Chapter 16 – LISA
LISA
"Zara," I say, weak with relief.
She looks unharmed, which is good for her and for me, and very good for the career I'd otherwise be writing off tomorrow morning.
"Hi," she says quietly, fingers twisting in the hem of a flannel shirt so big on her that it's more like a dress. The sleeves are rolled up to her elbows, and her damp blonde hair hangs in long waves, loose around her shoulders. "Lisa, it's okay. I promise, I'm fine. They've been looking after me."
She looks tired, yes, but underneath all of that, she's glowing. There's no other word for it. She smiles, warm and genuine, and then she glances back at Ben, and the look that passes between them is unmistakable.
Despite the blood, the claw marks and whatever the hell else happened last night, Zara Reeves has a light in her eyes that I haven't seen since Amber disappeared.
Ben reaches out and grabs her hand before moving to stand behind her, then Zara closes her eyes as one massive hand rests on the small of her back, not overbearing or possessive, just letting her know he's there as he whispers something quietly.
Clearly, the rugged loner has taken his orders to care for her very seriously. And while I can appreciate the restorative powers of a roll in the hay with a Lennox, I'm also fully aware of the harrowing withdrawal symptoms.
I hope Ben really likes her and isn't just taking advantage of her presence in his remote cabin for a brief bit of fun.
My eyes drift sideways without permission.
Beau is still leaning against the counter with his mug in his hand, and when I look at him, he's already looking at me.
Something passes between us that I do not want to examine in a room full of his brothers, and I drag my attention back to Zara before any of them notices.
"Can I talk to you?" I ask her, tipping my head away from the wall of bearded men currently watching us like hawks. "Alone?"
Zara nods, extricating herself from a reluctant Ben, then leads me down the hallway to a small bedroom at the back of the cabin. She perches on the edge of a hastily made bed while I lean against the dresser, her fingers smoothing out the rumpled sheets.
"Is everything okay?" I keep my voice low, studying her face. "Has Ben been good to you? I didn't realise you two were… Beau never said…"
I sigh, unsure how to approach this, especially when she’s got that dreamy smile on her face.
"Are you sure you want to be with him, like that? Just because he protected you doesn't mean you owe him anything."
Zara blinks at me, alarmed, eyes moving toward the closed bedroom door, then laughs.
"No, no Lisa. It's nothing like that. They just… I'm okay, and I really, really like Ben." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and gives me a genuine smile.
This isn't the scared woman who called me unsure what to do, who's been living on her nerves since her sister's disappearance.
"Ben's been... he's amazing, Lisa." She looks me straight in the eye, letting me know how serious she is. "I know it sounds crazy given everything, but I feel safe here. With him, actually. Anywhere with him."
My insides tighten. I'm thrilled for her. There's no denying he's a hunk.
"I… gosh. That's great, but just… you've been through a lot."
Zara gives me a sympathetic smile. "Lisa, he's a good guy. He loves me, and I love him."
I nod and smile, but something about the whole situation still doesn't sit well with me. Is it the lovestruck look on her face, her absolute certainty when she hardly knows the guy? I'm not sure I'd be capable of taking such a leap of faith.
I push off the dresser and cross the room to sit beside her on the bed.
"There's something else I have to ask you, Zara." I keep my voice low. "A barmaid I trust phoned me yesterday. She told me she saw Amber going into a strip club three weeks before she disappeared. The club is owned by a man named Kozlov. Have you ever heard Amber mention him?"
Zara's brow furrows. She takes a breath, thinks about it properly, then shakes her head slowly.
"No. I've never heard the name." She pauses, twisting a loose thread on her sleeve between her fingers. "And Amber wouldn't have gone there willingly. There’s no way. She knows she’d get photographed. She barely even drinks anymore."
I suspected as much.
"That's what I needed to know."
She looks up, and her eyes have gone glassy. "Is he the one who has her?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything yet." I take her hand in mine. "I'm following the lead, but it’s too early to tell where it will go."
She nods, jaw set, and squeezes my fingers. "Find her, Lisa."
"I'm trying. I promise, I’m trying." I give her a tight smile. "As long as you're safe," I tell her, and I mean it. "But if anything changes, if you feel like you're in danger or need my help for any reason at all, you call me."
