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“So what’s the plan for today?”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. My friend, Garrison—Katelyn’s husband—offered to step in and keep you safe while I headed to Pine Meadow.”

“But I want to go.”

“It could be dangerous,” he insists. “Whoever hurt you could be there.”

“Isn’t that all the more reason for me to go? So I might be able to remember something if I see them?”

“Dahlia—”

“Here you go.” Maddie sets two plates on the table, sliding one in front of me and the other in front of Ryker. “Anything else?”

“No, thank you. This looks great,” I tell her.

“Okay, well, let me know if you need anything else.” With another smile, she leaves the table, so I turn back to Ryker.

“Please, Ryker. I need to do this. I need to face whatever happened.”

“What if they’re there and you don’t recognize them?”

“Then you’re there. Please. Don’t leave me behind.”

I can see the battle playing out on his face, but finally he nods. “I’ll let Garrison know you’re coming with me.”

“Thank you.” I smile at him, feeling both relieved and even more nervous.

What if he’s right? What if it’s not just answers awaiting us at Pine Meadow?

Chapter 17

Ryker

Pine Meadow Retirement Community is a lot larger than I expected, with over fifty acres of sprawling hills, featuring an eighteen-hole golf course, tennis courts, and three swimming pools.

While I can appreciate the beauty of it, I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t also admit that it makes me a bit sick inside. There are so many elderly people starving to death in their own homes, without access to medication. My grandmother’s frail face swims into my memory, and I bat it away.

She was a kind woman who nearly let herself starve to death so she could feed her two dogs. My mom didn’t bother to check on her for weeks, and when I found her, she was practically skin and bones. It became my mission to take care of her, so I took on a second job and did what I could to make her comfortable for the remaining two years of her life.

Not too far off from what Dahlia did by walking away from her career to make sure her grandfather was taken care of. I glance over at her quickly, admiring the way the sunlight hits her face as she looks out the window.

This morning was the closest I’ve been to a date in decades, and it wasn’t even official. But the way she looks at me—a guy can dream, can’t he?

Focus, Granger.

There’s no telling what’s waiting for us in this place. Answers, hopefully. But it’s also possible that whoever did this to her is here and doing what they can to cover it up.

If the retirement community had actual security footage of her disappearance, I assume they would have given it to the police, but someone had to have seen something. Maybe they were just too afraid to come forward with it.

Or maybe—Nope. This screams cover-up. I just have to find out why.

“I always thought this place looked like its own happy world.”

Sparing another quick glance at Dahlia in the passenger seat, I note the tension in her shoulders and the way she toys with the bottom of her sweatshirt. Nerves. And why wouldn’t she be nervous? These people accused her of murder and stealing drugs from their supply.

She’s now under investigation—and guilty until proven innocent.

After pulling into a visitor’s spot right in front of the building, I immediately take stock of the security cameras along the front of the building.