Chapter 26
COLT
Nearly an hour has passed since I woke up to find my Little girl missing, and I feel… nothing. I’m too numb with fear and worry to feel anything other than the emptiness of my arms without my babygirl in them.
My siblings and I have scoured the edges of the woods, but without the proper equipment it’s too risky to go much farther than that.
Dane knows our woods better than anyone, so he’s been going as deep as he dares, but he’s only one person and our land encompasses several acres of forest, not to mention the land of the surrounding homes.
I’m trying not to think about the odds of finding my babygirl again if she’s in there.
The crunch of tires on gravel has me leaping to my feet from the chair I collapsed into a few minutes ago. A door slams, and a moment later Sheriff Donnelly appears, her expression deliberately flat, not giving away anything she might be feeling.
“Heard we’ve got a runaway bride situation,” she says, her voice equally flat and even.
Gray snarls at her. “This isn’t a fucking joke, Reese.”
“I never said it was. But I have to warn you, there’s not much I can do in an official capacity right now. She’s a grown woman and unless there’s any evidence she didn’t leave here of her own volition, my hands are tied.”
“Jesus Christ. You really are fucking useless, aren’t you?”
Now a hint of emotion does flicker across the sheriff’s face. “I said I couldn’t do much in an official capacity. But if you need an extra set of eyes or just an outside perspective, I’ll do whatever I can to help you find her.”
Suspicion fills my sister’s eyes. “Why would you do that?”
Reese shrugs. “I met her in town the other day. She’s a sweetheart and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to her.
But I swear to god if we find this girl and it turns out she ran to get away from you all because you hurt her, I will make it my life’s goddamn mission to make sure you never see the outside of a jail cell for the rest of your natural lives. Got it?”
“She didn’t run.” I may not know exactly what happened to my sweet little Tabby, but I at least know that. “Just please help us find my babygirl, Reese.”
The sheriff’s expression softens somewhat. “All right. Walk me through what you know.”
Bram shifts, aligning himself beside me, and I already feel steadier for it. Dragging in a deep breath, I tell the sheriff everything I can remember from waking up to an empty bed to right now. Reese jots down notes, her brow occasionally drawing together as I walk her through our morning.
When I finish, she looks up at me, then glances around. “Was the door locked?”
My brain, which is frazzled with worry, stops cold. “What?”
Reese returns her level gaze to me. “The front door. When you came outside to look for Tabitha, was the door locked?”
I blink, trying to piece together my chaotic memories. “I… I think so. Yeah, I remember being pissed off that I had to flip the deadbolt and the lock on the doorknob before I could get outside.”
“Are all the house keys accounted for?”
“I’ll go check,” Bram says, already turning back toward the house.
Pacing the deck beside me, Gray lets out an impatient huff. “What the fuck does it matter if the door was locked? She’s still missing.”
The withering look Reese sends my sister’s way says she clearly isn’t impressed with Gray’s critical thinking skills at the moment. “If all the doors were locked and all the keys are accounted for, then she didn’t leave out of a door. And nobody came in through a door.”
Gray pauses, her mouth dipping down in a thoughtful frown. “Oh.”
“All the keys are here,” Bram says, joining me again on the deck. “I’ve got Eli checking the other doors.”
“And windows.” The sheriff pauses, her gaze raking over our home. “Do you have a security system?”
“We do.” Now that she’s here, asking all these questions none of us thought to ask, my brain is moving again, working through the problem. “It didn’t go off, and she doesn’t know the code.”
“Another point in favor of no break-in and her not running off,” Reese says, jotting more notes down on the pad in her hand. “What about the windows? Are those alarmed?”
“Fuck. No.”
“Hey! Guys!” It’s Eli’s voice, from somewhere above us. “Second floor, window by the stairs!”
Darting off the deck, past the sheriff, I jog out far enough for me to see the roof and turn, looking up. My brother has his head shoved out of one of the dormer windows, his arms waving. “This one was unlocked!”
My family and Reese fan out, surrounding the house while I run inside, hope beating so painfully against my chest I’m worried it might crack a rib. Eli moves aside so I can stick my head out the window just as Dane calls my name.
“There!” He points at something I can’t see. Luckily, the window opens outward. It was designed intentionally to give us easy access to the roof in case of repairs or if the snow got too heavy.
I can’t believe we didn’t think to wire the fucking windows to the alarm system.
Moving carefully, I climb out onto the roof, following my brother’s shouted guidance.
And nearly fall to my knees in relief.
