Page 154 of Sunkissed Colorado

“I loved Leo, even if I wasn’t always a perfect girlfriend,” Winnie went on. “I had no idea everything was about to fall apart.”

I nodded absently. So many lives had been affected by that one night. Paula and Leo’s family had been shattered. I’d lost my best friend and my sense of safety here in Silver Ridge. Only Callum had given that back to me.

Callum. He’d texted. I needed him. I knew I should go back to the car for my phone, but I couldn’t budge from that spot. Couldn’t stop staring at the darkly moving water.

“If one small thing had been different,” I said, “maybeeverythingwould’ve been different. If we hadn’t gone to the creek that night. If I hadn’t left her alone. Or if I’d been able to find her phone to call for help.”

“If she hadn’t dropped it in the water,” Winnie muttered.

Those words echoed in my mind. Replayed.

And every time, they sounded stranger.

“How would you know Jessa dropped her phone in the water?”

FORTY-ONE

Callum

The brakeson my truck squealed as I pulled up in front of Hearthstone. I jumped out and ran to the entrance, afraid I’d find it locked, but the door opened under my hand.

I stopped a few steps inside. Russ was sitting on the bench across from the hostess stand, his head buried in his hands. His shoulders were hunched forward, and even in the dim light, I could see his hands shaking.

“Where’s Zandra?” I demanded.

“I’m sorry, man.” His voice was muffled, and when he looked up, his face was a mess. Red-rimmed eyes, skin blotchy with stress, hair disheveled like he’d been running his fingers through it over and over. “I didn’t mean to?—”

I grabbed his shirt and hauled him up, slamming him against the wall. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“Just told her the truth. I didn’t mean to upset her.”

“The truth about what?Jessa? Were you there at the creek that night?”

He shook his head frantically, his eyes wide with panic. “No, I already told Zandra that! I didn’t know anything about someone else being there. I felt guilty because I didn’t show up. And if I’dbeen there, maybe I could’ve… I don’t even know. But I swear, Callum. I never would’ve hurt Jessa. Or Zandra.”

The desperation in his voice cut through my rage. I slowly let him go and backed away, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“Did Zandra call you?” Russ smoothed down his wrinkled shirt with trembling hands. “Is that how you knew about me and Jessa?”

“It was a guess. Not important right now.” My voice came out hoarse and rough. “But I can’t find Zandra. She’s not answering her phone.”

I’d rushed over here thinking she was with Russ, though I wasn’t even sure what I’d imagined he could be doing to her. All I knew was that my gut had been screaming that something was seriously wrong.

She hadn’t answered my text. Hadn’t picked up when I called.

Russ straightened his shirt, still looking shaken. “Have you tried your place? Winnie was giving her a ride home.”

My jaw clenched. “I drove to the house first thing from the scene of the fire. Nobody’s there. You said Winnie was driving her home?”

“Yeah. Maybe you passed them on the way here. Or they stopped somewhere else.”

I had no idea, but that sick feeling in my stomach was only getting stronger. Something wasn’t right. After everything we’d been through, she wouldn’t just go quiet like this. Wouldn’t disappear without a word to me, especially right after learning the truth about Russ and Jessa.

The lingering scent of the fire here just made my dread worse, thinking of how I’d found her nearly unconscious that night. Nearly lost her.

My mind raced through possibilities. A car accident? Had Winnie’s car broken down?

“Call Winnie,” I said. “I’ll call Zandra’s parents.”