Page 27 of Walking Red Flag

“Glad I caught you, then,” he said from the mouth of the bathroom. “I was just riding around and spotted you. You live close to here?”

I explained where I lived, and he frowned. “Running on the road like that is really dangerous, Go. I don’t think you should do it. There’s no shoulder, and there are a lot of crazy people out here that don’t know how to drive.”

He had a point.

Plus, that podcast had freaked me out.

The trail was more populated than the road I’d been on…

“I’ll run on the trail,” I said to allay his fears. “This key is to get into the building. Will you be there all day?”

He nodded. “I will.”

“Then I’ll come up there and get the key, then go make a copy of it, and bring you one back once I’m done.” I looked down at my watch. “I still have another thirteen miles to go.”

His brows rose. “You’re running that much?”

I smiled, albeit a bit sadly. “Yeah, my friend urged me to sign up for a trail marathon run with her, and it’s next month. This’ll be my longest run before I start to taper down.”

He watched me for a long second before he said, “Stay to the trail. And be careful.”

I smiled. “I will.”

And I would.

I’d stick to the main trail this time.

He tucked my keys into his pocket and said, “You don’t need any more of these keys?”

“No, I have an app that will lock it.” I said. “I left the biggest key, my car key, locked in the car. Those keys are just the ones for the office, and to be quite honest, I don’t even know why I brought them.”

He patted the keys in his pocket and jerked his chin. “Seriously, be careful.”

I smiled. “I will.”

When I started my run again, I could feel his eyes trailing me as I went.

I hated the moment I rounded a bend of the trail and the trees closed in on me, blocking my view of him.

I don’t know why, but he made me feel so…protected.

And warm.

Definitely very warm.

I was finally feeling better about everything when, an hour into my run, I ran into Hazel and her friend.

The deer in the headlights look on Hazel’s face was enough for me to realize that I didn’t want to talk to her.

I ran right past them both, and didn’t stop.

I’d deal with Hazel later.

Maybe.

If she actually spoke to me.

But for now, I’d listen to my creepy true crime podcast about women getting murdered on a trail in the middle of the woods and forget about everything else.

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