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And I remembered him calling 911…My vision had been fuzzy, and I’d been coming in and out of consciousness. Ty had leaned over me and then…he’d fallen forward onto the ground.
I gasped, pulling my hands away from my face and looking back at Knox with wide eyes. “There was someone else there,” I said, my pulse thrumming.
Knox frowned. “You saw someone?”
I nodded. “I mean, I think I did. It was only for a second and I didn’t get a good look because I kept passing out, but…someone hit Ty. Knocked him out.”
Knox went slack-jawed, like I’d just slapped him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I reached for the thin blanket covering me and threw it aside as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
Knox jumped, grabbing my arm. “Whoa, what are you doing?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “Someone took Ty. We have to go find him.”
I tried to scoot myself off the bed, but Knox held tight to my arm. “Ellie, you need to rest. You are recovering from smoke inhalation. You can’t just go running around.”
Shaking my head, I tried to pull my arm away, but it was futile. I felt weak and shaky and Knox seemed impossibly strong. I couldn’t fight him
“He’s in trouble, Knox.” Tears slipped from my lashes as a lump lodged in my damaged throat. “We can’t just leave him.”
Knox leaned in, giving me a pointed stare. “We aren’t going to leave him. But you also need to take care of yourself. We have no idea where he is anyways.” His face softened. “Please, just lie back down. I’ll call Atlas and tell him to come up here and you can talk to him about everything you remember. He’s going to be able to do a lot more than us.”
That didn’t make me feel better, but his pleading look made me think twice. Maybe he had a point. Begrudgingly, I leaned back into the bed. Atlas was the best person to go to. He at least had the resources of the police department. If anyone wanted to find Ty as bad as I did, it was his brother.
I nodded, and the look of relief on Knox’s face made my guilt flare. He put the blanket back over me, tucking it tight at my sides. “Thank you,” he said.
“Call Atlas. Now.”
He tipped his hat to me, face serious. “Yes, ma’am.”
I was only in the hospital a couple days. Even though I was released, my body wasn’t fully healed. Which made it difficult to do what I needed to.
Atlas had come and interviewed me the day I’d woken up in the hospital. I’d told him everything I remembered, but it wasn’t much. He had interviewed Callen multiple times because he was the only lead they had. But Callen hadn’t confessed and Atlas let him go because they didn’t have any evidence against him.
Knox hadn’t been kidding when he said the trailer was gone. When I went to the property for the first time after the fire, there was barely anything left of it. Just a hollowed out shell of black metal. It wasn’t safe for me to go inside and look around. It was a total loss. Plus, it had been declared a crime scene while they investigated the arson.
Knox let me stay in one of the cabins on the ranch while I figured things out. I didn’t have anywhere else to go and though it was small, it was nicer than the trailer had been in many ways. Wren and Atlas also offered to lend me a room, but Atlas was working tirelessly to find Ty and I didn’t want to be a distraction.
Not when I had my own plans to find him.
I scratched Buffy behind the ears as we lay together on the bed. It smelled of cedar and woodsmoke in the cabin and if I wasn’t under so much stress, I would really enjoy my time here. I’d never stayed on the ranch before. Willow Hope was busy through the years and they didn’t often have room for random people to stay in the cabins. On rare occasions, Ty, Knox, and I camped out in the wooded area between the main house and the ranch. That was the closest I had ever come to staying on the beautiful ranch property.
Buffy purred and rubbed her face into the palm of my hand. She was doing okay since the fire. The vet had checked her out and given her a clean bill of health. The only thing she’d been pissy about was staying inside more often. I didn’t want her roaming around the unfamiliar property right away.
I checked my watch for the thousandth time, my pulse racing. It was time. I’d been sitting in here most of the day waiting for the sun to go down and finalize my plan. It was probably one of the stupidest things I’d ever do, but I had to dosomething. If Atlas couldn’t find Ty, I was going to have to do it myself.
I jumped up from the bed. I’d dressed hours ago in dark pants and a shirt. I had to buy all new clothes after I’d lost everything I owned in the fire, and these particular pieces of clothing had been at the top of my list. Buffy leapt off the bed too, following me toward the door. She was itching to get out.
“Sorry, Buff. You need to stay here.”
She meowed low, her feline eyes narrowing. I picked her up and kissed her on the top of her head. “I’ll be back soon. Hopefully.” Placing her back on the bed, I checked one last time that her food and water dishes were full. Then, I grabbed my phone and keys and headed out the door.
Splinter’s Tavern was packed when I pulled into the parking lot minutes later. I expected as much. A slow, satisfied grin spread across my lips as I circled the lot and spotted the vehicle I was looking for. Callen’s car was parked at the far end by the dumpster. Perfect.
I pulled into an empty space across from his car where I had a good view of the entrance to the tavern.
And then, I waited.
