COURTNEY AWOKE SPRAWLED on the couch, disoriented. It had been a long night, and she couldn't remember having fallen asleep. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms out above her before she froze as she recalled the night before. Standing up, she straightened her clothes, grimacing at the wrinkles. Silence permeated the house, so thinking she was the only one about, she went to the bathroom. Long ingrained habit had her closing the door and stripping out of her wrinkled slacks and placing them neatly over the shower curtain rod. She turned the hot water on high in the tub, hoping the steam would help relax some of the lines and creases on her clothing. Walking to the sink, she splashed cold water on her face, washing away yesterday’s makeup. Satisfied that she would look no better without a full-on shower, she turned the water off and pulled her slacks back on.

Planning to make some coffee, she went into the kitchen only to find Sean and Sheriff Pike sitting in the exact same spot as the previous evening, both awake and looking haggard, and neither speaking, simply staring at different spots on the ceiling. She started to ask if there had been any news but changed her mind. Surely, if there had been a change, they wouldn’t be here still.

“Mind if I make some coffee?”

Sheriff Pike looked up and said, “Coffee’s already on. Help yourself.”

Grabbing a coffee mug, she filled it to the rim with the brutally strong brew. Taking a tentative sip, she wrinkled her nose at the bitter taste, glancing around for sugar.

Seeing none, she made an unselfish move for a woman generally so self-absorbed and drank her coffee silently.

She took a huge gulp and nearly gagged at the taste but choked it back and took another strong drink. Feeling exceptionally proud of herself, she continued until her cup was nearly empty before she could handle it no longer. As she rinsed out her cup, the phone rang. Both men jerked to attention, then Sean rose abruptly and answered it.

She listened for a moment in case it was news but realized quickly that it was someone from town calling to see if there was any news. After hanging up, Ev and Sheriff started to plan their next moves, and she figured that she had given it enough time. Her brother should be home by now, so while they carried on their planning, she snuck away, not that they noticed, and set her own plans into action. She was relieved as all hell when her brother picked up on the second ring.

"This is Devon."

"Hey, bro, it’s Court. I need you."

After a brief pause, he sighed and said, "What happened now?"

"It's about Ev. Katherine Dunlap is missing, and he needs you and the boys’ help."

"Why hasn't he called me yet?"

"Well, it’s kind of my fault."

Devon could only imagine that it was. Resigned, he asked, "Where are you?"

"Wolfe Springs."

"Has he talked to the cops yet?

"Yeah."

"I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

"Courtney, after this is over, we are going to talk. You can't keep running."

"I know."

"Love you."

"Me too."

She walked back into the kitchen and listened silently as Ev and Sheriff talked about calling Katherine's uncle, who from what she could gather they suspected had something to do with her going missing. She listened to the one-sided conversation in growing horror as the gravity of it all sunk in.

She leaned in and watched as Ev wrote down on a piece of paper, 'He knows, asked about truck.'

Ev went stiff and asked, "What do you mean, sir?"

Whatever her uncle said caused Ev to lose his mind, and he shouted, “I am not going any damn place. I will be here when she gets home, and I will be the only one living here besides her. You are not going to be taking advantage of the situation on my watch. And you are no more family to her than you are to my horse, Ethel. Blood doesn’t mean anything. Her godparents are her family. I am her family. You are someone with similar DNA. Did you do something to her, asshole? Where is she? Where in the fuck is she?”

She sat abruptly at the table and stayed there in shock, her hand covering her mouth to prevent the bile from escaping or making a noise, she wasn't sure which, but she couldn't move. She would never have thought it possible given the past, but she found herself scared witless for the woman.

Sheriff was standing right next to Ev, analyzing every word and reaction, and even he jerked in surprise when Ev suddenly shouted, "Dammit! He hung up. Smug son of a bitch is practically begging to be murdered. He has her or knows where she is. He has to.” Sean’s eyes were bloodshot and watery when he made eye contact with Sheriff, completely ignoring her presence. “He was laughing when he hung up on me. Laughing. We have to find her. Now."

"Ok, Sean, focus. What about his wife and daughter?" Sheriff asked.

