Hold on to Hope

I thought I probably had always believed it way down deep, anyway. Doin’ something like that just didn’t seem Jack’s style.

It was too petty.

Too cowardly.

He came out fists blazin’.

Obviously.

Which I wasn’t so keen about, either, but at least there was some honesty to it, and I got the feeling he wouldn’t be bugging me anymore. Still, I was quivering a bit when I stepped out into the cool dawn air, and I rushed for the porch, my key already in hand.

Carly and Josiah would be here, so I knew I really didn’t have anything to worry about.

But I was on edge. Fighting the creeps chasing me down. Hair lifting at the nape of my neck.

A slick of awareness sent my pulse into overdrive.

I whirled around, Jack’s name on the tip of my tongue, ready for a fight or to scream or to just plain run, only for it to die right there when I saw the stranger slink out from the trees.

A misty etching in the morning.

My eyes narrowed while my heart drum, drum, drummed, taking the guy in. Shaggy dark brown hair, medium height, thin build.

Completely ambiguous.

I realized he fit the description that Evan had given Seth of Ashley’s brother.

Chris.

Chris was his name.

And my hand started shaking, fumbling around to get to my phone, when he started to speak.

“Are you Frankie Leigh?” he called, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.

I relaxed a fraction when I realized he bore no threat. That he was remaining way out behind my car.

“Yeah,” I told him, keeping myself planted in the spot, ready to bolt inside if I needed to. “Are you Chris?”

He nodded. “I am. Ashley’s brother. Have you seen her?”

I didn’t answer him, instead I was blinking, trying to sort through the disaster of questions that tumbled through my mind. “How do you know who I am? How do you know where I live?”

How do you even know about me?

That one I didn’t ask aloud, too scared to voice it.

He gave a harsh shake of his head, looking away in frustration before he turned back to me. “Sorry. I apologize for showing up here out of the blue, but I thought I finally caught up with her yesterday. She told me what hotel she was staying at and left me a key at the front desk, but when I went inside her room, she was gone. Took most of her things except for a few scraps of paper . . . one that had your name and address written on it. Thought you might know where she was. Guessing you know Evan? The guy she dumped her kid on?”

Wasn’t sure why that phrase dug at me, but it did.

“I wouldn’t call it dumpin’. He’s Everett’s father.”

Chris raked a hand through his hair. “Listen, I’m just trying to track down my sister. I’m not here to cause any trouble. She needs her medication, and she hasn’t been on it for over a month. I’m worried about her. She calls me, tells me she is ready to go home, and then when I get there, she’s vanished again. Was hoping there was a chance she’d been here since she had your address.”

He appeared a little helpless, and damn it, I felt bad for jumping to conclusions. I shook my head. “She hasn’t been here that I know of, but we did see her yesterday downtown.”

He heaved out a sigh of relief. “Where?”

“Down by Patty’s Ice Cream Parlor on Macaber.”

He nodded, attention drifting for a beat, like he was calculating where she might have gone after that.

If only we knew.

“She was super freaked out,” I added. “She took off running when we saw her.”

I edged up closer to the railing. “Would she . . . would she be the type to vandalize? Paint on someone’s property?”

Sadness had him pursing his lips. “Not normally. But about a year ago, she . . . she left a really hateful message for our mom written on her windshield in lipstick. Our mom hasn’t talked to her since . . . it was that bad.”

God, I hated to think that Everett’s mother could be this disturbed. Hated the idea that he had the possibility of ever being in her care again.

Protectiveness swelled.

So fast I could feel my spirit squeeze.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I am, too. I really need to find her so we can get her stabilized.”

I nodded slow. “I understand. I wish I could help you more, but I can’t. But one of the officers here in town is looking for her and would like to have a word with you. He wants to help her as well.”

More relief. “Yeah, that would be awesome to have someone on my side.”

“Let me call him really quick, I’m sure he can come right over.”