Page 23 of What Lies in the Woods

Idiot, idiot, idiot, I berated myself. Branches snagged at my arms.You’re going to die, you’re going to die.

But there was the road, and my car, and the anemic glow of the streetlight. I wrenched open the door and shot inside, slamming it behind me. With the doors locked, I remembered to breathe. I bent over with my fists pressed against my stomach, forcing in one lungful after another.

Had there even been someone else out there? I could have imagined it, couldn’t I, that shadow in the trees? My mind was wheeling with memories, with the memory of pain and fear. Who else would be out there in the middle of the night? Why the hell would they run?

So I’d imagined it. I’d gotten drunk, fallen down in the forest, and mistaken a tree for an ax murderer.

I didn’t really believe it. But I wanted to, and I tried to, and it was almost the same thing.

A rap on the car window woke me with a jerk. Chief Bishop stood outside, scowling, a navy baseball cap protecting her hair from the steady drizzle. I’d fallen asleep crammed in the driver’s-side seat, a dignified line of drool running from the corner of my mouth to my chin. I scraped it off with my sleeve and rolled down the window, squinting in the early morning light.

“Morning,” I croaked.

“Looks like you made some less than optimal decisions last night,” Bishop said.

“That’s an accurate assessment,” I acknowledged. My throat felt like sandpaper.

She gave me a skeptical look. “Ms. Shaw, what are you doing out here?”

“You know, it seemed therapeutic last night,” I said, not bothering to correct her. I’d always be Naomi Shaw here. “Can’t fucking remember why.” I rubbed sleep grime from my eyes and blinked a bit. “Are you going to cite me for something?”

“Sheer stupidity?” she suggested.

“What’s the fine on that, like fifty bucks?” I asked.

“If I write the Miracle Girl of Chester a ticket, the city council will send me packing,” she informed me. “But you are parked practically in the middle of the street just past a blind curve, you stink of booze, and you look like you got in a fight with a tree and lost. I need to know thatif I let you drive off, you’re not going to wrap yourself around a lamppost half a mile down the road.”

“I’m good,” I said. Apart from the splitting headache and the dead-squirrel taste in my mouth. Bishop considered me for a long moment. I squinted at her. “Seriously. Hungover, not still drunk, hand to God.”

She sighed. “Find a better place to sleep tonight,” she told me, and thumped the roof of my car in farewell. I waited until she’d driven past me to start up the engine.

I managed to get into my room at the motel without anyone seeing me, and by the time I got cleaned up it was a more reasonable hour. My phone was buzzing on the bed. Mitch. I picked it up to reject the call, but then I sighed and answered.

“Hey.”

“Naomi. Hi.” He sounded startled that I’d actually picked up. I was a bit shocked myself.

“What’s up?” I prompted, toweling off my hair with my other hand.

“I just called to say… Look, I’m sorry about the way we left things. I get it. I guess things haven’t been great for a while now. We’ve just being going through the motions. Maybe this was inevitable. I just wish it hadn’t happened like this.”

Shit. Was Mitch breaking up with me?

No, I’d broken up with him. Hadn’t I? Yes. Yes, this was definitely my decision. So I shouldn’t be upset. I had no right to be upset.

“It’s for the best,” I offered. “You can do better.”

“I don’t know about that,” he said a forced chuckle. “You and I—”

“I don’t really want to hash this out over the phone,” I said quickly. The breakup postmortem was my least favorite relationship ritual.

“Right, right. Anyway, I don’t know how long you’re going to be up there, but you got some mail—bills, looks like a couple checks. I can forward it along to you if you want.”

“I’ll be back this weekend,” I said. “I’ve got a wedding to shoot on Saturday and an engagement session on Sunday. I’ll pick up my mail and some of my stuff.”

“You’re going to stay out there a while, then?”

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