Chapter 33

33

Ry

“ I t’s there, the last house at the end of this road,” Adeline said, staring out at the storm from the inside of the warm police car.

A nice euphemism for the ill-maintained path ahead of them . If it wasn’t for the broken branches on either side, Ry would have bet nobody had been this way in months. But the broken branches said otherwise. Somebody had come through recently. One of the larger hanging branches crashed to the ground, making them all jump.

“Are you sure this is the right place, Mademoiselle Racine?” Vincent asked from the driver’s seat.

“I’m sure. Miles and I … we used to come here often before …” Her eyes clouded with tears. “You won’t hurt him, will you?”

If he’s hurt Isla, I’ll kill him with my bare hands .

The thought struck Ry for its intensity. He’d never thought of himself as a violent man, but he realized now he was capable of great violence. Miles Getty should fear him.

Six p.m. and it felt more like midnight to Ry. Because of the storm and because his internal clock was fucked from too much coffee and not enough sleep.

“How far away is it?”

“I’m not sure. A fifteen or twenty-minute drive, maybe. I never paid that much attention, I guess.” She looked around worriedly.

“Thank you for your help. Gendarme Schuyler will drive you home,” Vincent said, getting out of the car and signaling to one of his men. Ry quickly got out as well, half-blinded by the lights of Beau’s huge truck, which joined them at the small intersection, parking next to the other police car. Beau, Hugo, and Tristan exited the vehicle. Vincent and Ry quickly got them up to date on what Adeline had told them.

“There’s no cell reception up here,” Tristan said worriedly. “If we wait for the storm to die down, I could fly us over the area.”

Vincent and Beau shook their heads. “We can’t risk it. It’s too secluded up here. The noise wouldn’t go unnoticed. We’ll have to walk,” Beau said.

“We should wait until morning, anyway,” Vincent said. “We can’t hike up there at night.”

I can . “The dark doesn’t bother me,” Ry said, tightening the shoulder straps of his backpack. “I’ll walk on up and take a look. If the house is empty, I’ll come back and let you know.”

“And if it’s not, you’ll just wait for us to get there?” Beau asked, a note of incredulity in his voice.

Ry shrugged. There was no point in having this discussion. He had a feeling the house wouldn’t be empty. Isla was there. He could feel her. And he wasn’t going to leave her there an instant longer than necessary.

“I can’t let you go alone,” Vincent said stubbornly. “We follow procedure and wait here until morning.” He didn't need to add, because everybody knew it already, that he was in charge. Even Beau couldn’t argue with him.

Ry clenched his jaw. He wasn’t waiting another minute, let alone ten hours. He opened his mouth to tell Vincent exactly where he could shove procedure, that he hoped it was spiky and hurt going in, but before he could do so, Beau was between them.

“I don’t like the look of those branches,” Beau said calmly, touching one of the fallen branches. “Somebody could have come up this way and gotten lost.” Ry stared, open-mouthed, at his boss.

“Don’t fuck with me, Fontaine,” Vincent growled. “I let you guys come here out of professional courtesy, but I’m not going to?—”

“This has nothing to do with your case, Vincent. Somebody could be lost up there, and unable to call for help. Without cell reception, it’s hard to know.”

Vincent’s face went bright red. His hand went into his pocket. For a moment, Ry worried he was going to bring out his service weapon, but he pulled out a box of Rennie heartburn tablets instead. He chewed a tablet aggressively. “You know what? You and your team do whatever you want, Beau. But my team is not going up there until first light. We’re going back to the office and doing some research on the area, and getting a couple hours’ sleep, which is what you should be doing as well.”

“Thank you, Vincent. I appreciate it,” Beau said.

Vincent pulled out a second tablet and chewed it, slower this time, as if enjoying the flavor. “And don’t create any fucking unnecessary paperwork for me,” he said, turning around and going to the waiting police car.

“I don’t know what to say,” Ry began. “I can go alone, Beau. I’ll resign. I can sign anything you need me to sign before I leave.”

Beau gave a dark chuckle. “I didn’t just piss Vincent off to send you off on your own, Ry. Come on.” From his trunk, he pulled out several head lamps, handing one to Ry, another on to Hugo, and keeping the third one for himself.

“I’m coming with you guys,” Tristan said.

Beau shook his head. “You go back to the office. I need you, Alex, and Lorenz ready to fly out when we contact you.”

Tristan nodded, but still looked unhappy.

“Let’s get going, then,” Hugo said, shouldering his large backpack.