The bite of donut suddenly felt like a lead weight in my stomach. It was officially happening. The start of my sanctuary. There was no going back. This step almost felt as scary as those three little words I couldn’t seem to utter to Hayes. But at the same time, they both felt right.
I glanced out the window and to the street. I could see where I’d had the run-in with my brother, where I’d been attacked. I could picture the hardware store just blocks away where my uncle had almost hit me. None of that was enough to scare me away. If I wanted the big, full life of my dreams, I would have to step into the unknown.
“I can’t wait to get them there. Gabe and Shiloh are going to help me check everything over this afternoon. And the barn should be done in a couple of weeks.”
Miles reached out and gave my arm a squeeze. “You’ll be giving this community an amazing gift. The animals. And the people, if you ever decide to open it for visits.”
“I actually have an idea for an entire educational curriculum.”
His eyes widened a fraction. “Really?”
“It’s all theory right now, but I thought it would be a wonderful place for schools to take a field trip. If I can build it into what I have in my mind.”
“Everly, I have no doubt that you will.”
The only way we’d find out is if I moved forward into the unknown.
The faint sound of hoofbeats on the gravel had me looking up from pulling on my muck boots. Gabe and Shiloh, atop their mounts, crested the hill to the cabin. Gabe waved. “Beautiful day for a ride. Thought we’d take advantage of it.”
“Sounds like a wonderful idea to me.” I loved how Gabe was with Shiloh. He’d do whatever he could to spend time with her, but he also just let her be instead of forcing conversation. He would take whatever she was willing to give.
“I bet they could use some water. Hold on a sec.” I jogged over to one of the new storage sheds we’d built with all of our helpers and pulled out a plastic water trough. Walking back to the fence where Gabe and Shiloh had dismounted, I filled the bucket from the newly extended water line.
Gabe grinned, running his fingers through the stream of water. “It even works. I gotta be honest, I wasn’t sure. It had been a while since I laid new pipes.”
Shiloh chuckled. “You know, Mom thought it was going to end up blowing up in your face.”
“I might just have to send her a video of how nicely it turned out.”
I shifted on my feet. “How’s she doing with everything going on?”
Gabe’s smile faltered a fraction. “Better, I think. She’s always going to be a worrier. Nothing will ever change that.”
“Time,” I said. “Time will change it, eventually. We have to hope it will.”
He patted my shoulder in the same fatherly way he did to Shiloh and Hadley. “Right you are. Now, tell me. When do the animals arrive?”
“The mare and the donkey are coming on Friday. We need to make sure everything’s set up in their paddock. And the guy who owned them hadn’t even named them, so we need names. Any ideas?”
Shiloh slid her saddle off Trick’s back and balanced it on a fence rail. “We gotta get to know them a little bit first. Don’t you think?”
“That’s a great idea.” The mare’s sorrowful eyes filled my mind as I looked around at the land surrounding us. I hoped she would find rest here. The same peace I searched for. Maybe we could find it together.
“I’m thinking we should build a couple of hay feeders today,” Gabe offered. “Having them ready to go as new animals arrive will make things easier on you in the long run.”
I was starting to see it: all sorts of different creatures making their homes here. And for the first time, my excitement overtook my nerves and fear. “I think that’s a great idea.”
He clapped his hands together. “Let’s get to work.”
We spent hours assembling the feeders. When we finally finished, we towed one of them into the paddock where our new mare and donkey would be living.
Shiloh grinned. “I think they’ll be happy here.”
I bumped her shoulder with mine. “I think so, too. If you guys position this, I’ll go get some hay so we can see how it looks.”
“Sounds good,” Gabe agreed.
I hopped back onto the four-wheeler I’d bought a couple of days ago. It was used, but the price tag had still given me the sweats. I headed for the hoop barn, pulling alongside the opening. I jumped out and went for just a single bale of hay. Even though I’d always been active, the work I’d been doing around the property had given me muscles I’d never known existed.
As I set the hay down in the bed of the four-wheeler, I heard rustling. Just what I needed—little critters making their homes in the hay. I turned to look, but before I could, there was a flash of movement and then blinding pain.
The entire world around me wavered and then darkened. But before I descended into the nothingness, I could’ve sworn someone said, “Sorry.”
41
Hayes
I scrubbed a hand over my face and then blinked a few times as I stared down at the map again. No matter how long I stared at the damn thing, the little Xs I’d marked off where each attack had occurred, nothing became clear. I pushed back from my desk and stood, stretching my back. It might be time to walk the streets. I’d been locked up in this damn office for too long.
My cell phone buzzed from somewhere on my desk. I patted down the map and other papers until I found the device. I swept my finger across the screen. “Easton.”
“Hayes?” Shiloh’s voice was pained, with a shaky edge to it.
“What’s wrong?”
“We—Dad and I—we’re at the cabin with Everly. She went to get hay and didn’t come back for a while. So, I went to look for her, but she’s not here. The bale of hay is on the back of the four-wheeler, but I don’t see any sign of her anywhere.”
“You checked the cabin?” The question was automatic, as if my response were preprogrammed. Because there was no way Ev could disappear. There was an explanation, a simple one. There had to be.
“I checked, and Dad’s looking in the barn now. But I don’t see her—” Shy’s voice cut off.
“What is it?” I was already moving, grabbing my keys and heading for the door.
“Her phone. It’s on the ground.”
“Don’t touch it.”
“I won’t.”
The desks in front of me blurred as I tried to weave through them. “I’m on my way. Don’t touch anything. Stay with Dad.”
I hung up before she had a chance to say anything else. I pulled in a ragged breath, willing myself to hold it together. Ruiz was talking with the front desk officer, a new guy whose name escaped me. He took one look at me and froze. “What is it?”
“Ev. She’s gone.”
“Where?”
I spent the next seconds relaying all the information I had. Each breath I took seemed to claw at my insides, begging me to move, to get to the cabin, to find Everly. “That’s all I know. I have to go.”
Ruiz reached out a hand, resting it on my shoulder. “You can’t work this case, Hayes.”
I shook off his hold. “I’m not working it as the sheriff. But you know damn well you can’t stop me from looking for her.”
“Don’t do anything stupid.”