He also didn’t voice a more immediate concern. If Henry thought Kensie was following him around, if he knew she’d seen Alanna, would he disappear now?
He should suggest the possibility to Kensie, but he didn’t want her running off trying to find Henry alone. Especially if Henry had hoped to take both sisters. Because, right now, Henry had a big advantage. He knew Kensie would do whatever it took to save Alanna. And they still had no real idea where to look for him.
Besides, no matter how much he wanted to be, Colter was in no shape to go anywhere right now. Not even to help Kensie. No matter how badly he wished he could.
“It had to be Henry, right?” Kensie pressed when he stayed quiet too long.
“Probably,” Colter agreed, but his mind was only half on Henry now. Because maybe they were both letting their hopes run wild.
Alanna had been missing for a long time. What was the likelihood Kensie had just spotted her walking around town, no matter how deserted it was? Especially after that note had shown up and drawn the FBI, making the townspeople more alert for a possible sighting of the missing woman? Would a kidnapper really let her out into public with that added scrutiny?
Kensie told him she was pretty sure she’d seen Alanna, but maybe that was just because she wanted it so badly. The FBI thought the note was a hoax. Maybe this wasn’t real, either, just a woman who looked like Alanna might have after fourteen years of growing up.
Maybe the best thing he could do for Kensie wasn’t to help her chase these potentially dangerous men, but to help her move on with her own life. Help her accept that Alanna was gone. Help her realize that her own life was still worth living, that she deserved to have her own future.
Except how could he do that when he didn’t believe the same was true for himself?
THE WAY A person changed between the ages of five and nineteen was enormous. Colter had been right to ask if she could be sure the woman she’d seen was Alanna. The very idea that it might not be made Kensie’s chest constrict and her brain want to shut down. She’d spent so long searching. She wasn’t sure she could bear another dead end.
But this time really did feel different. She couldn’t explain it, except that it had been years since she’d felt this surge of hope, this restrained happiness waiting to burst free. In the beginning, she’d experienced it often. But over the years, that had faded, leaving behind a hope that was much more jaded, much more cautious.
Since she’d first heard about the note in Desparre, though, something had taken hold of her, something deeper than desperation. She wanted to believe it was the bond she and Alanna had always shared, rearing up and screaming at her not to miss her chance to bring Alanna home.
“Kensie.”
Colter’s voice broke through her thoughts and she realized he was stretching his hand toward her. She stepped closer, threading her fingers through his and hanging on tight.
Rebel scooted forward, too, nudging up to Kensie’s side the way she’d seen the dog do with Colter.
With the two of them beside her, Kensie’s tension eased a little. Knowing she truly wasn’t in this alone cleared the panic from her mind enough to strategize. “I think we should go to the police. They must be able to get an address for Henry Rollings.”
“Not necessarily,” Colter replied. “And they don’t really have a reason to give it to us even if they have it. But I have to be honest, Kensie. From what I’ve heard about this guy, I think he lives off the grid. No one in the bar could tell me quite where, even the longtime locals, which says he doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“Well, the police should at least be able to help us—”
“We don’t have any evidence that he’s done anything wrong,” Colter reminded her. “We can’t even be sure this woman was with him or that she’s actually Alanna.”
“But—”
“We can try the police if you want. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up for their help. Look, a military investigation is different, so maybe I’m wrong or we’ll get lucky. I’m just telling you what I know about the process. You’ve probably encountered it, too.”
“Yeah.” Evidence was king. Police generally weren’t interested in the theories of civilians. It was fair, but frustrating.
She stared at Colter, and she couldn’t stop her gaze from drifting to his bare chest. For a man who’d sustained a serious injury a year ago, he was in amazing shape. Running her hands over all of those muscles had made her giddy with lust. Her fingers twitched in his now, wanting a return visit.
Forcing her gaze back up, Kensie said, “I don’t need the police. I know you can help me track Rollings.”
Colter’s lips pressed together into a hard line. “I’m going to do my best, Kensie, but tonight...” He sighed heavily.
“I know. It’s okay. We should wait for the light anyway, and honestly, I’m still a little shaken up from earlier.”
It was true. If she let herself think too long about how close she’d come to being Danny Weston’s prey—for whatever terrible thing he had planned for her—she’d lose it. Only Colter’s kisses and his soft touch had swept away the lingering feel of Danny’s aggressive, sweaty hands.
Still, the words were hard to say, because the truth was that she wanted to rush back out now. She was terrified that since Henry had spotted her following him, he’d skip town for good and take Alanna with him. But Kensie also had fourteen years of practice watching how investigations
