“Me too. But we’ll find her. We’ll get this all fixed.”
He threw his arms around my neck. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I hugged him back. “I’m glad too. Now, let’s go over what happened, and we’ll keep trying your Mom.”
From what Ollie and his teacher said, Piper was supposed to show up at school half an hour ago. Within a few minutes, Grace’s SUV pulled up and parked behind my truck.
I waved to her, though I also had my phone to my ear. I was trying Piper’s number again.
All kinds of bad scenarios were flying through my head. Could Piper have fallen and hurt herself? Could the coffee shop have been robbed? Maybe she’d gotten sick. Passed out.
Fuck, my heart wouldn’t slow down.
“Hi, this is Piper’s phone,” a voice said. Not Piper.
“Rina?” I asked.
“Yeah. Is this Grayden? I saw your name on the screen.”
Grace was talking to Ollie’s teacher now. I nodded at her, but kept my ear to the phone line.
“It is. Where’s Piper? Why did you answer her phone?”
“She left it here at Silver Linings. It was on silent, but I heard the buzzing.”
I gripped the bridge of my nose. “She’s late to pick up Ollie from school. Have you seen her?”
“She was here a little while ago. It’s really strange, actually. She went back to her office with Zach Kirby, Dillon’s brother, and then I knocked on her door to ask a question, and nobody was there. She’d justleft.”
My breath had stopped. The whole world had fucking stopped. “She was with Zach Kirby?Why?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye to me, and no way without her phone. And I didn’t see Zach leave either. I think maybe they both went out the back door. But you see what I mean? It’s weird.”
The phone slipped from my ear.
Grace came over to me, dropping her voice. “Grayden, what is going on?” she murmured. “Please tell me you know where Piper is.”
I shook my head. “We have to find her. I have no idea what’s really happening, but I think she’s in danger.”
FIFTY-SIX
Piper
Zach drovealong the next curve in the path, and the trees opened up, revealing a wide, flat clearing. A grand two-story house sat in the center.
Once, it had probably been breathtaking, given the architecture and the surrounding views.
Now, half the home was a burned ruin. Blackened and exposed to the elements.
My pulse thrummed so fast it felt like one continuous blur. My body rioting internally even as I was frozen in fear.
“Your family’s old house. It’s still here?”
“Mom never could tear it down. We built a new house down there.” He pointed.
Below the Kirbys’ old home, there was a steep drop-off with a broad view of a valley peeking between the trees. This clearing had been carved right into the mountainside.
I’d never been out here to the Kirby property. But I’d heard it was huge and had been in their family for generations.
