Ruby shot up with a gasp, heart pounding. Painshed through her lower back, so sharp and sudden that she flopped right back down onto the ground, breath knocked from her lungs.
Blinking through the pain, she took in her surroundings: thick woods, shadows stretching longer as evening settled in. Then it all came flooding back–she’d been ambushed near the restroom. Knocked out cold.
Did she fall down the mountain? Or had someone dragged her here?
“Hello?” Her voice was barely more than a croak, weak and trembling. “Please… someone help me.”
The words barely carried, swallowed up by the constant buzz of insects and the riot of birds overhead. Cloud Peak was a wild ce; her cries were nothing next to the sound of the forest.
Desperate, Ruby reached for a bamboo stalk beside her and shook it hard, hoping the movement would catch the eye of anyone searching nearby.
Down the mountain, the Martin family was <b>a </b>mess of worry and frustration,
A security guard jogged up to the search coordinator<b>. </b><b>“</b>Mr. Martin wants five more people on the team. Bring the search dogs.”
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“That’s not nearly enough!” Tina snapped, panic sharpening her voice.
The coordinator didn’t bother hiding his irritation. “If you were really that worried about your daughter, Mrs. Martin, maybe you shouldn’t have let her hike up an undeveloped mountain at sunrise. Don’t pretend to be Mother of the Year now. What, you want a medal?”
“You-!” Tina bristled, cheeks flushing red.
“Let it go,” Emerson cut in, tugging Tina back. “Let’s just do what they say.”
Search dogs bounded up the path, but as darkness crept in, the search only got harder.
By the time the sun slipped behind the ridge, painting the sky with streaks of gold and purple, Colton finally tore his gaze away from the window and looked over at the man sitting across from him in the
modern tea room.
Oliver <b>sat </b>there, long fingers absently turning a porcin teacup he’d just picked up at an antique
shop.
“Why not send more people up there?” Colton asked, voice low. “If something happens, won’t ite back to bite us?” <fnd45c> For more chapters visit Find_Novel(.</fnd45c>
Cloud Peak was the Padi family’s backyard. Any trouble here wouldnd on their doorstep.
“It won’te to that,” Oliver replied, pouring hot water into his <b>cup</b>.
“You sound pretty sure,” Colton said, raising a brow.
Oliver shrugged. “It’s obvious this was done by someone she knows. You think it’s dangerous, but someone’s keeping an eye on her. They <b>aren’t </b>going to let her die.”
13:31
Chapter B1
Colton frowned, thinking it over.
“No one would follow a total stranger into the woods before <b>sunrise</b>, let alone drop their guard enough to get ambushed,” Oliver went on, tipping the water out of his trusted. Simple as that.”
cup
“This was someone she
He set the cup aside with a quiet clink. “I brought you back to Riverdale for a reason. I want you to settle down, focus, and stop running around with those aimless rich kids you call friends.”
Colton put on his most wounded look. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Uncle Oliver.”
He sank into the chair across from Oliver and started to grumble. “Seriously, every other <b>uncle </b>is out there scheming to steal from their nephew. Take the Martins–look at Patricia. What does she have left? Her parents‘ business, gone. Handed over to someone else. And now she’s-*
He bit off thest words–almost said crippled–when Oliver’s cool stare cut him off.
“And you,” Oliver said, tone mild but cutting, “can’t wait for me to hand over thepany so you can do whatever you want.”
He leaned back, sounding almost philosophical. “People are simple. If something’s worth fighting over, everyone wants it. If nobody cares, they assume it’s worthless.”
Colton fell silent, noeback in sight.
“Let’s not go there,” he said, forcing a smile. “No point getting sentimental. You’re a great uncle, but you really know how to give a speech.”
He switched gears. “So, when are you leaving?”
“Midnight.”
Colton’s eyebrows shot up. “Cutting it close, aren’t you?”
With a private jet, Oliver could travel whenever he liked. Still, Colton couldn’t help but wonder since when his uncle had be such a night owl.