There, tucked up against one of the other dormer windows, is my babygirl. Curled up in a ball, still wearing the t-shirt I put her in for bed because she prefers Daddy’s shirts to actual pajamas.
Not wanting to startle her, I creep toward her sleeping form. “Tabby. Baby, you need to wake up now.”
Her nose crinkles a bit, right before her eyelids flutter open. Sleepy golden eyes meet mine and she smiles. “Daddy. You came.”
“Of course I came for you, baby. Daddy will always find you, no matter where you are.” It’s a promise, and one I plan to keep until my dying day.
But first I have to get her off this goddamn roof.
“Can you crawl to me, baby? I need you to be really careful and watch where you put your hands and knees.”
Giggling, she pushes to her feet and my heart lodges in my throat. “Silly Daddy, I don’t need to crawl. I can walk. See?”
Jesus fucking Christ, she’s going to give me a heart attack. But I don’t want to spook her, so I swallow the urge to shout at her not to take another step. Instead I watch her like a goddamn hawk as she carefully puts one bare foot in front of the other.
She’s almost within arm’s reach when it happens. Somehow, she misjudges the next step and her foot slips. Arms pinwheeling, her mouth opens in a silent “O” as she falls backward.
“Tabby!”
Lurching forward, I manage to grab a handful of my shirt. With one hard yank, I pull her to me, into my arms, and my entire body shudders with heart-stopping relief.
“You’re okay, baby. Daddy’s got you. You’re okay. You’re okay.”
I can’t tell who’s trembling more, me or her. But I slowly walk the both of us back toward the window where Eli is waiting to pull us to safety.
As soon as my feet hit the hardwood, I drop to my knees in front of her, my breaths coming in shaking gasps as I run my hands over her. “Are you okay, baby? Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?”
“N-no, Daddy. Just scared me, that’s all.”
The relief at hearing her say she’s okay, at having her where she belongs again, safe and sound, quickly gives way to a fury so hot it’s nearly blinding.
“You are in so much trouble, little girl.”
Tabitha
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
Seated on the couch downstairs, surrounded by not just my family but Reese as well, I’m beginning to think this was, actually, a really bad idea.
“All right, little girl.” Arms crossed, Daddy glares down at me, his expression more furious than I’ve ever seen it. “Explain yourself.”
“Um.” I fidget a bit, partially from the discomfort of having so many people staring me down, but also because a certain need has been growing more and more urgent ever since I found my hiding spot on the roof. “Can I go to the bathroom first, please?”
If I thought my good manners would earn me any leniency, I was wildly mistaken. A muscle jumps in Daddy’s jaw before he nods once. “All right. Let’s go.”
Reese steps forward. “Absolutely not. I’m not letting her go anywhere with you alone until I know she’s safe here.”
“For fuck’s sake, Reese, they’re just going to the bathroom,” Auntie Gray snaps, her lip curled up in a snarl.
“I don’t give a fuck where they’re going, they aren’t going alone.”
“All right.” Daddy’s voice is calm.
Too calm.
Arms crossed, he looks over toward the sheriff. “If you insist on shadowing us, I’m going to insist on your discretion.”
Oh, god. He can’t possibly mean…
Frowning, Reese glances between me and Daddy. “My discretion about what?”
“Our family’s… unique lifestyle.”
Now Reese scans the entire room, her gaze lingering on me and my cousins, and I swear I can see the wheels turning in her head. “As long as what’s happening here doesn’t break any laws, I have no reason to tell anyone about your business.”
“I appreciate that, Sheriff.” Shifting his attention to me, Daddy nods. “Go ahead, Tabitha. I’ll change you when you’re done.”
“Colt!” Josie’s shocked exclamation draws every eye to her, with the exception of my Daddy, who never takes his eyes off me. “You can’t do that!”
“Quiet, Josephine,” Uncle Bram growls. “Mind your own business.”
Whirling on him, Josie stomps a foot. “She’s my cousin! That makes her my business!”
Lanie rushes to join her. “Yeah! She is our business!”
Before I can lie and assure them I’m fine, Uncle Axel steps forward, leaning down to whisper something to the pair of them.
Whatever he says has red flooding their cheeks and they both back down with apologetic looks in my direction.
I smile, strained as it is, and hope they’ll both understand how much I appreciate them trying to protect me.
With my cousins back in line, Daddy gestures to me again. “We’re waiting, little girl.”
Is it possible to die from humiliation? I think it might be possible. I’ve never even used my diaper in front of my other family members, which would be bad enough on its own.
But in front of the sheriff?
Please, god, take me now.
“I–I would really rather go to the bathroom.”