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Monk followed her inside the house and was in the process of checking each room when something caught his eye outside. He went through the kitchen and out the back door.
Before he could get a word out to warn Razor or Ava, someone hit him on the head with what felt like a sledgehammer. He fell to the ground; blood ran down the side of his face as he floated in and out of consciousness. He caught a glimpse of three men carrying Ava out and running into the woods before everything went black.
3
The girls went inside to play while Saylor sat on the deck with her mother.
“I hate this part. Waiting for word,” she murmured.
“I do too,” said her mother.
While neither knew the details about what Razor did when he’d disappear for weeks or sometimes month on end, they both certainly knew enough to glean that Ava was in danger and that was why they’d left so abruptly.
“What did you think of her?” Saylor asked.
“The girls like her. That’s always a good sign.”
“I like her too.”
“Your brother’s in love.”
Saylor met her mother’s gaze. “Picked up on that, huh?”
They both smiled.
“I’ll admit, I worried it would never happen.”
“What about you, sweetheart? When will you open your heart again?”
Saylor stood, walked over to the deck’s railing, and looked out at the ocean. “Never again, Mom.”
Her mother joined her, covering Saylor’s hand with hers. “It’s time.”
“As you can see, I don’t have suitors lined up waiting.”
“Monk seemed interested.”
“Interested and lining up to woo me are two different things. Plus, he works with Razor.”
Her mother murmured in agreement and pointed out at the ocean to the pod of whales that, instead of migrating, lived year-round off the coast of Yachats.
Saylor never took being able to see the beautiful creatures for granted. It was one of the things she liked best about the small town she’d lived in since she was born.
She’d gone to college in Eugene for aeronautical engineering, which had initially appealed to her just because it was funded in part by the NASA Oregon Space Grant, and she thought that was the coolest thing ever.
When she graduated with her bachelor’s degree, she came back to Yachats. In hindsight, she should’ve started flight training right away and continued her pursuit of becoming a pilot. Instead, she’d gotten married.
She always struggled with wishing she’d done things differently and the idea that if she had, the two beautiful little girls who made her soul shine wouldn’t grace the planet.
“Monk said Cliff is still in prison.”
“Good to know.”
“That’s what I said.”
“What else is bothering you?” her mother asked.
Even though she’d done nothing wrong, the idea of Monk knowing her ex-husband was an abuser, embarrassed her. He had to know if he was aware of Cliff’s whereabouts.
