Bailey held his hands in front of him like he was weighing the two options. “Goldfish, horse. I think the fish wins out on the easy factor.”

“I want to keep it,” Lettie complained. “They’re not that hard to take care of.”

“Lettie, you can barely take care of yourself. Now you want to add a fish to your to-do list?” Bailey questioned.

He had a point.

“I promise to take my iron pills every day,” she pleaded. 

Bailey scoffed. “That’s not up for argument.”

“Oh, come on!” Lettie whined.

“I’m going to go find Sage,” I interrupted. I loved hanging out with the two of them, but listening to them argue over a goldfish was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my night.

“Take me with you?” Bailey muttered jokingly to me, which earned him a frown from Lettie.

“You signed up for this,” I told him. 

Lettie turned her scowl at me now.

I parted ways from them as they went back to their bickering, heading in the direction of the rides. It hadn’t been too long since Sage went looking for Avery, so I hoped she wouldn’t already be on her way back. 

Weaving through the crowds of people, I made my way past all the food trucks and booths, rounding the corner to where it opened to a less crowded part of the fair. The rides were a decent amount of space apart from each other, making it easier to look for Sage and Avery.

After passing the bumper cars, I spotted my mom standing at the fence blocking off the funhouse.

“Hey,” I said, coming up beside her.

She glanced at me before turning back to the ride, her eyes focused on the bridge going across the second story. “You having fun, sweetie?”

“I am,” I admitted with a grin. “Is Sage in there with Aves?”

Charlotte shook her head. “Just Avery and one of her friends she found running around earlier. They’ve been bouncing from ride to ride all night.”

I turned around, scanning the crowd for Sage. “Did Sage find you a few minutes ago?”

“I haven’t seen her since the parade. Was she supposed to come find us?” my mom asked.

Behind me, a tiny voice yelled down, “Charlotte! Look!” 

I twisted back to face the funhouse as my mom smiled and waved up at Avery and her friend, who were both looking down at her from the bridge.

“I see you!” my mom shouted back.

I grinned up at Avery, whose smile widened when she saw me standing there, then she and her friend were off again.

“She was, but she may have gotten caught up talking to someone. I’m going to go look for her. Text me if she finds you?” 

“I’ll keep you updated if she does.”

“Thank you for watching Avery. We really appreciate it.” 

My mom looked at me. “I’m happy to give you guys the alone time you need. Plus, Avery is like a breath of fresh air compared to you and your siblings.”

I smiled, shaking my head. “I’m sure she is.”

Heading further into the section with the rides, I kept an eye out for Sage. I wouldn’t miss her with her plaid dress on, but the more I looked, the more the worry set in. The fair wasn’t massive, so she couldn’t be far. 

So where was she?

Picking up my pace, I hurried past groups of people. Before I knew it, I was circling back toward the food trucks with no Sage in sight.

My inability to find her in a crowd full of people shouldn’t concern me this much, but with her ex still out there somewhere, the worst crept in, enveloping my mind.

I shouldn’t have let her walk away alone. I should have gone with her, no matter that she felt safe here.

Protected by the crowd or not, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

She was safe.

She was just caught up somewhere and I hadn’t found her yet.

But as much as my thoughts tried to soothe me, the worst kept creeping in.

What if she wasn’t?

What if he found her?

I just had to hope I got to her first.

39

Sage

“What the fuck, Jason?”

He grabbed the cash in a flash, shoving it deep into his pocket with his other hand still on my arm in a bruising grip. “Where’s the money, Sage?”

I tried to keep the tremble out of my voice, but failed. “I’m not giving you any money.”

He shook me once, hard, as the man who brought me over here stood at the edge of the alley like some kind of guard dog. “Then where’s my daughter?”

I reached up to remove his hand, but he caught it before I could grab his wrist. His squeeze was punishing, and I was surprised none of my fingers snapped in his grip. I tugged, tears springing to my eyes. “Let me go,” I gritted out.

He clicked his tongue, holding me like it was nothing. He was always good at that. Treating me like I was nothing more than a bird's feather on the wind, inconveniencing him.

“It’s either money or the girl.”