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“It’s dark, though,” I said. “Did anyone bring a flashlight?”
“Of course,” Talon and Ruby said in unison.
Of course. The military man and the cop. They’d think of that. Why I hadn’t, I wasn’t sure. It was certainly logical.
Easy. They’d been trained to focus when in dire straits. I hadn’t been. My only thought had been getting to Marj. I was armed because I was almost always armed. My father had made sure I’d gotten my concealed carry permit as soon as I turned twenty-one. Joe, as well. It was pretty much part of getting dressed, as far as I was concerned.
Right now, I was thankful for that lesson learned, even if it had come from my father.
Talon pulled his truck into a secluded spot. “We should do this on foot. Damn. This feels familiar, doesn’t it, Ry?”
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“When we were on that island, looking for Ruby,” Ryan answered. “Tal and I were alone and armed, with no idea where we were going.”
“You found what you were looking for that time,” I said.
“We did. Plus a lot more. Our mother, for one,” Talon said.
“Your mother,” Ryan said tersely.
“Come on, Ryan,” Ruby said. “She was your mother too. In every way that counts.”
Ryan didn’t respond, and I didn’t look into the back seat to see his reaction. None of my business. Plus, we had more important things to attend to.
“Let’s go,” Talon said. “We should split up. Ryan and Ruby, you go together. I’ll go with Bryce.”
“Makes sense,” Ruby said. “Everyone got their phones on?”
We all nodded. We had temporarily retired our normal phones and started using burner phones to stay in contact with each other. It had been sheer luck that Jade and Melanie were still using their original phones. Thank God. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have gotten the text from Colin.
Talon and I headed toward the first run-down trailer to the north of the truck, while Ryan and Ruby headed south.
Talon had his light on the dimmest setting. “I don’t see any tire tracks or anything around here. You want to go in and check it out?”
“I don’t think we should leave anything to chance,” I said. “What if someone walked back and covered the tracks?”
“It’s possible. All right. Let’s go in.”
I walked up the cracked concrete stoop and tried the door. It was locked, but I easily executed a side kick and knocked it in.
“Bryce,” Talon said. “That’s not exactly being quiet.”
“You got a better idea?”
He shook his head, and we both walked inside.
“Marjorie?” I yelled. No need to be quiet after kicking in a door. “Are you here?”
Nothing.
I followed Talon, who had the light, as we searched every inch of the unit.
Nothing.
On to the next one.
