Courtney awoke sprawled on the couch, disoriented. It had been a long night and she simply could not 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 would not be here.

"Mind if I make some coffee?"

Sheriff Pike looked up and said, "Coffee's already on. Help yourself."

Thinking, she walked to the window and watched the horses graze, blissfully happy to munch the thick green blades of grass, completely unaware of the tension and worry trapped in the small kitchen. 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.

"Hello?"

The others in the room with him could not hear what was being said on the other side of the phone, but it was obvious that it was not news about Katherine, because when the person on the other end spoke, Sean’s whole demeanor dropped and his head hung low.

"Nothing yet, Doc." Sean put the call on speaker so that Sheriff could hear as well.

"Well, that little girl has everybody in Wolfe Springs praying for her. We all love her dearly. We are praying for you, too, son. Everyone knows how close of friends the two of you are and always have been. I'll get off here, but please keep me informed."

"I will, Doc. Katherine knows we love her. I have no doubt about that. Thank you for calling."

Hanging up the phone, he ran his fingers through his hair, then rubbed his chin. He seemed surprised to find the stubble there.

"Sheriff, you ought to go on home to your wife now. You know she's probably desperately worried about Katy, and you need some rest," Sean said.

"Son, if I go home, are you going to bed? Are you going to get some rest?"

"It's different. I can’t sleep knowing she is out there somewhere hurt and alone, or God only knows what else."

"And do you think I could sleep any better? I just told this girl only a few short weeks ago about her parents’ deaths. She is not simply another citizen in my county; she is my goddaughter, and I will be damned if I sleep while she is missing. If neither one of us are going to sleep, then how about we get some work done?"

"What can we do?"

"Let's get as much info on this uncle of hers as possible. Last night, all I could find out was that his parents died because of a suspicious house fire, cause undeterminable, and he moved to Texas about a month before Katy's parents were killed. Access to his bank account and financial info had to wait until this A.M. for a warrant, so I’ll call and get what info I can. Do you have a number for the uncle?"

"I have Katy's phone. Let me check that and see what I can come up with." 

While the men were carrying on their discussion, Courtney quietly carried the phone into the living room to make a call.

On the second ring, he picked up.

"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 just imagine that is 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 to the kitchen as Sean said, "It's in here. What should I do?"

"How about you call him to inform him that Katy has disappeared. Do not mention us finding her truck. Just ask him if he has seen her, because she didn’t come home last night. Don't act suspicious. Just play it by ear. We’re getting his financial info now."

Picking up his cell phone, Sean dialed Donald's number. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Dunlap."

"Mr. Dunlap, this is Sean Everett. We met at the diner. Katy is my girlfriend. I wanted to let you know that she’s gone missing."

"Oh dear, what happened? Did the two of you have a fight?"

"Actually, we didn't, but thank you for your concern. I was wondering if you had seen her."

"You haven't seen a single trace of her? Not even her truck?"

"No, sir, we haven't."

On a piece of paper, Sean jotted down 'He knows, asked about truck.’

"Well, surely you should look a little harder. People don't just disappear from the face of the earth."

"We are just now reaching the twenty-four-hour limit to call the cops. It’ll be a while before we find anything specific out."

"Well, Mr. Everett, I hope you all find her soon; it would be horrible if something... permanent were to happen to her."

"What do you mean, sir?"

“Mr. Everett, I don’t have time to play word games with you. You have alerted her next of kin that she is missing, which I am assuming was your purpose in calling me. I will let my wife and daughter know, and we will meet with your local police to see what should be done next. Thank you for letting me know. I will handle everything from here on out. Are you still residing in her home? I think that all things considered, it would be far more appropriate for you to vacate the premises and allow her family to be there, where we belong.”

“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?”

Donald’s laughter rang out over the phone line even as he was hanging up. Sean stood there, his chest heaving with emotion as his fist clenched his phone to his ear in a bruising grip.

Sheriff was standing right beside Sean, now paying very close attention to every word being said, while Courtney was sitting at the vacated table, praying Katherine would live, and not only because she really wanted to come out of this unscathed. She was shocked to realize there was some concern peppered in there for the other girl.     

"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. “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?"

"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."

