“I think—” She paused for a moment. “That’s she’s beautiful. And clearly incredibly smart. She’s confident, like she never questions whether she belongs in any room.”
“Maggie, what the hell is going on?”
Her gaze lowered, and when she looked back up at him, tears pooled in her eyes. And fuck, they gutted him. “My, um, aunt found me after the meeting.”
Jesus fucking Christ. He should have known this was about Lilith. “What did she say?”
“A lot actually. She doesn’t actually believe that my mother’s drowning was an accident.”
Dread pooled in his gut. “Whatdoesshe believe?”
“That my mom took drugs and killed herself…because of me. Because I’m one gigantic burden.”
For a moment, black rage literally blinded him. Made him want to go out there and find the woman, give her a goddamn piece of his mind. He forced himself to remain exactly where he was. “You know that’s not true, right? Youhaveto know that.”
“Why didn’t you respond to my texts that night? Or why didn’t you call me back?”
Confusion replaced the anger. “What?”
“The night I broke up with you, I called you. And I sent you so many messages. You didn’t respond to a single one of them.”
The fuck?“I didn’t?—”
“Ethan.” Ryan stepped into the hall. “The guys found something. We have to go.”
He didn’t want to go anywhere.
Maggie stepped back. “Go.”
“Mags—”
“I’ll be okay. Your team needs you.”
He wanted to get to the bottom of this thing with Maggie. But if the team had a lead, he couldn’t hesitate.Fuck.
He lowered his mouth and pressed a kiss to her forehead before whispering, “Call me the second you get home so I know you’re safe.”
She nodded.
He forced himself to leave, to walk away from her, when he knew everything was far from okay.
21
Ethan needed to get his fucking head in the game. Yes, stuff was going on with Maggie that he had no clue how to explain, but right now, his team needed him. This missing woman had to be his priority.
Jay climbed out of her rental. “I’ll head inside and notify the sheriff so he doesn’t get his panties in a twist. I’ll also keep track of locations.”
Ethan, Ryan, and Connor stepped into the building and grabbed their packs. Then they headed into the woods, quickly and quietly, following Joel and Zac’s coordinates.
Even as Ethan ran though, even as his entire fucking focus should have been on this, on finding this woman, it wasn’t. Not completely.
Had Maggie gotten home safely? Was she okay? Did she actually believe the shitty words her aunt had thrown at her?
He increased his pace, his boots sinking into the dirt, branches breaking beneath his feet.
When he finally reached the guys, they were near the riverbank.
Joel held up a plastic bag.
