Page 23 of Stripped Bare

“I know it’s one of these two,” Ally told them.“They look so similar in the photos.Can we pull these two up again and let me see if maybe something on the websites will trigger for me?”

“Absolutely,” Shep agreed and took a seat in front of his laptop.He quickly logged on and brought up two tabs, each holding one of the sites.He stood and held the chair out for Ally.

They all moved in close.Stace, Shep and Blake hovered over Ally’s shoulder looking at the screen with her, though only Ally could point them in the right direction.Shep and Stace had only printed out photos showing the cabin sites in full, thinking that would be their best bet.But obviously Ally was looking for something in particular, either something she’d seen for herself or something the man had shown her.Stace hoped Ally found it.

“Here,” Ally finally said, pointing to a tiny hand-painted sign that once led the way to a children’s summer camp that had been closed for years.“This is what I was looking for.We’ll find Chloe and the others here.”

Blake moved back, cell phone already in hand.“I’ll put in a call to the authorities and let them know what we might be looking at.The nearest hospital to that site will need to be prepared staff-wise for the number of people who’ll be coming in.Ally, do you have any idea what they might have?Did you pick up anything from him or Chloe on that?”

Ally shook her head.“Neither of them knew for sure what was causing the fever.Chloe was run-down and exhausted when she succumbed to it.She’s been surviving the last few weeks on little to no sleep, and though, he would demand she eat, she didn’t always comply if he wasn’t there to make her.”

Blake moved away as he put his phone to his ear.

“Chloe always puts others before herself,” Stace said.“She has a great need to nurture and care for others, thus her call to nursing.”Stace smiled.“I guess medical school, too.”

“Contact made,” Blake said, stepping back over to them.“They’re making calls and setting up now.They’re sending a few medical staff out to the site to get an idea of what we’re looking at.We’ll need to mask when we get there.”

Stace nodded.

“Ready?”Shep asked.

“Weeks ago,” Stace said as they all moved toward the front door.

“We’ll follow behind,” Blake said as Stace shut and locked the door.

“Good call,” Shep agreed then glanced at Stace.“Blake has emergency medical training and keeps it up to date.”

Stace nodded, unable to focus on anything but finding Chloe.She’d been waiting for this moment since arriving home and learning her sister was missing.She wished she’d just once in all that time thought of contacting someone like Ally.But it hadn’t entered her head.

“Almost over,” Shep vowed, eyes locked on the road ahead.“Soon, you can put this nightmare behind you.”

“I’m just praying Chloe pulls through whatever this fever is,” Stace replied.“Once she recovers, I’ll make sure she knows how important she is to me, how much I love and admire her.”

“Those things are very important,” Shep agreed.

“Will you need to head back right away?”Stace asked.“I mean with your job.You’ll probably need to get back to Legacy once this is all over.”

“I have some time off due,” Shep said, glancing over at her quickly.“Are you saying you’d like me to stay?”

Stace took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’d really like you to stay,” she said softly.

“Then I’ll stay,” Shep said.“I’ll give Jack a call later and let him know what’s going on and that I’ll be staying a little longer.”

“Thank you,” Stace said.“I need to be here for Chloe.I’ve failed too often in the past, and I can’t let her down this time.But I don’t want you to leave.Not yet.”Maybe not ever.

“It’ll all work out,” Shep promised.“It’s easy to see how much you love your sister.I’m betting she loves you just as much.Plus, I was already planning to stay.I won’t get in the way.”

“You couldn’t,” Stace said, knowing he wouldn’t.She’d never met a man more in tune with the people around him and what they needed.Hell, he read her like a book, no matter how much she tried to keep buried.

Who would have thought her sister’s kidnapping would bring a man like Shep into her life?Stace hadn’t been looking for a relationship.She’d been ready to leave her job and finally focus on family and making friends, sticking closer to home.Now, she felt as if she had at least two friends in Shep and Ally.Once she had the opportunity to get to know Blake better, she anticipated they’d be friends, as well.Funny how life worked sometimes.

Chapter Eleven

Stace snapped to attention when she saw the hand-painted sign that had pointed Ally in the right direction.It was faded and weather-beaten now, more of a reminder of what had once been than the welcome it was originally meant to be.But it was all Stace needed to have her heartbeat speeding up.Adrenaline coursed through her.She couldn’t make up for the past, for not being there.But she could make sure she was there from now on and that Chloe knew whatever she wanted to do or be, Stace would fully support her.

The medical staff had beaten them to the camp and were already carrying out people and loading them into ambulances.Officers flooded the area as they tried to help and question at the same time.

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