Текст книги "Fable of Happiness book three"

Автор книги: Pepper winters

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CHAPTER NINETEEN

DOT18: ANYONE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED to The Girl Gravity Can’t See?

User123: Nah, last I heard she’d been abducted by a psychopath. My sister’s friend told my boyfriend who told me that her Jeep was spotted in a lake. Her body was eaten by crabs.

DOT18: OMG, for real?

Scar89: Don’t listen to them. Just ’cause she hasn’t posted a video in a while doesn’t mean she’s dead, guys! Life happens to the best of us.

DOT18: But she always had new content every week! How am I supposed to get my skills up if she doesn’t post anymore? I’m trying to get good enough so I can apply for the Olympics now it’s a thing!

User123: There are other climbers on YouTube, you dick. Learn there.

DOT18: Don’t call me a dick! I like Gemma’s vids. She explains why she goes for a certain hold and where to hold your body weight to stop the gravity swing.

FGH1: She won’t post another video ever.

Kait: How do you know?

FGH1: ’Cause she’s dead. Chopped up into little pieces.

Sizi: That’s sick!

FGH1: Yeah, well, she deserved it for whoring herself out on YouTube. Those tight leggings and filming her ass climbing up a cliff? She was asking for it.

DOT18: I’m reporting you for abuse.

FGH1: Go for it. It’s the truth. She got snatched and murdered for being a video slut. I’m going to find her body and show all you guys the truth. And then I’m going to use her bones as toothpicks.

Wow...

Josh wasn’t kidding.

I closed out of the comment section on the last video I’d posted before going missing and slouched on the couch. My spare laptop hummed on my thighs, granting heat to my legs, reminding me all over again that it was time to tackle the overflowing inboxes, the countless messages, DM’s, and tags.

I missed my main laptop that was still in my Jeep back in the valley. Eventually, I would have to go back for all my abandoned gear. My eyes trailed to my trusty backpack that I’d managed to stuff into the helicopter when they came to put out the fire.

I should probably empty that too and sort out my life now that I’m back.

But then again, if sorting out my life included dealing with this online mess? I didn’t know if I had the energy. I’d expected some backlash—it wasn’t the internet if there weren’t a few random trolls. But this? I wasn’t expecting it to go so dark.

Use my bones as toothpicks?

Who are these people?

I’d always allowed commenting on my videos on YouTube as I liked having an open Q&A session for an hour after I uploaded the latest recording. I’d answer climbing questions, coach a little on what they were doing wrong, and generally share pieces of myself with the watchers who made my career possible.

But after reading the filth that’d been spewed all over my last video...I second-guessed that strategy.

Over sixteen thousand comments and the longer the time went from my last upload, the more disgusting the comments became until the most recent posts were just assholes joining in for the hell of it.

Apparently, I wasn’t just dead. My corpse had been transformed into some sort of apparatus that men could climb whenever they wanted, using dildos for shoes.

I have to give them some credit for their imagination, I guess.

However, it wasn’t exactly inducive to wanting to put myself back out there.

I squeezed my eyes closed and inhaled deeply.

After so long away from social media and not having internet in the valley, I was tempted to just shut it all down. I’d enjoyed not having the distraction of an online world or feeling like I had to continually produce content.

I had more than enough money saved and invested to never have to work again. I didn’t need to put myself out there for assholes to tear me to ribbons just because they were bored.

But...it was comments like the ones buried beneath the filth that kept me going:

RO99: Gemma, if you read this, please keep posting. My brothers got to do sports when we were younger. They could pick anything they wanted, but my parents only offered ballet or piano to me. But I didn’t want to do ballet or piano. I wanted to play football like them and climb on the weekends like they did. But my parents said they were boy sports. I’m eighteen now and found your channel by accident, but you showed me that climbing isn’t just for boys. Girls can do it too. Girls can kick ass at it. Thanks to you, I started climbing and last weekend earned my first trophy from a local comp. Without you, that wouldn’t have been possible. So please keep posting as I need to keep learning!

Sitting taller, I braced my shoulders.

Thanks, RO99, you just reminded me why I love this gig.

This had long ago stopped being a job that earned me excellent revenue and had become a way to share what I’d learned with those who wanted to learn it. The trolls weren’t part of that equation. They were nothing.

