“She usually doesn’t go far, but sometimes she hides in the barns or outbuildings. She gets confused,” he says again, and for some reason, it doesn’t sound any better now than it did the first time.
“Give me your address, I’ll meet you there.” There’s no way I’m riding with him, not that I think the guys would let me. I’m going to have to ask Remy to use his SUV. I really need to find out what the hell happened to my car.
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT MY FACE DOES WHILE YOU TALK.
Remy sits behind the steering wheel, staring at the old Victorian home. When I asked to use his SUV, he offered his chauffeur services instead. I’m not even mad. Eugene was giving me weird vibes, and that was before I saw his house.
You do bring me to the nicest places.Percy is perched on my shoulder.I wonder what forgotten things we’ll find.
“Don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you,” I warn him, then lean past Remy to get a better look at the property. “Do you know anything about him and his wife?”
“No. We should have made Gray come.” He puts the vehicle in park.
“He had work to do,” I argue and reach for my door handle.
“Work?” Remy snorts. “More like he had to go play referee between a bunch of entitled townie pricks and new businesses that want to come in. You’d think they’d be happy to bring in more tax revenue, but all they care about is maintaining the Hill Crest name.” As if to prove a point, Remy lifts his hands and gestures to the massive, ornate house in front of us. It’s old enough to belong to one of the founding families.
There’s a timeworn sign hanging from a post with the year 1857 and the name Doby near a freestanding light post. “Think this place has been in the family that long?”
“Could be,” Remy replies after closing his door and meeting me near the brick path that leads to the front porch.
“He knows we’re coming, right?” I question as we make our way up the path. The place seems dark, even though it’s the middle of the afternoon and the sun is shining. All the curtains seem to be drawn closed along the front.
“Yeah, maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll have already found her.” Remy raps on the screen door hard, and it bounces against the frame.
Heavy footfalls sound from inside, growing louder as someone approaches the door. I know it’s Eugene because I can feel his magic pushing against my shields through the barrier of the house. “Looks like he’s home,” I mumble, and the door opens seconds later, revealing the older man. He scans me quickly, then his gaze bounces over to Remy, where it lingers for just a moment before returning to me.
Instead of inviting us inside like I would expect, he pulls the door closed and comes out onto the porch. “I looked around again while I waited,” he says, and his tone suggests he’s not happy that we didn’t come with him directly when he left the diner. “Did you call your dad?”
“No, I think it would be best if we reached out to the station. Pop is currently not in a position to help us.” I hope mentioning the PD again will make him reconsider alerting the police to the situation, but he ignores my comment.
“Since there are two of you, we can cover more ground.” Eugene looks off to the side of the property.
When we were pulling up, I noticed a few barns behind the main house, along with a field that looks as if it can be hayed since the grass is so long.
“You sure she’s not inside?” Remy inquires. “I know these old houses usually have lots of places to hole up.” Grayson grew up in a house like this, but it was near the center of town and probably twice as big. We didn’t play at his house often, only when his grandfather was away, but when we did, hide-and-seek was our favorite game. It could have lasted hours if we wanted it to.
“I’ve looked time and again, called for her, and haven’t heard a peep,” Eugene states. “You can check the stables.” He nods his head to the left while making eye contact with Remy. I roll my lips in. Remy isn’t one to allow people to tell him what to do, so I’m curious to see how this is going to go.
Without allowing Remy a chance to reply, he swings his gaze to me and says, “You come with me. We can check out the back barn.”
“Nah, that doesn’t work for me.” Remy crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at Eugene. “If you need a fucking search team, then you can call the PD. She stays with me.”
Eugene’s jaw tightens as if he’s grinding his teeth. “If we’re all in the same place, she’ll be able to move around and we’ll never find her.”
“Take it or leave it. I don’t give a shit that you don’t want anyone knowing she ran off. If you were actually worried about her, then you’d be asking for help from everyone,” Remy reasons.
“Check the stables. I’ll wait out back to make sure she doesn’t slip into another building.” Eugene stomps off the porch and continues around the side of the house.
“Fucking dick.” Remy doesn’t even try to keep from being overheard.
“I think he’s worried,” I say, placing my hand on Remy’s forearm, but I’m not sure that’s the truth. Eugene seems upset, but maybe not for the right reasons.
“Bullshit.” Remy snorts, placing his hand over mine to keep it on his arm as he walks toward the front steps.
The stables are easy to spot. The large door is open, allowing for some of the sun to breach the building and shine onto the packed dirt floor. “When we find this lady, let’s make sure she wants to go back to him before handing her over,” Remy tells me softly.
I squeeze his arm in confirmation. When we enter the barn, I look around, noting all the empty stalls and heavy dust lingering on the wooden walls and beams. “Doesn’t look like they have used this in a while,” I comment.
