Page 98 of A River of Crows

“No. That surprised me too.”

“Then Mom could have found them. If she knew they had Ridge, why didn’t she hunt them down when they didn’t return him?”

“My hunch is that she never knew they took him.”

“Then explain the gas station, Noah.” Sloan caught her voice rising. “Do you have a number for Vince and Libby?”

Noah hesitated for a minute before saying no.

“Don’t lie to me. What’s their number?”

“I don’t have it,” he said. “Unlisted.”

“And you don’t have a way to get it?”

He sighed. “Talking to them is a bad idea. If they took your brother, they need to be prosecuted. They will run if they realize we are on to them, and it’s all over.”

Sloan leaned against the house. “Fine. But you’ve got to keep looking into this.”

Noah promised he would, and they ended the call. As soon as Sloan stepped back inside, she heard a soft rap on the front door. It caught her off guard. Who would be here this late?

She opened the door, leaving the chain latched. She was surprised to see Ridge standing in the shadows. “Can I come in?” he asked.

“Of course.” Sloan undid the chain and opened the door again.

Ridge stepped inside. “Mom’s asleep, right?”

“Last I checked. She had her sleeping pill, but her sleep seems restless tonight.”

Ridge seemed restless too. He walked circles around the room, stopping to pick up the lone picture off the mantle—one of Caroline and Sloan her senior year.

“What’s going on, Ridge? I haven’t heard from you all day.”

He sat down on the couch. “I slept most of the day and couldn’t fall asleep tonight. I just wanted to see you. I wanted to see the pictures you found. Maybe I even wanted to see Mom.”

Sloan sat beside him. “I’m glad you came. Dad got out of jail today.”

“Did you see him?”

Sloan shook her head. “Just on TV. I couldn’t bring myself to go. I didn’t even let Dylan come over today. I wanted to be alone with it all. With my memories.”

“Didn’t mean to crash your party,” Ridge said.

“It needed crashing. I was just about to get another beer. Want one?”

“Absolutely.” While Sloan was in the kitchen, she heard Ridge turn the TV on. “Think they’ll replay Dad getting out?”

“I’m sure.” She handed him the beer. “Turn to channel five. Local news comes on at 10:00.”

“Well, at least it’s just local news.”

“Yeah, until the Hadfields do another People magazine interview.”

Ridge used his class ring to twist the lid off his beer. “I saw that.” He took a sip. “Well, I did more than see it; I bought it and tripped out a few weeks.”

Sloan laughed. “Years for me. Not proud to admit this, but I brought it back out today.”

“It’s just hard to imagine that Dad had this whole second life with them,” Ridge said.