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AUbrEY

J ensen McGraw’s shoulders tense at my sister’s name. “Lainey Wells,” he repeats.

“You know her?” I ask quickly, my pulse fluttering.

“Know of her,” he says slowly with a nod. “Sure do. Everyone was looking for her. She had some guy with her when she went missing, right?”

“Yes,” I say, trying to ignore the disappointment that he doesn’t know more than anyone else. “Her boyfriend, Adam Medlock…” I trail off, not sure how much more I should say. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with being as honest as possible, at least with some things. “The two of them supposedly went hiking, she was obsessed with this area, with the Donner Party. It was her thing. But she never came back…”

“I’m aware,” he says, kicking at a rock with his worn boot. “The cops didn’t seem to spend that much time looking. Truckee was crawling with law enforcement for a few days and then, well, it seems they up and quit.”

I swallow hard. “Exactly. The cops fucked up. Lainey wasn’t the type of girl the media could use to garner sympathy. She had…issues. Issues that were held against her. In the end she wasn’t important enough to find.”

He tips his hat. “Well, accept my condolences.”

“I don’t need your condolences,” I say, to which he raises his brows. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I just need the truth. All this time I’ve been living with her ghost, and I don’t expect to find her alive, but I need answers so I can finally move on and live my life again. I owe her that much.”

You owe yourself that , Diana had said to me. But that didn’t mean I believed it.

“And moving on is worth that much money to you?” he says. “That’s a lot of money to chase ghosts.”

“Not if you find her.”

His eyes meet mine, and hold. There’s something haunted in them now, something that wasn’t there before. “I hate to be crass with you, but three years is a long time. If she got lost up there, if she…” he rubs his hand over his chin, another dark look coming across his eyes. “If we find her, it won’t be pretty.”

“Life has been nothing but ugly since she disappeared,” I admit.

“And what makes you think I’ll find her? Why now?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I just saw your name on the news, and that you were a tracker, and that was it. I knew I needed to give this one last shot. Those are my savings, the inheritance from my father. It was for both of us…and it’s still for both of us.” I pause, taking a careful step toward him as I press my palms together, hoping he can see the sincerity, even the pain. “Please. You’re my last and only hope. I know that sounds cliché but it’s the truth. I know she’s somewhere in those mountains still, I know that’s where her bones have been buried by time. I just need to find her…by any means necessary.”

“I get that,” he says with a curt nod. “I do. But what you’re asking me to do is very different from what I just did for that family. I located a hiker who was missing, presumed alive. I was there days after he was reported as lost. I was able to find his trail because it was a fresh trail. I’ve never taken on a cold case before, never been asked to find someone who is probably dead, and from three years ago at that. This trail won’t be easy to find, and that’s assuming she is up there in them mountains. You don’t know for sure, unless you have some information you’re not sharing.” He fixes a hardened gaze on me, as if he’s accusing me of something.

I can’t help but glare right back, hackles raising. “I’ll let you know all there is to know,” I tell him. “But first I need to know if you’re going to take the job.”

He gives me a crooked smile, though his hazel eyes remain cold. “I see. Well in that case, I appreciate your interest, Miss…”

“Wells. Aubrey Wells.” I’d offer my hand but I have a sinking feeling he wouldn’t take it.

“Wells. Of course,” he says. “But I’m going to have to decline.”

Then he turns around and starts walking to the barn.

What? That’s it? He heard my whole speech, saw me lay my heart out in front of him, and he’s just going to walk away?

“How can you be so heartless?” I cry out. I regret the words the moment I say them, sounding childish and manipulative.

But it makes him stop, his hands flexing at his sides before he turns to face me. “Heart has nothing to do with it. I’m sorry about your sister, truly, but I don’t know her and I don’t know you. For all I know, you’re a scammer. If not, well you’d be chasing ghosts in a dangerous land.”

“What difference is it to you then? You’d get paid.”

“Maybe I don’t want to waste my time, no matter the money,” he counters. “I run a business down here.”

“Uh huh,” I say, scanning the grounds. “Cattle. Don’t see any of them.”

He frowns. “They’re out on their range,” he says sharply. “And you’re not my business. Now, as I said before, you best be getting in your car and leaving.”

Now there’s a threat to his voice, though I know he wouldn’t call the cops. I know that much about him at this point.

“A hundred grand!” I yell as he turns away from me.

He pauses. His hands flex briefly at his sides again and his head goes back. He takes his hat off his head and rubs his brow before turning to look at me once more, a steely squint. For a moment he chews on his lip, runs his tongue over his teeth, then looks off at the mountains. I wait, heart in my throat, on the verge of dropping to my knees and actually begging him.

“A hundred grand?” he says, his gaze still skyward.

“Yes,” I manage to say, hope nearly choking me. “Fifty up front. Fifty later, so as long as the effort is genuine.”

He stares up at the mountains and for a moment I’m hit with the strangest sense of déjà vu.

Then he turns toward the barn. “Come on. Let’s talk business.”

I blink at him in surprise as he walks off. Then I snap out of it. I quickly follow him across the yard, gravel crunching under our boots, my heart pounding. The barn looms ahead and a man appears in the doorway—tall, lean, early thirties. There’s a gentleness to his face that doesn’t quite fit the setting.

“Eli,” Jensen calls out. “Get Cole, Red, and Hank. Meeting in the tack room.”

Eli’s eyes flick to me, then back to Jensen. Something passes between them, unspoken but heavy, but he disappears into the barn’s depths.

“Who are they?” I ask as we approach. “I thought we could keep this between us.” I don’t want to start involving other strangers into this. I’m lying already and that’s tricky enough when you’re keeping it from just one person.

