The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

sleep before he killed himself and maybe others.
    Hours later, he woke to the sound of traffic. Light streamed through the cracks between the wall and the fiberglass drapes. He was fully dressed, the bed beneath him was hard, and there was a water stain on the ceiling.
    For a moment he had no idea where he was orhow he’d gotten there. Slowly memory seeped back. With it came another fact.
    Today was Friday. The day that regularly arrived right after Thursday—which was when he’d promised to take Dixie out.
    He groaned. Could his timing have possibly been worse?
    She’d understand, he told himself as he rushed through a shower. There wasn’t much hot water, but he didn’t see anything with too many legs crawling around, which was a relief, given the condition of his accommodations.
    Which were where, exactly? He wasn’t even sure what part of the state he was in. No, wait—he dimly remembered crossing the state line shortly before he decided to pull over. He was in Nevada. Somewhere in Nevada. They’d know at the front desk.
    As he scrambled into yesterday’s clothes, he assured himself that once he told Dixie what he’d learned, she’d understand why everything else had been blasted clean out of his mind.
    Dressed, somewhat damp and more than a little desperate, he tried to call her. But the phone by the bed didn’t work, and he’d forgotten his cell phone. He’d rushed out the door without anything but his jacket and what he’d had in his pockets.
    He’d run off without calling Dixie.
    She was going to ask why. She probably would understand that he’d been badly shaken. She was a compassionate person. But she’d wonder why it had never once occurred to him to turn to her.
    So did he.
    Cole gassed up, grabbed a breakfast burrito and a large coffee, and left the tiny town of Basalt, Nevada, behind. He didn’t stop again until he pulled up in front of his parents’ house five endless hours later.
    He’d driven longer last night, but last night he’d lacked any kind of destination. Time hadn’t mattered. It did now.
    Tilly rushed up to greet him as soon as he stepped out, and he was smitten by guilt. Someone would have fed her when it was obvious he’d taken off, but he must have worried everyone. Including his dog.
    He took a moment to pet and reassure Tilly, then headed into the house. It was two in the afternoon, so Dixie would be working—which meant she might be anywhere. But she’d set her easel up in the lanai, so he checked there first.
    No sign of her. Or anyone else, for that matter. No one seemed to be home at all.
    He’d check her room anyway, just to make sure. He took the stairs two at a time.
    She wasn’t there, but Mercedes was. She was packing Dixie’s things.
    Cole stood in the doorway, frozen. Faint and faraway, he heard the echo that had haunted him on his morning run three days ago: too late, too late, too late…
    Mercedes finished folding a pair of slacks, laid them carefully in Dixie’s suitcase and straightened,scowling at him. “It’s about time you showed up! Where in the world have you been?”
    “I’ll tell you later.” He would have to. They’d all have to know. But right now his lips were numb and there wasn’t enough air. He could barely get the next words out. “Where is she?”
    “Gone, obviously,” Mercedes snapped.
    “Mercy.” The childhood nickname slipped out as he crossed to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I have to find her. I have to. Where did she go?”
    Mercedes searched his face. Her expression softened into worry. “She didn’t leave because you’re a jerk. You are, but that isn’t why she left.”
    The quick stab of anxiety made him tense. “Then why?”
    “Her mother had a heart attack yesterday.”
    “Oh, no.” Cole closed his eyes for a second. “Is she—?”
    “It was a mild one, apparently. She’s in the hospital now, but they say she’ll be okay. But that isn’t all. She called the ambulance herself when she realized what was happening. Only…” She swallowed. “She was taking care of Jody at the time. And in all the confusion, Jody wandered off.”
    “Oh, God.” Cole thought about the storm last night. “Tell me she isn’t still missing.”
    “I can’t. She’s been gone almost a full day now.”
    Dixie sat at the table in her aunt’s kitchen with her head in her hands. The table was covered by maps—a large topographic map, a city map, a county map.She couldn’t think of anything else