Another step forward—and Sadie reacted on instinct, swinging her bag and hitting him hard in the side of the head. She followed that up with a kick to the balls.
Jarrad growled and hunched over, grabbing himself as she raced around him. She opened the door to run out, but Mr. Anderson was there, and before she could fully comprehend what was happening, his fist swung toward her face, sending her world into darkness.
Eastern glancedat the time on the phone, then back to the street through the window. It had been half an hour. Where was she?
He quickly typed out a text on his phone to Sadie.
Eastern: Hey! You almost home? I’m getting worried.
He stared at his phone, waiting. She always texted back right away. Hell, the three dots usually appeared the second he hit send.
There were no dots and no reply.
He looked down at Avery. “I’m just going to call Sadie.”
His daughter glanced up, a frown between her brows. “Is she okay?”
“I’m sure she’s fine. I’m just being my usual overprotective self.”
She grinned at him. “Tell her to hurry back before she misses Luisa singing ‘Surface Pressure.’ It’s her favorite part.”
“Can’t have her missing her favorite part.” He pressed a kiss to Avery’s head before rising and trying her number. It rang…then it rang some more. When it eventually went to voicemail, Eastern’s skin felt too fucking tight. She never missed a call.
Quickly, he called his brother. Cody would be working at the bar, but Kayden may have finished at the visitors center.
Kayden answered on the first ring. “Hey, Eastern, everything okay?”
“Any chance you’re free to come over and watch Avery for me?”
“Now? Sure. Tilly and I are just heading home. We can be there in five. Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure. Sadie went to Sugar and Spice to lock up, but she’s been gone too long and isn’t responding to texts or answering my calls.”
There was a short pause. “But Jamie’s still in the hospital, right?”
“Yeah, I just…I need to check on her.”
“Got it. Four minutes.”
Eastern had just hung up when his phone rang, Paxley’s name showing up on his screen. “Paxley. You find anything?”
“Actually, I did. We found a bottle of bourbon and a receipt from the Misty Peak Liquor Store in her car. She’d purchased them yesterday morning. We’ve had the last drops of bourbon in the bottle tested, and it’s positive for methanol.”
Fire burned in Eastern’s veins. “So Anderson’s been selling homemade alcohol to up his profits.” And Jarrad was probably in on it. That had to be what the conversation he’d overheard at the station was about. Jarrad had been paying off the previous sheriff to keep him quiet, and some of the deputies knew about it.
Shit. Once this was over, he’d have to clean house at the station and get rid of all the dirty officers.
“Looks that way,” Paxley said. “I looked into Morris Anderson. He lives on a huge property. When he purchased it, the place already had a pole barn. It would be the perfect place to set up a home distillery. All he’d need to do is add some ventilation.”
Eastern cursed. “You get a warrant for his property?”
“Yes, his property and his shop.”
“Good. Go to his property. I’ll go to his shop.” He just had to hope like hell this was completely separate from the reason why he couldn’t get in touch with Sadie.
He hung up and moved back into the living room to crouch in front of Avery. “Hey, princess, I’m just going to go out for a second.”
Her brow scrunched. “Sadie isn’t okay, is she?”
