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)
“Lainey Wells.”
4
AUBREY
Jensen McGraw’s shoulders tense at my sister’s name. “Lainey Wells,” he repeats.
“You know her?” I ask quickly, my pulse fluttering.
“Know of her,” he says slowly with a nod. “Sure do. Everyone was looking for her. She had some guy with her when she went missing, right?”
“Yes,” I say, trying to ignore the disappointment that he doesn’t know more than anyone else. “Her boyfriend, Adam Medlock…” I trail off, not sure how much more I should say. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with being as honest as possible, at least with some things. “The two of them supposedly went hiking, she was obsessed with this area, with the Donner Party. It was her thing. But she never came back…”
“I’m aware,” he says, kicking at a rock with his worn boot. “The cops didn’t seem to spend that much time looking. Truckee was crawling with law enforcement for a few days and then, well, it seems they up and quit.”
I swallow hard. “Exactly. The cops fucked up. Lainey wasn’t the type of girl the media could use to garner sympathy. She had…issues. Issues that were held against her. In the end she wasn’t important enough to find.”
He tips his hat. “Well, accept my condolences.”
“I don’t need your condolences,” I say, to which he raises his brows. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I just need the truth. All this time I’ve been living with her ghost, and I don’t expect to find her alive, but I need answers so I can finally move on and live my life again. I owe her that much.”
You owe yourself that, Diana had said to me. But that didn’t mean I believed it.
“And moving on is worth that much money to you?” he says. “That’s a lot of money to chase ghosts.”
“Not if you find her.”
His eyes meet mine, and hold. There’s something haunted in them now, something that wasn’t there before. “I hate to be crass with you, but three years is a long time. If she got lost up there, if she…” he rubs his hand over his chin, another dark look coming across his eyes. “If we find her, it won’t be pretty.”
“Life has been nothing but ugly since she disappeared,” I admit.
“And what makes you think I’ll find her? Why now?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I just saw your name on the news, and that you were a tracker, and that was it. I knew I needed to give this one last shot. Those are my savings, the inheritance from my father. It was for both of us…and it’s still for both of us.” I pause, taking a careful step toward him as I press my palms together, hoping he can see the sincerity, even the pain. “Please. You’re my last and only hope. I know that sounds cliché but it’s the truth. I know she’s somewhere in those mountains still, I know that’s where her bones have been buried by time. I just need to find her…by any means necessary.”
“I get that,” he says with a curt nod. “I do. But what you’re asking me to do is very different from what I just did for that family. I located a hiker who was missing, presumed alive. I was there days after he was reported as lost. I was able to find his trail because it was a fresh trail. I’ve never taken on a cold case before, never been asked to find someone who is probably dead, and from three years ago at that. This trail won’t be easy to find, and that’s assuming she is up there in them mountains. You don’t know for sure, unless you have some information you’re not sharing.” He fixes a hardened gaze on me, as if he’s accusing me of something.
I can’t help but glare right back, hackles raising. “I’ll let you know all there is to know,” I tell him. “But first I need to know if you’re going to take the job.”
He gives me a crooked smile, though his hazel eyes remain cold. “I see. Well in that case, I appreciate your interest, Miss…”
“Wells. Aubrey Wells.” I’d offer my hand but I have a sinking feeling he wouldn’t take it.
“Wells. Of course,” he says. “But I’m going to have to decline.”
Then he turns around and starts walking to the barn.
What? That’s it? He heard my whole speech, saw me lay my heart out in front of him, and he’s just going to walk away?
“How can you be so heartless?” I cry out. I regret the words the moment I say them, sounding childish and manipulative.
But it makes him stop, his hands flexing at his sides before he turns to face me. “Heart has nothing to do with it. I’m sorry about your sister, truly, but I don’t know her and I don’t know you. For all I know, you’re a scammer. If not, well you’d be chasing ghosts in a dangerous land.”