Clicking on a new recording window, I scooted higher up the couch so I didn’t have a double chin from the camera shooting up my nose and prepared to re-enter the world that I’d fallen out of. At the very least, I owed my fans an explanation for my disappearance—if only to stop the speculation and snide comments.

Choosing the live feature, instead of uploading and posting at a later time, I fluffed my hair, made sure my hoodie was zipped up enough that no cleavage showed, and pressed the button.

I didn’t have much time.

Kas was still sleeping.

Not in my bed.

Not on the couch (seeing as it was currently my workstation).

But outside.

I’d woken in the night and padded down the corridor for a glass of water, only to find Kas had taken my pillow and a spare blanket into the garden and lay in the middle of the overgrown lawn.

The moon hadn’t been bright enough to tell me if he was asleep or was just watching the fading stars, but after my prior experiences of waking him and not being in the mood to be strangled if he was having a nightmare, I chose to leave him be.

He was still on my property. Still within the fence that kept both of us safe. If he wanted to sleep outside, that was his choice. He had to do whatever he could to help his transition from forest to suburbia.

Smiling into the camera on my laptop, I waved. “Hey, guys. Long time, I know. Sorry for the delay in videos!” I sighed, trying to get my thoughts in order. I should probably have drafted something to say instead of jumping on impulsively.

The counter at the top of the screen reported more and more people tuning in, leaving me slightly nervous with the sort of feedback I was about to receive.

“Firstly, I want to say thank you to those who defended my absence. You guys have my back, and I’m very grateful! I’ll have plenty more climbing tutorials, outdoor boulders, and technique breakdowns very soon. For now, though, I guess I better let you know where I’ve been!” I paused, watching the comments flood in.

Hi!

OMG, you’re back!

Yay! You’re not dead.

I smiled at that one, speaking into the camera. “No, I’m not dead. I went on a boulder hunt and got stuck in a valley with no reception or way out. One day, I’ll do a video on what you should and shouldn’t do if you come across an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere, but for now, I can say I’m back, I’m fine, and I can’t wait to get back to work!”

More comments flooded in.

You were gone for AGES. How did you survive so long?

What did you eat?

Did you become Bear Grylls?

“Who’s Bear Grylls?” a raspy voice asked over my shoulder.

I jumped and twisted, coming nose to nose with Kas as he leaned over the back of the couch, his eyes darting over the screen and the multiple comments flying faster every second. His eyes narrowed as he figured out that the screen was actually mirroring us, revealing me sitting in my morning workout gear and him...looking as wild as the day I’d met him.

His hair had grass in the long strands. There was dirt smudged on his cheek as if he’d been pulling weeds in the dead of night, and his eyes were once again haunted beneath a veneer of calm emotion I expected he’d done his best to cultivate outside, to hide the pieces of himself that weren’t coping, to prove he was okay so he wasn’t a burden on me.

It made me want to kiss him, hug him. I wanted to give him real peace, true happiness, not the in-between state he currently inhabited.

“Hi,” I whispered, my heart kicking as he gave me a gruff smile. Before I could tell him we were live, he bent and kissed me. His warm mouth enveloping mine, his beard scratching my skin, his tongue parting my lips as if he was seconds away from dragging me off the furniture and taking me on the floor.

“Ah, Kas?” I pulled away from the kiss with a slight laugh. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

I made the mistake of looking at the comments whizzing past.

OH EM GEEEE. Who is that hottie?

WTH! I want a kiss!

Where have you been hiding him, Gemma!

Gimme that hunk of a brooding caveman!

Kas’s eyes flew to the words appearing on the screen, unable to keep track with the waterfall of comments, all of them focused on him, his appearance, how much they’d like a piece, and how unfair it was of me not to share.

Huh.

The Bear Grylls comment got my mind spinning.

Kas wanted a way to earn his keep, to get paid so he could feel equal and not in debt. The only problem was, he’d never gone to school or university. He didn’t have a trade. He had no recommendations from prior employment. Yes, he could read, and I guessed he could write—I’d never asked—but as far as pieces of paper saying he was qualified at anything? He would struggle to find anything that would enrich his mind as well as his penniless bank account.

Unless...

Scooting to the side, I patted the couch beside me. “Come join me.”

“What? No. I don’t—” His eyes widened as more comments catapulted on the screen.

YES! Join her!

We want to know who you arrreeee!

You’re delicious!

Do you climb too? You can climb me any day!

