Page 18 of Haunted

We spent the next few moments in relative silence as we tucked into our meal, however, my growing curiosity, coupled with what little I’d learned when I was trying to find her, won out.

“Why are you living in your car, Henley?”

The fork she was holding crashed into the plate with a clang, sending bits of egg flying through the air. I’m not sure what I expected when I made the decision to ask the one question which had been burning a hole in my gut, but thelook of utter defeat as she lowered her head to her chest was not it.

“I-I—” she stammered.

“Fuck.” Stretching my arm out, I covered her hand with my own. “I’m sorry, baby. You don’t have to explain a damn thing to me right now.”

“I-It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, Keaton. I’m embarrassed.”

The tremble in her voice broke something inside of me. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms where nothing bad would ever touch her. Sadly, we weren’t there yet, and if I continued to let her tear herself apart over information I already had, we never would be.

For the first time in my life, I was perilously close to the only thing I swore I’d never have—a future—and I didn’t give a flying fuck. Desperation to have a whole host of tomorrows with this woman bled from my pores. Down to the depths of my haunted soul, I knew with absolute certainty, Henley Graves had crossed my path for a reason. The pull between us was too intoxicating—too electrifying—to be anything other than fate.

Praying my initial deception wouldn't eradicate what we were starting to build, I decided to give my Little Bird the truth.

“Remember when I said I’d been looking for you?” She nodded, still refusing to look at me. Squeezing her hand, I continued, “My job comes with nearly unlimited resources and an incredibly talented team, Henley. During my search, I found out you’d been expelled from Marshall.”

Her eyes snapped to mine, wetness brimming along the bottom lashes, making me feel like an asshole for not breaking the news more gently. Snatching her hand away, she stood abruptly and headed for the front door. Before Icould stop her though, she whirled around, pinning me with an expression which bordered between anger and despair, raising my hackles and my heart rate instantaneously.

“No. He doesn’t get to win this time.”

“Who, Henley? What are you talking about?”

Slowly, I stepped toward her, unable to maintain the distance between us.

“I didn’t do what they accused me of.” The fingers of one hand began to vigorously rub back and forth along her left hip. “I didn’t plagiarize anything. I swear on my life I didn’t.”

“I believe you, Little Bird.” My voice was soft and unwavering, which was a complete contrast to the tumultuous storm brewing in my mind.

Christ, anyone who spent five minutes alone with her would know Henley hadn’t so much as cheated on a grammar test let alone plagiarized a college paper. It hadn’t made sense when I’d read about it on her transcripts and witnessing the current level of her distress only solidified my previous conclusions. She’d been set up.

“You do?” she asked.

“Yeah—”

I was cut off from saying anything further by a text alert on my cell seconds before it started to ring. Never a good sign.

Holding up a finger, I crossed the room, grabbing the device off the kitchen counter while noting the name of the caller. Swiping across the screen, I put the phone to my ear and answered, “What couldn’t wait an hour, Noah?”

“We’ve got another body.”

I hated leaving Henley, especially since we’d been interrupted before I had a chance to circle back to find out who thishewas she’d mentioned. Unfortunately, crime wasn’t courteous nor was it convenient, but make no mistake about it, we would be revisiting our earlier conversation.

Before she left, I was able to ascertain she’d be working at a diner called Over Easy until around six that night. I tried everything short of bribery to convince her to stay at my place until her shift started, which went about as smoothly as a cotton ball over a block of sandpaper. My little bird had sharp talons and she wasn’t afraid to use them when she felt cornered. Of course, she had no idea how close her words had come to hitting home.

We were at the front door, her hand wrapped around the knob.

“Please, Henley. It’ll make me feel better knowing you're safe and warm.”

“I appreciate the offer, really I do?—”

“You can’t honestly tell me you feel safer in your car,” I cut her off.

She huffed, spun around, and put her hands on her hips. I’d been standing directly behind her so the move brought us intimately closer. I hadn’t paid attention to our height difference until then, but her head barely reached my shoulders.

“Listen, Keaton. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. We met like five minutes ago and for all I know, you could be a crazed killer with a foot fetish. Which,” she stammered, “by the way, I don’t think you are, but still, a girl can never be too careful.”

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