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“I put up some posters of her yesterday,” she said softly.
I nodded, stepping closer to her. “I saw them. They look great. I doubt that anyone missed them.”
She shifted on her feet. “I feel like it’s not enough.”
I knew the feeling, but I shook my head. “You’re doing what you can. The police have had an influx of calls and tips. You never know when someone is going to give the information that leads right to Lily.”
She perked up at that. “They’ve gotten calls?”
“Oh, yeah.” It was expected to get calls, but it was a whole other thing to get anything useful. “And Xander sent over some security footage from some businesses surrounding the tavern where she disappeared from. I haven’t been able to go through it all yet, but I’m trying to remain hopeful that I’ll see something new. Something that will help us.”
Lark’s expression brightened, her lips almost making it to a smile. “I hope so too.” She nodded. “But I still want to do more. With every passing day, I feel like she’s slipping from our fingers.”
I couldn’t have said it better. Everything I’ve done since Lily had gone missing was to find her. It was hard to even sleep, knowing she could be fighting for her life at every moment.
“I know,” I said, meeting her eyes. Those deep-brown hues pulled me in, and I stepped closer without thinking about it. She was close enough to touch.
“I had someone ask me to do an interview on a podcast,” Lark blurted, her cheeks reddening. “I had totally blown them off, but now I wonder if I did the right thing. She said that she thought my interview would bring more attention to Lily’s case.”
My brows pulled together. “Podcast?”
Lark nodded. “Yeah, some girl came into the shop and asked me to be on her true crime podcast. She was the one who told me about Lily in the first place.”
I glanced away, brain whirring. There was only one person in town she could be talking about. “Was it Emersyn Hawthorn?”
Emersyn was sort of a regular around the department. She came in to check on the Shadow Stalker case and she also asked regular questions about other cases throughout the country. She mostly focused on cold cases, trying to bring more awareness to them.
Lark started to nod but then she froze, as if something struck her. “Wait…Hawthorn?” She paled. “She hadn’t told me her last name.”
I nodded, and this time, I did reach for her. I grabbed hold of her hand and squeezed. “Emersyn is Delainey’s sister.”
Emersyn was only a year younger than her sister. When Delainey died that Halloween night with Thea, it must’ve crushed Emersyn. It probably fueled her passion for her podcast.
“Oh.” She sounded dazed.
I squeezed her hand again and chanced a step closer. There was barely an inch of space between us, and my skin prickled, longing to close that tiny gap. “I think that if you want to do the podcast, then you should. Emersyn is a good person. She can be a bit…overwhelming, at first, but she’s fair.”
She bit her lip, gazing up at me from beneath her long lashes. My stomach tightened. I was too close, but I didn’t care anymore.
“Would you…would you go with me, if I did the interview?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
My lips twitched. “Of course. I’ll always have your back, Lark.”
She shifted, and the minuscule gap between us got even smaller. The heat from her body radiated around me, seeping down into my core. She smelled amazing, like a warm spring day, floral and sweet. It made my mind all clouded and fuzzy, my thoughts focused on nothing but her.
“Reid?” she said, her breath ghosting my skin as she whispered my name.
“Yeah?”
Her tongue skated over her bottom lip, her mouth stealing all my attention.
“Thank you for inviting me tonight.”
I was going to tell her she didn’t have to thank me, but instead, I dipped my chin, bringing my nose toward hers. Her eyes closed and her mouth parted as she inhaled sharply. Every nerve was homed on her: on her scent, her warmth, the way her hand clung to mine as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice, trying not to fall.
“Lark.” I said her name low; a sweet ache built in my chest. I just needed to taste her…
My mouth was a hair’s width from hers when I heard the back door open, and the unmistakable sound of August’s voice echoed around us.
