Page 117 of Never Die for a Sinner
Then, there’s that other part that refuses to let anyone see what’s really going on in my head. Conceal it. That’s always been so easy before. Why’s it so damned difficult now?
I try the handle, finding it unlocked. Good thing, too, because I’m this fucking close to breaking it down.
I push her door open, and the scent of her perfume is dull. Like she hasn’t been here in a while.
A trickling sense of awareness slips down my spine when I quietly shut the door and start looking around Cross Estate.
She’s nowhere to be found, and with today being her day off, I expected to at least find her in the study, reading, or up in her room.
I check with Javier, but he hasn’t seen her since last night. I text Mila, but she hasn’t seen her either.
I make my way through every room, even going so far as to check the room at the end of the hall—you know, the one I’ve made it a point to avoid for the last month? She’s nowhere to befound, and that’s when the quiet alarm bells ringing in my ears turn into a full-on roar.
“Paulina,” I snap when I find her in the office at the lodge. “Where’s Ava?”
Her brows knit together, and she excuses herself from the guest she was helping.
“Today’s her day off.”
I grit my teeth, an unsettling sensation slipping through my veins.
“So, where is she?”
“I believe she was going on a hike. I saw her leave a little while ago with a backpack.” She looks at the clock on the wall. “She should be back by now.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
She cocks a brow, clearly unimpressed. “We discussed this. She’s a big girl. If the brat wants to traipse through the woods on her own, let her.”
“She’s not a fucking brat,” I grit.She’smybrat. “She could die out there, or did you not realize a storm was rolling in?”
She stares at me for a beat, her gaze softening, and beneath that hard exterior, I see a concern that fills my stomach with dread.
My girl’s out there in a fucking storm.
“She should be back by now,” Paulina repeats quietly.
“I’m going after her.”
“You can’t go out in a storm like that,” Paulina urges, rushing behind me. “It’s dangerous.”
That’s what scares me. Ava is tiny compared to me. I’ve got at least a hundred pounds on her, and I’m a whole head taller. She’s out in a bad storm when even I wouldn’t chance that.
“I won’t leave her alone out there.”
Pushing past her, I hurry out the door as the rain cuts loose, pouring down from overhead. I hurry back to the house, grab a flashlight, and slide a hoodie on—not the best for rain, but it’s better than nothing—before I head out into the storm after checking her room one last time.
The rain makes it difficult to see, and as dusk approaches, it’s getting darker and darker. She’ll be hard to see out in the brush, but I have to try.
Without waiting another minute, I storm through the trees, following the path up the mountain.
It’s a gradual climb, but it’s long, and I know better than anyone how easy these woods are to get lost in if you stray from the path. If I know Ava, she’s so far off the fucking path, she’s forgotten it’s there by now.
“Ava!” I call out into the rain that falls overhead.
It’ll be dark soon, and for all I know, she could be hurt. It’s cold, and as the rain pelts down, it’s only getting colder.
I can’t explain the burn in my chest, nor the panic in my veins at the silence that greets me in place of her soft, sweet voice.
