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FIFTEEN

DONOVAN GLANCED at his phone. The number wasn’t familiar, but it was local. He couldn’t risk missing something important. “Bledsoe.”

“Donovan?”

He sat down hard in the chair that, thankfully, was right beside him. “Cassie? Baby? Is that you?” Every person in the room went silent.

“I need you to come get me.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at Mrs. Cagle’s. I think I scared her half to death. Might want to send some paramedics.”

“Are you hurt?” He grabbed his keys and waved for everyone to mobilize.

“No. But she seems a little short of breath.”

“You aren’t hurt?”

“I...”

The hesitation sent a spike of dread through him.

“They drugged me. I have a raging headache, and I threw up while I was running away.”

She sounded so calm. Was she in shock?

“Cassie, don’t hang up.” He turned to the room and gave them a brief rundown.

Gray pointed to him. “Go. I’ll send backup. Find out what happened and loop me in.”

Donovan was already out the door by the time Gray finished talking. “Okay, baby. Talk to me. What do you remember?”

Cassie filled him in on what she’d heard. “They left, and I knew I had to get out of there. Once I was outside, I knew where I was. I had a friend in elementary school who lived near there. So I cut through the woods. Figured it would be safer than being on the road. And I didn’t want to risk staying inside to call you. I saw Mrs. Cagle’s front door was open, so I knocked on her screen door. She let me in.” Cassie’s voice dropped. “I really do think I frightened her. But she’s been so sweet. She gave me a toothbrush and a washcloth and a glass of tea, but her hands are still shaky. I’m worried that I’ve put her in danger.”

“We won’t let anything happen to her or you. We’ve got people headed your way.” A transmission came through his police radio, and he relayed the information to Cassie. “Not sure if you could hear that, but you’ll have company very soon. Your cousins were nearby.”

Cassie stayed on the phone, even after Cal and Mo all but burst through poor Mrs. Cagle’s front room to get to her. Donovan heard the whole thing go down, and he didn’t blame them for their hurry. When he heard Mo say, “You’re really okay?” and Cassie’s “Yes,” he could have cried in relief.

By the time Donovan pulled into Mrs. Cagle’s driveway, there were already four vehicles parked in the yard. Everyone who’d been searching for Cassie had heard the news.

Mrs. Cagle had apparently recovered her good spirits and was now ensconced in a rocking chair on her front porch with a quilt over her lap. The four men standing around her made her look like an ancient queen surrounded by her courtiers. The air vibrated with palpable relief, but with a sense of contained urgency.

Because Cassie Quinn knew who’d taken her.

And when the news got out, Gossamer Falls would never be the same.