Page 36 of Splintered Memories (Ember Hollow Romance #2)

August

I watched the sunrise through the window of my living room. My arms were crossed high over my chest, my entire body tense.

The night had not been kind to us.

Emersyn was missing. It was as if she had vanished into thin air, without leaving any sign where she’d gone. The only thing I knew was that she had walked out into the night, by herself, and she had not returned.

A hand gripped my shoulder. I didn’t take my eyes off the sun steadily rising above the horizon in a haze of pinky orange. My dry, sore eyes ached, but sleep was the last thing on my mind.

“We’re going to find her,” Fox said beside me.

He didn’t know that. I might’ve had hope for that hours ago, but there was no telling where she was. I had no idea who took her. The only thing I knew was that someone wanted her dead…and maybe they had finally completed that task.

Pain laced through me at the thought. My arms tightened around my hollowed chest. I hadn’t kept her safe .

I had failed her. Again.

Fox let out a long breath when I ignored him. He was doing everything that he could do, but nothing had been enough.

The moment I’d gotten my brothers together, we immediately started the search.

Fox had tracked Emersyn’s cell phone, only to find that she had left it in the small purse on one of the tables in the event hall.

There were also no cameras in the hall except at the entrances.

No cameras were even in the parking lot. We had practically nothing to go on.

All my brothers, including my dad, had done a thorough search of the area for most of the night. We’d come up utterly empty except for that small puddle of blood on the grass by the lake. I didn’t even know if it was her blood—I hoped that it wasn’t.

I’d never felt so damn helpless in my life.

Fox hovered around me, his concern and worry palpable.

It was smothering. We had been back and forth from the Hearthstone office since we got back from the search of the event property.

The rest of my family had gone to get a few hours of rest before we started searching again, but Fox had stayed with me.

I loved my brother, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I needed some air.

I needed to find Emersyn.

A desperate idea had been forming in my mind as I had waited for the sunrise. An idea I wanted my brother to have nothing to do with. It was foolish, a last reckless attempt, and I didn’t want to get both of us arrested if it came to that.

I turned on my heel, shrugging Fox’s hand off my shoulder. “I’m going for a drive. I need some air. ”

Fox tensed, but he didn’t fight me on it as I stormed toward the door and out into the dewy morning.

I wasn’t expecting the white SUV in my driveway, or the man getting out of it. My stomach roiled as Tristan Hawthorn approached me. From the look on his face, he already knew what had happened.

I dodged his punch at the last second, dipping to the side as he cursed my name. When I righted myself, he came at me again. This time I caught his arm, stopping him. He was thin for his height, no match for me.

“Where’s my daughter?” he hissed at me, his eyes burning with rage and fear.

“I’m going to find her,” I said through clenched teeth. “Who the hell told you?”

His lips pulled up in a snarl. “You and your family weren’t hiding the fact that you were looking for her last night. There were a lot of people at that event. Of course I heard about it.”

I muttered profanities under my breath, pissed that we hadn’t been more covert last night. But we had to ask people whether they had seen anything. The gossip about our search was probably all around town by now.

“I hired you to do one damn job,” Tristan seethed. “You couldn’t even do that. I thought I was hiring one of the best.”

“You were obviously wrong about that,” I snapped.

“I never claimed to be the best.” My heart felt fractured.

Not because I failed him, but because I failed Emersyn.

I pulled in a steadying breath through my nose.

“I’m going to find her,” I repeated. Cautiously, I let go of Tristan’s arm, and he stumbled back.

“I have to go take care of something, but I will let you know as soon as I find any information. ”

Tristan pinned me with a look that conveyed he still wanted to punch my lights out, but some of that tension leached from his body as he straightened. He smoothed down his tie. “Where are you going?” he demanded.

I pressed my lips together, contemplating. I didn’t trust Tristan, but Emersyn was his daughter. “I’m going to see if I can get a lead on Emersyn.”

“I’m going with you.”

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. The last thing I wanted was Tristan Hawthorn tagging along. But he could be useful, and I had a feeling Tristan didn’t take no for an answer.

My eyes flicked from him, over to that fancy white SUV. “Fine,” I said. “You can drive. But you have to follow my instructions if you’re coming. Can you do that?”