His eyebrows shot up. “What the hell is this?”

We’re yours, that’s what we are!

Fucking tosser, get a haircut!

Shut up, he’s yummy!

I reached upward and grabbed his forearm. “Please, ignore the bad comments and come join me. I’ll explain.”

“I don’t understand.” Almost in a daze, he let me pull him around the couch and sat heavily beside me. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the dizzying amount of comments still cascading in curiosity to know who he was.

Dude looks as if he murders puppies.

Where did you find the yeti, Gemma?

He swallowed hard as I made the video image larger and hid the comment box. Slowly, his gaze met mine, bouncing between the mirror image of us being recorded and back to me beside him. “Who are those people?”

I could only imagine the comments still pouring in, but I wasn’t here to scare Kas off the internet before he’d even become acquainted with it. I should’ve given him a lesson before now, but we’d had so much on. This was the first day where we weren’t being prodded by doctors, traveling cross country, or dealing with family reunions.

Taking a deep breath, I smiled at the people watching my live stream, noticing I had more traffic now than ever before. Kas was definitely a massive drawcard. “Guys, this is Kas. Long story short, but he is the reason I survived while I was missing.”

Kas scrunched up his nose. “What are you saying. I didn’t help you survive. I trapped you and hurt—”

“Whoa, whoa.” Pausing the video for a second, I whispered. “This is a video, and we’re live. I’ll explain what all of that means afterward. I wasn’t planning on still being online when you woke, but you’re here now, and people love you. But you can’t tell them what really happened. That’s got to remain between us.”

His forehead furrowed. “I don’t understand. Why do they love me? They don’t even know me.”

“The comments show rampant curiosity. Which is a good thing.” I toggled back to the comment box, hoping only nice things were being said. “Here...see?”

He’s swoon-worthy.

How do you mean he helped you survive?

Why did you cut him off before? What did he do to hurt you?

Did he hurt you by breaking your heart because he’s just so damn fine?

I closed the window again. “See? This is my world, Kas. This is how I share my videos about climbing with a lot of people. Right now, I need to assure them that my channel will be posting more content soon. I’ll only be a couple of minutes. However, now you’re here, they’re very interested in you.” I kissed his cheek. “You said you wanted to make money? Well, I have a feeling you could have a huge following if you talked about living out in the wilderness. The Bear Grylls comment got me thinking. You’re like a real-life Bear Grylls. Survival techniques and tips are huge online.”

“Bear Grylls?”

“I’ll explain later. All you need to do now is sit next to me and don’t say anything unless I prompt you. Let me feel out the market for your own information channel.”

“My own channel?” He shook his head. “I don’t even know what this is, let alone—”

“I’ll help you.”

“Help me with what? This makes no sense.”

“With this. Making money comes in all sorts of forms these days, Kas. It’s a whole different world.”

“This is how you make money?” He scowled at my paused video. I had no doubt the comments would be full of people complaining that they’d been staring at a blank screen for too long.

“Yes.”

“But how?” His eyes filled with confusion. “I don’t get it.”

“Ad revenue, sponsorships, viewer watches.”

“I have no idea what any of that means.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“So it will be yet another thing I owe you?”

“Not at all.” I took his hand. “Think of it as payment for teaching me how to properly plant seeds.”

“Ha.” He rolled his eyes. “I doubt this is in the same realm.”

“It’s a skill for a skill.” I licked my lips. “Look, let me get rid of them, and we can chat properly, okay? I can’t make them wait any longer.”

He didn’t reply.

I took that as his co-operation and clicked resume.

“Sorry about that, guys. I had to explain how the World Wide Web works.”

The comment bubble popped back up, chiming with a thousand new questions.

What? Why?

How has he never heard of the WWW?

He’s legit a caveman!

I grinned, tingling with the knowledge that Kas had the origin story, the skills, and the looks to be a rock star on YouTube if he so desired. A little tease and testing the market would never be a bad thing. “Well, you know how there are some humans who live off the grid and don’t have phones or internet? A rare breed these days, but they do exist.”

No way.

Everyone is connected in this world. You can’t get away from it.

“Kas is different to us, guys. He comes from a simpler time. A time where eating dinner means you have to plan months in advance. You have to plant seeds, cultivate, harvest, and ration. If you want meat or fish, you have to learn how to hunt, gut, and skin. If you want shelter, you have to know how to provide a power source for heat, fix repairs, and bunker down when a blizzard sets in for weeks.”

