“His phone died?” Tyler asked the detective as he reached the bottom step.

Alan was standing by the door, talking to someone. “Yes, we lost the signal as my agents were driving to the location.”

“What does that mean?” Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. I could see signs of tears still present on the corner of his eyes. “How will you find him now?”

I sat down on the bottom step and tried to focus on what they were saying. Everything felt wrong. We were here at Tyler’s place, talking about what to do while Stephen fought for his life somewhere.

“Is there room for me,” Charlie said and sat down beside me. “He’ll be okay, Zo.”

I shook my head. It was easy to make that claim, but no one knew if Stephen would come out of this alive. “We’ll see,” I whispered. I dropped my head in my hands unable to cry or even scream. This felt like an episode of Criminal Minds.

“Zoe.” The moment I heard Tyler’s voice, my body lifted. “Come here.” He was holding out his arms. It felt like my body glided over to him and melted in place.

“Sir.” The technical analyst stepped into the front room. “I may have something.” Her words brought the room back to life. “See here.” She pointed at the computer screen. We were all huddled around the woman. “We last had cell service here.” She had her finger on a part of the map that was outside the city limits. “This is the radius of where we need to look. Look at the location.”

I leaned in without thinking. “Could his house be by a golf course?” The large green patch she was pointing at was east of North Las Vegas where there was less development. The air force base was not far away either.

“Exactly,” she said. “Everything points this way.” The woman was moving her hand in an arc around the west side of the golf course. “There are a few homes in this area, but each one is on several acres of property.”

The detective leaned up and started barking orders. “I want four vehicles ready to leave in thirty-seconds.” He turned toward Ty and me. “When we put a message out to the public through the media, there were two anonymous calls that came from that area.” He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. Right before he left, he looked at us. “We’ll contact you with any information.”

Any information could mean anything. What he probably meant was, we’ll let you know if he is dead or alive. I turned my body and buried my head in Tyler’s chest. “Is this fucking for real?”

He tightened his arms around me. “I know. It feels like a prank. Like maybe someone will jump out and say, kidding.”

“You both okay?” I heard Anna say from behind me. “I made tea if you would like some?” Tyler didn’t move. Didn’t loosen his grip on my body. I could feel Anna’s hand on my back. “I meant what I said.” She was right beside my ear now. “I will love you always and forever no matter what.” She wrapped her body around the both of us. “Don’t you dare ever hold in a secret so dear to you again. I want to be here for you and support you.” She rested her head on mine. I could feel Tyler lean in. “You are my baby. I love you.”

I could feel Tyler’s breath on my skin as he tried to speak. “Mom,” he whispered. I knew this was hard for him. I didn’t dare move.

With each passing minute, the memories of when I shared my secret with my family came rushing back. I could see my mom and dad that day. They were sitting on the couch, watching one of those game shows on TV. I had just kissed Susie on the merry-go-round during recess. It was the first time my true feelings came to light. On the way home from school, I made the decision to share what I’d experienced. Then I stood in front of them and almost chickened out. I’m so thankful I didn’t.

“Hungry?” Brooks lifted up his fork. “Julian’s cooking.”

“Just as long as you didn’t help. Sure,” Tyler said and lightly laughed as we stepped into the kitchen.

I was holding Tyler’s hand. Right before we entered the room, he tightened his grip. Then Brooks lightened the mood. Leave it to Hollywood. He always knew how to ease the tension.

“Fuck you.” Brooks threw his napkin at Tyler. “I can cook. Ask Charlie.”

I watched as he turned at the exact moment she stuffed her mouth full of rice. In between chewing, she said, “Sorry, my mouth is full.” Then she took another bite.

“You suck,” he said and tickled her side.

“Brooks,” Anna said in a stern voice. “That’s not how you talk to your wife.”

I looked up at Tyler and smiled. This family amazed me more every day. Lily, Charlie, and now me—we were damn lucky. I knew my smile faded when I realized I forgot to list Stephen’s name.

“What is it?” Tyler whispered beside my ear.

“I wish Stephen was here to see this.”

He tugged me closer to his side. “Me, too.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a man said from behind me. “Alan wanted me to come get you both.” We followed behind him as the man led us into the front room. He pointed at a phone sitting on the table. “Alan, they’re both here.”

“Tyler and Zoe, a car should be there to pick you both up,” he said in a voice that was hard to place.

I didn’t know if I should be worried or celebrate.

“Did you find him?” Tyler said and sat down in a chair.

“I don’t want to discuss anything over the phone. We’ll see you in ten minutes.” Alan didn’t say goodbye or anything. The phone just went dead.

I turned to the front door where two agents were standing. “Are you taking us?”

A woman was there with her hands resting in her pockets. She was wearing a Kevlar vest and her long blonde hair covered up the letter L on the front of the vest. “We are. It’s not far.”

Tyler grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the door. He stopped and looked back at his family huddled around the kitchen doorway. “You’re not leaving, right?”

“We may crash in your bed, but you’re stuck with us,” Julian teased.

Anna walked forward and placed her hands on the side of both of our faces. “Bring him home.” I placed my hand over hers. “Take care of my baby, Zoe.”

“Yes, ma’am.”