Page 107 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“We’ll find her, Finch,” the sheriff said.

He felt others arrive and knew without looking it would be those closest to him.

“She went to use the bathroom at the Do Si Do, but didn’t reach there,” Finch said, his voice tense.

The thud of footsteps had them looking to the street, and they watched Caleb and Jonathan appear.

“I think you’re actually getting better,” Caleb said. “You sound less like a train and more like a real person.”

“Fuck you” was Jonathan’s response.

Caleb saw them first and slowed, walking the few feet to close the distance. “You all look serious. Don’t tell me the lights aren’t working again this year? I thought we’d fixed them.”

“We can’t find Nina,” Blue said from behind Finch. “We’re worried about her.”

“No need. She was just leaving her house with Amber and Kurt. There was some other guy with them. A handsome older man,” Caleb said.

“Well put together,” Jonathan added as he wiped the sweat from his forehead onto Caleb’s back.

“Her father,” Dan said. “The bastard chose tonight to come to town because everyone would be at the tree lighting.”

“I didn’t think to stop—we should have,” Jonathan said, looking worried now.

“What car were they in?” Sheriff Dans asked.

“White sedan, but I don’t remember the plate number,” Caleb said.

“White sedan will do for now,” Dan said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll call it in and get the others at the station out to look for any white sedan in town or heading out of it. Right now it won’t be hard to find, as everyone is here, not driving their cars.

“Amber and Kurt clearly have a connection to Falcon,” Sawyer said from behind Finch.

Turning, he saw every Duke brother, Lynx and Blue, plus JD.

“And likely robbed Nina’s house and tried to burn it down,” Blue added.

“So he’s here looking for whatever they didn’t find,” Finch said. “They clearly didn’t find what they wanted in her house, so where else would they look?”

“The Murrays’ farm has that storage barn, and Nina put some of her mom’s furniture there,” Blue said.

Finch remembered her talking about that. They were going to take a look there tomorrow.

Dan started talking into his phone about the Murrays’ being the location they were heading to.

“Right, let’s go,” Sheriff Dans said. “My nephews and your brother can come⁠—”

“I want to come,” Blue said. “My brother and my friend need me.”

Finch recognized that belligerent look on his sister’s face. She wouldn’t be moved.

“This could be dangerous, Blue,” Lynx said.

“But you’re going?” She had her hands on her hips now.

They went in the two police vehicles, and Finch was with Lynx, Blue, and the sheriff. He sat in the front with his knee bouncing, both hands pressed flat against his thighs as if that could hold the rest of him together. Behind them in Dan’s cruiser were Sawyer, Brody, Ryder, and JD.

“She’s smart,” Sheriff Dans said, not looking away from the road. “She’ll have kept her head. You keep yours, too, and we’ll get her back, Finch.”

The drive wasn’t long, and he felt Blue’s hand on his shoulder the entire journey. The solid weight of it gave him no comfort because all he could think about was Nina. Were they hurting her?