Page 39 of Haunted Prey

His eyes darkened. “I’m sorry. I thought they would take you somewhere safe.”

“Me too. Guess my uncle trusted the wrong people.”

“He couldn’t sign you out? Did you talk to him?”

“I talked to my aunt. And no, he wouldn’t.” My throat tightened at the memory of Aunt May’s words and the realization they had brought. I didn’t expect to talk to them for a long time if ever again.

“Wouldn’t?”

“Uncle Wes felt it was what was best for me.”

His jaw clenched. “I promise I won’t turn you in. But I can’t help you if they do find you. Was it so bad that you had to run away?”

“Yes. It was.”

“I’ll try to look into it.”

“Like you and your team will look into what was on my laptop?” I glanced at it again.

“You know it’s up to the higher-ups. You did tell them everything, right?”

“Everything I knew.”

“Things take time.”

It didn’t matter. Either way I planned on doing my part whether they did theirs or not.

“Was everything ripped from my laptop?” I asked.

“It wasn’t ripped. We copied and transferred everything important.”

“Are you going to get in trouble for returning it to me?”

He smirked, spiking my annoyance. “No. It took some convincing but it’s yours with all the information left inside. They wanted to wipe it and I said I would but…I let it be knowing how much your work means to you. And because…”

I closed my eyes.Please don’t say it.

“Because I care about you, Eve. I’m sorry for what happened. I wanted to make up for lying to you. I can’t take it back, but I thought…fuck, I don’t know,” he muttered. “I thought maybe this would help. That I’m on your side. Always wanted to be.” I opened my eyes as he leaned in, his face inches from mine. “That monster is gone. I don’t know what he did to you. But I don’t regret what I did. In time, I hope you understand.”

This felt so surreal. He had no clue. Or he was acting like he didn’t. He didn’t want to believe I’d fallen in love with that monster. I bet he forced himself to forget how much I had pleaded for him to go back for Emery and he wouldn’t.

And what could I say? I couldn’t convince him otherwise.

I licked my lips. “Thank you,” I said, “for giving my laptop back.”

He studied me intently, but I didn’t flinch. After a moment, he handed me the bag. Grabbing it, I slipped the strap over my good shoulder.

“Something else you might like to know…” He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a photo, and handed it to me.

I had to choke down the little whimper that rose in my throat.

“So…you found his body then?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. But we’ve talked to the coast guard and the divers. They are certain his body had to be carried pretty far down the river by now with how strong the current had been. So far, we suspect past the island park. But maybe not much farther than that. We aren’t sure. Technically, I’m not supposed to tell you but…thought you might want to know.”

Emery’s mask was dirty and cracked on one side, morphed by the water. It was clear the photo was taken in their evidence room. The mask was placed inside a bag laid out on a metal table.

“Where did you find it?” I didn’t really care. I just wanted him to speak, to distract me from thoughts brewing like a storm in my head, thoughts that might send me over into a dark place I wouldn’t be able to climb out of.

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