Page 124 of Shattered By the Currents

He caught her halfway and tossed her over his shoulder.

She cried out. “What are you doing?”

“If we shower together, we halve the time.”

“That isnotwhat happens.” She laughed. “The opposite, actually.”

She was right. It took them twice as long as it should have to shower, maybe three times, because showering wasn’t the only thing they did in there.

When he finally got to work, the guys were already outside, warming up.

“You’re late,” Ryan called.

Jesus, someone was in a mood. But he’d been in a mood for weeks. Since that town meeting where Ferris had revealed a movie would be filmed in Deep River. Connor wasn’t even sure why. The cast for the movie had been released, and Emily Prior wasn’t in it.

Ryan shoved a weighted jacket into his chest. “Put this on. We’re starting with a run.”

And by run, Ryan never meant a leisurely jog.

Connor put on the jacket. But before starting, he moved over to Ethan and lowered his voice. “Hey. We have any idea where Xander was staying yet?”

Ethan shook his head. “Nope. It definitely wasn’t in any of the paid accommodations here in Deep River.”

Connor frowned. So where the fuck had he been?

“Sleeping in a stolen car?” Zac asked.

“No other cars have been reported stolen.” He’d checked with Ward.

“Let’s go,” Ryan shouted.

Connor started moving, but his mind was still on Xander. He needed this final piece of the puzzle before he could close this shit and stop thinking about it. But Xander was dead, so how exactly he was going to get it, he had no idea.

“You should have told us.”

Raven tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her gaze going to the forest beyond the gate before returning to her father. “I know. I didn’t want to upset you.”

How many times had they had this conversation over the last week? A hundred? A hundred and one? And by the frustration on her father’s face, and the sadness on her mother’s, they’d probably have it a hundred more.

“If we’d known what he put you through…what he’d done…” Her mother covered her mouth like it was too much to process.

And it was. She wished she hadn’t had to tell them, but it was too much to hide. Plus, she needed them to know that he was gone and she was safe.

“We would have done so many things differently,” her mother said quietly. “We wouldn’t have taken his calls. We wouldn’t have passed on those things he sent to you.”

“I would have killed him,” her father grumbled.

Her mother dabbed her eyes.

“You shouldn’t have come back here,” her father added.

She swallowed. That was probably the hardest part for her parents—particularly her father—to accept. That she’d comeback for them. To keep an eye on them and make sure Xander was keeping his word and leaving them alone.

She hadn’t told them that part, though they’d figured it out because they knew her too well.

She leaned forward, wind brushing her hair over her face. “It’s over now. Xander’s gone. He can’t hurt me or you or anyone.”

“Thank God,” her mother breathed.