Page 86 of I'm Yours

“Maybe she’s sleeping.” He’s reaching… it’s a half-assed reason he’s offering up. Whether either of us want to admit it, the fact that just a little over a month ago there was a strange man walking around outside her place is at the top of our minds.

“At two in the afternoon?” Besides, she always returns my calls and texts. It’s been eighteen hours since I’ve heard from her and to say I’m panicking would be putting it mildly.

“You said she told you yesterday was a big day, right? Maybe she’s tired,” Justin says next to me in the barn. He’s leaning against the door to look in on Brownie, foot up on one of the lower boards. He got into town just a few hours ago. I’ve been on edge all day, though, and he’s been doing his best to keep me calm. Something about her not picking up the phone isn’t sitting right with me.

“Right. Still, it’s not like her.”

Justin turns to face me, shoves his hands in his pockets, and shrugs. “So let’s go to her place. If she’s not there, we’ll start looking around.”

“You don’t have to…”

He marches past me. “What else am I going to do?”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“Let me know,” Dad says behind us.

“I will.”

As soon as we climb in the pickup, my mind starts racing and with every mile that passes, the sicker and sicker I feel.

“Maybe her phone died or, I don’t know... you know how crappy service can be in Montana.”

He’s not wrong. Cell service in Montana is shit. But she has a charger and just because service isn’t great doesn’t mean she wouldn’t answer.

We have to drive past the studio to get to her house so I pull in quickly but don’t see her car in the parking lot. The lights are off so I pull back onto the road and make my way to her house. My adrenaline is racing right along with my heart. It only takes minutes but it might as well be hours.

I slam the pickup in park and don’t even bother to turn it off when I storm up to the house, banging on the door. I try the knob, not having the patience to wait, and it turns. Looking over my shoulder, Justin gives me a worried look.

“Does she normally keep her doors locked?” I nod, swallowing hard. “Shit.”

I slowly open the door, not knowing what I’m going to be greeted with. “Sadie?” I call out. When I don’t get a response, I walk through the house, continuing to say her name while I check every room. With every single step, my fears grow more and more out of control. I can’t stop my thoughts from skyrocketing to a place I really don’t want them to go to. I’m reminded of every story I’ve ever seen on the news of someone disappearing. Of their loved ones crying for help. Desperate. That’s exactly how I feel. Desperate.

“Not a sign of her. What the fuck is going on?” I ask Justin, like he’s going to hold the answers.

“I have no idea.”

I search through the house again, just in case I missed something. A clue, I guess.

“Is her car here?”

My eyes dart in the direction of the garage, frustrated with myself for not thinking of it already, and I run through the house, yanking open the door that leads to the garage.

“Her car is here. Seriously, what the fuck is going on?” I shout.

“Uh, Reed? I think you need to look at this.”

“What?” I rush around the car to where he’s standing by the trunk and see a phone. I bend down to get a closer look. The screen is shattered but I know it’s hers from the case. “Fuck!”

“I think we’d better call the police.”

I hear a vehicle pull up and the garage door open. Justin and I quickly look at each other and I stand up, wishing I had some sort of weapon on me. Then I notice Justin has his hand on his hip, a gun holstered. Of course he’s carrying. Justin rarely goes anywhere without his .45. It’s common for men and women to have their license to carry a gun in Montana.

The engine turns off of the dark gray pickup and I hold my breath, trying to get a better look. Then release it when Samuel climbs out.

He does a double take when he sees me and looks beyond my shoulder, eyebrows bunching together when he spots Justin.

“Reed? What are you doing here?”

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