Page 9 of Glimmer in the Darkness

“I believe it’s where he’s holding—”

“Who is he? Who did this? Why don’t you—?”

“I have no idea!” She hadn’t meant to shout and tried to calm down. “If I knew who he was, I’d have told the police ten years ago. I can tell you it was a man. I can tell you that he was almost as scared as I was. I can tell you that… I don’t think any of it was planned. He wanted to take her. I was extraneous.” Hadn’t she always been that? “He didn’t expect me to be there. I just—”

“I don’t want to hear this.” His voice was cold. “I can’t listen to your story.” He seemed as emotionally overwrought as she was. She remembered the way his chest would expand when he was upset. The way his jaw would go from rounded to hard. Even past the cropped beard, she could see the softness had disappeared with age, or grief. James was all hard angles and anger now. Maybe the anger was her fault.

He started again, his tone measured. “I don’t want to hear your story. I’m not ready to…” He lifted his hand as if he were going to rub the back of his neck again but dropped it before it got there.

She wanted to press him, to beg him for his help. James would keep her safe at night, and he would know how to cover more ground, cover new ground. He wouldn’t go in circles like she had. But she couldn’t convince him. He had to decide where to go from here. Go with her, ignore her, or turn her in. There weren’t a lot of options, and one of them would be the end of her, the end of little Ella Cote.

“Where are you going?" he finally asked.

“It’s up on the mountain somewhere. There’s a rock formation that forms caves. I never knew it was there before, and I don’t think anyone else does either. It’s way off the beaten track. In all the aerial photos I’ve seen, there’s no indication of it. I’ve studied and studied and studied this mountain—as much as I could on the internet, anyway—and there’s no record of the cave I’m talking about.”

“Maybe that means it’s not there.”

“It is. It haunts my dreams. It haunts…” Her voice was too full of emotion. She had to stop that, had to be stoic. James wouldn’t believe her tears if she shed them.

“How far away is it?”

“I don’t know exactly. I was so afraid… It took hours to climb up. I came down a different way. It was dark, I was terrified. I just… I just don’t know. But I know it’s up there. And I know that’s where Ella is. In my heart”—she pressed her hand to her chest—“she’s still there. And she’s still alive. For now. If you care at all about Reid, if you care at all about his little girl… If you ever cared about me… I need your help. I can’t do this by myself.”

Chapter Five

James stared at this apparition from his past.

That very morning, he’d held close the idea that Cassidy was innocent. Even as Vince and Reid and the rest of the town accused her, he’d believed in her.

But now, looking at the last person to see his sister alive, the only person who could have answered all the questions and given his parents peace… How could he trust a word she said?

If she did do it, if she was responsible for the death of the girl last month, and if she knew where Reid’s daughter was now, the best course of action would be to call the police immediately. They could get the truth out of her better than James could.

But what if Cassidy was telling the truth?

He tried to read her gaze, but it seemed so unfamiliar, he wasn’t sure what to think of what he saw there.

Her hair had been dyed black in high school, and she’d always worn caked-on makeup, along with too much black eyeliner and black lipstick. She’d hidden behind Nirvana T-shirts and torn jeans and black sweatshirts and ugly hiking boots.

Today, she wore no makeup, and her cheeks and nose were dotted with freckles. Her lips were pink, her teeth… she must’ve invested in braces, because the ones that had been crooked were now straight.

The only thing that hadn’t changed were her eyes.

The irises were rimmed in dark green, but inside were flecks of blue and gold and other colors that seemed to change with her mood. Right now, he saw reddish-orange, the color of glowing coals.

Even with all the goth foolishness she’d worn in high school, he’d thought her pretty. Now, she was downright gorgeous.

And, based on the fire in her gaze, furious.

She had a lot of nerve being mad at him.

“Why are you here, Cassidy?”

“I told you, I’m here to find—”

“No.” He swept his arm across his yard. “Here. On my property?”

Her gaze flicked behind her, and a flash of something new entered her expression. He couldn’t have named it, but his heart pounded. “What?”