I was beyond grateful for that at the moment.
My phone rang just as we pulled onto our ranch road. Ruiz’s voice came through the speaker. “Tell me everything.”
I recounted the events of the past thirty minutes, including the fact that Addie was with me. “We need to coordinate with Forest Service and get search parties in that area.”
“We will, but we don’t know he has her.”
“It’s a direction. A possibility. We have to try.”
Ruiz let out a sound of frustration. “We split the teams. Half in that area, half working their way out from Everly’s cabin.”
It was a good plan. Sound. But it didn’t mean I could rest. “Tell the teams I’ll be in the area, searching. I don’t want anyone to shoot my ass.”
“Hayes…”
“It’s public land. You can’t keep me out.”
“Fine. But be careful.”
I noted an SUV parked in front of my parents’ house that didn’t belong to them. “I’ll have Calder with me.”
“Great, a smoke-eater watching your back.”
“He knows how to shoot.”
“I hope he does.” Ruiz hung up without another word.
I turned to Addie, sliding my phone into my pocket. “You can hand me the gun now.”
She did so instantly, her hands still trembling.
“You ready to go inside?”
“S-sure.”
I climbed out of the vehicle and rounded the hood to open Addie’s door. She didn’t move for a few moments. “No one’s going to hurt you here. You’re safe.”
More tears slipped down her cheeks. “He’ll never truly let me go.”
“He has to. And we’re going to make sure of that.”
Addie swung her legs around and eased out of the passenger seat. Pain flashed across her features as her feet hit the ground.
My hand went to her elbow. “Do you need a doctor?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
“You let me know if you change your mind.”
I led her towards the ranch house. As we walked up the porch steps, the front door flew open. My mom’s eyes widened as she took in Addie. “Well, who do we have here?”
I had to give it to my mother. I could tell her nerves were frayed, her eyes were rimmed in red. Clearly, she’d gotten the news that Everly was missing. But she pulled it together and gave the woman in front of her a warm smile.