Crimson River (The Edens)

Vance’s heart was beeping. Short, quick beeps like the sound of my microwave when its timer went off.

We were in the coffee shop, sitting at his table. He was talking, gesturing to the maps spread open between us, but all I could hear was his heart.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I jolted awake, lifting off his chest. A dream. It was just a dream. Except I could still hear the beep, only not from his heart. It was coming from his phone.

“Vance.” I patted his shoulder.

He hummed, his hand drifting down my naked spine. He slipped past the waistband of my panties to cup my ass.

“Your phone.”

His eyelids cracked open, sluggish with sleep. But the moment he registered the beeping, his body stilled. Then he was gone, flying out of bed and racing from the room wearing only the boxer briefs he’d pulled on before we’d crashed last night.

He’d left his phone in the kitchen, plugged into the charger beside mine. I didn’t like the distraction of having it in my room, and Vance was more than willing to give me his undivided attention in bed.

I whipped the covers from my legs and stood, snagging Vance’s thermal from the floor and tugging it on as I hustled after him.

Moonlight streamed through the kitchen windows, casting us in silvers and grays. The clock on the oven read 3:23.

“What is it?” I asked, rushing to his side.

The glow from his phone lit up his face as he swept his finger across the screen.

The beeping stopped.

“Fuck.”

“What?” I stood on my toes, peering past his arm.

The video he pulled up was grainy black and white. It was from one of the game cameras he’d left in the mountains. He must have hidden it in a tree, because the lower left corner of the video was a close-up of pine needles.

Still, there was no mistaking the location. It was the stream where Vance and I had hiked. The place where I’d slipped and fallen in the mud. The spot where he’d found that fish trap.

Beside the water, crouched low, was a man.

“Oh my God,” I gasped. “Is it him?”

The man’s back was to the camera. It was too dark and fuzzy for me to make out his face.

Vance stared at the screen, unblinking, like he couldn’t believe his eyes. Then he cocked his head to the side, his gaze narrowing. “He’s still here.”

My heart tumbled. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” He didn’t look away from the screen. Neither of us did.

On camera, Cormac didn’t make a move to take the trap from the water. Instead, he stayed low. The area was lit by the moon. It had to be why he’d gone to check the trap. It was bright enough.

One second he was crouched, the next he stood and twisted. Only his torso moved as he scanned an entire circle. Then his gaze shifted to the trees surrounding him, like he was searching. Like he could feel us watching him.

Whatever tracks we’d left behind had to be covered by the snow. There was no way he could tell we’d been there, right?

Except Cormac was so eerily still. So deliberate in every movement. The ground around him was covered in white, but I couldn’t make out any footprints. How had he gotten there without leaving a trail?

He stepped and I had my answer. His feet were in the water, where the stream rushed over his boots. With a quick grab, he took the trap and tucked it under an arm. Then he moved from one clear rock to the next, carefully picking his way out of the camera’s view.

“Damn it.” Vance set his phone aside, then raked a hand through his hair.

“Could he have seen the camera?”

“I don’t know.” His nostrils flared. “I doubt it, but something spooked him.”

“Now what? Will you go after him?”

Vance faced the window over the sink, staring at my dark backyard with his hands braced on the counter. The muscles in his shoulders flexed. His jaw ticked as the silence stretched. Then he stood tall and, with a nod, swept up his phone.

Whoever he called, the tone was loud enough in my quiet kitchen I could hear it ring. Then came a voice, muted but familiar.

“Winn,” Vance said. “Sorry to wake you. I found Cormac.”

I found Cormac.

A single sentence. How long had I hoped for those words? How many times had I prayed he’d be caught?

Except there was no relief in hearing them. That single sentence sounded a lot like a breaking heart.

Mine.

This was the end. Would I see Vance again? Would he come back?

I studied his profile as he spoke to Winn, taking in every line. Every detail. The straight, masculine line of his nose. The pout of his lips. The angle of his cheekbones. The sweep of his dark eyelashes. That one lock of hair that always seemed to fall against his forehead.

He reached for me, his free arm slinging around my shoulders to haul me close. “Yeah, I’m with Lyla,” he told Winn, waiting for her response. “We’re on our way.”

He ended the call and set his phone aside, wrapping me in those strong arms.

My hands snaked around his narrow waist, and I burrowed deep into his chest, dragging in the scent of his skin, holding it in my lungs until it burned.

His lips came to my hair. “We have to go, Blue.”

I nodded but couldn’t seem to let go. Instead, I pulled him impossibly close, like maybe if I was strong enough, I could crawl inside his heart and stay forever. “I’m not ready,” I whispered.

