Behind her, Michael was making his rounds of good-byes.

Janice hugged her the longest, then held her arms as she stood back. “Thank you for bringing our son back to us.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

“You’re family,” Janice said. Karen forced herself not to cringe. “You’re welcome anytime.”

“Thanks.”

When Karen turned to Sawyer, he watched her. “You know something, Karen?”

A hint of a smile met his lips.

“What’s that?”

He sized her up for a moment and said, “I think I like you.”

She remembered their first conversation and held back the huge smile she wanted to spread. “You know, Sawyer, I think I like you, too.”

When Michael’s father hugged her, she knew he was a whole lot of bark and very little bite.

Swiping tears from her eyes, she said a quick good-bye and moved toward the truck where Zach waited to take them back.

Michael continued with longer good-byes while Karen jumped into the backseat.

“No need to cry,” Zach said. “You’ll see everyone again.”

Karen looked directly at him. “No, Zach. I won’t.”

Chapter Nineteen

Karen kicked herself the minute the words escaped her lips. But there was no pulling them back. She just couldn’t lie to Zach anymore. It was as if each lie was sucking her soul deeper into an abyss.

Thankfully, Michael made his way inside the truck and Zach didn’t ask her to elaborate. Maybe like Rena, he’d figure it out all on his own. Or maybe Rena would slip?

“Thanks for driving us,” Michael told his brother.

Karen waved out the back window, thankful at least to have their good-byes behind her. She looked forward to getting home and clearing her mind.

Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?

“Not a problem.”

Zach looked in the rearview mirror and met Karen’s gaze. He had questions in his eyes.

“Are you booked out of LAX tomorrow?” Karen asked Michael, hoping to keep the ruse of an early departure going.

“Yeah. We have ten p.m. tickets out of St. George waiting for us tonight.”

It was only five. They had plenty of time to get to the Gardners’ home and grab their rental car to drive to the nearest airport.

“Where are you filming this time?”

“Montreal.”

“How long will you be there?”

“Couple of months.”

“Don’t you get a break? Come home?” Zach asked.

“I take a few long weekends when I can.”

Karen sat back and listened to Zach’s questions.

“Do I even want to know what they’re paying you?”

Michael slouched in his seat. “Thirty-two million.”

Zach’s jaw dropped. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, right? I’m sure you understand my need to run.”

Zach met her eyes again. “Just don’t forget about the important things on your quest for the big money, little brother.”

“That’s why we came here. Right Karen?”

“Yep.”

Karen watched the vistas as they drove the mountain in silence. When they arrived at the Gardner family home, they shoved their suitcases into the back of the rental and picked up a few remaining things from inside.

She wanted this to go quickly. Didn’t want any long-winded good-byes with Zach. Her heart couldn’t take it.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Several text messages had piled up. One number didn’t look familiar and Karen nearly disregarded it before clicking.

Call me, Petra.

Karen’s body chilled. Becky.

Karen hit redial and walked into the Gardner front yard.

“It’s Karen.”

“I thought you’d like to know,” Petra said.

“Know what?”

“Becky’s been missing for two days.”

“No.”

“I didn’t see her leave. She sat on Millie’s bench every day, then her mother came in crying asking if I’d seen her.”

“What about Nolan?”

“He’s opened Gardner’s store every day. Saw the sheriff’s car there yesterday.”

Karen ran a hand through her hair, glanced toward the house to see Michael and Zach talking. “That doesn’t make sense. Nolan wouldn’t just let her leave.”

“Another Hilton runaway.”

“Thanks for calling, Petra. I’ll be in touch.”

Karen clicked off the phone and ran over to the boys. “Becky’s gone.”

Zach’s eyes grew wide.

“The girl you think is pregnant?” Michael asked. She’d told him her suspicions about the girl when they’d first evolved.

“Yes, her. Only Nolan is still in town.”

“You think they broke up and she ran off?”

She shook her head. “I think where she goes, he goes. If he’s still in town, she’s still in town…or close by.”

Zach had his phone to his ear. “Hey, Buck…yeah, been great. No, just wondering how it’s working out with Nolan?”

Zach shook his head for both her and Michael. “No. It’s good. I’ll be back in a few days. Yeah, thanks.” He hung up. “Nolan is showing up, working hard.”

Karen swung in a circle, as if looking around this suburbia in Utah was going to show her anything. “I’d bet money she’s here somewhere.”

A hand met Karen’s shoulder. “You can’t save every kid.”

She shrugged Michael’s hand off. “No. But I can help this one. I just need to find her.”

Having made up her mind, she walked to the car and removed her bags.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not leaving till I know where that girl is and that she’s OK.”

“Karen?”

She placed a hand on her hip and glared. “You have your job. I have mine.”

“It’s not your responsibility.”

“Stop. OK.” Then because he just didn’t understand, she reminded him of what she’d told him early in their vacation. “A week, Michael. I was in that house for a week, cold, tired…distraught. And I wasn’t a teenage pregnant girl. Becky needs someone looking out for her.”

His shoulders fell. “I can call Tony—”

“No. You go. I can skirt around unnoticed better than you can. If I find her, and she needs to stay hidden, I can manage that. You’ll cause attention.”