Page 93 of Scent of Home

“Has anyone else been hurt lately?”

Jess pauses and then nods. “Well, no, but this weird thing happened. Holly’s stove was on, and the house was filled with gas. Her neighbour, John Wilkies, smelled it and alerted the authorities before she got home.” Jess pauses. “She doesn’t cook at home, she cooks at her stall or when she has a shift at the diner.”

“Thanks, Jess, that helps a lot.”

“It’s strange, though,” she murmurs absently.

“What is?”

“I don’t think anyone really knew that Holly smoked a single cigarette when she got home from work. She was trying to give up and was having trouble breaking that last one.”

I heave a sigh, not liking anything I’ve heard today.

Abruptly, I pull up an image of the woman who hurt Locke. “Jess, have you seen this woman in town?”

Jess squints at my phone. “No, no, I would remember her. She looks familiar, though. Who is she?”

“An old girlfriend I don’t want to see. Thank you, Jess.”

She looks up at me and then away. “I wasn’t going to hurt him or anything. I just wanted to feel…”

“Feel what?” I ask her curiously.

She looks up at me. “Feel anything. This town is smothering me. I’m drowning in the sameness day in and day out. I just wanted to experience something new. Maybe fall in love. Is that so wrong?” Her shoulders curl in. “I didn’t realise what I did was wrong. I promise I will never do it again. I’m so embarrassed.”

I pause and then crouch back in front of her. “Jess, if you want to get out of Twin Rivers, we can help you. Erin and I have contacts.”

“I think your girlfriend hates me,” Jess whispers.

“I don’t hate you. I didn’t like your behaviour, but I’ve seen a hell of a lot worse,” Erin says, surprising us both, and moves in to sit beside Jess. “You’re young, what are you, eighteen?”

Jess nods.

“So, this is a lesson. If someone says no, listen,” Erin explains.

Her eyes glitter down at me, seeing all of me. My alpha is kind, wise, strong, funny. She is all the things, and the sheer miracle that she’s here in Twin Rivers falling for me staggers me.

“We can help you, Jess,” Erin says again with a subtle wink in my direction.

“You’d do that?” Jess scrapes her hair back, looking exhausted and scared.

“We would do that. This town is Bray and Finn’s family. I can understand being bitchy. Growing up and learning how to be a female alpha in a world of men was hard. You’re here with barely anyone your own age. You’re lonely. I know how that feels. Let me help you. You have the chance to change and be a good person.”

Jess bursts into noisy tears, so I step back, giving them some space.

What if someone moved the runner? I need to check.

“I’ll be back,” I say to them and rush out. It takes me a few minutes to jog to the Mrs Yowee’s sewing shop. She tuts at me as I enter, but when I climb the stairs, I pause, looking down. I crouch and peel the runner back.

Relief floods me, but just when I let go, I catch sight of something. I reach out and rub my fingers in the corner of the wood joins. It comes away slick and oily.

I bring my fingers to my nose. Oil, most likely cooking oil.

This was deliberate. But who would want to hurt Jess?

In a way, I’m relieved because it means the person who is causing these accidents isn’t here after Locke. This person is attacking everyone.

But in another very real way, I want to get my pack out of town and back home to where it’s safe.

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