AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The front door cracks.
Jace’s head whips up as Emmy Lou makes a squeak of alarm.
Luke’s heart lurches in his chest, and he’s striding forward, fast, but—
It’s Griff Greyson. He’s stepping through the front door, closely followed by Alabama. Both of them wear expressions of sympathy. “Luke,” Alabama says, squeezing his arm. “Have you heard from her yet?”
All he can manage is a shake of his head. Anything else will have him dissolving. Choking up.
“C’mon,” Jace says, steering him away from Alabama’s sad eyes.
They all gather in the kitchen. Griff evaluates the freshly baked pies, the phone numbers scrawled on notepads, the stacked Nashville Stars. He crosses his tattooed arms. “Sal wasn’t goin’ anywhere?”
Luke grips the back of his neck. “No. We had plans to watch the game. She was on her way home, goddamnit ...”
He breaks off, sick of explaining, of trying to find answers, when even he doesn’t know what the hell’s going on. He’s been wracking his brain the last few hours, trying to play connect the dots over the last couple of days. If Sal had mentioned anything, if she had said something he failed to remember. But nothing. All he gets for it is unbearable guilt, the knowledge that something happened to Sal and he’s the one who failed to keep her safe. The one thing he always promised her.
There’s a hand on Luke’s shoulder, Jace’s calm hazel eyes on his reminding him to take a breath. “We’ll find her,” Jace says.
Griff tucks Alabama against him. “What about the cops?”
“Useless,” Seth mutters.
Luke needles his brow. “What they’re doin’ to find her it’s ... it’s not enough. And I ain’t trustin’ them with Sal, not when they fucked up everything the last time.” He inhales. “It’s been almost four hours. She’d be home by now. And she ain’t, because something happened.”
Griff stares at him, his face tight. “Tell us what to do, Kincaid.” Beside him, Alabama nods, her face set and determined.
The offer nearly chokes him up. The people that he needs are here for him and Sal. Asking him what they can do to help, and telling him they’ll do it.
Christ, he’s never been so goddamn grateful.
Luke shakes off indecision and glances at the friends around him. Everyone’s waiting. High-energy, tense. Ready to work. “We look. Again,” he says fiercely. “We drive around. We go back to the hospital. We look some more. I ain’t sleepin’ till she’s home.”
“Fuck yes,” Griff growls.
Emmy Lou, cleaning off the counter, swipes her thin arm, sweeping napkins and tabloids into the trash. As Luke’s eyes light on the newspaper, an idea hits him like a lightning bolt.
He grins and looks at Seth. “We tell the Star.”
“Shit,” Seth says, his eyes wide.
Jace nods, sucking in a breath. “Hell, that’s a goddamn good idea.”
Luke exhales, coming alive. A surge of adrenaline at finally having a damn plan. “Get it all over the news. Sal’s missing.”
“Y’all think it’ll work?” Alabama asks.
“It has to,” Luke says, already pulling out his phone.
For once in his life, he can’t wait for Sal to be front-page news. The Star will put his wife out there. For someone to find. For Luke to bring home.