Running a shaky hand through his hair, he drew in a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing."

Highlighting her name on the phone screen, he pressed call. On the second ring, a breathless voice picked up. "Katy?"

"Claire? This is Sean. Do you remember me?"

"Oh yeah, Big, hunky cowboy. What's not to remember?"

Another time he would have laughed; now he just felt numb. "Look, this is kind of hard to say, but Katy is missing and we think your dad could have something to do with it."

"Oh my, are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It would help out a lot if you would come talk to me. She is hurt very badly, and if we don't find her soon," he said, "she may not survive."

On the other side of the line, Claire drew in a shaky breath.

"I thought all of this was over when we left Oklahoma. I thought we would make a new start, be a real family with Nanny and Gramps gone. How can he do this again? Where are you, Sean? How do I get to you? I have a big story to tell you and need to do it in person."

Covering the mouthpiece, Sean told Sheriff, "She'll come."

"Wherever she is, I'll send a car to get her."

"Claire, where are you?"

"I'm about ten miles outside town."

“Are you alone? You don’t have anyone with you?”

“No, it’s just me. Mom is out shopping, and Dad hasn’t been around for a couple of days.”

"Can you get to the diner where we met?"

"Yeah, sure. Is that where you all are?"

"No, but an officer will meet you there and bring you here. It is for your own protection, Claire. Katherine's godfather is the county sheriff, and he wants to keep you safe."

"Am I going to get in trouble over this?"

"No, but we don't want you to get hurt over this either. Especially if your father figures out you're helping us."

"OK, I'll be there in five."

Raising a hand palm outward and fingers spread, he signaled five minutes. Sheriff nodded in agreement and pushed the talk button of the radio strapped to his shoulder to call an officer as he walked into the other room.

"Alright, Claire, the officer will be there in a few minutes."

Ending the call, Sean sank back into the chair that he had so rarely vacated during the last twenty-four hours. Coming back into the room, Sheriff sat down across from him.

"From the preliminary reports it looks like her uncle is flat broke and up to his eyeballs in debt; the wife, too. The funny thing is, the girl has a trust fund with Daniel as executer. They had never even met, had they?"

"Not as far as I know. I wonder if her father knew about this."

A few moments later, they heard a car crunching across the gravel drive. "Well, it looks like she's here. Say, where'd your friend go?"

Looking around, he said, "Who knows." In the silence there was an implied 'Who cares?'

As the front door creaked open after a quick knock, booted feet sounded, all but drowning out the almost whispery sound of a softer, more feminine entrance.

"In here."

Following the sound of Sean's voice, Claire made her entrance into the kitchen, her mind reeling and her gut clenched. "Has there been any news yet?"

Sadly, Sean shook his head no.

Sean watched as Claire came to a decision and squared her shoulders before approaching the table to take a seat.

