Conceal (The Barker Triplets 3)

Shit. She couldn’t cry.

“Most likely, no shoes either,” she managed to say.

Beau was beside her, his voice low and she heard the concern. “Who?”

Betty couldn’t look at him. Hell, she could barely function. The thought of her father out in the rain, alone, maybe scared, and most likely confused, was enough to make her sick. She wasn’t built for this kind of stuff.

She was the fuck up. The Barker triplet who was famous for scandal, not family or responsibility. She wasn’t good at handling shit.

So why the hell was she left handling the shit?

“Betty?”

“My dad,” she whispered. “He’s not well.”

They reached the path that ran along the river and she pointed to the left. “Head back that way. If you find him, please call Logan. You still have his phone number?”

Beau nodded. “I got it.”

“Don’t try to touch him or force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. It just makes things worse. Okay?”

Betty didn’t wait for an answer. She turned to the right and took off at a brisk jog, her sandals slapping against the concrete path until she met the stone covered portion that ran through the bushes lining the river.

The river.

It wasn’t deep, but it was fast moving and if he…

No. Christ, she wouldn’t entertain that thought. Not now.

“Dad!” She shouted into the darkness, hating that there was no answer. Her dress clung to her, wet from the rain, and her teeth began to chatter from both the cool water on her skin and the fear that quaked inside her.

She slipped through the trees and ran along the banks of the river, eyes on the water and then back up along the path. At one point, she ditched her sandals but even that didn’t stop her from tumbling and nearly falling into the water herself.

Betty ran until her lungs felt as if they were going to burst, calling her father’s name and searching frantically until her voice was hoarse and her eyes were blurred from the strain of trying to peer through the gloom.

There was no moon to guide her way and she was so pissed off at herself for leaving her cell in the car…but she couldn’t think about that right now.

Now was about her dad. About finding Trent Barker and getting him home safe. So she kept on even though her energy was waning.

Betty wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Out here with darkness all around, it seemed to have come to a standstill, and for a moment she paused, chest heaving, lungs on fire, heart in her mouth.

She heard something and her head snapped up. “Dad?”

Betty began to move, her feet sliding along the bank as she gazed out

over the river and down to where she’d just come. She thought she saw a flash of white and then she heard her name.

“Betty!”

Beau slid into view, his tall frame seeming to appear as if from nowhere. By this time, she could barely speak and she stared in silence as he walked to her, pausing an inch or so away.

He reached for her but she flinched and took a step back, mouth open to speak, but she didn’t have her breath yet and there were no words. Fear filled her and as tended to happen when darkness intruded in Betty’s world, she shut down.

“Your sister found him. He’s okay. A little shaken, but okay.”

Everything whooshed out of her. Energy. Thought. Pain. Emotion. There was nothing. Nothing but quiet.

She made a keening noise and sank to her knees, right there in front of Beau Simon. She rocked back and forth as the adrenaline that had carried her this far seeped from her pores into the muddied earth at her feet.