Holy. Shit. So he’s never been in society?

Where is he from? A religious cult?

Tell us moreeeeeee!

I glanced at Kas. He sat stiff and unreadable beside me. I couldn’t tell if all of this was too much for him or he found it strangely intriguing. I tried to see it from his point of view. To be snatched from the silence and savagery of the wilderness only to be slapped around the face with an online world that could be as dangerous and as hurtful as all the other monsters of his past.

I should stop. This is pushing him too far, too fast.

“Unfortunately, guys, this was just a really quick video to say I promise to have some climbing content for you in a week or two, but...in the meantime, let me know what you’d like videos on. Kas is here to stay. He has a lifetime of hardship that’s made him uniquely qualified to share tips on how to survive if you ever find yourself stuck out in the elements. For all you hard-core climbers who go off into the forests, would you be interested in what he has to share? I could potentially set up his own channel. Show you guys a different kind of life—the life he’s lived before I found him and brought him home with me.”

Hell to the yes!

OMG, that would be amazing! I would love to know how to make my own food.

My brother is in the Army, and he loves all things survival.

Yep, my dad would go nuts for that sort of thing!

Yes! Tell him to share everything so we’ll be ready for the zombie apocalypse!

I laughed at the last one, nodding as the idea snowballed and excitement for Kas’s potential stardom built. I’d have to open him a bank account, get him a social security number, find his real name if possible or insert him into society with proper paperwork if we couldn’t.

There’s so much to do.

But...if he wanted to earn his own keep, this was a way of doing that with things he knew firsthand. He could be as open or as closed off as he wanted.

He could be huge.

Kas cleared his throat as he averted his eyes from the screen as new comments appeared.

Tell him to get naked. I want to see if he’s as hairy underneath his clothes!

What I want to know is, what is he like in bed? I bet he’s wild.

I want to lick him!

I closed the comment box.

Sex and Kas would always come with triggers and torments.

Smiling into the camera, I did my best to hide my worry over how Kas was feeling. “Okay, guys, that’s it for now. At least you know that I’m back! I’m not dead! And I’ll have stacks of exciting content for you soon!” I waved at the screen. “Bye. Happy climbing!”

I turned off the video, posted the link to my static channel and website, and closed my laptop.

Kas didn’t turn to look at me. His forehead remained scrunched up, and eyes narrowed as if he found all of that distasteful.

I couldn’t blame him.

Online could be an onslaught to the senses.

After a strained few heartbeats, I murmured, “We don’t have to do a thing if you’re not comfortable, Kas.”

He sniffed and stood. Prowling around my living room, he raked a hand through his hair, noticing the blades of grass as they danced out of his strands and landed on the carpet. He winced. “I am what they call me.”

I stood too, going to stand in front of him. “You mean sexy? Lickable? Swoon-worthy?”

“No, a caveman.” He bent to pick up the grass, but I stopped him.

Cupping his cheeks, I whispered, “I’ll say this countless times over the next little while, especially as you have a massive adjustment to make as life carries us forward into more and more things that you’ve been denied or never been given, but I need you to listen to me, okay?”

His head tipped down as his large hands landed on my hips. My skin tingled beneath his hold. Electricity hummed between us, and the urge to kiss him sparkled on my lips. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my mouth to his.

No tongue.

No demand for more.

Just delicious contact and connection.

Pulling away, I said, “No one else’s opinion matters but yours, Kas. No one can touch you. The sexualized comments mean nothing—it’s just the way of today’s society which is very open and graphic in their likes and dislikes. Ignore those who are cruel and not willing to learn. Don’t let their misguidedness hurt who you are. They’re not worth it.”

He wrapped his arms tight around me, resting his chin on my head. “But there is truth in what they said. And you lied to them. You made it sound as if I was the hero in looking after you. That you were some damsel in distress, trapped in a valley, completely helpless. When...the opposite was true. You are the reason I survived. You’re the reason I’m here. You’re the reason I can look at myself in a mirror and not have the urge to smash it into a billion pieces because of the ghosts haunting me.”

I hugged him back. “It doesn’t matter how we met anymore, Kas. What’s important is that we did.”

He tilted my chin up, locking eyes with me. His stare lost some of its annoyance and confusion, softening to pure love. “I will never raise a hand to cause you pain again, Gem. I would rather carve out my own heart.”

