The Vanishing Season by Dot Hutchison

Author:Dot Hutchison [Hutchison, Dot]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Thrillers, Suspense, Crime
ISBN: 9781542040228
Google: cJhRuQEACAAJ
Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Published: 2019-05-20T23:00:00+00:00

17

Bran is silent when Agent Dern delivers him back to us. He’s silent while Vic persuades Ian to return to the Hanoverians’ to rest, because we can all see how tired he is. He’s silent the entire way back to The House, his fist thumping rhythmically against the window of the car. He doesn’t respond at all to Mercedes’s hushed goodnight/call me if you need anything before she crosses the yard to her cottage. For the first time since he bought The House, he doesn’t stand at the back door to watch until her interior lights come on.

“We haven’t eaten since lunch,” I remind him quietly. “Go get changed, and I’ll see what you’ve got.”

He walks silently down the hall.

But because this is Bran, the answer to that is almost nothing. The options are ramen, blue box macaroni and cheese, or cereal, and I’m not sure I trust his milk enough for the latter two. It’s not like he’s going to taste anything anyway. He just needs some food in him, and maybe something hot will help thaw the storm that’s building in his eyes.

He slumps into the kitchen a few minutes later, in sweatpants and a long-sleeved Nationals shirt. When I told my aba I was dating a Nats fan, he just chuckled about it, but a week later, I received a box full of Rockies merchandise in the mail so I’d remember where I came from. Bran drops onto one of the stools around the island counter.

“Water’s still working up a boil, but there’ll be soup in a bit.” Maybe I should just run out and get him something or get something delivered.

“I gave up on her.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did. I gave up on her. Stopped looking.” He drops his head to his hands, fingers clenched so hard it must be pulling his hair. I’m not sure if it’s helping or if he just hasn’t noticed. “Ian kept looking. Sachin kept looking. Lurch’s father kept looking.”

“And not one of them brought it forward because they weren’t sure they actually had anything,” I remind him.

“He had her for two years. For two years, she might have been just down the street from me, wondering why we weren’t rescuing her.”

“Bran—”

“Or maybe you’re right, maybe he kidnaps them just before he leaves a city, so if someone sees him with her in a new place, it’s just his daughter or granddaughter, nothing to worry about. Maybe it was Erin just down the street from me for two years. Sachin’s little sister’s best friend, alone and scared and going through—what? What do we think he’s doing to them, Eliza?”

“Bran—”

“But I gave up on her.”

“You did not give up on her. Every person who’s ever known you knows that.”

“Sachin didn’t give up on Erin. He used the Bureau systems to keep looking. He has a folder full of notes and questions because he didn’t stop looking for her. He joined the Bureau to help find kids like Erin, and he did not stop looking.

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