Page 37 of Keeping Caroline

Squeezing my eyes shut, I hugged her tighter. “We’re going to find her. I won’t stop looking, no matter what it takes. Your mom is so strong and brave, so we just must be brave for her.”

Evie nodded, her thin arms tightening around my neck.

We would find Caroline. We had to believe that, because I would not let Evie lose her mother, not after everything they’d survived together. Caroline’s love and strength flowered through the child in my arms, so I had to keep going, for them both.

“Come on,” I said, reaching for her hand. “Since Auntie Scarlett is sleeping, let me get you something to eat.”

Taking my hand, Evie allowed me to lead her from the surveillance room, and into the small kitchen, fixing her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She picked at it silently, her eyes downcast and shoulders slumped.

For several minutes, I sat beside her, my own sandwich sitting on the table before me. I was so lost in thought that my phone buzzing in my pocket caused me to flinch. Standing and taking a few steps away from the table, I fished it out, my pulse quickening when I saw it was Ethan.

“Boss,” I answered, my voice low. “Please tell me you have something.”

“Maybe,” he said, his voice sharp. “I’m heading to Marcel’s now. I heard there were some out of towners there last night talking about a grab.”

My grip on the phone tightened. “Do you think it’s them? Could they have Caroline?”

Ethan sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think she’s here in the city. That camera footage you found—the SUV. If they were coming back to New Orleans, I don’t know what they would have been doing on that stretch of road."

My mind raced. If she was not in New Orleans, she could be anywhere, but that also meant she could still be somewhere in Alabama.

“I’ll work on expanding the traffic cameras out—west and south,” I said, already sending a message to Legacy. “Hopefully they didn’t change vehicles on their way out of town.”

“I can’t even consider that possibility,” he said, sounding a bit defeated. “I’m going to head to Marcel’s, see if I can find out anything more. If there’s no reason to suspect she’s here, I’m heading back to you.”

Glancing up at the clock, I shook my head. “She’s been gone too long already.”

I did not miss Ethan’s sharp intake of breath. “I know. Watch over Evie and Scarlett and let me know if you find anything. I’ll let you know when I am on my way back.”

“I will.”

Without saying goodbye, we hung up. I braced myself on the kitchen counter, exhaling slowly, doing my best to hide how worried I was from Evie. When I turned around, Scarlett was heading toward us, having just exited the bedroom. She had been sleeping for a few hours, but her eyes were still heavily shadowed from exhaustion.

“Hey,” I said, setting the other plate of food I had made for Scarlett on the table and then lowering myself back into the chair. “I made sandwiches.”

She gave me a knowing look, one that said she could see straight through my act. “We haven’t heard anything new?”

I shook my head. “All we have so far is a grainy video with an SUV heading west. Ethan’s still searching down south, but I have a feeling he’ll be heading back this way soon. We are concerned that she may not be there at all.”

If I were being honest, I was not sure who I was trying to convince more—her or myself.

For the next few minutes, I tried to force food into my stomach, watching as Scarlett and Evie did the same. Worry hung over us like a storm cloud, dampening even Evie’s usual vibrant spirit. I hated watching her light dim.

Suddenly, a sharp chirp from the other room made us all jump, but I was out of my chair before I could explain what the sound meant. I dropped into the chair in front of the monitors within seconds, Scarlett and Evie running in behind me. I stared at the computer screen for a moment, hardly daring to believe what I was seeing. The tracking software had lit up with a notification.

“What is it?” Scarlett’s panicked voice pulled me out of my daze.

Grabbing the mouse, I opened the notification. My heart slammed against my ribcage as I scanned the map on the screen, unsure if I believed what I was seeing. “Caroline activated her tracker. She’s still in Alabama.”

Scarlett gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. Do you think… Is she…”

Hope and fear warred within me, and I was too scared to allow one to win the fight. “I don’t know yet, but we’ve got a lead. Finally, a real lead.”

My fingers flew across the keyboard, homing in on the signal, calculating the location. Once I had it, I grabbed my phone, my fingers fumbling to dial Ethan’s number. He answered on the first ring.

“Tristan? What’s up?” There was the distinct sound of scraping in the background, making me wonder what I had interrupted, but I didn’t question it. I was not sure I wanted to know.

“It’s Caroline,” I said, the adrenaline pumping through my system making it difficult to sit still. “She activated the tracker I gave her. She’s still in Alabama, a few hours from here.”

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