Page 30 of Pushing Limits

“Like I said, we could…”

“No more people, Cole, she’s been through enough. Josie’s good with her, that fancy Doc Jimmer pays for visits three times a week. She can’t handle much more than that. I appreciate the offer but this is a promise I made to Jimmer, and she ain’t a burden,” he mumbles that last part like he don’t really want me to hear it.

“And what if there ain’t a happy ending to this? What if the girl really is too damaged to fix?”

“That ain’t an option, Cole, the girl’s far too young and far too fuckin’ beautiful.” He kicks his horse into a trot, letting me know the conversation’s over, and I hold Rebel back and let him get ahead.

I’ve known Mitch my whole life, and not once have I heard him talk about a woman that way. Something tells me the man needs some space to figure out the thoughts in his head.

It’s almost dark when I get back to the ranch. Mitch rode straight back to the cabin where he’s looking after the girl, Everleigh, we’re watching for Uncle Jimmer. When we were done making our checks, I stuck around after to check all the fences were secure before I headed back. I take my time putting Rebel down for the night and when I step back out the stable, I look through the dining room window and see everyone seatedaround the table. I know there will be a space laid out for me, there always is, and despite not really being in the mood for company I decide to join them anyway. I won’t admit to myself that the reason for that is because I wanna see Savannah.

Everyone looks a little shocked to see me when I trudge in and take my seat.

“Cole, nice to have you join us.” Maisie smiles at me warmly, while Josie heads to the kitchen to grab me a plate.

Savannah waits until I’m seated before she smiles at me too. And this time it doesn’t irritate me at all. How can it, when it belongs to me?

“Shall we try here?” Leia pulls the car to a stop at the bottom of a long track road that leads to an old-fashioned three-story house. “I wonder if he’ll follow us down there?” She giggles when she looks in her rearview mirror at the black van Finn is trying to hide the fact he’s following us in.

“Place looks like it’s been abandoned for years,” I point out.

“Perhaps she stayed here instead of the B&B in town.” Leia nods her head toward theGuest Housesign that now only hangs by one chain.

“I don’t think anyone has stayed here in decades.” I laugh. “But I guess there’s no harm in trying.” I can see an old car parked outside one of the outbuildings. Maybe someone still lives here after all.

Leia turns the wheel and starts driving up the long, overgrown track. We pass a rusty old truck with no doors that looks as if it gave up working years ago, and the whole vibe of the place is already giving me the heebie-jeebies.

“Surely, no one lives here. I doubt the place even has electricity.” I get out the car and lift my head to stare up at the windows. The frayed net curtains are a dull gray, and when the breeze picks up from behind us it makes a creepy whistle sound as it wraps around the house.

“This place is creepy as hell.” I stare at Leia over the roof of the car, but she’s still far too distracted to be freaked out by our surroundings.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. She’s been quiet ever since Karina showed up this morning and told her about the girl Esme was supposed to be meeting. Like Cole suggested, she omitted the rest of the events from her story.

“I don’t know why Karina didn’t say all that stuff to the police all those years ago. I remember the police going door to door, just like we’re doing now. Mom asked us both if we’d seen her and Karina said no. If she had said about this girl back then, maybe more could have been done.

“It’s not your sister’s fault, she was young back then, maybe she was worried about getting into trouble.”

“I thought we told each other everything. It’s not like her to keep things from me.”

“Well, you’re keeping a lot from her right now, and you know that’s only for the greater good. Not all lies are bad ones.” I have to trust my own words when I feel the weight of what I’m keeping from her become a little heavier.

“Come on, let’s see if Norma Bates is at home.”

“I’m pretty sure that was a motel.” Leia manages a laugh before she follows me onto the porch.

The wood beneath our feet is almost completely rotted, and the windows are so dirty you can barely see through them. I bang the cast iron door knock and wait for a response that I’m pretty sure we aren’t gonna get.

“Leia, once we're done here, I think we should go home. You heard what Caroline said when she called. The local authorities said nothing from around that time was reported, but it doesn’t mean an accident didn’t happen. That girl could have slipped and fallen into a ravine, she could have been attacked by a wild animal. Not everything that happens around here has tobe murder. We’ve knocked on just about every door in a three-mile radius, we aren’t gonna find anything in this old place,” I point out. “Maybe you should be focusing on something else. Something exciting.” I glance my eyes down to the bump that sticks out over her jeans.

“Hello.” Leia bangs the door a little harder and when she gets no answer, she drops her face into her hands and sobs.

“Leia, listen to me. I want as much as you to find this girl. But…”

“Don’t say it. Don’t say that she’s dead.” Leia takes a seat on the porch step. “If she’s dead it means he did it. What if Dad was really the girl she thought she was talking to, what if he lured her here so he could hurt her?”

“They’re all maybes, Leia, you can’t let maybes tear you apart, not at a time in your life when you have so much to look forward to.”

“How can I look forward when those innocent girls are dead? What if I could have saved them? How do you live with a murderer and not know it?” She looks up at me for answers that I simply haven’t got.

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