Page 88 of Montana Memory

He let out a slow breath. “Shit. Hang on.”

I heard muffled movement, voices in the background. A moment later, Lucas came back. “Evie says no, that she hasn’t talked to Jada since you guys snuck out of family dinner for your lovefest.”

Okay, no vehicle. Making even less sense. I rubbed at my forehead.

“Any chance things went south with Kenzie and they had some kind of confrontation?”

“Hold on.” Once again, muffled voices. “Evie says no. Kenzie’s been fine. If something had gone sideways, she would’ve heard about it. You know how the group chat lights up.”

“Yeah.” I stared out at the barn, thumb tapping absently against the wheel.

“How can I help?”

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “It all keeps coming back to the kittens. I wouldn’t like it, but I could understand if shejust panicked and decided she couldn’t stay. But leaving them helpless? They’re like her babies.”

There was another beat of silence. “Mothers sometimes leave their children. It’s a shitty fact, but it’s still true. Maybe Jada cracked in some way while you were gone. Maybe she’s not even aware of what she’s doing.”

That was an even more terrifying thought.

“All I know is that this doesn’t sit right in my gut.”

Lucas didn’t hesitate. “I trust your gut. If you say something’s not right, then we treat it as such. I’ll get everybody up and on it. If she’s on foot, she could have gotten only so far. We’ll see what we can find.”

Relief flooded through me. I wanted as many eyes looking for Jada as possible. “I appreciate it, Lucas.”

“And for the record? This is why we need Warrior Security. Shit like this? It’s always gonna find us.”

“We find Jada safe, and I promise I will seriously consider it.” Although if Jada was gone, I didn’t know if I’d be able to stick around.

We hung up, and I got back out of the car. Lark was still on the phone when I looked over. She paced near the barn, one hand on her hip, a crease between her brows as she listened intently. When she caught sight of me, she shook her head—nothing yet.

I hesitated, phone still in my hand, thumb hovering over my contacts. I didn’t like this next call. I didn’t like dragging law enforcement into anything unless it was absolutely necessary. But if there was even a chance that Jada had run because of a warrant or some new legal firestorm coming her way… I needed to know.

I found Lachlan’s name and hit dial.

He answered after a few rings, voice groggy. “This better be good. I didn’t get in till almost one. Some jackass flippedhis pickup into a ditch and took out half a fence line. Cattle everywhere.”

“It’s Hunter Everett.”

“Hunter.” He sounded more awake. “What’s up?”

I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “I’m concerned about Jada. She?—”

“She still shaken up about the interview yesterday?”

My spine snapped straight. “What interview?”

“Two detectives came by from out of state yesterday afternoon. Said they had questions for her.”

Cops from out of state? Everything Caleb had said about cops visiting him a few days ago asking weird questions about Jada danced around in my head. Was it the same ones?

“Were they threatening arrest?”

“No, said it was routine follow-up about Alan Ard’s death. Why, is she worried? I watched the interview and thought she handled it fine. Said her memory loss was from trauma—they didn’t push for more details. They left right after the interview. I brought Jada home myself.”

“You brought her home?” Then Lachlan would’ve been the last one to see her. “How was she? Was she upset?”

“Not really. Tired, I guess? Felt like she’d dodged a bullet with the other officers, maybe. But not upset. Why? What’s going on?”

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