Chapter 32
Graham
Helping Roman with the flat tire took longer than I’d expected.
The jack he’d tried to use was so rusted, it bent sideways the moment he put weight on it.
By the time I found the spare jack Dad had stored in the cluttered garage, the light was fading fast. The lingering rain had turned to a mix of snow and made things harder.
Roman clapped me on the back as he straightened. We were both soaked through and shivering.
“Thanks,” he said, his breath clouding in the cold air.
I inspected the spare we’d wrangled on. “No problem.”
Before he could reply, my phone buzzed. I checked it quickly, my stomach clenching when I saw Quinn’s name. She’d sent a text.
Decided to walk back to the bed-and-breakfast. I’ll see you there.
A frown dragged at my mouth before I even finished reading it.
“What?” Roman asked, after loading the flat tire and the jack into the back of the SUV.
I stared down at the screen, unsettled. “Hopefully nothing.”
I started to walk toward my car, already hitting the call button. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times and more.
No answer.
I hung up, standing there on the side of the road, staring at the blank screen like it should give me some explanation. I didn’t want to panic. She’d probably gotten tired of waiting for me. I had been gone longer than expected.
That had to be it.
Still, a hairline crack of dread spread across my chest. I tried to shove the feeling down as I got into the car and drove.
I reached my parents’ house before Roman. I didn’t even pull fully into the drive before I hopped out and sprinted toward the porch.
The moment I stepped through the front door, I was calling her name. “Quinn?”
My voice echoed back at me. The house was too quiet. The kind of quiet that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
I ignored the prickling unease and took the stairs two at a time, heading straight for her room. I knocked sharply.
When there wasn’t an answer, I knocked louder. Then I slammed my fist against the wood.
“Quinn! Open up!”
Nothing.
Pure panic shot through me as I twisted the knob. It was unlocked, but I knew before the door swung fully open that she wasn’t there.
The room was empty.
My stomach dropped.
Downstairs, the front door opened and thumped closed. Roman and my parents were arriving home. Their voices drifted up faintly, normal, cheerful, unaware that something inside me was on the verge of breaking.
I pulled my phone out again, hands shaking now, and dialed her number.
No answer.
“Dammit,” I breathed, shoving the phone into my pocket and heading down the stairs fast enough that the railing blurred.
Roman was in the foyer, helping Hailey out of her coat, but the moment he saw my face, his smile vanished. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head once, already reaching for the doorknob.
“I don’t know,” I said, but it felt like a lie. “I need to check something at the library.”
Before anyone could ask another question, I was out the door.
“Mara?” I called out, breath uneven, as I burst through the library door. It hadn’t been locked. “Quinn?”
I didn’t wait for an answer before heading straight for the back—toward our nook, the stacks in the study. My shoes pounded against the old wooden floors as I rounded the row of shelves.
She wasn’t there.
The small table was empty. The chair slightly askew.
My heart slammed painfully against my rib cage.
“Quinn?” I bellowed, louder into the silence.
No response.
I turned, scanning every corner of the library, like she might’ve stepped behind a shelf or moved upstairs.
But I knew.
I fucking knew.
Everything inside me was screaming that something was wrong.
I strode back through the stacks and toward the circulation desk. Mara sat behind it, legs crossed, sipping from a mug. She looked up at me when she heard my footsteps and smiled.
“Hey, Graham,” she said warmly.
But as I got closer and she took in the state of me—my breathing, my expression—her smile slipped.
“What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic tamped down. “Do you know where Quinn is?”
Her brows knitted. “Quinn?” She blinked, almost like the name took her a moment to place. “She left.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Mara nodded slowly. “She said goodbye to me. I asked if she was going to wait for you, but…you were taking a little longer than she thought. She said she was going to walk back to the B she was so strong in many ways, but she was also fragile. I’d seen flashes of it from time to time.
I didn’t want to freak her out.
“Probably nothing,” I lied. “I just expected her to be here.”
She looked confused, but I didn’t give her time to ask again. I managed a stiff nod in parting and headed back toward the door.
The moment it closed behind me, I broke into a run.
I would find Quinn.
I didn’t care what it took, who I had to call, or what I had to tear apart in this town.
I’d find her.
Even if it killed me.