“Neither am I.” His hold tightened, just for a second. Then he brought his hands to my face, cupping my cheeks and forcing me back. The kiss he gave me was slow. Tender. Sad.

And much, much too short.

But it disarmed me enough that he was able to slip away. He took me by the shoulders, turning me toward the hall that led to my bedroom. “Get dressed. Winn wants us to come to her place.”

“Okay.” I hurried back to the bedroom.

There’d be time to mourn Vance later.

Right now, it was time to catch that son of a bitch Cormac Gallagher.

THERE WAS a line of trucks at Griff and Winn’s house at the ranch. They each belonged to an Eden—Dad, Griffin, Knox and Mateo.

Vance’s Dodge took its place in the row, and the moment it was parked, we both jumped out, hurrying to the porch.

Griff opened the door before we could knock. “Hey.”

“Hi.” I let him pull me into a hug, then slipped past him as he shook Vance’s hand.

The scent of coffee greeted me as I made my way past the open-concept living room to the kitchen.

Mom, leaning against the stove, was sipping from a steaming mug. She was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants, a faded Eden Ranch sweatshirt and her favorite slippers.

Mateo, Knox and Dad were at the island, both bent over a map.

Winn emerged from the hallway, rolling up the sleeves of a flannel she’d obviously stolen from Griffin. “Hey. You’re quick.”

“We drove fast.” I gave her a hug, then went to the kitchen and pulled out two coffee mugs from the cupboard, filling one for me and the other for Vance. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He brushed his thumb across my cheek, then joined my dad and brothers at the island.

“Hi, honey.” Mom put her arm around my shoulders when I stood at her side.

“Hey, Mom.”

The room buzzed with energy and anticipation. The hope we’d all but lost had surged to new life.

“Sheriff Zalinski is on his way over with two deputies and a search and rescue dog,” Winn told the room as she went to stand beside Griff. “He’s called in the county team, but neither of us wanted to waste too much time. So we’ll head out with a smaller team, fanning out from the starting point.”

A smaller team, meaning my family. That was why everyone here was dressed in thick base layers that we’d cover with coats and boots. The only person who’d stay behind was Mom to watch Griff and Winn’s kids.

“Let’s go through everything while we wait,” Mateo said, nodding to Vance.

“All right.” Vance leaned over the map to draw invisible circles with his fingers as he explained where he’d put his game cameras and where he suspected Cormac would go.

I rested my head on Mom’s shoulder, listening to Vance’s deep voice as he briefed my family.

Dad and my brothers were here for me. To find the bastard who’d almost killed me.

But I was here for Vance.

He hadn’t spoken much on the drive out to the ranch. He’d focused on the road, following my directions to Griff’s as I rattled them off. But when I’d asked why he’d called Winn first, he’d told me that he wasn’t messing this up. That when Cormac was brought in, he wanted no mistakes. No holes.

Vance wanted Cormac to spend the rest of his life in prison and wouldn’t risk a technicality.

So here we were, following the rules.

I only hoped it didn’t mean we’d missed our chance. That this time around, Cormac really would disappear.

Car doors slammed outside.

Winn breezed toward the entryway, opening the door as Sheriff Zalinski came inside and shook her hand.

“Lyla.” Vance jerked his chin for me to join him in a quiet corner of the kitchen. “Do you want to go?”

“I don’t want to slow you down.”

“You won’t.”

I would. We both knew I would. But if I wanted to go, he’d slow his pace. “Are you sure?”

He answered by looking over my head at Mateo, standing behind us. “Lyla’s coming.”

“Sounds good.” Mateo nodded. “I’ll stick with you two.”

That made us all members of search and rescue, didn’t it?

“Wait.” My heart stopped. Damn it. “The coffee shop.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mom said. “I’ll talk to Talia and Eloise. They’ll take care of it and call Crystal if they need help.”

I really loved my family. “Thanks.”

Mom gave me a sure nod, like she was proud of me for going today.

Winn walked to a cabinet in the kitchen, one tall enough the kids couldn’t touch. Inside was her gun safe. She keyed in the code, taking out her pistol and badge. With the gun holstered and her badge clipped to her belt, she hugged Mom. “Thanks for babysitting.”

“Always.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Griff kissed her cheek, then followed Winn to the coat hooks, each of them gearing up.

One by one, we shuffled out the door and to our respective vehicles.

“Ready?” Vance asked when my seat belt clicked into its latch.

I stared at him across the truck’s cab, taking in those clear eyes. Was I ready for today? Was I ready for this to be over? No.

But I said, “Yes.”