Page 76

I dropped my fist and sealed my forehead to the cold wood. “Or she’s just not answering.”

“Locked?”

“Yep.”

A wide palm wrapped around my shoulder and forcefully shoved me away from the door. Taking my spot, Miles knelt and pulled his lock-picking kit out of his cargo pants’ side pocket.

I blinked, wiping away the mix of sweat and snow off my temples. “We’re breaking in?”

He grunted as he worked the two picks into the lock. “It’s either this or we round up that Charles fucker and ask him to let us in. We both know he’ll tell us to fuck off, and then we’d be right back here, with me doing this.”

Hands on my hips, I watched as he worked the lock. “Then I change what I said to a statement, not a question. We’re breaking in.”

“Hell yes we are, and when I get my hands on our girl,” Miles said with a slight growl, jamming the picks into the metal as his frustration rose, “I’m going to enjoy every second of punishing her for making us worry.”

Impatiently waiting, eyes flicking between his tools and the door handle, I begged the door to swing open on its own and for Aspen to come out confused. But it didn’t. After a resounding click, Miles palmed the doorknob and gave it a hard twist, swinging the thick wood door into the cabin.

With a nerve-steadying inhale, I followed him into Aspen’s cottage, so terrified of what we would find that my whole body trembled.

But after scouring the cottage, it was what wedidn’tfind that tipped me over the edge into full panic.

Aspen was gone.

27

MILES

It helped to focus on all the pleasurable options to punish Aspen for making me worry; then I wouldn’t notice the fear-induced pressure swelling in my chest. As I stayed frozen in the doorway, Aiden shoved past me, yelling her name, desperation in his tone. Barely breathing, I scanned the room for any signs of where she might be.

Moving to the middle of the living room, I turned in a full circle, scrubbing a hand over my face in a lame-ass attempt to calm the fuck down. I was no good to anyone if I allowed the panic and worry to overtake rational thought. Blowing out a steadying breath, I rolled both shoulders back and scanned the room a second time, slower than before, to not miss a single clue.

That was when my gaze snagged on something by the door.

No, not something tangible, more of a tickle in the back of my brain that something was missing. My eyes narrowed into thin slits while I racked my sluggish thoughts to understand why the blank space by the door felt important. Aiden stopped at my side, words flowing out of his mouth faster than ever, but I blocked him out, continuing to stare at the empty area, excavating my memories for why the fuck it was significant as to where Aspen might be.

It hit me like a punch to the gut.

“Her pack from yesterday,” I muttered, more to myself. “Didn’t she leave it by the door?” I could’ve sworn I remembered it being there while Deputy Dipshit shuffled around the room, grumbling about Aiden and me causing all the trouble in Anchor Bay.

Aiden stepped closer, hands on his hips, before turning with raised brows. “I don’t remember her carrying it out yesterday when we left. I had her bags, and she had her camera bag. So yeah, maybe it was there.”

“But it’s not now.”

“I’ll check her room. Maybe she came here and moved it.”

I slowly nodded when Aiden stormed off but continued to focus on that space.

A second later, he called out from the bedroom. “Not here. Neither are her hiking boots, but I think she wore those yesterday at our place. Wait a second…”

I spun on my heels and marched into the bedroom.

Aiden pointed to a small pile on the floor. “Aren’t those her dirty clothes from the hike and overnight gear?”

“So, either someone was here, went through her pack, and then took it, or…” I jerked my wide eyes to Aiden, who had the same horrified expression on his face. “She came by here and dumped the things she didn’t need for an in-and-out hike.”

“Like she mentioned wanting to do earlier this morning,” Aiden finished, face going pale as he stared at the snow pouring down outside the window.

We both started toward the door before we even discussed our next steps. Double-checking that it locked behind me, I sprinted down the path to catch up with Aiden and Jubie.