Missing Woman—Mallory
Reading through the search results got me nowhere. I tried searching for women who had been reported missing in the last month. Nothing.
Dragging in a long breath, I exhaled. “Maybe it hasn’t been reported yet? Am I even from Montana?” I looked at the dog. “How do I even begin to know where else to look? I don’t even know if Mallory’s my real name!”
I buried my face in my hands and let out a small scream, only to wince when my slight headache objected to the loud noise.
Piper lay her head on my leg and whimpered.
“You’re right, girl. I’m just making this worse.”
Shutting the laptop, I reached down and picked up her toy. “Okay, let’s play some tug, shall we?”
Before we could go outside, the doorbell rang—and I froze. Piper, on the other hand, ran for the front door, full-on barking like her life depended on it.
I couldn’t see the front door from where I stood in the kitchen. None of the windows had covers on them. Liam probably figured he didn’t need any living in the middle of nowhere. If someone wanted to investigate to see if anyone was in the house, they could. I slowly sank to the floor and crawled to the other end of the island. My heart was hammering in my chest as the doorbell rang again, then someone knocked.
Piper was still barking at the front door as I held my breath, terrified to even inhale for fear of being seen.
When Piper stopped barking, I peeked around the corner of the island. The shadow at the door was gone. I whispered for Piper to come to me. She did, and I pulled her onto my lap, buried my face into her fur, and cried.
What if I had been outside and they’d heard me? Whoever it was could have easily walked around and seen me there. What if it had beenhim? Holding onto Piper tighter, I cried harder.
“Please don’t let him find me. Please,pleasedon’t let him find me.”
Piper whined and rested her head on my shoulder. I instantly felt calmer, and my breathing returned to a normal pace.
Running my fingers through the dog’s fur, I stared out the window at the mountains. The very tops of them, as well as some of the crevices, were covered in snow. I longed to see it up close and feel the cold. I didn’t even know what day or month of the year it was.
My head dropped back against the island, and I closed my eyes. An image of Liam smiling at me appeared, and I felt myself relax even more, until sleep released the grip that fear had on me.
CHAPTER SIX
Liam
Bubba and I rode to the east side of the ranch, where one of the original barns was still standing. It hadn’t been used in years. Not since my father had taken over and built the main barn and corrals, where we took care of all the cattle’s needs. The main barn was by Billy’s house, which used to be my parents’ house, the place where I grew up.
“Creepy as shit,” Bubba said as he got off his horse and threw the reins over her neck so she could graze.
I took in the old barn and slowly shook my head. It was tilting to the left and looked like it might collapse at any minute.
“Who’s going to go in first?” Bubba asked with a grin.
Shooting him a dirty look, I started for the barn. The door had been removed or blown off, so we could see directly inside. Something scurried along the floor, and Bubba jumped.
“Was that a mouse? I can’t deal with mice, Liam, you know that!”
Looking back at him over my shoulder, I rolled my eyes. “Just stay close to me and try to step where I step.”
We slowly made our way into the old barn. Small trees were growing in some of the old stalls, and leaves and dirt covered the warped wooden floor. Each step caused the barn to let out a moan of displeasure as we moved farther inside.
I glanced up and saw some holes in the roof. That would definitely allow for some sunlight. My stomach knotted up.
“Whose idea was this to check this place out?” Bubba whispered.
“Yours.”
He scoffed. “Since when did you start listening to me?”
