He held her gaze. “I do. I think this might be something important. And it scares me.”
She swallowed hard. “Because of what we might find?”
“Yes.” He thought about the days before Abby went missing. He and Charlie spent a lot of time hanging out with Abby. He hadn’t noticed anything strange about Abby’s behavior but then again, he only had eyes for Charlie. “You saw something different about Abby leading up to that night, didn’t you?”
She gave him an odd look. “She was down about something. And jumpy,” Charlie said at last. “I thought it was just because her parents were arguing, and she was stressed out by it. But I remember her looking over her shoulder a lot whenever we’d take a walk down the county road.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, and when we were window shopping downtown, a car backfired, and she just about jumped out of her skin. Abby laughed it off but. . .”
“Something was troubling her.”
She nodded. “If that’s the case then this wasn’t a random kidnapping like Pete thought at the time. Someone was coming after her for a reason.”
“Maybe for something she saw or more importantly something she knew.”
Her eyes locked on his. Suddenly, the air between them crackled with an electrical current that had nothing to do with Abby.
She swallowed deeply and ducked her head. “I’m sorry.”
Ryan’s chest tightened painfully. “Why are you sorry?” His voice became a ragged whisper as he waited to hear her answer.
“I never meant to leave the way I did,” she admitted.
A breath escaped. “And I never meant to let you go.”
She looked into his eyes, and he couldn’t look away. The look on her face reminded him of the woman he’d fallen in love with all those years earlier.
Just for a moment, he thought she might close the space between them. He held his breath. All it would take was one gesture from her and he’d be right back under her spell.
The jarring sound of her ringtone shattered that hope.
Instead of stepping closer she stumbled backward as she pulled the phone from her pocket and stared at the screen. “No ID. It’s an unknown number.” She answered and placed the call on speaker. “Who is this?”
Static assaulted them followed by a whispered voice that was clearly altered.
“Stop digging.” Before she had a chance to respond, the call went dead.
Chapter Five
“Are you sure this is wise?” Charlie asked once they neared Abby’s old homestead, and her uneasiness continued to grow.
After Ryan left her the evening before, Charlie and Lila spent hours catching up. When she finally fell asleep it was past two in the morning. Her sleep had been fitful with fragmented dreams about Abby. In each one, Abby called out for help. Charlie would run to her. Several times, she almost reached her friend before Abby’s image disappeared before her eyes.
“Boone gave his consent,” Ryan said, looking her way. He gave her an assessing look. She instinctively straightened her hair. She couldn’t imagine how bad she must look with such little sleep. “If we find anything, I’ll call him and Doug in.”
Charlie nodded and stared out the windshield. The storm had abated sometime before dawn. Leaving in its wake several feet of fresh fallen snow and clear skies. Perfect weather for the nearby ski resort. The town had been crowded with visitors coming for the holiday celebrations in town and up at the resort.
Ryan slowed enough to make the turn while Charlie tried to keep her focus on why they were here. Ignoring the handsomedistraction beside her wasn’t easy. Their conversation the night before had hung in her heart like a knife. She loved him desperately but had treated him badly. If she were honest, that was part of the reason why she’d stayed away from Pine Haven.
Ryan stopped the cruiser in front of the dilapidated house while memories of the many times Charlie had hung out here with Abby and her parents washed over her.
She’d heard from Pete that Abby’s parents had moved to Florida. The couple had spent all these years wondering what happened to their daughter and still had no closure.
Charlie turned in her seat. “Have you spoken to the family lately?”
Ryan faced her. “No, not in years. They used to call often to check on the case but then they stopped.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I think they kept in touch with Pete more than anyone.”
He waited for an answer she didn’t have before opening the door. Charlie followed his example and got out stepping to the front of the vehicle.
“The place looks awful. I wonder why they chose not to sell it?” Charlie’s gaze slid over the chipping paint, sagging porch and broken windows.
