Chapter 34
Graham
“I’m sorry, Graham.”
I clutched my phone to stop my hand from shaking. Fox sounded frustrated, but I heard the defeat underneath. I closed my eyes, letting out a breath.
“Thanks for trying,” I managed to say between clenched teeth.
“I’ll keep digging,” he said, not giving up.
It wasn’t in our nature to give up.
“Thanks.”
I disconnected the call, knowing my brother would do everything he could to help me, but I had little hope. Fox had traced the last location of Quinn’s phone. It had last pinged at the library. After that, its signal was lost. Which meant it was either turned off, died, or was destroyed.
Either way, we couldn’t use it to find her.
I sank down into the armchair behind me, dropping my head into my hands.
It was early morning, the first glimpses of sunlight seeping into my parents’ living room.
We had checked all the security footage from the bed-and-breakfast. Quinn did not enter this house after she went missing from the library. There was no trace of her.
My eyes burned from lack of sleep and the flood of emotions I’d tamped down.
This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be just…gone.
Yet here I was, having no idea where she was. The cops were useless, being preoccupied with a manhunt for a serial killer. One woman missing for a few hours wasn’t a priority.
A heavy hand clamped down on my shoulder. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.
“I can drive around again,” Roman said, his deep voice gruffer than usual. He’d been up all night with me. We’d taken turns looking for her. Driving around town. Calling anyone who might know anything.
I shook my head, still not looking up from my hands.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, defeated. “We’ve been driving around for hours.”
There was a pause. The house was quiet at this hour. No one but Roman and I were awake.
I was going to be sick. Something was wrong. I knew it in my bones and there was nothing I could do.
I shoved my hands into my hair, yanking on the strands. “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
Roman’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
I stiffened, lifting my head and glaring up at him. “No?” I snapped. I beat my palm against my chest. “I knew that there was someone out there who wanted to hurt her. And now…now there’s a killer on the loose and she’s missing. Missing, Roman, and I can’t do anything about it. It’s been hours…”
The panic snaked up my throat, wrapping around it and cutting off my air.
“Hey.” Roman crouched down to meet me at eye level. He grabbed me with both hands and shook me a little, like he was trying to snap me out of it. “You need to stay calm. Losing it now isn’t going to do you any good.”
“Nothing is doing any good,” I muttered, looking away from my big brother. “I might as well—”
My words were cut off by a knock on the door.
Both of our eyes shot toward the foyer.
Another knock.
I got to my feet, stalking toward the main entryway with Roman on my heels, already getting out his phone to check the camera feeds.
My fingers gripped the doorknob, not daring to hope that it was her.
It wasn’t.
When the door opened, Jake stared at me, eyes wide and nervous.
“Jake?” I glanced around him, like I expected someone else to ascend the porch steps after him. “What are you doing here?”
His hands were shoved in the pockets of his coat. His gaze shifted around him, as if he expected someone to be watching.
“Can I talk to you?” he muttered.
I glanced over my shoulder, back at Roman.
His expression was hard, but he nodded almost imperceptibly, as if letting me know that he’d have my back if I invited him inside our home.
Jake hunched his shoulders, as if he were shrinking in on himself.
I stepped back. “Come in.”
He scurried into the foyer, sandwiched between Roman and me.
I closed the door and folded my arms over my chest. I had no patience right now. “What are you doing here, Jake?”
His hands were still stuffed deep in his pockets as his gaze darted to Roman before settling back on me. “I need to talk to you.”
“About what?”
His jaw worked, teeth clenching. “I’m sorry, Graham. I’m really, really sorry.”
My stomach plummeted at the genuine regret in his tone, the edge of panic.
Roman and I shared an alarmed look.
“What are you sorry for?” I barked. “What happened?”
He winced, as if I’d slapped him. “Look, I didn’t—I was angry, okay? When Quinn first came to town, I was having a hard time and I—”
I took a step closer, alarm bells going off in my head. “Where is she? What did you do to her?”
Jake flinched. “Nothing! I swear, I didn’t do anything to her…recently.”
I blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”
He snatched both hands out of his pockets and pushed them through his hair until the ends stood up. His dark-brown eyes were wide, the shape of them so reminiscent of his sister, Emersyn. I wondered whether my sister-in-law knew what he had done—whatever it was.
Jake huffed out a nervous breath. “A couple of weeks ago, I was the one who scared Quinn outside of the library that one night.”
His whole body shook now, his face white.
It did nothing to dispel or decrease the rising rage inside me. I stepped closer to him, throwing my shoulders back to my full height. Jake wasn’t a short guy, but I was taller and I wanted him to feel every inch of his inferiority.
“You…what?” I growled.
Jake retreated a step, raising his hands in either surrender or defense, I didn’t know which.
“I’m sorry!” he cried.
