I should have told her I love her.

The fire sparks as my fish cooks in the pan. There’s a freshwater stream nearby, and I don’t usually catch anything when we’re out here, but by some miracle it happened today.

“Nearly done?” Rob walks out from his tent, and I nod.

“The potatoes boiled a while ago on the cooker. This thing only needs another thirty seconds, if that.”

“I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

As I pull the pan away from the flames, my mind wanders back to Constance. There’s no phone reception out here, and I can’t just call her and tell her what I should have done. It wasn’t until late afternoon, when we were getting ready to go hunting that I realised I didn’t really reply.

I hate that I can’t tell her until I get home.

“Corey?”

“Sorry, mate.” I slide the fish fillets from the pan to the plates while he spoons up the boiled potatoes.

“You okay?”

“Just thinking about home. Well, Constance.”

He nods. “I get that. I spent months wanting to get away from the noise of the kids, but it only takes a night away and I miss them.”

I pick up the plate and a fork. The food might be basic, but it’ll fill us up ready for hunting.

What I need to do is to focus. I’ve been coming up here for years, and this is the first time I’ve just wanted to get it over with and get home.

Five days without Constance.

We’ve had a huge haul of possum, and a fair few stoats. Those little bastards exceeded our expectations when it came to the damage they were doing.

Our find on the third day of a kiwi egg spurred me on. I haven’t seen one out in the bush for years, but they’re very obviously around, and this place needs to be as clear as we can get it. To protect them.

I think we’ve done the best job we ever have.

But my mind still turns to Constance on the way home.

When I pull into the driveway, I drive right up to the garage. In the back of the ute are two big chilly bins of meat, part of my payment for the job I’ve done. There’s enough lamb and beef to keep us going for a few weeks.

Securing the meat in the freezer, I close the garage and head toward the house. Surely Constance has heard me by now. I’m surprised she’s not out here already.

I’m tired, I smell, and I’m in desperate need of one of those showers where you use all the hot water with no regrets, and I’m aching for Constance. Just the thought of her soft lips to kiss, and her hot, tight body makes me hard before I get to the front door. I turn the handle.

“Con?” I look around, but there’s no sign of her. She’s not in the living room, the kitchen or the bathroom.

The bed’s a mess, which isn’t like her. I never make the bed, but Con makes it religiously. My heart speeds up at this seemingly small thing. Something’s not right.

My house seems too quiet. If I know Constance, I know her excitement levels will be off the charts to have me home. My hair stands on end. Is she okay? I’ve got a freezer full of meat and a healthy bank account, and right now I wish I had none of it. Leaving her even for a few days was a big mistake.

I search the bathroom, and step out the back door onto the deck.

“Con,” I call before turning back inside. Plucking my phone from my pocket, I dial Lily.

“Hey, Corey,” she says.

“Is Constance with you?”

“No. I visited her the day after you left for work, but haven’t spoken to her since. Everything okay?”

“She’s not here, and it’s not like she can go far by herself. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it worries me. She hasn’t made the bed, which is so unlike her.”

“That’s weird. But there could be a good reason for it. Don’t panic.”

Unease prickles across my skin. Something’s wrong. Really wrong.

She’s gone.

I don’t know how I know, but I do. When she’s around, she fills my senses, and right now I can’t sense her.

It’s like hunting. I know how animals think, especially possums, and that’s why I’m so good at what I do.

For the first time in a long time, I have no idea what to do.

A tap on the door knocks me out of my stupor. I turn to see Graham.

“Hey, I saw your car go past. I know you’ve been away, and there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Is it about Constance?”

“She’s gone back.”

My whole world falls apart. What the hell? Why would she do that? Is she okay?

“She’s been spotted in the main house with Ash.”

I shake my head. “No, she can’t have gone back there.”

“She’s getting married in a month.”

The ball in the pit of my stomach grows. For the first time in years, I’ve fallen in love with someone who I thought loved me back. “But I …”

Graham nods. “I know, and I’m so sorry, Corey. But there’s one thing that’s been nagging at me.”

“What’s that?”

“What if they planted her here? Jared disappeared following up the information she gave us.”

I shake my head. “No, I can’t believe it.”

“Right now, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“You didn’t see her when she thought they might have come after her.”

He frowns.

“Graham, she was terrified. That first morning when you came to the door? The day I lied to you? She had a full-on panic attack thinking you were Ash.”

“Could she have been faking it?”

I shake my head. “It was a full-body reaction. Her palms were clammy when I held her hands afterward.”

“Maybe that’s how he’s controlling her—fear.”

“I can’t believe that. With every little bit of freedom she’s had, she opened up more.”

He swallows, and grips my arm. “Corey, you’re hardly going to see this objectively. You were sleeping with her.”

“I believe her. I have to.”

Letting go of my arm, he nods. “I understand. The intel we got said her parents were being threatened. Maybe that’s her motivation. Whatever it is, I’m sorry.”

I nod, but I’m hollow. There’s nothing left of me without Constance. She’s at the very core of my being. The one person who’s all mine.

Was.

There’s no way I can rest until I get to the bottom of this.