Page 58 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

ELLIE

Gone were the happy voices and laughter of a few minutes ago. Instead, a nervous energy filled the air as Dex pulled out his laptop and pulled up God knew what. If it was another bombshell of information, I wasn’t sure I could take it.

Cope, Sutton, Nora, and Leah had taken Keely and Luca to my house to play with Bumper, making sure the kids didn’t overhear anything they shouldn’t. But the rest of us stayed put.

Fallon leaned into me. “Not what I was expecting when Anson talked about his hacker friend.”

My gaze flicked over to her. “What do you mean?”

She blinked back at me. “Geez, you really are a goner.”

“Huh?”

Fallon chuckled. “He’s gorgeous. Like some mountain man with a professor-geek-chic edge. There’s something about those glasses.”

Kye stepped up to our huddle just as Fallon finished speaking, and he frowned down at her. “What’s so great about glasses?”

Fallon just sent me a sidelong look. “Men. So oblivious. ”

That only made Kye’s frown deepen. “I wear glasses sometimes when I do the books at the shop and the gym.”

I had to fight back my laughter and patted Kye on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’re cool, too.”

“Okay,” Dex said, his fingers flying across the keyboard as Anson, Trace, and Gabriel looked over his shoulder. “I finally broke into the software company’s database.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Gabriel muttered.

I expected Trace to say the same, but he didn’t. Instead, he just pressed for more information. “What’d you find?”

“There was a single user in Sparrow Falls,” Dex said, his fingers slowing, and his thumb moving over the trackpad on his laptop. “I matched the IP address to a location. This area of The Meadows RV Park & Cabins, in a neighborhood called The Pines.”

Trace’s form went completely rigid. “That’s where Jasper’s been living.”

“I know,” Dex said, clicking on something else. “But his credit card pinged at a bus station two towns over. He bought a ticket to Salt Lake City.”

“Getting out of Dodge,” Anson muttered.

I couldn’t stay where I was any longer. I moved to Trace’s spot behind the couch and slid my hand through his. Trace pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’m okay.”

I kept a hold of his hand, needing him to know I was there. With him. No matter what came our way.

“The ticket was purchased late yesterday afternoon, and you can see a figure here.” Dex pointed to the screen.

In the slightly grainy photo was a man wearing a hat with an unfamiliar sports team logo.

But his face was tipped up at an angle just enough to allow a peek at his face, likely looking at one of the departures and arrivals boards.

Even with the photo’s slight blur, I recognized Jasper Killington instantly.

The dead eyes. The scar down the side of his face. The scowl.

“That’s him,” Trace ground out.

“If he got a ticket to Salt Lake City, he likely got off somewhere before there,” Anson said, staring at the screen and trying to put together the pieces.

“I’d pick a stop without a station. No cameras.

We’d have no clue where. Our only hope is that the bus itself had a camera, but even if it did, it’ll take time to comb through the hours of footage. ”

“Then how the hell are we supposed to find him?” Linc growled, a muscle in his jaw flexing.

“His resources will run out eventually, and someone’s going to spot him somewhere. There’s only so long someone can run once you have their name and face,” Anson assured him.

Linc scrubbed a hand over his face. “And until then, we just wait?”

I sent my brother a soft smile. “Until then, we’re grateful he’s no longer in Sparrow Falls. And we live .”

Linc shoved up from his chair. “It’s not good enough.” He stalked outside and into the backyard.

Arden started to get up, but I held out a hand to stop her. “Let me.”

She studied me for a moment and then nodded.

I stood, crossed to the doors, and slipped through them. Even though there was a chill to the air, the sun was blazing, and it was as if the rays cast Linc in the perfect haloed glow as he stood at the edge of the deck, staring out into the yard.

Moving to him, I leaned gently against his arm. “You can’t save me from everything, ConCon.”

“I haven’t saved you from anything.”

There was such defeat in his voice that it had my gaze jerking up to his face. “Linc…you saved me from everything . You were my respite amid all Philip’s manipulations. I lived for those Wednesday-night calls.”

His hazel gaze swept down to mine. “You shouldn’t have had to. I should’ve done more. Talked to a social worker. Stayed.”

I was already shaking my head. “Why? So he could torture us both more? Social workers couldn’t have done a damn thing because the pain he inflicted wasn’t something you could put down on paper.

And if you had stayed…he would’ve squashed your spirit and killed your soul.

He was always worse to you than he was to me. ”

“You were alone,” Linc croaked.

“No. I wasn’t.” I wrapped my arms around his and held tight. “Because you were always with me. Maybe not in the next room, but I carried you with me. My fearless big brother, fighting for the life he deserved.”

Linc’s eyes glittered with unshed tears. “I was terrified.”

“But you did it anyway. You showed me it was possible.” I gripped his arm tighter. “I may not have been ready to fight until recently, but you made me realize I could and gave me the strength to decide it was time.”

“El Bell,” he rasped.

“Love you.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Love you more than you’ll ever know.”

My mouth curved as I looked up at my big brother. “We didn’t become like them.”

Linc’s whole expression softened. “No. We didn’t.”