I bared my teeth. “You attacked her, Jake. You didn’t simply scare her.” The image of her bruised and bleeding flashed through my mind. She’d been so scared and vulnerable.
I wanted to strangle him. I wanted to split his lip open, and see how he liked it.
My hands clenched into quaking fists, and I think Roman sensed how close I was to laying hands on Jake because he subtly stepped between the two of us.
Jake looked like he was going to throw up.
Good.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her, I swear.” Jake shook his head. “I was trying to scare her. I wanted her to leave town. I wanted her to leave us alone.”
I might kill him. I honestly might kill him dead.
I stepped toward him again, but Roman’s hand caught me, pressing against my chest.
He looked at Jake. “If I were you, I’d hurry up and tell us why the hell you came here in the first place. If it’s just to confess your damn crimes, I’d suggest you get out of here and go down to the police station before my brother sends you to the hospital.”
Jake stumbled back, paling even more. “I get it, I deserve it. I do. But—my sister called me and asked if I knew where Quinn was. She said that you were looking for her and couldn’t find her and she’s been on my ass since—since I did what I did.
I think she knew it might’ve been me, but she couldn’t prove it. ”
I growled again, nostrils flaring.
Jake grimaced. “Anyway, I came because I think there’s something wrong with Mara.”
Hearing her name was like a shock to the system. I blinked at him, some of the fog of rage clearing. “What’s wrong with Mara?”
“I don’t know.” For the first time, some of his nervousness shifted into anger.
“She’s been…different. I’m not saying this as an excuse, but…
it was her idea for me to scare Quinn in the first place.
She thought that Quinn didn’t belong in Ember Hollow, either, and that I might be able to do something about it. ”
My brows furrowed. “Mara has been nothing but kind to Quinn,” I snapped.
Jake shrugged, but it was stiff and indifferent. “I think that Mara is good at showing people what they want to see.”
“Why would Mara ask you to do that?” It was Roman who spoke, and Jake glanced at him.
“Mara trusts me.” His forehead wrinkled. “At least, she used to.”
There was something he wasn’t saying. “Spit out the whole story, Jake.”
Time was slipping away.
He ran a hand through his hair again. “Mara and I have been a thing for most of this year,” he started to explain in a rush. “At least, I thought we were. She didn’t really want people to know.”
I frowned at him. “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “We’d meet in secret.
It was kinda fun, at first. Then I—I don’t know.
I really liked her, and I didn’t want to hide it anymore.
She started seeing me less and less, especially when Quinn showed up.
When she asked me to scare her off, I thought—I thought that it might make things better between us if I could get her to leave town.
” He sighed. “But it only got worse after that. Then, this weekend, I caught her with one of those other lawyers from Cincinnati and everything just seemed so off.”
My mind raced. “Lawyer from Cincinnati?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah, the one with the blond hair? I only knew it was him because I saw all of them eating lunch with Quinn one time.”
Preston? Mara was sleeping with…Preston?
I shook my head. None of this was making sense. “What are you saying? What does all this mean?”
Jake let out a breath. “When I caught her with that other guy in her bed, she started going off on me. Saying I was useless because I barely touched Quinn and I wouldn’t try anything else again. She said that Quinn needed to leave this town because she wasn’t good enough to stay here.”
He swallowed hard, and I felt the blood leave my own face.
I glanced at Roman, desperate. “I left Quinn with her. At the library when you called me, I left Mara alone with her.”
“Do you think Quinn could still be in the library somewhere?” Roman asked.
I pressed my lips together. “Possibly. It’s a large house. If Mara somehow has her there, I’m not sure Edith would even notice.” I was halfway turned, ready to run straight back to that library and tear it apart, when Jake stopped me.
“Wait,” he said. “I was just there and Mara wasn’t. I have a key and I looked all around that place. I couldn’t find Mara or Quinn.”
I froze, reeling again.
Roman looked at Jake sharply. “Do you know where Mara could’ve taken her?”
Jake’s posture changed. He stood slightly straighter. “Maybe.” He nodded. “Edith has some farmland outside of town. They rent it out to the farmer next door but there’s an old pole barn on the property. She used to take me there sometimes…”
My pulse quickened. I finished my turn, needing to go. To find her. “Text me the address,” I called to Jake. Roman was right behind me. I shot him a look. “Stay here. Look after Mom and Dad, and Hailey.”
His jaw worked, but he didn’t argue.
“I’ll go with you,” Jake said.
I glared at him. “No.”
But Jake didn’t seem as scared or as nervous as before. A kind of determination lit in his eyes. “I want to help. It’s—it’s the least I can do.”
“No.” I didn’t want him anywhere near Quinn. Not after what he’d done.
“I can show you where it is. I don’t know the address.”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t have time for this. “Whatever,” I grumbled, already heading for the door. “Take me there and then you’re leaving.”