That was the problem. That was why Mom was going ballistic. Because it was Lynn who was missing.
There was a small part of me that knew if it was me, then Mom…
I shook off that thought before it spilled more tears.
We couldn’t just race around willy-nilly without a plan. We didn’t even know where she was headed or which direction she left in. What if, by now, she’d gotten on a plane and was in a different country?
We needed a plan.
We needed evidence and information.
Running around in circles blind was never a good way to spend energy. It would only discourage.
We didn’t have any of those things we needed. The only thing we knew for certain, was that Lynn wasn’t home, she wasn’t in the pack, and that she wasn’t answering her phone. That last one, I’d checked that.
But Mom didn’t realize any of this. She wanted Lynn back now. That was the only thing on her mind. And that kind of single-minded train of thought was dangerous. If she, by some rare chance, got hurt going to save Lynn?
How the hell was that going to help?
She took advantage when she glanced back and saw Jacob noticed them as well. In a flash, she had him in a headlock, halting any further attack on her, even as the others got closer. We all knew she’d never intentionally try to seriously harm Jacob, as he was like a younger brother to her, but she was also unpredictable right now, more so than she ever was normally.
“Why?” Mom choked out as she turned that little bit to face us again, her face expressing it all. I felt my throat tighten up. I suddenly wanted to avoid that gaze as it flicked between the two of us.
“Animiya…” Ma was pained too. “You need to calm down.”
I could almost hear the silent words she wasn’t saying.
You will not save Lynn like this.
“I am calm. I’m going to find our daughter.” She looked back down at Jacob. “I stood by once when you and your family went missing, Jacob. I am not doing that again. I’m not doing that to Lynn.” When he shook his head, she cried, “I can’t just sit here!”
“Going in without a plan is stupid, Blakeley,” Jacob responded. “We know that better than anyone!”
Her grip tightened at his words.
“Ow. Please don’t break me.”
I watched realization cross her face as she loosened it back up, just that little bit, just enough. I saw exactly what Jacob was talking about.
I saw the reason she couldn’t leave like this.
“Then let me leave.”
“Nope.”
Even in a headlock, he wasn’t giving in. His muscles were straining in the attempt to get her off of him. Obviously, though, there was no way he outmatched her in brute strength. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Mom grit her teeth and for one of the first times, I was stunned by the rarity of what I saw there. Tears.
Mom was… crying.
The shock of it hit me first, and then the guilt that slammed into me nearly brought me to my knees. Ma clutched onto my hand tight – tight enough to hurt. I let her.
Henry and Karen, using the distraction, had snuck around behind her. He grabbed Mom’s bicep, while she put her palms on either of Mom’s temples.
“Sleep.”
I heard Karen say it, saw her using her powers. And then I saw Mom fight it. She dropped Jacob and rolled to throw them both off.
Elena and Jacob immediately jumped back in, this time, managing to distract and maneuver enough that she didn’t catch on to what they were doing, until she’d already lost the upper hand to them. Jacob was on the ground, in a similar headlock to what he’d done before, only this time, his legs were wrapped tightly around her abdomen as well. Elena was practically sitting on her, keeping her legs down and arms away.
“Don’t touch me!” Mom shouted, the second she saw Karen again.
“Blakeley…” was all Karen said in reply.
Mom looked to Elena and I held my breath as Elena froze upon meeting her gaze, only to rise and step away.
“Close your eyes, Elena!” Jacob grimaced. “Damnit! Someone cover her eyes!”
“JACOB!”
Mom struggled in his grasp, not as hard as she’d done the last time. But she’d placed her hand right over that bruise and I saw Jacob’s face contort in pain, even as he held in a cry.
“I don’t want to hurt you!”
“Then don’t,” he bit out through a clenched jaw.
Henry stepped closer, once again, only this time, he took Elena’s spot, being careful to keep his eyes shut.
“Don’t… don’t do this, Karen. Henry. Don’t…”
“I’m sorry, Blakeley,” Henry whispered.
She threw her arm out of his grip and threw it up to hit him. I braced myself, but the hit never came. Henry had ducked, looked, and then snatched her wrist back. He only kept his eyes open long enough to give one nod to Karen, who knelt down and put her hands where she had the first time, right on the sides of Mom’s head.
“Sleep, Blakeley.”
She tried to wiggle free, to push Henry off, only her movements were getting slower, almost as if her limbs were getting heavier and heavier.
“Keep going!”
Henry and Karen’s brows both furrowed as they concentrated.
“Come on,” Henry muttered, “Calm down.”
“Sleep.”
And then all at once, the tension in Mom’s body fell away. Her eyes closed, her breathing steadied.
Jacob let go of her, letting his head fall back on the grass with a huge sigh.
Collectively, it was as if everyone let out the breath they’d been holding. Mom was asleep.
I stepped away from them as Ma walked closer. Picking up my cellphone from where I’d left it on the kitchen table earlier, I started scrolling through my contacts when I heard more commotion coming from outside. When I reached the front door, I found out why.
Henry and Karen had come, but Kain had also just shown up.