Sitting in an empty chair, she started talking, almost reluctantly at first but quickly gaining momentum as she purged her soul of the poison that was her parents. "When Uncle Daniel left, Daddy started down this path. I think he had always been a bully underneath all the sophisticated polish. Nanny and Gramps started pushing him to start a family, settle down, hoping, I think, that he would change and maybe start to love someone or something more than himself. Mom just wanted his money, which is all either of them are really after. When they conceived me, Nanny and Gramps gave them a large amount of money for baby essentials. From what I understand, a week out of the hospital my parents left me at home in a playpen so they could attend a party. A party Nanny and Gramps were also attending. Gramps and Dad had a big blowout, and Nanny and Gramps came to get me, but it came to blows and Dad put Gramps in the hospital that night and refused to let them see me. Gramps told them that either they would allow me to have a live-in nanny, or he would cut them off. Auntie June came to live with us then. She raised me until I was ten. That is when she died and I was alone once again with them. That lasted about two months, and for my eleventh birthday Nanny and Gramps brought me a puppy. He was an adorable fur ball, always licking you. A week or two after I got him, he just disappeared. For days, I wandered the woods surrounding our house calling for him. I found him, but when I did he was dead, had been tortured. Crying, I called Nanny and Gramps, and they came to get me. Gramps threatened to call the police, so they let me go. I figured out later on what my grandparents had known all along. My dad had built a habit of torturing animals spanning back from childhood. Anyway, after I moved, things were great. I didn’t have to see my parents, and my grandparents did their best to show me all the love and affection I had missed out on growing up. Three weeks after my seventeenth birthday, Gramps had a stroke. He was bedridden after. Dad came for me, and Nanny just could not stop him from taking me. It was not that bad back at home. They just ignored me mostly, but..." She teared up still carrying guilt for everything that happened next. As the first tear fell, she started again. "But when they couldn't get any money for my 'care,' as they said, Dad decided it was about time that he inherited. He set fire to their home, the place he had grown up in, without a flicker of emotion. Gramps died in the fire, but the firefighters arrived in time to get Nanny out before the flames consumed her as well. She was burned badly. I think that smoke inhalation put her into a coma. God, if I'd been six months older, he'd have never gotten away with it, but since she was technically on life support, he pulled the plug. She lingered, though. Boy, did she linger. Eight days after they took her life support away, her fingers briefly gripped mine in a sign of acknowledgment, I am sure of it, but that evening she passed. Up until that point, the doctors were optimistic that a recovery was possible, even if only a partial one, but that night she was just gone. Just an involuntary movement is what they all said, but I could feel it in here." Her hand covered her heart before falling to her side. "But I've often wondered how hard it'd be to cover her face with a pillow or something. I mean, she couldn't move and needed to breathe, so it would be the perfect crime, wouldn't it? Sorry. Anyhow, after they died, Dad expected to inherit it all, but he got nothing. Nan and Gramps had set aside a very sizable sum for my college, but somehow Dad gained possession of it in a very short space of time. Ironically, the joke was on him because they had actually left the money to throw him off the trail of my actual trust fund. The will was not read in the traditional way; the lawyer told us about his lack of inheritance and my college fund, and at my grandparents’ request said no more. The rest of the will divided all of their belongings equally between Katy, Daniel, and me. Dad still didn't know that or that Daniel split his inheritance fifty-fifty between Katy and me. I have been terrified he would find out and do something to me. I never thought he would go after Katy. I've given him my monthly allowance since the beginning thinking it would all stop."

She looked Sean in the eyes, her own swimming with tears. "I swear I didn't know this would happen. I am so naïve because for a little bit I actually believed we had moved down here to try to be a family; to get to know Katy because she's the only family we have left. There was enough money for them to live comfortably on and then some. I should have known after the way he lit into her in the diner. What can we do? Can you trade her for me?"

"Claire, that’s honorable, it really is," Sheriff said, "but I don't think it’s about the money anymore. He's already made intimations that he has her somewhere, so now we have to focus on finding her."

"Wait a second," Sean said, "if he gets your allowance, then why does he have an empty bank account and creditors after him?"

"I don't know. I always give them the money in cash. I get a check for eight thousand dollars and always cash it for them."

"What about properties? Does he own any around here? Do you?"

"Like a house? As far as I know, he doesn’t. Before Uncle Daniel died, he had purchased some land around here for me and put it in his name, but there is no house on it, just an old ramshackle barn and a storm cellar. The house was torn down right before he died. He was trying to help me build a life here away from everyone else. He didn't even know me but wanted to help. I don't know how Dad would have found out about it, though. We never communicated face-to-face; it was always through a lawyer, and that was done through an email account no one knew about."

"Well, it’s worth a shot, for sure. Is there anything else you can think of?"

As she shook her head, a frantic officer suddenly interrupted the fuzzy white noise that constantly came from his radio.

"Sheriff, I've got a visual on Donald Dunlap. How do I proceed?"

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

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

Looking to Claire, he asked, "How far is this parcel of land of yours?"

"Not even five miles down the road."

"Are you talking about the old Purcell place?"

"Maybe? It's on Pine Cone Rd."

"Sounds like it." Sheriff pushed the button on his radio and spoke to the officer, "Timmons, keep an eye on him. We'll be there in five."

"10-4, sir."

As the three people rushed out the door, none noticed Courtney quietly on the phone in the corner, watching their exit.

As they hurried out the door, Devon answered 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 old 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. How could he still make her lose her train of thought just by opening his mouth and speaking?

"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 old heartbreaking feelings. 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.