Page 148 of Distress Signal
“Reagan is missing,” I managed to choke out.
“Are you sure she’s not still up at the house?” West asked.
Shit. I’d merely taken Aspen at her word that Reagan was right behind her.
I took off, sprinting from the barn and up the hill, calling for her as I went.
When I received no response, I tried to assure myself she was still in the house.
Everything was fine.
Only…it wasn’t.
I reached the spot where the hill plateaued onto the driveway, tripped over something laying in the grass, and nearly fell on my face.
Once I steadied myself, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, clicked on the flashlight, and probed the ground until they landed on the offending object.
My blood ran cold.
Reagan’s shoes, carelessly tossed down.
My girl didn’t care much for material possessions, but I knew she’d never leave her shoes lying around—especially not in themiddle of the yard, and especially not the expensive pair of red bottoms she’d been wearing tonight.
Not unless she’d been forced to.
My flashlight caught a reflective surface as I swept it over the grass, and my blood ran cold as I approached the object.
Half on the lawn, half on the gravel drive lay a phone. Reagan’s, I recognized from the beige and black polka-dotted Loopy case.
I flipped it over. The screen was cracked, bits of rock smashed into the fissures.
Even though I knew deep in my bones Reagan was no longer on this ranch, I rushed into the house, calling her name as I raced through every room, nook, and cranny.
She was nowhere to be found.
My brothers followed me inside, and we silently gathered in the foyer.
“I don’t know what the fuck to do,” I admitted to them, my tone edged with hysteria, gripping my hair in fists, needing something to do with my hands that wasn’t throwing my fist into Mama’s drywall.
Lane, of course, took charge.
“First things first, we’re in agreement Crew and Aspen don’t hear of this. The last thing we need to do is ruin their night.”
We all nodded, though I knew both of them would be pissed as hell when they eventually found out.
“Secondly,” Lane continued, checking his watch, “the reception is about to wrap up. As soon as we send Crew and Aspen on their way, we convene at Trey’s. Deal?”
“Deal,” the other three said. I was mute, numb, afraid if I allowed what was truly happening to sink in, I’d spiral.
“Now we’re going to go back to the barn and put on the fucking show of our lives.”
“Someone heretookher,” I ground out. “And you want to act like nothing is happening? What the fuck!”
Those final three words echoed back to us, and West put a steadying hand on my shoulder. Lane’s expression turned stern, though edged with sympathy.
“I have a plan,” he said, placing his palm on my other shoulder. “Trust me to do my job, Finn. Okay?”
All I could do was nod. The longer we waited, the further away Reagan got. While I was chomping at the bit to tear this fucking ranch, town, the world beyond apart until I found her, the last thing I wanted to do was pop the bubble of Crew and Aspen’s perfect day.
