But, no, that didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be him…could it?
Three words slipped from his mouth. “Where is she?”
Noah couldn’t breathe.He wanted to punch the fucking wheel, do something,anything, to drown out the helplessness.
She was gone. Addie was fucking gone, and he’d been right there when she was taken. He couldn’t wrap his damn head around it.
He pushed his foot harder to the floor of the truck.
Was it Jules? Had she somehow instigated this?
Jesse hadn’t wanted him anywhere near Jules’s house, but nothing and no one could have stopped him. He wasn’t just letting Jesse and his team handle this search. He was a damn Marine, and he was going to find Addie.
When he pulled up in front of the ranch-style home, Jesse and a female deputy were already on the lawn.
“Where is she?” Noah asked, before he’d even closed the door to his truck.
Jesse stepped forward. “Not home.”
“What do you mean, not home?”
Jesse touched his shoulder. “I’ve got deputies patrolling the streets. We’ll find her.”
“You’llfindher? Thiscouldbeher.Shecould have taken Addie.”
“I know. And we’re doing everything we can to find out if she did.” Jesse glanced behind him. “Did you check her phone? See if there were any hints of where she might be?”
A breath hissed out of him. “Yeah, I grabbed it before leaving the house.” He stormed back to the truck and grabbed her cell from the middle console.
On his way back to Jesse, he unlocked the phone and went into her recent calls, but there were none from today. Then he opened her texts. “Shit.”
“What?” Jesse stepped closer.
“Cass was at my house…”
“Cass?”
“Cassandra Ainslee, from the park. She texted Addie to ask if she could come over, then again to say she was there.”
“What time?”
Noah looked up. “The same time she disappeared.”
The woman behind Jesse touched her radio. “Dispatch, this is Deputy Claudia Russell requesting an address and plates for a Cassandra Ainslee. She’s a suspect in the disappearance of Addison March. Over.”
A red convertible suddenly pulled into the drive.
Jules.
Noah tried to step forward, but Jesse put a hand on his chest. “Stop. As far as we know, she hadn’t broken the law yet.”
“Stop? She’s part of this, Jess!”
“Youthinkshe’s part of this. We need to find out if that’s the case.”
Noah fisted his hands, every fucking part of him wanting to storm forward and question the woman until he had answers.
Jules climbed out and pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh my…have I done something wrong?”
