CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Delaney stared at the trail that was so narrow she didn’t think her rental could traverse it without getting scratched by branches on both sides. If she hadn’t seen Violet turn here, she’d never have known where it was.
Delaney had driven past to confirm the Honda was there, then did a U-turn about a hundred yards away and parked, watching the mouth of the trail so she could see if Violet left again. Her muscles ached from sitting motionless for so long, but she didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare breathe too loudly.
Forty-five minutes had passed since she’d followed Violet’s car down this forgotten dirt road. There were no streetlights, just an abandoned structure way off the road. Otherwise, she observed nothing but trees and darkness and the distant sound of planes taking off and landing at the airport. Civilization was just a couple of miles from here, but it might as well have been a hundred.
The Honda’s interior remained dark. No movement. No sign of Charlotte or her mother.
“Please, God,” Delaney whispered, her voice barely audible. “Keep her safe.”
She thought of Charlotte in that car, frightened, possibly crying, trapped with a mother she didn’t remember.
It was so dark. All the kids Delaney had taken care of feared the dark, but Charlotte’s fear was more acute. One night, the bulb in her little unicorn night-light had gone out, and Noah had rushed to the store to buy a new one. Until he came back, Delaney had stayed with Charlotte and kept the lamp on, anything to protect the little girl from the monsters that populated her imagination.
Did Violet know that about her daughter? Did she care?
Violet was probably the reason she had those fears in the first place.
Delaney’s fingers gripped her useless phone. No service. Not even one bar. She’d tried moving it around, holding it up to the window, but nothing had helped. The dense forest surrounding them blocked any signal.
Maybe she should drive back to the main road to tell the police where she was. But if she did and Violet chose that moment to leave, she’d lose her.
Noah must be frantic. He’d probably called the police when her phone went dead, probably assumed the worst. The thought of him pacing somewhere, helpless and terrified… She hated that she’d done that to him. Maybe she should have listened to him and pulled over to wait for the police like Detective Norton had ordered.
But how could she have lived with herself if Charlotte had disappeared into the night while she sat safely on the sideline?
She couldn’t have. And she couldn’t sit here anymore. She needed to know if Violet and Charlotte were still here or if she was surveilling an empty car.
She reached for the door handle, then stopped. The car must have a dome light. She found it, then flicked the switch fromDoortoOff.
She eased the car door open, wincing at the soft click it made in the silence. The cold bit at her exposed skin. Delaney slipped out of the car and gently pushed the door to nearly closed, afraid if she shut it properly, the sound would alert Violet that she was there.
She rounded her rental car and crouched in the woods to listen.
Nothing but the rustle of wind through the trees and the distant drone of an airplane.
Were Violet and Charlotte still in that car? She needed to find out without being seen.
She moved into the forest and crept toward the Honda.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The waiting was killing him.
Noah pressed the redial button for the fifth time in ten minutes, watching Delaney’s name flash on the screen as his call went straight to voicemail. He ended the call before the beep, his jaw clenched so tight his head pounded.
Detective Norton wasn’t answering either. Three calls, three trips to voicemail. Noah stared at the glowing dot on his phone’s map app. Delaney’s location hadn’t changed in more than an hour. No movement. No communication. She was just a couple of miles away. Why wasn’t she answering?
His luxury car’s leather interior felt like a cage, the air thick and suffocating despite the cool November night pressing against the windows. Every second that ticked by on the dashboard clock was another second Charlotte remained in the hands of a woman who’d already proved she couldn’t care for her.
And now Delaney was gone too.
Noah scrubbed his face with his palms, the stubble rough against his skin. He’d promised Norton he’d stay put and let the professionals handle it. But what professionals? Where werethey? His niece and the woman he loved were somewhere in those dark woods, and he was sitting here like a coward while?—
A sharp rap on the passenger window made him jump, his heart slamming against his ribs. He whipped around to see Jasper’s haggard face peering through the glass, his brother’s eyes wild and desperate.
Noah fumbled for the unlock button. The door swung open, and Jasper slid into the passenger seat, bringing with him the scents of pine and fear.