Tristan threw me a look of disdain. I had a feeling he wasn’t used to taking orders, but eventually he nodded. “Okay,” he said stiffly. “Let’s go.”

F ox texted me the address I needed. He hadn’t been happy that I had left the house without him, but the good thing about Fox was that he followed the orders he was given.

The tension in the vehicle between Tristan and me was thick and uncomfortable, but the drive was thankfully short. He pulled up in front of the house I indicated and threw the vehicle into park.

Tristan’s dark-green eyes flicked to the house. “Where are we? ”

The place was a one-story ranch house. It was in need of some updating, but it was neatly kept, like the person who lived there took pride in his things but didn’t have much extra money for renovations.

“It’s the house of someone I need to talk to.” I opened the door of the SUV and glanced back at Tristan. “Stay behind me, and don’t say anything unless I tell you.”

Tristan didn’t reply as I hopped out of the SUV. I heard his footsteps behind me as I strode toward the house, my paces quick and purposeful. I knocked on the door hard and then rang the doorbell for good measure.

There was a doorbell camera, so he knew I was here.

Despite the early hour, it didn’t take him long to answer.

Detective Brandon Whize stared at me from inside the threshold of his home. His dark hair was disheveled, and he was in nothing but a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He rubbed one eye with the palm of his hand as he frowned at me.

“What the hell are you doing here, August?” His voice was hoarse from sleep. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

His eyes caught on the man behind me, and his frown deepened. He looked between the two of us, recognition flaring in his eyes.

“I need you to tell me what you know, Brandon,” I said, my voice firm and demanding.

Brandon froze. His hand fell limp at his side. He looked at Tristan again, and I saw the pieces fitting together in his mind.

“You’re here about Emersyn’s case,” he said.

I tried to keep my body as loose as possible so he couldn’t read how high-strung I was. “You know something,” I said. “You know more than you’ve let on, and I need you to tell me. ”

His face hardened, making my heart sink. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” he said, voice sharp. “I’m not authorized to give out information.”

I waited one beat, and then two. Then, I struck. I barreled over the threshold, locking one forearm against his chest and pushing him back against the wall in the entryway faster than he could react.

I leaned my body against his, pinning him there and putting every ounce of rage and fear into my expression as I stared at him. “I am not going to ask you again. I don’t care if you are authorized—you’re going to tell me what I want to know.”

“What the hell, August!” He scrabbled against my hold, but I had been too quick for him to fight me off properly. “You can’t just come into my house and assault me.”

“I don’t care.” All I cared about was Emersyn.

“What is wrong with you?” Brandon said, his anger surging.

“We just want to find my daughter.” Tristan’s voice sounded behind me.

I didn’t look at him; my only focus was Brandon.

Brandon looked over my shoulder at where Tristan must’ve been. His eyes widened. “Something happened to Emersyn?”

“She disappeared last night.”

Brandon stilled. He looked back at me, the expression on his face clearing with understanding. “You can’t find her. You have no leads.” It wasn’t a question. He could see the facts all over my face.

“I just…I need something ,” I said, my voice on the verge of breaking.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Look, we don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest, but we were hoping to have it soon. We were building our case.”

“Against who?” I said, desperate .

“Alex Cohen.”

I blinked, not sure why that name surprised me. The former sheriff of Ember Hollow was nothing but human garbage.

“Alex tried to kill Emersyn?” Tristan’s voice from behind me was seething with hate and rage.

Brandon’s eyes met his. “We think so. The shell casings we found are a match for the type of gun he owns. There’s only two other people in town who own a gun like that.

There was also some security footage of him exiting the alley after Emersyn claims she was attacked there.

We were working on getting a warrant for his gun so we could see if they matched the striations on the shell casings. ”

I didn’t need to hear anymore. I let Brandon go and turned to leave.

“Do you need any help?” Brandon asked from behind me.

My gaze met Tristan’s. The look we shared was one of mutual need for revenge.

I shook my head. “I’ve got it from here. If I need anything else, I’ll call you.”

“I hope you find her,” Brandon said.

My body halted near the threshold. I threw a look back at him from over my shoulder. “Thank you.” I knew what it meant for him to give me that information. He was a new detective looking to make a good name for himself in the department. This was a risk for him.

Brandon shook his head. “Don’t thank me. Just find her.”

I nodded. I was going to find her. I would rather die than fail this time.