Page 143 of Shadows of Obsession

My heart leaped into my throat. "What is it?" I rushed out, my voice tight with barely contained panic. I moved behind the desk, leaning over his shoulder, eyes scanning the screen desperately for any clue to Anna's whereabouts.

I urged the screen to give us something. Anything.

"My Verizon account shows that the last place Anna's phone was located was on the property." Connor's words hung heavy in the air, their implications sending a chill down my spine despite the warmth of the house.

On the property. She's still here. She has to be here.

Connor stood abruptly from the desk, his chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound that made me flinch. He reached for his phone, scrolling through contacts. "I'm going to call Denny. Maybe he saw something, and Anna drove off somewhere else on the property. We can split up and look for her."

I nodded, jaw clenched so tight I could feel my teeth grinding together. Split up. Search. Find her. Action was better than standing here feeling helpless.

I followed Connor down the hall toward the front door, my mind cataloging every place on the massive property where Anna could be: the back pastures, the trails, the equipment sheds—

Before we reached the door, Connor veered toward the stairs, taking them two at a time toward his bedroom. I watched him go, heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my temples and fingertips. The adrenaline coursing through me made me jittery and on edge, like I could run a marathon or punch through a wall.

I focused on my thoughts.Stay focused. You trained for this.

Moments later, Connor emerged from the bedroom, a pistol clutched tightly in his hand. He met my worried gaze, eyes hard with the kind of resolve I recognized from my military days, the look of a man preparing for the worst.

"Better to be prepared," he said grimly, voice low and serious as he brushed past me toward the front door. "It just doesn't feel right."

I hummed my agreement, the knot of dread in my stomach tightening like a fist as I followed him outside. The cool night air hit my face like a slap. Sharp and bracing, carrying the scent of pine and earth and something ominous.

I made my way to my Jeep, mind still racing with possibilities, each more terrifying than the last.Is it Daniel? Did he finally find her?

If he's hurt her, if he's touched her, I'll kill him.I will fucking kill him.

As Connor climbed into the passenger seat, I noticed him scrolling rapidly through his contactsagain. Before I could start the engine, he held up a hand, signaling me to wait as he initiated a call.

"Sheriff? It's Connor Whitaker." His voice was tight with tension, the free hand gripping the armrest with white-knuckled intensity. "I'm having a problem. We can't seem to find Anna anywhere. Her truck is gone, and my phone company says the last location ping was here on the property. Can you maybe check some town cameras to see if she drove through town for some reason?"

Connor nodded, his expression growing grimmer with each passing second as he listened to the sheriff's response. I watched him anxiously, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles had gone white, desperate for any information that could lead us to Anna.

In a gesture I was grateful for, Connor switched the phone to speaker mode, setting it on the center console so I could hear too. The sound of clicking keyboards and muffled mumbling emanated from the phone, each second feeling like an hour as we waited.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only thirty seconds, Sheriff Davies cleared his throat. His voice crackled through the speaker, official and careful.

"Connor, I do see her truck coming through town, but it doesn't look like her driving," Davies said, and my world tilted sideways. "It's a woman, brown hair, looks unhealthily thin. I'm sending you a screenshot from the camera feed now."

Not Anna. Someone else driving Anna's truck.

Connor's phone buzzed with an incoming message. He opened it quickly, fingers trembling as the image loaded, grainy but unmistakable, showing a thin, brown-haired woman behind the wheel of Anna's distinctive truck.

I leaned over, eyes widening as recognition struck. "That's her," I said, voice grave with certainty, cold with realization. "That's the guest we ran into earlier near the barn. No doubt about it."

Kim. She called herself Kim. Said she was here with her boyfriend.

Connor's face hardened with determination, grip tightening on the pistol until tension radiated through his entire body. "Sheriff, we need you out here now," he barked, voice leaving no room for argument. "Send backup, and hurry. I have a feelingwe're going to need it."

As Connor hung up, he turned to me, eyes searching my face. "Did you see what cabin she was in?" he asked urgently.

Fuck.

"No, we went into the barn. I didn't see which one she went back to," I growled, frustration clawing at my insides like a living thing. My fist shot out before I could stop it, punching the steering wheel. The impact sent a dull ache through my knuckles, but I barely felt it beneath the rage and fear consuming me.

Stupid. Should have paid attention. Should have noticed.

Connor glanced at the time on his phone; the glowing numbers read 10:17 PM. We'd been searching for over an hour. Every second that passed was another second Anna was in danger.