Page 18 of The Lovely and the Lost

“Well, that is a relief.”

I did not, as a rule, always pick up on sarcasm—but Gabriel wasn’t exactly subtle.

An instant later Saskia came tearing around the side of the house.

“Your dog doesn’t trust me,” Gabriel said, sounding almost amused. “She accepted my offering of food, but she wasn’t happy about it. Probably a sign of discernment on her part. I’m not really the trustworthy type.”

I had a way of looking at people that tended to unnerve most, but Gabriel was apparently an exception, because he didn’t bat an eye when I turned to face him.

“Would it be inappropriate for me to ask if the great Cady Bennett has found anything yet?” he asked. “Because I wouldhateto be inappropriate.”

The way he said Cady’s name had my hackles rising. “We found the trail.” I had nothing to prove to him. I knew that,and yet…“There’s a chance the girl is alive.”

“Maybe this kid’s alive.” Gabriel angled his face toward the night sky. “Maybe she isn’t. Around here?” His face was shadowed in the moonlight. “People go missing all the time.”

Ness put me in a bedroom on the second floor. My first instinct would have been to open the window, but it was already open. That, along with the fact that Free’s bag was sitting on the floor, told me that we’d be sharing.

As I took in the rest of the room—a double bed, a dresser, an antique mirror—I realized that it had once belonged to a teenage girl. The pictures tucked into the frame of the mirror told me who that girl was.

Cady.There was a snapshot of her as a preteen with her arm around a German shepherd with darker markings than Silver’s. Another shot showed Cady on horseback, her dark hair flying in the wind behind her. But the picture that drew my gaze and held it was of three teenagers. Cady stood between two boys. One was tall and blond and didn’t look happy to be having his picture taken. The other boy’s lips were parted in what Jude would have called a devil-may-care grin. Mr. Devil-May-Care had thick honey-brown hair, lighter than Cady’s, but darker than the other boy’s. There was something about him that made it very hard to look away.

“Doesn’thelook like trouble?” Free didn’t bother to announce her presence before taking the picture from my hand. The fact that I hadn’t heard her come in made me wonder how long I’d been staring at the picture. “The good kind,” Free clarified.

“The good kind of trouble?” I repeated.

“My specialty.” Free took in the rest of the photo. “And there’s our overly large friend from the campsite,” she continued. “Maybe Jude was right about the plot thickening.”

I’d been so focused on Cady and the grinning boy that I hadn’t paid much attention to the one who’d been glaring at the camera.Mac.As I stared at the three teenagers, I thought of the exchange Jude and I had overheard between Cady and Bales.

I loved that boy, same as you did, Cadence,Bales had told her. And Cady had snapped back that it washerlife andherchoice, and that Ash was worth it toher.

“Ash,” I said, taking the picture back from Free and letting my finger hover over The Good Kind of Trouble.

“You got something you want to share with the class there, K?”

I looked up from the photo. “I think the smiling boy might be Ash. Cady and Bales argued about him.” I paused, remembering the way Jude had gone quiet the moment we’d heard Cady say the name. “Cady said she loved him.”

“Think he’s Jude’s father?” Free had an almost religious objection to beating around the bush. She stared at the picture for several seconds. “I could see that.” She leaned back at the dresser. “Cady’s always been good at loving trouble.”

I wasn’t sure if Free was referring to herself or to me.

“How was town?” I asked. I tucked the photo back into the mirror’s frame. It felt important somehow, to leave this room exactly as I’d found it.

“Town was barely a town,” Free replied. “Not much to see, but I think I left an impression.” Coming from Free, that was somewhat concerning. “In related news: I’m adding a couple of new lines to the Creed.” She glanced over at my suitcase. “Want me to unpack for you?”

“No.” My response was instantaneous. Understanding my own reasoning took longer. “If I unpack, that means we’re staying.”

Free waited.

“If we’re staying, that means that we haven’t found Bella yet.”

I caught Free up on the evidence Saskia and I had uncovered, but the entire time, I kept thinking that I hadn’t done enough. I’dletCady send me packing. I’d let her tell me that I needed rest.

I should have fought harder.

Free didn’t let me wallow for long. “Flip you for the bed?” she said. She glanced meaningfully at the double. “Unless you’d prefer to cuddle.”

I walked over to the still-open window. The breeze was cool, the mountain temperature falling steeply. Cady was out there, searching.