Page 60 of Seeking Happily Ever After

“I don’t know, Nick. Her legal aid…well, I don’t know what else to say. But when I saw the file, I was—”

“Is she in danger?”

There was a hesitancy on the other end of the line, and it was all Nick needed to know.

“Off the record, Nick?”

He waited.

“I know what the law says, but if I were you...”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

He ended the call and immediately dialed Damon. “We need to find her, now. Tell me Remi located them.”

“I was about to call you.” Damon sighed. “Remi said his contact reported seeing her.”

“His contact?”

“A dealer. He’s known to the cops.”

“Wait. A dealer? As in drugs?” Nick was going to throw up. “But she’s clean. She—”

“Not anymore, apparently.”

“Fuck.”What had he done?

“That was about an hour ago. Last she was spotted, she was headed through town on the road that leads up to Lynx Creek.”

“Lynx Creek?”

Charlotte. The cabins. Lynx Creek.

“I’m on my way,” he said. “I think Charlotte’s probably out there, too.”

“Char? Why would she—”

“I’m at least fifteen minutes away. Dammit. Meet me there. And call Steph. Maybe she’s out there.”

Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.

They were so heavy. It took all her effort to open her eyes, and when she did, she immediately wanted to close them again.

Blood. So much blood.

And Billy. He was lying on the cabin floor.Was he dead?Surely she hadn’t hit him that hard.

The gunshot.

Slowly, Charlotte brought her hand to her right side and pulled it away, covered in blood.Oh my God.

She had to move. If Billy wasn’t dead, he would wake up, and she couldn’t be there. She needed to get to her phone.

Slowly, she managed to pull herself to her feet. She used the wall for balance as she moved as quickly as she could to the door.

The fresh air felt like freedom and she almost sagged to the ground in relief, but she wasn’t safe yet.

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