I stared. I didn’t know how to stop staring.
I was used to normal sized wolves, not Salttand ones. Kain, the Alpha of a neighboring pack, as well as the mate to Karen, was a Salttand descendant. Their wolf forms were at least double, if not triple the size of a regular wolf. By golly, it was a sight. Not a totally reassuring one, but definitely a sight.
As everyone else started taking Mom inside, carrying her carefully while keeping her under, I stepped out to say hi to Kain as he shifted back. I owed him an explanation as well, after all, I’d called him to send Karen over here.
“Hey, Jo. What’s this all about? What’s going on?”
I gestured to the left with my head and he followed me as I walked a short distance from the house and found a bench to sit on.
“Well… is it alright if I call Ray? Tell you both at the same time? He wanted an explanation when things here calmed down.”
“Sure.”
On speakerphone with both Ray and Jensen, I explained to them all what I knew. Lynn was gone. We had no leads, and Mom was going absolutely batshit crazy… in less unfriendly terms. I thanked them for helping so quickly on such immediate notice. They all listened until I was done before they spoke.
“I see.” Kain nodded, his chin on his palm as he sat next to me.
“Is there anything of hers that is missing or moved?” Ray asked through the phone, having become ‘Detective Ray’ again, for just a moment in my mind. It’s what I used to call him when I was little, whenever he’d guess something and be spot on with the truth.
I thought about his question, swallowing hard. I had noticed a few things, without putting them together until now.
“One of her bags is missing and some of her things, but they’re more items along the lines of–”
“Emergency equipment? First Aid? Maybe a shirt or two?” Ray cut me off and I nodded before I remembered to reply aloud.
“Yeah.” I took a deep breath before I continued, remembering the events of this morning. “I really didn’t think much of it until we realized she was gone, but last night I had to open a new box of granola bars, and this morning the box was in the trash, granola bars gone. Someone on patrol found one near the border. I – I think she might’ve taken them with her.”
“So, she planned on leaving? Without telling any of you?” Kain asked me. He wasn’t accusing, just sounded curious and concerned. Speculative.
I mean… why wouldn’t he be concerned though? Kat, his daughter, was just a couple months older than us. And she’d gone on a trip just a short while ago that led to some… bad events. She almost died.
“Was she talking about anything recently? Something that upset her?” Jensen’s voice called out through the phone, before I even had a chance to try and answer Kain’s speculation.
“Recently? No. There wasn’t anything different–”
I cut myself off.
Yesterday.
That…
“What is it?”
“She… she got a letter yesterday,” I told them. I only remembered it because it was odd.
“A letter?”
“Yeah.”
“Who was it from?”
“I’m not sure.” I tilted my head as I thought back on it. “It didn’t say on the outside, just had her name written on it with our address. It looked normal, but in a handwritten letter kind of way.”
“Did the handwriting look familiar?”
“A bit? Maybe? Yeah, yeah, it kind of did.” I felt like I’d seen it before. Since I was usually the one to grab the mail and sort it, if it was a regular pen-pal of hers, then I’d likely seen that handwriting dozens of times over the years. I tried to recall an old one. For some reason, I could remember the outline of the writing in the top corner, the length of the lines in comparison to one another, but I couldn’t remember the name or address that was there. It was just a blur. I shook my head. “But I can’t place it right off hand.”
“Hm…”
“What is it, Ray?”
“Did she read it in front of you?” Ray asked slowly.
“No. She took it, well, she might’ve perked up a bit when she read her name, so she might’ve known who sent it, or at least recognized the handwriting.”
“And she took it elsewhere to read it?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t find it in her room? Does she have old letters she keeps somewhere?”
“I don’t know where she keeps them. I didn’t see the letter in her room when I looked.”
I wasn’t one to snoop in the personal belongings of others. It just felt weird. Like what if someone did it to me? I’d hate that. ‘Treat others how you want to be treated’ might have gone a little too far in my mind, but if I didn’t want someone looking in my crap, why the hell would I search theirs?!
And there were some things that couldn’t be unseen.
Like if she had a secret stash of something totally weird and creepy, would I be able to sit at the dinner table and not think about it? Could I act normal after finding something I shouldn’t have ever seen?
The answer was no.
So the solution was not to find the creepy stashes of stuff.
Not that I suspected Lynn of having one, but if she did?! It was best I didn’t find it.
“Let us know if you find out anything else. We’ll keep an eye out over here in case she came this way.”
“Alright. I’ll keep you updated. Thank you.”
“Don’t hesitate to ask for more help.”
“I won’t. Thanks.”
“Mhm.”
“Bye.”
“Bye, Josephine.”
The call ended, and I slumped down, unable to hold myself back from doing so. Kain patted me on the shoulder before standing and heading toward the house. I stared at the torn-up grass, replaying that horror in my mind.
I put my head in my hands and cried, silently begging for Lynn to be alright.
Begging her to just walk out of that tree line with a stupid joke and a grin that hid her feelings.
Just give us a clue.
I did not want to go looking under beds and in desk drawers to find one.
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