I kissed him.

He kissed me.

And someone’s fist slammed against my door.

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CHAPTER TWENTY

NOT FOR THE FIRST time, and definitely not for the last, did I count my lucky stars that I had Gem beside me during this transition.

Not once did she judge me for sleeping outside.

Not once did she question how I was or pry into thoughts I wasn’t ready to share.

She gave me space while also making me feel secure.

And for that, I loved her with every piece of my fractured soul. Our connection was probably the only reason I didn’t bolt back to the valley as soon as she opened the door and revealed two police officers. The moment I set eyes on two uniforms, instincts to run howled down my legs. The urge to hurt before I was hurt curled my fists.

An elderly woman with a tight black bun and a younger man with a bald head nodded at Gem, their gazes slipping past her to me in her living room. “Hello, Ms. Ashford. Mr. Sands. We’re here to continue the questioning that was started at the hospital? It won’t take long.”

Gem shot me a look, gauging my ability to come across as sane.

I hoped I hid the violence coursing inside me, praying that my concussion wouldn’t make me say or do something that would ruin the fragile peace I’d found.

I’d hated being interrogated at the hospital—I’d felt judged even while reeking of a fire that’d almost killed us. A fire that Jareth started—a man no one else knew existed. A man still out there, doing what I should be doing...saving our family.

It’d been so fucking hard not having answers. For eleven years, I’d believed my family got free that night, but in reality, they’d been recaptured and been serving ever since.

Christ, I felt sick.

My head pounded.

Perhaps having the police turn up was justice I deserved for not trying to find Sarez, Nyx, and the rest sooner. Poetic justice for my lack of ability to protect, not only them, but Gemma, too.

You promised her you wouldn’t say anything about anything.

Just like she’d made me stay quiet in her video, she’d made me promise to stay quiet around the police. She’d taken on the role of fact-giving to the cops that night in the hospital, vaguely mentioning Storymaker and giving a very brief description of what Fables had been, but apart from that...most of what happened there would never be uttered—for my safety and my family’s.

“May we come in?” the female officer asked.

I stepped backward, fighting the urge to leap through the open door and vanish.

Gem noticed and came to my side. Taking my sweaty hand in hers, she nodded primly. “We were heading out, but we have a few moments to spare.” Waving at the couch, she smiled. “Please, sit down.”

Was that a lie, or had she genuinely been planning on taking me somewhere?

Was I ready to go somewhere?

Fuck, the room wobbled a little as my headache grew worse.

The two uniforms stepped into Gemma’s home, wiped their shiny shoes on her doormat, and went to the couch. Gemma took the opposite chair while I stayed standing. Holding her shoulder, I shadowed her from behind.

My heart galloped. More sickness swarmed. Whiteness blanked over my vision for a heartbeat, threatening to steal this particular memory, linking it to other people in positions of power, stealing the life and liberties of a kid who hadn’t been able to fight back.

The vow of silence Gem had made me promise forbade me from talking about what I’d done to her and what’d happened to the bastards of my past. Both were to protect me. I knew that. But it didn’t mean I felt right about it.

A part of me craved punishment for what I’d done to Gemma. Historical conditioning ensuring that I needed discipline and chastisement. But the other part of me understood that I hadn’t been in control of myself back then. People wouldn’t comprehend what a struggle it’d been to shed off the skin I’d been wearing.

Gem gave me a quick look.

I nodded, reaffirming my promise that I wouldn’t say anything. I still hadn’t embraced my newfound freedom, but it didn’t mean I wanted to have it snatched away by being thrown in jail.

No fucking way.

Gemma’s heat seeped through my fingers, grounding me as my headache faded a little.

Last night, I’d had another nightmare.

Unlike the previous nights where I stayed where I slept, this time, I’d woken in a full sweat just outside her bedroom door. I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten there or what I would’ve done if I’d climbed into bed with her, but one thing was for sure, my mind was now connected to my heart, and she was off-limits.

Something had woken me before I went too far.

Something inside me fought to keep her safe.

So that was how I’d ended up sleeping outside.

I’d let fresh air blow away the sickening images in my head. It reminded me that I was far, far away from Fables, and this was a new start.

I was free.

And I’m going to stay free.

I glowered at the police as Gem asked politely, “What can we help you with, Officers?”

