Page 64 of Death Valley

“Yes,” Jensen confirms grimly. “I was about to intervene and beat his fucking ass when Adam stormed off into the woods. Lainey followed him, telling him to come back, that it wasn’t safe. I went after them both, but the terrain is treacherous even in daylight. At night…”

“You lost them,” I finish for him bitterly.

“I heard screams,” he says, voice dropping to almost a whisper. “Adam’s, then Lainey’s. By the time I reached them, there was blood on the ground. Drag marks leading into the trees.”

My heart hammers painfully against my ribs. “Like with Hank.”

“Yes. I followed the trail as far as I could, but it led into a cave system at the base of the ridge. I…” He hesitates, shame evident in the set of his shoulders. “I was afraid. I was fucking afraid, like I’d never been before. I’d seen movement—shapes in the darkness that moved too fast, eyes that reflected blue in the moonlight. Feral people. Hungry people. One of them started toward me, and I ran. Didn’t have my rifle on me. Should have had my rifle on me. They came for me like an animal and I leaped out of the way, fell down a cliff, broke my leg.” He taps his right one. “Screamed for help but there’s no one to hear you scream in these mountains. So I dragged myself back to camp for supplies, for my rifle, but by then a snow storm had moved in. Like this one, but one of those late spring surprises.”

“And you never found them,” I grind out. “You just let her go.”

“I couldn’t get anywhere,” he says, his brows coming together in a plea. “I tried. Managed to get a signal eventually, stroke of luck, then Eli came to get me but by then I was delirious. I couldn’t have searched then, but I did as soon as I healed enough. Came right back up here despite knowing what I saw and I searched for three days. There were a few signs of a struggle, blood. But no bodies.”

“And you didn’t report it to the authorities? Didn’t tell anyone what happened?”

Jensen looks away, unable to meet my gaze. “No. I was scared. Scared of what I’d seen in those caves. Scared of whatthe police would think—a man alone in the mountains with two missing people? Above all, I was scared of Marcus.”

“Marcus?”

“Marcus Thorne. The man who owns most of my debts. The man who effectively owns the ranch.” Jensen’s face is carved with bitterness. “He’d be uncovered. The ranch would be finished. My mother’s care would be finished. Everything my family worked for and tried to protect over the generations would be gone.”

Uncoveredis a curious choice of words, but I leave it alone for now. It only solidifies my suspicions that Jensen’s ranch is a front and his crew is involved in criminal activities.

But right now that’s the least of my damn worries.

I sigh, sucking my lip between my teeth, trying to make sense of everything all at once and coming up with nothing. I want to be angry at his selfishness. I want to hate him for keeping this from me, for leading me astray, for lying. But far beneath my anger is a current of understanding. That terrible weight of responsibility. The impossible choices we make to protect what we love. Even if my anger is driving me right now, I get him on some level.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Fuck.Lainey.

The thought of her is visceral, a knife to my heart that leaves me flayed.

He knew her. He brought her here.

He lost her here.

“So you let them vanish,” I say, swallowing hard. “You let my sister become just another missing person statistic. Another cold case.”

Colder than ice, I think.

“I’ve regretted it every day,” he says, his brows knitting together, voice choked with pain. The guilt is etched into everyline of his face. “When you showed up at the ranch, when I realized who you were…I thought maybe it was a chance to make things right. To give you the closure I couldn’t give Lainey. I thought maybe it could be absolution for us both.”

“By taking my money.” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice. “And saying nothing.”

“By finding out what really happened to her,” he protests. “And yes, by using the money to save my ranch, my mother’s care. I’m not proud of it, Aubrey. I’ve never been proud of the man I’ve become. But I need you to understand. These mountains…they hold onto their secrets. They protect their own.”

“Their own,” I repeat. “You mean the…hungry ones. The transformed. The things that took Hank. The things that took Lainey and Adam.”

He nods. “I believe Lainey found what she was looking for that night. Her connection to the McAlisters, to Josephine, to the hunger. I think she found her family. What I don’t know is what happened next. Whether she died or…”

The implication hangs unspoken in the air between us.

Whether she was killed by them in the end…

Fuck.

She can’t…she can’t actually be out there still, can she?

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