Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Rolling her eyes, Harper replied, “A month ago.”
“You guys dated for a long time, if I remember.”
“Over four years,” she replied.
I let out a whistle. “That’s definitely a long time.”
“Yeah, it was a long, wasted four years. Sean had his own dreams, and they didn’t include me.”
“I’m sorry, Harp.”
She shrugged. “Don’t be. It honestly wasn’t a surprise. We had grown apart the last year.”
“Is his brother Declan still in the Marines?” I asked as I walked over and looked at some kind of purple rose. Can’t say I had ever seen purple roses before.
“He is. I don’t even know when the last time he was home. It’s been at least since I started dating Sean.”
I looked up. “Are you serious?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
“Wow. That’s a long time. I’m really happy for you, Harp. You’ve done a great job with the flower shop.”
She beamed. “Thank you. And welcome home. I hear you made a career change.”
“That I did.”
My phone started to ring, and I pulled it out to see it was Opal. “Excuse me, Harper, while I take this call.” She just waved her hand at me, like go ahead. “Hey, Aunt Opal, I was just heading to the bakery.”
“Kian, is Cadie with you?”
“No, she should be there, at the bakery. She told me she was going in later this morning.”
“She was supposed to be here at ten, but I haven’t heard from her, and I’m getting worried,” Opal said.
I nearly dropped the coffee I was holding as I rushed out of the flower shop. “Have you called her cell?”
“Yes, it goes directly to voicemail.”
“Did you call Mark?”
“What? Why in the world would I call Mark?” Opal asked, confused.
Dropping the coffee into a trash can, I started to run down Main Street, a million scenarios running through my mind. “I’ll call you right back.”
Hitting End, I pulled up my brother’s number and hit it.
“Hello?”
“Do your guys have eyes on Cadie?”
I heard a door shut. “What do you mean? The guys should, why?”
“I know you told me you had to leave for DC, are you still there, Mark?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, when are you coming back?”
“I have a job, Kian. This may sound hard to believe, but it isn’t watching Cadie all the time. That’s why the FBI agents are posted next door. She has a tracker on her car as well. I’m texting the team to see if she has left the house.”
“She was supposed to be at work over an hour ago. I know you said to stay at the main house, but she’s been staying with me at the guest house, and I left before she did. I was up at the house helping Sally with something.”
“Fuck,” Mark mumbled. “They said the tracker shows she is still at the house.”
My heart started to pound in my chest as I ran faster. I had parked my car near the bakery and walked up to get some coffee. I got into my car and started toward my parents’ house.
“I’m on my way there now.”
“My team is on the move. Stay on the phone and I’ll let you know what they find.”
I pressed on the gas and nearly missed hitting someone when I ran a red light. “Fuck!”
“They’re almost there, Kian. Hang tight,” Mark said as I pressed harder on the gas.
“Opal called me, she’s worried.”
“Don’t worry about Opal right now. Hold on.”
I could hear mumbling, but couldn’t make out what Mark was saying. I wanted to slam my phone against the steering wheel and demand Mark tell me what was wrong.
“Mark? What’s going on?” I nearly shouted into my phone. “Mark!”
“She’s not at the house. And you’re sure she’s not at the bakery?”
It felt like my vision blurred and for a moment, so much so that I thought I might run off the road. “Opal said she wasn’t.”
“I’m on my way back. It will take an hour and a half.”
I shook my head and my vision cleared. “What do I do?”
I had never in my life felt so helpless. A part of me knew I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I should have stayed with Cadie and not let her out of my sight.
“Just get to the house.”
“Is her car there? Didn’t you also have a tracker in her purse? How in the hell did they not see her leaving?”
I knew I was tossing questions left and right out to my brother who wasn’t even in town and hadn’t been able to talk to the guys since he was on the phone with me.
“Kian, I don’t have those answers. Just get to the house, I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
The line went dead. A sudden rush of cold swept over my body and it took everything I had to get back to the house in one piece.
I drove up and saw Sally standing outside the guest house talking to Mick, one of the FBI agents assigned to watch Cadie. They both turned and looked at me as I came to a screeching halt.