Page 85 of Chasing Creed

So, why did Creed feel like his nerve-endings were jangling with electricity? A ticking bomb pounded in his chest. His instinct was to keep Brodie in his direct sight. He’d handcuff himself to her if it meant he could keep her safe.

It took everything in him to not say that to her. She’d already spent over half her life being held captive. He wouldn’t make a prison out of her own home.

At a glance, he saw Hannah escorting the woman and the dog around the house to the back. She looked young and small alongside Hannah. He zoomed in one of the cameras that watched them come inside the fenced yard. Her jeans were worn, the sweatshirt baggy. A trail of golden ponytail stuck out the backside of a ball cap. He recognized that her hiking boots were nice. Not just nice, expensive. Something a serious hiker would buy.

Another text pinged. Jason was still watching, too.

License plate is Wyoming. Does that mean anything?

No idea.

Just as he was about to add that Hannah would take care of it, he saw Brodie come out the back patio door.

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Brodie stopped at the opposite end of the patio and stared at the pair. Of course, her eyes went to the dog first. It had a beautiful coat despite the bandages on one side. The coloring was marbled with fluffs of white in-between the black. Black that almost looked like midnight blue. Even from ten feet away, she noticed the eyes were two different colors: one blue, one amber.

“She’s gorgeous!” Brodie said without thinking. The dog gave an apprehensive wag while leaning against her owner.

“Her name’s Shadow.”

The woman looked younger than Brodie. She scanned her face, hoping to find something she might recognize. Everyone had told her that Iris had “a type.” That she’d chosen the Charlottes because they resembled her daughter. Ryder had shown her photos once, and although she didn’t recognize any of those girls either, she did admit they looked enough alike they could be sisters.

Brodie didn’t think this woman looked like them or her. Not at all.

“I’m Sara,” she said when Brodie took too long.

“She drove all the way from Wyoming,” Hannah added.

“How did you find me?”

“It wasn’t difficult. Your brother is kind of famous.”

That was true. Ryder had been interviewed many times. Though she’d never read or seen the interviews, she knew he’d been on television shows like Good Morning, America, and his photos with Grace had been online as well as in national newspapers and magazines. When she looked over at Hannah, she could see that they hadn’t taken into consideration that their renown and successful K9 scent detection business could easily lead anyone trying to find Brodie.

“Why don’t we all sit down.” Hannah gestured to the chairs while she sat on one of the benches.

“What happened to your dog?” Brodie asked.

“I’m not sure. She was wounded when I found her.”

Brodie immediately could tell that wasn’t entirely true. Though it wasn’t a lie either.

“What happened to you?” Sara pointed at the remaining bandages on Brodie’s arms and legs.

“I fell into a thorn bush.”

The woman nodded at her as if she genuinely could relate.

“Sara,” Hannah’s voice was soft but firm. “There are a whole lot of people who know this story, especially now with Iris Malone’s trial coming up. How do we know you’re not a reporter or someone looking to exploit what happened? Excuse me for sounding skeptical and perhaps a little blunt, but why should we believe you are who you say?”

Brodie noticed a smile caught at the side of Sara’s mouth as her head bobbed. Her ponytail bobbed, too.

“I certainly understand,” she said, her eyes going back and forth from Hannah to Brodie before finally settling on Brodie’s.

“I left the day after Aaron took you to the Christmas house.”

Brodie's fingers fidgeted with one of the bandages behind her knee. Sara had blue eyes but with flecks of gold, almost as if they were a combination of Shadow’s two different colored eyes. The bridge of her nose had a notch, and there was a scar under her jaw. When she talked, she kept her chin down as if to hide the expanse of it. The imperfections didn’t matter. She was pretty with an air of confidence that Brodie envied. Maybe it wasn't confidence but simply that Sara didn’t care what they thought of her. Her smile said as much when Hannah was explaining that she didn’t trust her. Sara seemed to expect it, and it didn’t matter. She wasn’t looking for their approval. She’d still be here.