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Cassia would be angry with her for coming to Vegas,

especially after she confessed how she knew to go there, but

anger wasn’t going to stop her. Not having a valid reason for

some kind of cover wasn’t going to stop her either. Her

common sense, that voice that kept telling her she was being

utterly ridiculous for fixating on a few passing hours, mocked

her, but she muttered under her breath, “Go fuck yourself.”

Yeah. There was a high chance she was going down that

rabbit hole fast.

As if nature agreed with her, a load rumble shook the house

and then the skies opened. Since it was dark, Adalynn hadn’t

realized that a storm was brewing. Even in the dead of other

states’ winter, South Carolina offered up some unique weather.

She’d never get tired of the warm, damp heat.

Adalynn stepped to the double back doors which

overlooked the backyard, or what would one day be the

backyard, but was now just a tumble of wild grasses and

weeds. She kept them cut down, hired someone to do the basic

grass cutting around the house to keep down bugs and vermin

like mice. There was no back deck or porch yet, but she

stepped out anyway.

The skies opened up as she did, drenching her with a deluge

of frigid rain. The wind kicked up, blowing her sodden

clothing against her body. Any sane person would go back

inside, but maybe she wasn’t sane. Wasn’t that what she’d just

been debating? If talking to herself was normal. If she should

go to Vegas. Both were irrational actions, but she knew she

wasn’t going to stop herself from doing either.

Adalynn wrapped her arms around her soaking wet chest

and shoulders. She lifted her face to the black sky and let the