Page 88 of I'm Yours

Clenching my phone tightly, I resist the urge to start going through Sadie’s garage for any sort of clue, but I don’t want to touch anything.

I hear sirens in the distance just as two vehicles come flying into Sadie’s driveway. Dad’s and who I assume is Henry. Dad’s out of his pickup first and reaches into mine, turning off the ignition. Hadn’t even realized it was still running.

Deputy Goodman pulls in just as Dad stands next to me, giving my shoulder a squeeze. I look between him and Goodman, whose expression is set in stone.

“What’s going on?” Henry asks me, voice hard. Never really liked the guy but right now he seems to be on our side. At least, I hope so.

“Don’t know yet. Dad? Care to fill us in?”

Neither Henry nor Goodman asks for introductions as to who Justin is and Dad doesn’t bother with asking why Henry is here. Goodman doesn’t catch up with me or say welcome home. None of it is important right now.

Rather than Dad speaking up, Goodman clears his throat. “Got a call to the station. Wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. A woman, saying she was scared her ex-husband was going to harm someone in Lakeside.”

“Who’s the ex-husband?” I demand.

“Name’s Bryce McCabe.”

“Fuck,” Samuel growls, pacing around the room.

I look at Samuel and back to Goodman. “I don’t get it. Why would an ex-wife be concerned? Who the hell is Bryce McCabe?”

“Recently divorced because he was abusive. She has a restraining order against him. Guess a friend of Bryce’s called her, said he was talking all sorts of shit about going after the one who started it all.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I growl.

Goodman looks me dead in the eye when he says, “Sadie had a restraining order against McCabe years ago.”

“What?” I explode. Anger surfaces instantly, bubbling over the edge. “How did I not know this?”

I know why. Because I wasn’t here.

“Easy,” Dad says next to me and if it were anyone else, I’d jerk out of his hold he has on my shoulder.

I bend over, hands on my knees, breathing in and out to stop myself from vomiting. I hate how much time we missed. I hate that she was in danger for a time in her life and I wasn’t here to protect her.

“You knew about this?” I stand up straight and ask Samuel even though it’s clear he did.

He doesn’t answer me.

“Where is he?” Henry speaks up for the first time, fingers typing something on his phone.

Goodman looks a little sick himself when he answers lowly, “My guess? Wherever Sadie is. No one’s seen him since Tuesday. There’s more.”

“What is it?” I grumble.

“Bryce is Sheriff Lee’s nephew,” Henry answers for him, looking at his phone.

I jerk my head in Goodman’s direction and he nods, jaw clenching. “Didn’t know. No one did. Lee always said he had no family. No one had reason to question it.”

“Motherfucking asshole.” Was Bryce the one who was here looking around? And Lee probably knew damn good and well who it was. Helped orchestrate the entire thing. How did we miss that? He didn’t even flinch when he watched the video Dad had on his phone.

“Her car is here. Her phone is here. Think we can pick up anything on Dad’s cameras?”

Dad shakes his head. “Looked already. Nothing.”

“Where’s Lee?” I ask, fearing the answer before he even says it. Of course there’d be nothing on Dad’s cameras. Lee knows exactly where they’re aimed and what to watch for. Besides, if they stayed on Sadie’s property…

“Checked in this morning. Said he’d be out of town a few days.”

---