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I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Hunter, you can’t possibly think it was Bradford. I mean, he was with us when Morgan spotted that guy in the woods when we went four-wheeling.”
“Yeah. But I also remember Savannah saying something about how he disappeared for a bit. Something about turning down the wrong trail. Ryan—there’s only one trail up there.”
I frowned. “I didn’t know he disappeared that day.”
“Savannah said it was only for like five minutes. And at one point, I remember passing him because he’d fallen back behind everyone else.”
Letting out a disbelieving laugh, I shook my head. “It can’t be him, Hunter. I think we’re all so desperate to find Morgan, we’re grasping at straws.”
Hunter sliced his fingers through his hair. “Maybe. I just find it odd that Morgan is gone and he suddenly had to leave town. Did you even know anything about his mom? Was she sick?”
“He doesn’t talk about his parents much. I’ve never met them. All I know is that he apparently comes from a lot of money.”
The door opened, and Stella and Avery entered. Poor Avery had been a mess since all of this began. After being released from the hospital—Merit and Dirk had insisted she be looked at—she’d stuck to Blayze’s side like glue. At least until Stella came over and finally talked her into leaving the apartment. They’d gone to Albertsons to pick up some drinks and more food.
Avery’s gaze caught mine as she walked by. I stood to help both ladies with the groceries, and so did Hunter.
“Let me get that, Grams,” Hunter said as he took the bags from his grandmother. I took the three out of Avery’s hands.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away. “I’m okay.”
“Oh, Savannah!” Stella said, greeting her in the kitchen. She glanced around the living room. “I figured Bradford would have beat us here. Are you waiting for him?”
With a sad smile, she replied, “No, he had to leave town earlier. He’s on his way to Missoula to catch a flight home. His mother’s sick.”
Stella and Avery both paused and shared a confused look. Suddenly, my blood turned to ice in my veins.
Hunter placed the bags on the counter and looked at his grandmother. “Why did you think he’d beat you here?”
Stella frowned. “We saw him at Albertsons not ten minutes ago. He was looking at pregnancy tests. He said it was for Savannah and that he was in a rush to get back to her.”
“Me?” Savannah said in shock. “I…I can’t have kids. And Bradford knows that.”
My heart felt like it dropped to the floor. Everything clicked into place. “Motherfucker. It’s him!”
“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Hunter seethed.
“Wait—what’s going on?” Blayze asked, glancing between me and Hunter.
“Hunter just told me he had a strange vibe about Bradford,” I said. “Saw him looking at Morgan a few times, and it gave him a weird feeling.”
Savannah let out a disbelieving laugh. “You can’t possibly think Bradford took Morgan?”
I turned to her. “Why was he at Albertsons when he just called and told you he was already on his way to Missoula? He said he was halfway there, Savannah. And who the hell would he be buying a pregnancy test for, if not you?”
I felt sorry for Savannah as soon as I saw the look of absolute devastation on her face, but right now my only focus was on finding Morgan.
I pulled out my phone as Blayze said, “Hold on. So you think Bradford was stalking Morgan this whole time?”
“I didn’t until this very moment,” I replied.
“What do we do?” Avery asked, her voice shaking.
I hit Detective Billings’s name in my contacts and put the phone on speaker. While it was ringing, I sent Nox a text with three words:
It’s Rich Bradford.
Several minutes later, while Billings spoke to Savannah, I packed a bag with the things Nox told me to bring. Reaching under the bed, I pulled out my gun safe, entered the code, and took out my revolver.
“What do you think you’re going to do?” Hunter asked from where he stood in the doorway.
“I’m not waiting around for the police to fucking interview people when I know it’s him. It all makes sense. He was at the restaurant the first night we got a note. He went missing during the four-wheeling trip.” I looked at Hunter. “He was the one who approached me and Blayze when we first met. And thinking back on it, whenever Morgan’s name came up, he asked a ton of fucking questions—but he was so good, he also asked a lot of questions about you. And not that long ago, he claimed we lost out on the building we were trying to rent for our brewery and restaurant. I think the whole brewery thing was a ploy to get closer to Morgan.”
