“I’m glad you told me, but it’s just his ex-girlfriend. They broke up right before he took off,” she explained as we walked toward my house. I pulled out the bowl, and we each took a few hits before going inside to watch television and space out. My phone went off three more times before we settled in on the couch.

“Just answer the damn phone already,” Annie groaned as she relaxed back. I reluctantly pulled out my phone and opened the messages. Nat was wondering why I had skipped school. I replied to her quickly saying I didn’t feel well.

“Who’s that?” Annie asked, craning her neck to see the screen. I closed out of the message and shrugged my shoulders.

“Just a friend.” I relaxed next to her, my pulse racing from my high and I was growing paranoid.

“A friend?” She quirked an eyebrow and I could see her questioning gaze from my peripheral vision.

“Just this girl, Nat.” I rubbed my palms over my thighs and cleared my throat, hating how far away the kitchen was. My mouth was growing increasingly dry and it felt like I had swallowed a cotton ball. “She’s just a friend.”

“I’m just a friend,” she countered and I groaned as I tried to focus on the television.

“So why are you giving me the third degree over some messages?” I laughed nervously as she looked out at the screen.

“I’m not. I was just curious.” We fell silent and I hated myself for not finding her earlier in the week. Instead, I took it as a personal insult when she stopped coming around. Nat was there when she wasn’t.

Chapter 21 - Annabel

My entire world seemed to be flipped on its axis. The last few days had changed everything and even Jacob wasn’t immune to the destruction. Part of me wanted to be sad and even jealous of this girl, but I had no right. I had kept him at arm's length, and I had no right expect him to sit by and wait for me to figure all of this out. My heart couldn’t hold any more pain after Colin left, and right now I just needed a friend.

I nudged him with my elbow and his mouth curved up in a smile, but he fought to hide it. I did it again and he glanced over at me, shaking his head as he held up the remote and turned the channel.

“I’m not above tickling you until you pee yourself.”

“Gross.” I leaned away from him but couldn’t hold back the laughter that bubbled up from inside of me. At least for a few minutes, while my judgment was clouded, I could smile and forget about my life outside of this house.

“Yeah. My dad sleeps on this couch,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Shh…turn this up.” I leaned forward, fighting against the drug-induced haze. Jacob laughed as he held the remote away from me, and I had to smack him on the chest to grab it from his hand. He leaned in to kiss me, and I ducked away from him to focus on the television.

The news was flashing a picture of a young blonde with large green eyes who had gone missing, and I gasped.

“She kind of looks like you.” Jacob stated the obvious as he took a drink from his soda.

“Taylor.” I whispered his name like a curse. He was still around, still lurking.

“Who?” Jacob asked, and I shook my head, turning up the volume.

She’d only been missing for twenty-four hours, which gave her a fighting chance of still being all right. My mind went to Colin. Was it possible that he had gone back to Taylor?

“My dad was working a case like this a few weeks ago.” He relaxed back in his seat and put his foot up on the glass coffee table.

“I should get home. It’s getting late.” I stood, swaying as I became lightheaded.

“Already? You said you were going to hang out.”

“Connor will freak out. He’s been extra worried with Colin taking off.”

He reluctantly stood up and stretched, clearly unhappy that I was going. I felt like a jerk for blowing him off, but Colin had once risked everything to save me, and I wouldn’t hesitate to return the favor.

“Are you mad at me or something?”

I sighed as I looked him over, hating that I didn’t care more about who he had been spending his time with. I knew he would be relieved and hurt if I admitted that to him.

“I’ll come over tomorrow. We can skip together.”

“Yeah?” He eyed me, and a grin spread across his face. “It’s a date.”

Jacob walked me to the fence, and as soon as I slipped onto my property, I took off full speed through the trees. I pushed the thought of having to face Taylor from my mind. I knew if I could find Colin, I could get him to come back.

I hurried up the front porch steps, panting as I opened the door and slipped inside. I instinctively glanced to my left, hoping he would be in the formal living room, lurking in the shadows and waiting to tell me he was worried about me. But the room sat as empty as my heart. The house was dark, and I slipped off my shoes and crept upstairs. Colin’s bedroom was straightened; no evidence of his destructive explosion remained. I had spent many nights curled up in his bed, calmed by the fading scent of his No. 1 cologne. I’d run my fingers over anything he might have touched in hopes of figuring out where he may have gone. There was nothing to go on, no remnants of our past anywhere. It was like we had never existed until we moved in with Connor.

I walked back into the hall, and my eyes went to the third-floor steps. The office. I took them two at a time, pausing as I made it to the doorway. This was my last hope of finding him. He hadn’t returned any of my calls or messages. I turned on the light and stepped inside. The desk had a few folders on top of it. Flipping them open, I realized they were for unrelated cases. I glanced around the room, hoping something would stand out. The file cabinet had locks on each drawer, and the coffee table that sat in front of a brown leather love seat only held magazines. I rounded the desk, cringing at the memory of the girl on her knees. I pulled open each drawer, groaning when I was met with only office supplies. Shit. My shoulders sagged as I walked back to the light switch before eyeing the copy machine. I flipped the lid up, but there was nothing in it. I hit the button to print the last scan, and out came an address and the letters “D.O.G.” scrawled across the top in Connor’s handwriting.

I glanced around the office as I tried to come up with a plan. I’d been driving Connor’s car to school when I actually felt up to attending. I didn’t allow myself to have a second thought. I hurried down the steps and into Colin’s room. His gun was still on top of his dresser in his closet. I carried it across the hall to my room and tucked it into my book bag. Next, I grabbed my laptop and googled directions. It was about forty-five minutes away, just outside of Jackson. That was plenty of time to find Colin and convince him to come back to me.

It was killing me not to leave immediately, but the last thing I needed was someone realizing I was gone and reporting the car stolen. I lay down in my bed and stared up at the textured white ceiling as I recalled the last day I was face-to-face with Taylor Woodward.

“There you are.” Taylor’s hand came down on my shoulder. I looked around for Colin, but he had been busy all morning with tasks Taylor had given him. “I’ve been wanting to catch up with you, see how you’re adjusting.”

“I-I’m doing well. Colin has helped me a lot.” I took a deep, cleansing breath so I would stop stuttering. “How is my mother?”

He looked down at the floor before his eyes met mine. “That’s one of the reasons I came to see you. Have a seat.”

I sat down on Colin’s bed. I spent almost all of my time in that tiny cabin as opposed to the large single-room women’s bay that offered no privacy. Taylor sat next to me, and I slid away from him fractionally. He placed his hand on my knee, and a shiver ran up my spine.