Page 57 of Holy Sinner

“We aren’t going to be able to get too close to where you were last night,” Grant points out. He’s not with us, he’s a few feet away walking behind us.

“What, why not?” Alana asks.

“The cops set up camp. My guess is they’re probably trying to get a match on the blood where Kit was to see if it really is Jane’s. They’ll have roped off that part of the woods.”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to go back there.” It’s true. I don’t want to go fucking back there. I don’t want to see that blood and think about the woman with no face. “I want to look around outside of that area and see if there’s signs Jane came this way or someone carrying her did.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll see how much ground we can cover in half an hour.”

I want to push back on him but I don’t. I know Rafe wouldn’t let me be out here at all. The man would probably chain me to his bed if it meant he knew where I was every second of the day. I pick up my pace and Alana has to work to keep up. I’m practically jogging along when she grabs my arms and groans.

“I’m not wearing the shoes for this, Kit.” She sticks her leg out and I look down to see heels. She’s doing great so far on the uneven terrain and I’m impressed.

“It’s cardio. Just keep moving. We don’t have a ton of time to be out here.” I know Grant is keeping a sharp eye on his watch. I don’t even have to look to confirm. I know he’s going to demand I follow him back to the lodge in thirty minutes and not a second more.

“I swear to god…”

To her credit, Alana does keep up. By the time she speaks again, I’m feeling winded. “Okay, but if we find something, what the hell are we supposed to do with it?”

I freeze. I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t know why I didn’t. In my mind it was sort of like investigate, find evidence and then….I don’t know. Turn it over to the authorities? Go on a wild chase to find a killer?

“Um…we call the cops?” I try and Grant hums. He’s 10 feet away and examining a tree.

“That’s exactly the right call, sweetheart. We call the cops.”

“How did you hear me?” I ask in surprise.

“There’s nothing you do that I don’t know. Remember that.”

He’s not lying. I keep forgetting.

“You know what? That’s kind of hot in a really obsessive way,” Alana observes.

“You have no idea how right you are,” I mutter and grab her arm. “Come on. Let’s keep going.” Whatever Grant is looking at on the tree he’ll tell me about if it means anything, so I don’t go to him, I move forward with Alana in tow. I want to scream in frustration when I don’t see a single thing that doesn’t look out of place, and that’s when I realize something.

“We have to leave the trail,” I announce and Grant immediately speaks.

“We are not leaving the trail.”

“How are we supposed to find clues if we stay on the trail? If someone really did kill Jane, I don’t think they stayed where anyone could find them, do you?” I turn to level a challenging stare at him and he gets what I’m not saying.

You wouldn’t stay on the trail, would you? If you really think it’s not me then help me find the proof.

He rubs the bridge of his nose and then gestures to the woods. “You have twelve minutes.”

Immediately, I head for the trees and Alana digs her heels in. “Oh, there I cannot go. I will not follow. I just got these shoes.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be right back.” I leave her on the trail. Grant says something to her and then I hear him behind me.

“You should stay with Alana, just to be safe.”

“You’re the only thing I give a shit about. If we’re doing this, I stay with you.”

He’s not going to budge, I know that. Of course he isn’t going to stay with Alana while I traipse through the woods looking for Jane’s killer, so I shut up and keep walking. We walk in silence for a few minutes and I think that everything is going to be for nothing when I spot something out of the ordinary.

Trash.

“Do you see that?” I ask and point to the bottle poking up from a pile of leaves to our right.

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