“Agreeing with me when you had no intention of following through is still a lie, Mom. I need to go.”
“Polly—”
“I think I’m finally done.” She headed toward the door.
Footsteps sounded behind her. “Done with what?Me?”
“Done trying to help you. I’m done shouldering your emotional collapses and singing with you at divorce parties and having you stay at my house every time something goes wrong. I’m done caring.” That part was a lie. She’d always care about her mother. But she had to figure out how to separate herself from the turmoil that was her mother’s romantic life.
“Why do you care so much about who I date? Why do youmakeit your business?”
“I don’t.” She spun. “Youdo!Youcome crying tome. You basically hand me the pieces of your heart and ask me to put them back together. You cry on my shoulder, every single time. But I can’t keep doing it! You want to marry a guy you’ve known for a single month? You’re an adult, that’s your choice. You want to be with a guy who’s a key suspect in an active murder investigation? Again, I can’t stop you. But I can’t agree with your actions, and I donotsupport you.”
Then she stepped outside, ignoring her mother’s calls as she rushed to her car and drove away.
Joel moved quicklyand quietly through the trees, cool air soaking into his skin, Zac close behind.
It was day three of Teagan Kimm’s disappearance.
There was still a chance they’d find her alive, but every day, every hour they didn’t locate her, that chance lessened.
His fisted hands tightened and he sped up his run. They’d spent most of the first two days searching near the water. They hadn’t found her there. So today, they were searching more inland.
He tapped his watch. Three p.m. They’d been searching since six this morning with minimal breaks, but he wasn’t stopping or slowing.
He’d messaged Polly this morning, but so far, she hadn’t responded.
The footsteps behind him sped up, and Zac appeared at his side. “You okay?”
“I haven’t heard from Polly all day.”
“You’re worried about her?”
“I’ve been worried about her since that asshole ran her off the road.”
“Want me to call one of the guys to take over so you can go to her?”
Joel shook his head. “We’ve almost covered our search grid.”
“I wish we could find this asshole,” Zac growled. “The escalation in women being taken this past year is…”
“Fucked up.”
Zac nodded. “Yeah.”
They kept moving—scanning and slowing and speeding up. Making sure they didn’t let a single inch of forest go unsearched.
They were just nearing the end of the area they’d been assigned when Joel spotted it—a foot.
“Zac! Over here.” He sprinted forward and around a tree. And he saw her.
Teagan Kimm.
She lay on her side, completely unmoving, dirt on her face, clothes muddy and wrinkled.
Joel dropped beside her and touched her neck. “I have a pulse.” It was faint but there.
She was alive.
