Page 66 of Snowbound Threat

“They always believed if Abby were still alive she’d find her way back here one day.”

That was so sad. Charlie’s heart went out to them. Even through the months of searching for Abby, Charlie hadn’t spoken to her parents. She blamed herself and believed they would too.

They traversed the frozen yard and stepped onto the rickety porch. “Watch your step.” He held out his hand assisting her up because the steps were gone.

“Thanks.” Charlie freed her hand as soon as possible, unable to ignore the sparks of awareness that were always therebetween them whenever she was close to Ryan. She cleared her throat. “When’s the last time you were here?”

He gingerly moved to the door. “Not in a long time. It’s gotten worse over the years.” He forced the warped door open and went inside.

Charlie stood at the threshold. The last time she’d been here was the day before Abby went missing. As she looked around the living room, Charlie didn’t see the wallpaper peeling or stained carpet, she saw the smiling face of her friend. The adventures she and Abby had gone on during their sleepovers as kids growing up in the mountains. The whole outdoors was their playground.

“Charlie?”

Those sweet memories faded and the reality of the place materialized before her.

She stepped inside and shut the door. “It doesn’t even seem like the same place.”

Ryan glanced around. “Yeah. It’s hard coming back here and not remembering Abby.”

Abby had been every bit a part of their burgeoning romance as teenagers as anything else. Abby was friends with both Ryan and Charlie.

She’d known how Charlie felt about Ryan and had secretly asked Ryan if he liked Charlie. Then she’d arranged a horseback ride up in the mountains and had feigned being sick to leave them alone.

Charlie and Ryan talked for hours that day. At the time, she couldn’t imagine anything breaking them up.

But life did what they couldn’t imagine. He’d gone away to the police academy. She’d started college. And then the fire happened. . .

Charlie turned away from the curious expression in his eyes. The past couldn’t be rewritten. Her life wasn’t in Pine Haven any longer. The last tie holding her here was now gone.

She cleared her throat. “Should we start in the attic?” Thinking about the past was just too difficult.

“Probably.” The catch in Ryan’s voice had her wondering if he was remembering them also.

Ryan headed for the stairs tentatively testing each one. “They seem steady enough.” He glanced upward. “There’s no sign the roof has been leaking. Still, watch your step.”

Charlie followed his path up the stairs until they stood in front of the attic door. Ryan cast her a look before opening the door. Cold musty air flew past them denoting the years that had passed since anyone had been inside these walls. Somewhere nearby, a scurrying sound made Charlie cringe imagining what it belonged to.

The power had been off for years. Windows allowed them to see in the rest of the house but up here, there was only a small window at the far end of the long expanse.

Ryan clicked on his flashlight and shined it around the space covered in years of dust. Cobwebs were everywhere. Charlie instinctively brushed at her hair when she came in contact with one.

“Let’s spread out. Hopefully, it’s still here.”

Charlie used the flashlight app on her phone to illuminate her way as she moved to the right of the room.

Nothing had been left behind and she wondered if this trip would prove a waste of time.

She recalled the attic from when she and Abby were kids. They used it as their playhouse when the weather wouldn’t permit them to go outside. There were lots of little nooks and crannies where Abby could have hidden the container. She remembered how they once left notes for each other here, oftensharing what was troubling them. Abby’s last note mentioned her parents’ frequent arguments and her frustration with it.

At one time, Abby believed they might divorce. Only they hadn’t. Apparently, the tragedy of Abby’s disappearance had brought them closer together.

“I found it.”

Charlie let go of that memory and hurried over to where Ryan knelt beside an empty blue container. “Whatever was in here is gone.”

Charlie’s heart sank. “Do you think her parents emptied the contents when they moved?”

Ryan rose beside her. “Probably. We should call them and see if they remember what was in here.” He rubbed the dust off his hands. “I’ll let Boone know what we found.” Ryan stepped away and Charlie moved to the window to look out on the perfect Colorado day.