Page 74 of Splintered Memories
Iwatchedthesunrisethroughthe window of my living room. My arms were crossed high over my chest, my entire body tense.
The night had not been kind to us.
Emersyn was missing. It was as if she had vanished into thin air, without leaving any sign where she’d gone. The only thing I knew was that she had walked out into the night, by herself, and she had not returned.
A hand gripped my shoulder. I didn’t take my eyes off the sun steadily rising above the horizon in a haze of pinky orange. My dry, sore eyes ached, but sleep was the last thing on my mind.
“We’re going to find her,” Fox said beside me.
He didn’t know that. I might’ve had hope for that hours ago, but there was no telling where she was. I had no idea who took her. The only thing I knew was that someone wanted her dead…and maybe they had finally completed that task.
Pain laced through me at the thought. My arms tightened around my hollowed chest. I hadn’t kept her safe.
I had failed her. Again.
Fox let out a long breath when I ignored him. He was doing everything that he could do, but nothing had been enough.
The moment I’d gotten my brothers together, we immediately started the search. Fox had tracked Emersyn’s cell phone, only to find that she had left it in the small purse on one of the tables in the event hall. There were also no cameras in the hall except at the entrances. No cameras were even in the parking lot. We had practically nothing to go on.
All my brothers, including my dad, had done a thorough search of the area for most of the night. We’d come up utterly empty except for that small puddle of blood on the grass by the lake. I didn’t even know if it was her blood—I hoped that it wasn’t.
I’d never felt so damn helpless in my life.
Fox hovered around me, his concern and worry palpable. It was smothering. We had been back and forth from the Hearthstone office since we got back from the search of the event property. The rest of my family had gone to get a few hours of rest before we started searching again, but Fox had stayed with me.
I loved my brother, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I needed some air.
I needed to find Emersyn.
A desperate idea had been forming in my mind as I had waited for the sunrise. An idea I wanted my brother to have nothing to do with. It was foolish, a last reckless attempt, and I didn’t want to get both of us arrested if it came to that.
I turned on my heel, shrugging Fox’s hand off my shoulder. “I’m going for a drive. I need some air.”
Fox tensed, but he didn’t fight me on it as I stormed toward the door and out into the dewy morning.
I wasn’t expecting the white SUV in my driveway, or the man getting out of it. My stomach roiled as Tristan Hawthorn approached me. From the look on his face, he already knew what had happened.
I dodged his punch at the last second, dipping to the side as he cursed my name. When I righted myself, he came at me again. This time I caught his arm, stopping him. He was thin for his height, no match for me.
“Where’s my daughter?” he hissed at me, his eyes burning with rage and fear.
“I’m going to find her,” I said through clenched teeth. “Who the hell told you?”
His lips pulled up in a snarl. “You and your family weren’t hiding the fact that you were looking for her last night. There were a lot of people at that event. Of course I heard about it.”
I muttered profanities under my breath, pissed that we hadn’t been more covert last night. But we had to ask people whether they had seen anything. The gossip about our search was probably all around town by now.
“I hired you to do one damn job,” Tristan seethed. “You couldn’t even do that. I thought I was hiring one of the best.”
“You were obviously wrong about that,” I snapped. “I never claimed to be the best.” My heart felt fractured. Not because I failed him, but because I failed Emersyn. I pulled in a steadying breath through my nose. “I’m going to find her,” I repeated. Cautiously, I let go of Tristan’s arm, and he stumbled back. “I have to go take care of something, but I will let you know as soon as I find any information.”
Tristan pinned me with a look that conveyed he still wanted to punch my lights out, but some of that tension leached from his body as he straightened. He smoothed down his tie. “Where are you going?” he demanded.
I pressed my lips together, contemplating. I didn’t trust Tristan, but Emersyn was his daughter. “I’m going to see if I can get a lead on Emersyn.”
“I’m going with you.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. The last thing I wanted was Tristan Hawthorn tagging along. But he could be useful, and I had a feeling Tristan didn’t take no for an answer.