I clutched her shoulder, doing my best to stay calm. I didn’t know if the pills the doctor gave me were working, but by touching her, my heart rate slowed a little. I stood a little taller, embracing the fact that I was here with Gem, I was free, and I had every fucking right to be happy.

“My name is Brandon Miles, and this is my partner, Gail Pulman.” the young guy cop said, his fancy uniform worn with pride. “Mr. Sands, we understand from the previous interview that you were abducted and held in the house that was destroyed by the fire last week. You were imprisoned there for most of your childhood and teenage years, is that correct?”

Gem glanced at me over her shoulder, her eyes glowing with affection and care. Holding her stare, I nodded and cleared my throat. “That’s right.”

“And Kassen Sands isn’t your real name. But you don’t remember any other?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve had a team investigate what’s left of the house. The rubble has no forensics or obvious clues. In fact, what does remain doesn’t paint a comprehensive picture at all. There are no documents or other evidence that will lead us to the man you named Stuart Page, also known as....” He consulted his notes. “The Storymaker.”

That’s because I burned all the paperwork eleven years ago with the intention of keeping my family safe, only to forget everything I’d memorized thanks to a guy kicking me in the head.

Jareth was the one rescuing our family, but I was the one who’d condemned them to never finding their true homes, all because I’d destroyed any mention of their origins.

I bristled, stepping into the fib Gemma had convinced me to repeat. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”

“You don’t remember being trafficked? You don’t remember the faces of the people holding you? Overheard conversations of locations, names, or how they were running the operation?”

I stiffened and shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

The young cop gave me a look that said he didn’t believe me, but his partner referred to her own notes and asked, “The sex ring that you were a member of, you said that closed down over a decade ago?”

I ground my teeth.

I wasn’t a member of a sex ring. I was a slave. Fuck’s sake, there’s a difference.

Gem sucked in an angry breath.

I answered before she could defend me. “Yes,” I hissed. “It shut down eleven years ago.”

“And you said the ringleader just upped and left? That you don’t know what happened to the other men and women in power? Nor what happened to any of the guests who used to visit you?”

My nostrils flared as truth soured my tongue.

They’re exactly where they deserve to be.

Rotting in hell.

Gemma put her hand over mine, squeezing gently, prompting me to force a grimace and answer, “I don’t.” I swallowed hard. Fuck, it was hard not to tell them everything. Not to give them explicit details of those bastards. Every birthmark, every fetish, every sick, twisted, and depraved piece of them. I wanted the families of the guests to be named and shamed. I wanted to speak out so my loved ones could be vindicated and found.

I didn’t want anyone else to go through what we had.

I wanted men and women like the Fables members to be yanked from their homes, molested, tortured, and hung in a public setting.

But...I had to swallow every sour truth down because Gem was right. I had been fully within my right to kill those motherfuckers—I would do it all over again if I could—but the law would never see it that way.

And I would not go to prison for them.

Ever.

“And why did you stay after they left? What was the purpose of living all alone?”

I tried to keep my voice level. “After what they’d done to me, I had no trust toward my own kind. I felt safest alone...in a place that I knew.”

Not an exact lie. Not the truth either.

The cops made a note. The woman looked up first. “An open investigation is ongoing. We’ll continue combing the valley for answers and will schedule more interviews with you as and when we find more evidence. For now, though, we have passed your file onto the proper departments to ensure you’ll be given the documentation you need to begin a new life. We’re also pursuing leads and going through missing children reports from when you were taken to see if we can reunite you with the family you were stolen from.”

Gemma interrupted. “And if he was a foster kid?”

“There should still be mention of him going missing.”

“But if he was placed into the foster system, then why would his biological family care if he’s alive and well?”

“He might’ve been adopted. He might’ve been loved.”

Gemma looked at me over her shoulder. “He is loved. He has a family.” She glowered at the cops. “I’m his family.”

The female officer nodded. “I meant no disrespect.”

“It’s fine,” I said quietly, my mind locked on what she said previously. They were combing over the valley? Would they have cadaver dogs? Diggers? How soon before they found the graveyard?

“Ms. Ashford?” the policewoman focused on Gem. “You said you were stuck in the valley for a while due to a climbing expedition? Our officers found your car. The battery does indeed seem to be dead, but we can arrange to have it hauled if you have your keys handy.”

Gem flicked me a look before shaking her head. “I’m so sorry, but I lost my keys.”