Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
“What difference is it to you then? You’d get paid.”
“Maybe I don’t want to waste my time, no matter the money,” he counters. “I run a business down here.”
“Uh huh,” I say, scanning the grounds. “Cattle. Don’t see any of them.”
He frowns. “They’re out on their range,” he says sharply. “And you’re not my business. Now, as I said before, you best be getting in your car and leaving.”
Now there’s a threat to his voice, though I know he wouldn’t call the cops. I know that much about him at this point.
“A hundred grand!” I yell as he turns away from me.
He pauses. His hands flex briefly at his sides again and his head goes back. He takes his hat off his head and rubs his brow before turning to look at me once more, a steely squint. For a moment he chews on his lip, runs his tongue over his teeth, then looks off at the mountains. I wait, heart in my throat, on the verge of dropping to my knees and actually begging him.
“A hundred grand?” he says, his gaze still skyward.
“Yes,” I manage to say, hope nearly choking me. “Fifty up front. Fifty later, so as long as the effort is genuine.”
He stares up at the mountains and for a moment I’m hit with the strangest sense of déjà vu.
Then he turns toward the barn. “Come on. Let’s talk business.”
I blink at him in surprise as he walks off. Then I snap out of it. I quickly follow him across the yard, gravel crunching under our boots, my heart pounding. The barn looms ahead and a man appears in the doorway—tall, lean, early thirties. There’s a gentleness to his face that doesn’t quite fit the setting.
“Eli,” Jensen calls out. “Get Cole, Red, and Hank. Meeting in the tack room.”
Eli’s eyes flick to me, then back to Jensen. Something passes between them, unspoken but heavy, but he disappears into the barn’s depths.
“Who are they?” I ask as we approach. “I thought we could keep this between us.” I don’t want to start involving other strangers into this. I’m lying already and that’s tricky enough when you’re keeping it from just one person.
“Mountains are dangerous this time of year. Weather can change on a dime.” Jensen doesn’t look at me. “I don’t go out there alone.” He pauses. “Not anymore.”
The barn interior is dimmer than expected, smelling of hay and leather and horse manure. Light filters through high windows, catching dust motes in its beams. I’m lead into what looks like a tack room turned office, saddles and bridles displayed on one side with a dusty desk and some old filing cabinets. I turn around just as four men emerge from the shadows of the barn and into the room—Eli and three others who move with the kind of predatory grace that immediately puts me on edge.
“Cole.” Jensen nods to the larger man, built like a linebacker with a scarred face and cold eyes. “Red.” This one’s leaner, red-haired, with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, and barely his lips at that. “Hank.” The last one has straggly dark hair, a lined, skinny face and beady black eyes. All of them cause prickles of unease along the base of my skull. “This is Aubrey Wells. She’s looking to hire us for a search in the Sierras.”
Cole’s gaze sweeps over me, assessing before he looks to Jensen with surprise. “Us?”
“She’s offering fifty grand,” Jensen says. Alright, so he’s not sharing the full amount with them. Interesting.
Red whistles low. “Must be something mighty important up there.” His drawl is deep, Texas maybe.
“My sister,” I say carefully, watching their reactions. “Lainey Wells. She went missing in the area three years ago. Maybe you’ve heard of her?”
Another moment between Jensen and Eli—a quick glance, loaded with meaning. Before I can analyze it, Jensen turns to Eli. “Need a word, Eli.”
They move out into the barn and out of sight, voices dropping too low to hear. I’m left with Cole, Hank, and Red, the four of us forming an awkward square in the dusty light. A feather of fear tickles my stomach and I stop myself for instinctively checking for a gun that isn’t there. It’s in the glove compartment, which feels further away than ever.
“So, you say your sister is missing?” Red drawls, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. “Three years is a long time to wait before looking.”
“I didn’t wait.” I keep my voice neutral. “There was an official search.”
“Ah.” His smile turns knowing. “And now you’re trying the unofficial route. I take it they didn’t do shit all.”
I shake my head.
“I guess the girl’s name sounds familiar,” Red goes on. “Lainey you says? Yeah, I think I remember now. She had a boyfriend with her?”
I nod and Cole shifts his weight, a subtle movement that somehow makes him more threatening. “Lot of things can happen in these mountains,” Cole says in a low voice. “Lot of places to disappear. To never be found.”