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HIM
Four fucking months.
The last few months since the incident up north had been hell. I was sitting in the study, wishing I was anywhere else. My family was front and center of it all because it had happened during our ceremony. This event would be a learning tool in the future for the society, and not in a good way. The elders, who usually stayed in the shadows, were here for the meeting. Two of them had flown from Greece to be here. We were at one of the other houses owned by the society. Not as remote as the one that had burned down, but still far away from major cities.
We’d been looking for Sage since the night it happened. Grant, the sheriff, the one who watched her drive away, blamed me. He claimed he was told not to harm the youngest sister. That she was Alex’s. He had no idea that Alex had been stabbed. By the time word got to me that she had driven away, she was long gone.
I expected to find her back in Capac. Either with her dad or at her house. But when we got there, the house was locked down. I went to the nursing home and explained that I knew Alex and asked if Sage had stopped by. The nurse had given me an icy glare and said no. Obviously, she was lying, but I couldn’t do anything about it. We had her phone but got locked out, so that was a dead end.
I scrubbed my hand down my face. How could one girl cause so much trouble? There was a small part of me that respected her more now. She had seen her sister die and had still fought her way out of that house. She was clever enough to disappear without a trace.
I quickly buried that thought, focusing on the shit I had to deal with right now.
About eight men filed in and sat down around the table where I was already sitting. My father sat down next to me with a scowl on his face. He was not happy to be the center of attention, and I knew he was furious with me. We’d barely had a conversation in the past four months. He blamed me for what happened. With Sage. And with Alex.
“Is there anything new to report?” one of the elders, Samual, asked. He stroked his long white beard as he waited for someone to speak up.
My father cleared his throat before he answered. “No, sir. We have been using our local and national connections, and so far, there’s been nothing.”
I kept my head down as the conversation started. I was not planning on talking unless someone asked me a direct question. I was the one to blame for this. And the burden of bringing shame to my family was weighing me down.
“This is one girl we’re talking about. She couldn’t have gotten far. What about tracking her credit card?” Samual asked in his low, gruff voice.
“We do have someone who works at the bank she uses. But she has been making large cash withdrawals from banks all over the state and even a few in the surrounding states. Other than the withdrawals, there’s been no activity on her account,” my dad answered.
“She’s probably staying in the state then.”
“Yes, sir. That’s what we’re thinking.”
“Any info on her car?”
“We know what car she has, and we have our people in the police force watching out for it. But so far, there have been no sightings.”
“What about her social media?”
“My son has been watching her accounts, and so far, nothing except her traveling. But we’ve already looked into it, and it’s a false lead.”
A strained hush fell over the room. The only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the study.
“You already told us what happened that night. But is there anything you can think of that could possibly help? Something you’ve maybe forgotten?” Samual asked, his question directed at me.
I could feel the heated stares bearing down on me as I lifted my head. There was no doubt that it was my fault she had slipped through our fingers. I severely underestimated her will to escape.
“No, sir, nothing I can think of.” The lie rolled so freely through my lips, a polygraph test wouldn’t have picked up on it. Lying had always come naturally. Lying and acting like nothing bothered me was how I lived my life.
“You’re the one who checked on her house?”
I nodded. “Yes. The house was locked up. She had been there but was long gone before I got there. I did go inside, and it looked like she had no plans to come back anytime soon.”
Samual sat down and sighed. “We need to find her. We have many in our group, and they will all help in whatever way they can. We’re a family. The faster we find her, the better.”
All the men murmured in agreement. I wondered how long it would take us to find her. Sure, the group was big and had a wide reach. But we didn’t have enough people to watch her house all the time. Or stay at her dad’s nursing home around the clock. Each member of the society was a regular person with a day job. No one had time for that. They helped where they could, but it might not be enough. Either she’d have to make a mistake, or we’d catch a break.
Samual ended the meeting, and the men started to leave. My dad got up and left the room without even a glance toward me. I didn’t think he would ever forgive me for this. It was our family’s night. I stayed in the chair with my hands behind my head as I watched the second hand tick on the clock.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess. Part of me wanted them to find Sage. It would set things right with my family and the rest of the society. But another part didn’t. She was special. So fierce and strong-willed. I knew what would happen if they found her, and I didn’t want that to happen. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be having these thoughts.
I was raised to dedicate everything to the society. But that night flipped something in my brain. Ever since then, I’d been questioning everything. I knew what was expected of me. What my family and the society wanted from me. Yet, I was keeping a secret from them.
I groaned and stood up, glad the meeting was over.
The thing was, I already knew where she was hiding.
I had picked up a lead over a month ago. Keeping this secret from the family had been tearing me apart. There had been three times I had opened my mouth to tell my father, but each time, I backed out. She was keeping to herself. I had checked on her a couple of times, and she hadn’t made any attempts to contact the police or anyone else.
All I had to do was tell the society where she was, and that would be the end. But then her life would be over. There was no harm in just watching if she stayed quiet. But just watching was getting harder. I wanted to talk to her.
Maybe it was time to take a trip to Kalamazoo.
