Page 113 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

Mom gave me the locket before her trip to New York.Take care of your brothers. They listen to you. She smiled when she said it, her eyes lighting up. It had been just over a year since Reid was killed in the train crash. Mom and Dad were reluctant to leave us, but Hunter and Coop insisted we’d be fine.

But Mom and Dad never came home.

A soft breeze stirs the golden alder leaves and tickles my cheeks.

Did Mom know what was in the locket when she gave it to me for safekeeping? Did she put it there? Did Dad?

Why?

I stare at the faded browns and yellows of the landscape, but the answers don’t fall into place. I slip out my phone and call Hunter.

“Hey, I was about to call you. I need you to come to the station.”

My chilled skin turns to goose flesh. “Okay. Why?”

“See you soon,” he answers, and ends the call.

I groan in frustration. At least I know it’s not about Kalle Jensen, who was captured two weeks after the survey camp fire.

“Fine,” I say to the trees, and stomp back inside for my locket, purse, and coat.

When I arrive at the McKenzie Valley Sheriff’s Department twenty minutes later, Hunter grips me in a tight hug, then ushers me through the entryway to their conference room. To my surprise, Deputy Seth Dalton is there too.

Hunter pulls out a chair for me. I bite back the urge to ask what the hell this is about and sit. Hunter takes the chair to my right and Deputy Dalton lowers into the chair across from me.

“Thanks for coming in on such short notice,” Seth says.

I give Hunter a sideways glare.

“There’s some things I need to ask you,” Seth says. “You’re not in trouble or anything, okay? I’m only trying to connect the dots.”

I breathe a slow sigh. This sounds kind of intense, but I trust them. “Okay.”

“You told Hunter you saw Hayden with Terrilynn a few days before she disappeared. Can you tell me exactlywhyyou think Hayden knows who killed Terrilynn?”

“When I saw them together, it was weird. They weren’t friends.”

“Maybe they were and you didn’t know?”

I shrug. “It was right at the beginning of summer, at a party. Some of my friends were home from college and there was a big bonfire on the beach. Terrilynn was there. I hadn’t seen her since she dropped out.

“She’d changed. In school, she was always so quiet. I don’t think I ever heard her say anything in class. She wore a bulky coat all the time, like she was chilly. That night, she was in shorts and this really tight t-shirt. Without anything underneath. It was cold, and it stood out. Girls wear that stuff all the time, you know? But it’s usually with attitude. Terrilynn was acting as meek as usual. I remember her legs were really pale, and skinny.

“She was kind of hanging on Hayden, and even though he ignored her, it was like watching a dog begging. I felt bad for her, because I knew what kind of guy Hayden was, and what he was capable of.

“I was leaving the party when—”

“Alone?” Hunter asks, narrowing his eyes.

I send him a warning glare. “And I overheard voices. It was Hayden and Terrilynn. She wanted him to take her with him to Oregon. She sounded desperate.”

“Did you hear his answer?”

“He said ‘and have your uncle put a price on my head? Not a chance.’” I shake my head. “She started crying. ‘Please. When they find out, I’m dead,’ she said.”

“Find out what?” Seth asks.

“I don’t know. That was all I heard. It scared me.”

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