"I need to tell you something," I said, trying to find the right wording to soften the blow. Although I wasn't sure that using different words was really going to make much difference.
I remembered how devastated they had been when Crystal had first disappeared. We had searched and searched but nothing had turned up. It had been a trying time for both of them.
We had believed at the time she had been murdered. They would be relieved to discover she was alive, but it would hurt to know she left without telling them why she was leaving or where she was going.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, seeing me wrestle with my decision to tell them.
"This isn't going to be easy to hear," I said, trying to prepare them.
"Tell us," Robert prompted. Olivia's eyes fixed on mine in anticipation.
"It's Crystal. We found her."
Olivia gasped and put her free hand to her chest.
"How? Where?" Robert asked, still reeling from the shocking news.
"Is she alive?" Olivia asked.
"Yes."
Well, she had been. I stopped myself from even considering the fact she might not be alive anymore. Who knows what could have happened to her in the time between when she was taken and now. Olivia pressed both her hands to her mouth as she released a sob. Robert shifted his chair closer to put an arm around her.
"Where is she?"
This wasn't going to be an easy question to answer. I told them about discovering Crystal in Keri's pack.
"But I don't understand," Olivia said, frowning. She looked from Robert to me.
"Before I could talk to her, she disappeared."
Robert's forehead creased and he hugged Olivia a little tighter. "What do you mean she just disappeared?"
I pressed my lips together as I linked my hands. "She ran away."
There was disbelief in Robert's eyes. Olivia looked just as shocked.
"But why would she do that?" Robert asked, more to himself than to me.
That was the million-dollar question. Robert rubbed his forehead as his mate sat beside him still in shock. They were hurt and there was no explanation to give them. It made me angry that Crystal would do this to the people who loved her. She had left a trail of fear and confusion.
I rubbed my jaw, trying to get a handle on my emotions. Losing my cool wasn't going to get us anywhere.
"I don't know."
"I need to look for her." Robert stood up. He was a man of action.
"There's more." I indicated for him to sit. He hesitated for a moment before he sank back down into the leather chair.
They both looked at me like they weren't sure they could take much more and I couldn't blame them.
"We think we've found her again." I paused for a moment to try and find the right way to say what I had to. "You know there have been rogues murdered in the area."
They nodded.
"What has that got do with Crystal?" Robert asked.
"We think the person responsible for the deaths has her."