"Ask me, his wife is in it or at the very least knows about it and isn’t objecting. The daughter seemed to genuinely like Katy. She might be the key."

"Do we have the number?"

"Katy does. They exchanged numbers at the diner. Here it is. Claire. Do you want me to call?"

"It might be easier if she talks to you. She knows you two have a connection, and it would probably be distressing to her to speak to a cop."

"OK."

Ev took a moment to compose himself and then dialed the number. It was only a few seconds before he spoke, "Claire? This is Sean. Do you remember me?"

Courtney assumed that she answered in confirmation because he started to explain to her that they were afraid her father may have something to do with the fact that Katherine was missing. She felt it in her heart, the raw despair in his voice when he told her that Katy may not survive.

Courtney pulled out her own cell and texted her brother: You close? Shit’s bad.

There was no immediate response, but she got up and walked into the next room, just in case her brother or one of the boys decided to call her back instead of texting.

Courtney stayed out of the way when a uniformed police officer walked into the house without knocking and had a stunning brunette with him, with haunted eyes. The two made their way into the kitchen, and Courtney rose to stand in earshot without being visible to listen to the conversation. She was shocked. In her life, she had thought things had been tough, but this new girl told them a story that belonged in a horror film.

Claire started the story by telling them that it all started when Daniel, who she thought was Katherine's father, if memory served her right from her previous visit years ago, left. The girl, Claire's, father married for convenience, and when she was born, her rich grandparents gave them money, which started a vicious cycle. Her sick father, the man they assumed had Katherine, had tortured animals to death as a child, which led to him setting his own parents' house on fire and ultimately led to their demise, but not before they had changed their will to allow Katherine's father to inherit the majority of their money as well as appointing Daniel as overseer of both Katherine and Claire's inheritances.

If it was possible to feel even worse, Courtney did right then. She had driven Katherine into the arms of a madman. Then her heart broke even more when she heard Claire offer to trade herself for her cousin, and she could have kissed Sheriff when he denied her request. If they had thought to make the trade, she would have had to offer herself up. There was no way another innocent would be hurt because of her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the uniformed officer’s mic keyed and another voice spoke up saying, "Sheriff, I've got a visual on Donald Dunlap. How do I proceed?"

The house overflowed with tension, and Courtney checked her phone again to see if her boys had responded while listening to the conversation from the other room.

"Keep a visual on him. Do not approach. What’s your twenty?"

"Three and a quarter miles southwest of your location, The Dunlap Ranch."

Sheriff asked Claire about some land that Daniel had purchased for her, and she responded letting him know that it was close. Not even five miles away. There was conversation while they determined that the place that Donald has been spotted in did indeed belong to his daughter.

They rushed past her, Ev, Claire, and Sheriff, and didn't even notice her, but that worked out in her favor because it gave her a chance to call her brother back and give him the new location.

Devon answered on the first ring with a sharp, "Yeah?"

"Dev, they've found her. Her uncle has her trapped in a barn or something on this property around here."

"Here, give Cole the location."

"But..." Her protest fell on deaf ears as she heard the shuffling of the phone from one man to the other.

"Hey, Baby Girl."

The breath whooshed out of her at the endearment, but she quickly composed herself enough to say, "Cole."

"Come on, B.G., tell me where we're going."

Mentally, she berated herself. Stupid freaking moron. This wasn't the time. There were lives at stake, and she had to pull her head out of her ass and get with it.

"Court?"

"Sorry, sorry. Best as I can tell, this is where they are," she said, giving him the address to program into the GPS.

“Got it, B.G. You sit tight, and as soon as this is all over, we will swing by to pick you up. I think you have probably reached the end of your welcome, yeah?”

She made up her mind then that she would make sure they were all ok and then slip away before anyone was the wiser so she wouldn’t have to spend any more time listening to his husky voice and feeling her old heartbreak. Maybe it was time to move to the other end of the country or something. Rather than replying, she did the only thing she could and hung up the phone with no further response. He had no right, absolutely no right to speak to her in that tone with those words after what he had done. She could feel the bile rising in her throat from the whirling emotions that short phone call had stirred up.