Zara nods and squeezes my hand before walking me back down the hallway. Her hand finds Ben's the second she steps into the living room, and it closes around hers like he hasn't relaxed the entire time she's been out of his sight.
Arms folded, Beau is leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting.
"What am I supposed to put in my case file?" I ask, wanting him to sweat for a little longer.
He considers this for a moment, his expression unreadable. "Write that Zara Reeves has now moved in with her boyfriend following the break-in at her apartment and that while the burglary is unsolved, you're convinced it's unconnected to her sister's case."
The confidence in his voice is unsettling.
"You seem very sure about that."
He looks me dead in the eye, and my knees wobble a little at the authority in his deep voice. "Because I am."
"Why?"
Beau looks at me, and for a second, I think he's going to give me a straight answer, like he’s scared him off, or that he knows who the guy is and will make his life hell if he bothers Zara again, but no. Instead, the cocky smirk makes another appearance as he pushes away from the countertop.
"Because I'm good at my job."
There's nowhere to go with that. I look at him for a long moment, at his brothers arranged around the room with their nothing-to-see-here expressions, and at Zara tucked against Ben's side like she's been there for years, and I decide I'm done.
"Right. Thanks for the coffee I wasn't offered."
"Anytime, Detective." His mouth tugs at the corner like he's enjoying himself.
I hug Zara at the door. She hugs me back, harder than she did when I first walked in, and whispers, "Thank you for coming all this way."
Ben shakes my hand, then I'm out on the porch with the smell of pine and woodsmoke in my hair as the door closes behind me.
I pause at the top of the steps and take another long look at the destroyed yard. The paw prints. The splintered railing. The dark stains on the boards under my feet. None of it makes sense, and I don't think it's going to any time soon.
Behind me, the door opens.
Beau steps out without a word. He sits down on the top step, stretches his legs out in front of him with one ankle crossed over the other, then pats the spot beside him and waits.
I should keep walking, get in my car and drive back down that mountain and put all of this behind me until tomorrow.
Instead, drawn to him like a magnet, I sit down next to him.
The step is narrow enough that our thighs touch.
He doesn't shift away, and neither do I.
We sit like that for a while, looking at the wrecked yard and the line of trees beyond.
The wind moves through the pines. Somewhere down the slope, a bird I can't name is making the same three notes, over and over.
"A fucking squirrel," I say eventually, keeping my eyes on the trees.
He doesn't admit it was nonsense, but his silence says everything.
"You don't have to lie to me, Beau."
He's quiet for a while. His shoulder is warm against mine, and I can hear him take one careful breath before he answers. "I do, Red. I'm sorry, but I really do. And I can’t tell you why, but I hope that you can trust me."
My fingers are cold in my lap, and I look down at them, trying to work out whether I'm angry or just tired. I think I'm just tired.
"Please just tell me there isn't a body somewhere out there."
There’s a small huff that's almost a laugh. "No bodies, Red."
"That's something, I suppose."
He doesn't reply. We sit a while longer, with the wind in the pines, that bird singing, and the slow weight of his shoulder against mine.
"Why can't it be easy?" I ask eventually, staring out over the treetops that fall away as the slope across the cabin steepens.
His head turns toward me, but I keep my eyes down on my hands.
"It can be," he says quietly. "If you want it to be."
Now it’s my turn not to answer.
The silence stretches, and he doesn't push. Nor does he move his thigh away from mine. He just sits next to me, and somehow, that feels almost worse than if he'd argued.
After a beat, he frowns and shifts to face me more fully. His arm comes up then, and he touches my cheek, just under my eye, with the back of his hand. "You feeling okay, Red?"
His concern surprises me. It shouldn’t, not when he’s shown himself to care so deeply about everyone around him, but I’m still taken aback. I’m used to being on my own.
"Just tired.”
He doesn't argue. Just keeps his hand against my cheek for another second, his thumb stroking once, lightly, along my cheekbone, before he takes it back and rests it on his knee.
I stand but Beau stays sitting on the step with his hands loose between his knees, watching me but not getting up.
Suddenly feeling emotional, I walk to my car without looking back and slide into the driver's seat before pulling the door shut. The cabin is small in my windscreen, framed by trees, as I pull away.
Beau stays exactly where I left him, one elbow propped on his knee now, watching me leave.