Gone to Her Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 2) by Melinda Leigh Page B

relaxed, as if now that the decision to come to Carly had been made, he could live with the fallout. “Darren kicked me out.”
    “Your dad threw you out of the house?”
    He nodded. “Darren’s my stepdad, though. The girls are his kids.”
    “When did this happen?”
    “Yesterday morning, right after he came back from jail.”
    “Does your mom know?”
    Gary nodded. “Not much she can do about it, except leave him. But we both know she won’t do that.”
    “Where have you been staying?”
    His wide shoulders lifted and fell. “Slept in the woods last night.”
    “Were you down by the lake earlier?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I saw you there. That’s when I got the idea to come see you.”
    “Do you know when your mom and sisters are coming home?”
    His body jerked upright. “What?”
    “I stopped by there today. Darren said they’d gone to her sister’s place.”
    “Mom doesn’t have a sister.”
    Gary and Carly stared at each other for two heartbeats.
    “Do you think she could have left him?” Carly asked. “Maybe he just said that to save face.”
    Gary was on his feet. “No. I told you she won’t leave him. She doesn’t have anywhere to go, and she’s afraid of losing the girls because she can’t support them. And she knows Darren would come after her anyway.”
    “I’ll get the police.” Carly yanked her phone out of her pocket.
    Her pulse accelerated as she spoke with dispatch. The officer on duty was tied up with a domestic dispute. Zane and Stevie had already been called in to handle a nasty three-car accident on the highway, but the dispatcher promised to get someone out to the Fishers’ house. The county sheriff’s office and state police provided backup for Solitude PD, but it would take time for outside assistance to drive the distance. She dialed her boss and left him a message outlining the situation and the steps she’d already taken.
    What had Darren done with his wife and daughters?
    “Gary, the police are on the way,” she said.
    No one answered.
    Carly scanned the porch. The Adirondack chair was empty. Gary was gone. He was going after his mother and sisters.
    No. No. No.
    Wait. Breathe.
    She calculated the distance to the Fisher house. It was at least five miles, maybe six, straight out into the country. He couldn’t possibly get there faster than her. The whine of a small engine carried over the meadow.
    Unless he had a dirt bike.
    Carly ran for the Jeep. There was someone close by who could help.
    Seth.
    It was ten o’clock. He should have dropped Brianna off an hour ago. She dialed his number. Please be home.

CHAPTER TEN
    Unable to face the emptiness that filled his house, Seth sat on the back porch step. The concrete was hard under his ass, but an uncomfortable seat was better than being inside—alone. Brianna’s laughter had filled the house for a few hours tonight. Now that she was gone, the heavy silence had returned. Quiet smothered the walls with loneliness.
    Why hadn’t they gotten a dog or cat or something?
    Oh, yeah. Because they were always working. The poor animal would have been alone.
    Like Seth.
    A pity party was a sucky way to end a night.
    The chirp of crickets wasn’t enough to drown out the replay of his conversation with Patsy. Her words echoed in his head, and her arguments made more sense each time he listened to them.
    Great. He had a good idea of what was wrong but no idea how to fix his marriage. Was that a step in the right direction? Behind the ache in his heart, certainty rested. Each painful beat verified that he loved his wife with every cell in his body. He’d give his life for her in an instant, but he couldn’t let her do the same. Was that, in some twisted way, selfish?
    Was his grip on her too tight, too desperate? Was he suffocating her with his love?
    Did he need another talking-to from Patsy?
    The answer was yes on all counts.
    His phone vibrated in his pocket. He dug it out of his cargo shorts. Alarm rushed