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.