“Mountains are dangerous this time of year. Weather can change on a dime.” Jensen doesn’t look at me. “I don’t go out there alone.” He pauses. “Not anymore.”

The barn interior is dimmer than expected, smelling of hay and leather and horse manure. Light filters through high windows, catching dust motes in its beams. I’m lead into what looks like a tack room turned office, saddles and bridles displayed on one side with a dusty desk and some old filing cabinets. I turn around just as four men emerge from the shadows of the barn and into the room—Eli and three others who move with the kind of predatory grace that immediately puts me on edge.

“Cole.” Jensen nods to the larger man, built like a linebacker with a scarred face and cold eyes. “Red.” This one’s leaner, red-haired, with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, and barely his lips at that. “Hank.” The last one has straggly dark hair, a lined, skinny face and beady black eyes. All of them cause prickles of unease along the base of my skull. “This is Aubrey Wells. She’s looking to hire us for a search in the Sierras.”

Cole’s gaze sweeps over me, assessing before he looks to Jensen with surprise. “Us?”

“She’s offering fifty grand,” Jensen says. Alright, so he’s not sharing the full amount with them. Interesting.

Red whistles low. “Must be something mighty important up there.” His drawl is deep, Texas maybe.

“My sister,” I say carefully, watching their reactions. “Lainey Wells. She went missing in the area three years ago. Maybe you’ve heard of her?”

Another moment between Jensen and Eli—a quick glance, loaded with meaning. Before I can analyze it, Jensen turns to Eli. “Need a word, Eli.”

They move out into the barn and out of sight, voices dropping too low to hear. I’m left with Cole, Hank, and Red, the four of us forming an awkward square in the dusty light. A feather of fear tickles my stomach and I stop myself for instinctively checking for a gun that isn’t there. It’s in the glove compartment, which feels further away than ever.

“So, you say your sister is missing?” Red drawls, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. “Three years is a long time to wait before looking.”

“I didn’t wait.” I keep my voice neutral. “There was an official search.”

“Ah.” His smile turns knowing. “And now you’re trying the unofficial route. I take it they didn’t do shit all.”

I shake my head.

“I guess the girl’s name sounds familiar,” Red goes on. “Lainey you says? Yeah, I think I remember now. She had a boyfriend with her?”

I nod and Cole shifts his weight, a subtle movement that somehow makes him more threatening. “Lot of things can happen in these mountains,” Cole says in a low voice. “Lot of places to disappear. To never be found.”

A darkness comes over his expression, as if the shadows in the barn are deepening. I find myself eyeing Hank. He hasn’t said a word this whole time, he’s just been watching and observing the same way I have. I don’t like that one bit. It’s one thing to be stuck in a small room with a bunch of large, brutish men, it’s another when one of them seems overly observant in a calculating kind of way.

Before I can respond to Cole’s comments, Jensen and Eli return. Jensen’s face is set, like he’s made a decision he’s not happy about. Eli looks troubled.

“You ride?” Jensen asks me.

I shake my head.

“Never?”

“Never.” I don’t mention that I tried to ride when I was young and being bucked off an ornery pony is why I’ve developed a casual fear of horses ever since.

He runs a hand through his hair, looking mildly annoyed before putting his hat back on. “There’s a storm coming tomorrow night. Could be snow. Mountains might be too dangerous for a few days. We’ll have to wait until it clears.” His eyes track over me, assessing. “We’ll use the time to teach you how to ride. Can’t have you falling off up there.”

I frown. “So I’m going with you?”

“You thought you weren’t?”

“No, I would have insisted otherwise,” I begin. “I just assumed you were going to say it’s too dangerous for a lady, or something like that.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up, making his eyes dance, and damn if it doesn’t make my stomach clench.

“Nah,” he says smoothly. “I never would have reckoned you for a lady.”

I should glare at that, but I decide to take it as a compliment. “Either way, I can learn fast.” Though as I say the words, the clench in my stomach turns into a wave of nausea.

“Better hope so. A lesson or two will have to be enough.” He turns to go, then stops. “Where are you staying?”

I shrug. “I need to find a motel. Any recommendations?”

“If you were fancy, I’d recommend the Four Seasons by Tahoe. But I think you’d be able to handle any Truckee establishment.”

“Guest cottage is empty,” Eli pipes up. “Makes more sense to stay here, start lessons early, doesn’t it?”

Jensen’s jaw tightens. If looks could kill, Eli would be ash on the barn floor. But he doesn’t contradict him.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” I say carefully, watching their dynamic. I’d prefer to stay here so I can get a better handle on all of them. Everything about this place seems off and the more info I can get before we head up into the mountains, the better. Preparation is key.

“No imposition.” Eli’s smile is genuine, warm even. “Right, Jensen?”

A muscle tics in Jensen’s cheek. “Your choice,” Jensen says finally, giving me a hard look. “Cottage is there if you want it. We start in the morning either way.”

He strides out of the barn, leaving me with more questions than answers. Were Eli, Red, Hank, and Cole part of Jensen’s search party for the missing hiker? The news never mentioned he had a posse. What had Jensen and Eli discussed in those whispered conversations? And why do I get the feeling I’m missing something obvious?

Cole, Hank, and Red melt away into the shadows, leaving me alone with Eli. He’s watching me with something like sympathy.

“Don’t mind Jensen,” he says softly. “He takes the mountains seriously. We all do.”

“I can tell. I just didn’t expect this search party to expand so quickly. Is it just the weather that’s an issue up there? The terrain? Wild animals?”

His smile fades slightly. “Something like that. Shall I show you to your quarters?”