Page 122 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

The panic in his gaze made my knees shake.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” He ended the call and shook his head. “She’s not there. Mitch is going to ask around and call me back.”

“I’m going to keep looking.” Maybe she’d gone for a walk. Maybe she’d been at the river and slipped. If her phones were wet, that would explain why she hadn’t called.

“I’ll come with you.” Covie followed me to the door, stepping into a pair of tennis shoes.

The darkness was coming faster than I liked. “Would she have walked somewhere? Maybe bumped into someone who needed help?”

“I don’t know,” Covie said, following me down the sidewalk.

We were feet away from my truck when a loud crash came from next door.

Our faces whipped to the Nigel house.

“What the—” Covie held up a finger. “Let me check on Frank.”

We didn’t have time to worry about fucking Frank. “Covie—”

“Two seconds. Maybe he saw her leave.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, following him across the lawn that separated their homes.

The garage door was open but the lights were off.

Frank sat on the concrete floor, one knee bent, the other leg straight and his foot tipped to the side like he didn’t have the strength to keep it upright. His back was against a tool bench, his face hidden in the shadows of the dark space.

“Frank?” Covie hurried toward his friend, bending low. “What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

Frank shook his head, his glassy eyes rolling more than blinking as he cast a glare my direction. “Get out, Eden.”

“Are you drunk?” Covie stood and frowned. “We’re looking for Winnie. Have you seen her?”

“This is his fault.”

Was he talking to me? “Excuse me?”

“I hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual. Now answer Covie’s question. Have you seen Winslow?”

“Winnie.” His expression went from cold and furious to sad and apologetic in a blink. He dropped his eyes to his lap. “Oh, God.”

“Hey.” Covie dropped to a crouch, putting a hand on Frank’s arm to give it a shake. “What’s going on?”

Frank’s shoulders curled in. “It was just for fun, Walter. It was never serious.”

“What was fun?” Covie asked him.

“We’re wasting time.” I wanted out of this goddamn garage. We should be searching for Winn, not listening to this asshole’s drunken babble.

“One minute, Griffin.” Covie held up a finger. “Frank, what are you talking about? Do you know where Winnie is?”

“You need to understand, Walter.” Frank straightened in a flash, grasping Covie’s forearms and holding him in place.

I took a step forward, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

“Understand what?” Covie asked him.