“We got free, ConCon.”

“We got free,” he echoed.

And that was the best gift of all.

Keely and Luca let out shouts of delight as the man walking on stilts bent to give them balloon animals.

Linc let out an exaggerated shiver on my left. “ This is your idea of living? You know I hate clowns.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me as I held tight to Trace’s arm with one hand and a massive cone of pink cotton candy with the other.

It had a sweet memory of when we were much younger lighting in my mind.

Linc, Mom, and me at Coney Island, playing hooky from school and staying out far too late .

I grinned at my brother. “Remember when that one clown startled you at Coney Island? I thought you were going to pee your pants.”

Linc glared at me. “He snuck up behind me with that creepy voice and asked if I wanted a balloon. My stranger-danger reflex was instigated.”

Arden let out a laugh as she hooked her arm with his. “Don’t worry, Cowboy. I’ll protect you.”

Linc pulled her closer and dropped a kiss to her lips. “I’m counting on it.”

A familiar face headed toward us, Bloom & Berry ballcap in place. Duncan shot us all a grin and issued a wave. “Nice to see you guys.” His gaze moved to me, lingering on the cut on my head. “You doing okay? I heard about what happened the other day…”

“I’m doing a lot better. And the mums on my front porch are doing amazing,” I said, awkwardly trying to steer the conversation away from darker things.

Duncan picked up on my hint and grinned. “Glad to hear it. If you want me to bring anything else by, I’m happy to.”

“I can pick more up if Blaze needs them,” Trace cut in, none too subtly.

Duncan’s lips twitched, clearly having picked up on it, too. “Noted. Enjoy the carnival.”

As Duncan headed over to Rhodes to say hello, I sent Trace a death glare. “Seriously?”

“What?” Trace asked with mock innocence.

“You might as well have peed a circle around her,” Arden muttered.

Linc sent Trace a commiserating look. “Good luck, buddy. You’re on your own.”

“Gee, thanks,” Trace said.

I pinned him with a hard stare. “He was just being nice.”

“Blaze, Dunc’s a good guy, but he doesn’t offer to make drop-offs for just anyone.”

I looked over at the owner of Bloom & Berry. He had gone out of his way to help. I nibbled on the corner of my lip .

“I see it’s all coming together.” Trace gently pulled my lip from between my teeth. “The same way Fletcher’s always butting his nose in when it comes to you.”

A grimace pulled at my lips. “No, I know he was interested.”

Trace slowed. “How?”

I shrugged. “He asked me out.”

“When?” Trace growled.

“Relax, Chief. It was before we got together. He knows we’re a couple now.”

“Too fucking cute for her own good,” Trace muttered.

Keely ran up to us and tugged at my shirt. “Will you go on the mini coaster with me?”

Trace’s expression hardened as he looked at the small roller coaster. “I don’t know. That thing looks like it’s made of toothpicks.”

Cope’s hand clapped on his shoulder. “We all know your sensitive stomach doesn’t handle coasters well. But don’t make excuses.”

Kye laughed as he strode forward, carrying some blue cotton candy. “I swear he turned green that one year.”

Shep’s nose wrinkled. “He barfed on my new boots.”

“I tried to warn you not to share one of those cars with him,” Fallon said with a grin.

“Way to kick a man when he’s down,” Trace groused.

Rhodes jumped up and kissed his cheek. “That’s siblings, dear brother.”

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled.

Cope grabbed Luca’s hand. “Come on, El Bell, let’s do this.”

“Hey, that’s my nickname,” Linc argued.

Cope just laughed.

This was the sort of thing Linc and I never truly had, but standing in the bright fall sun, I knew it only made me appreciate having it now all the more. I handed Trace my cotton candy and kissed him quickly. “Take a video, Chief.”

“Ellie…”

But Keely and I were already following behind Cope and Luca as they raced up the marked-off line. They just made the last car of the coaster before us, but that meant we got to watch them race around the smallish track. The whole thing did shake a little as they went.

Keely gripped my hand tighter. “I’m a little nervous.”

I crouched so we were eye level. “You want to wait for now? We can try it later.”

She shook her head. “No, I want to do it. I just…my tummy’s flip-flopping.”

“Mine, too,” I admitted. “But you know what? That’s gonna make it more fun. And your braids are going to fly when you’re on this.”

That had her grinning again. “Like unicorn hair.”

“Just like.”

The roller coaster cars came to a stop again, and Cope and Luca hooted and hollered from the other side. We waved to them as we climbed in and buckled up. I gripped Keely’s hand as the cars lurched out of the makeshift station.

We climbed higher and higher until we reached the peak. “Here we go!” I yelled to Keely.

She let out an ear-splitting shriek as the coaster dipped down, and I had no choice but to join her. We laughed and screamed the whole way until the cars made it back into the station.

Keely leapt from the car, holding out a hand for me. “That was the bestest ever! Can we go again? Can we?”

I laughed as I climbed out. “I bet we can.”

As we started down the winding exit path, something hard jammed into my back as someone grabbed my shirt. “Make a sound, and the little bitch gets it.”