Page 6 of The Lair

Putting my phone back inside my pocket, I started to peel off the wet label on the bottle, thinking about my options. As I saw it, I had three.

One was to keep moving. After years on the road, I was finally where I wanted to be. I was here, in Maine, at last. I’d made it. Nobody was forcing me to leave or stay or do anything at all.

Option two was to go back the way I came. Once they gave my car the green light, I could drive anywhere in the country, and that notion made me breathe a little easier. I didn’t miss the scorching sun of Texas or the incessant traffic of North Carolina, but maybe I felt like that because deep down, I knew I was simply passing by every place I’d been to.

And option three…

Was I really considering option three?

Two hours ago, I didn’t know Bannport existed, and now I was thinking about staying here for good? Or at least until I had a more solid plan.

I pulled out my phone again. A quick search online told me Bannport was far more popular than I initially gave it credit for. Bannport Lake was a big tourist attraction during the summer, and so were the hiking trails not far from here. The town celebrated some kind of music festival in the spring, and there was even a museum only ten minutes away.

A school, several bars and supermarkets, a gym, hair and nail salons, a bank, a farmers’ market, a library…

Fine, so maybe Bannport wasn’t some random godforsaken town after all. Who would’ve known.

I was still undecided when bear-man came back with the most delicious-smelling burger I’d ever seen. But I didn’t let the goodness in front of me distract me for too long. I was a woman on a mission. One I wasn’t too sure about in the first place, but life was about living and taking risks.

Now that I finally had the privilege of freedom, I wasn’t going to let self-doubts take it from me. I owed it to myself after what I’d survived.

“Hey,” I called out to the man as he retreated without a word.

He didn’t turn around, not fully. Those attentive eyes surveilled me from over his shoulder, and the words almost got stuck in my tongue.

“Could you point me to a nearby inn or a hotel, please?”

I was doing it. I was staying in Bannport, at least for a night. I had enough money to last me about six weeks if I couldn’t find a job, and that was if I cut my expenses by half again.

But it was fine. I’d done it before, and I could do it again as many times as I needed to. Anything was better than my old life.

“There’s a hotel down the street.”

Was that a grumble?

“Could you write down the address for me, please?”

He disappeared behind the bar without giving me a proper answer. Maybe I was testing his patience, or maybe I was overthinking my interactions with him way too much. Both seemed plausible.

If he didn’t want to help me, I could find a hotel on my own. I was by no means a stranger to being independent, to doing things myself because nobody was going to step in and help. I didn’t need anyone to.

Three bites into my burger, though, a piece of paper landed next to my empty beer. I arched an eyebrow, mouth full of beef. Slowly, I swallowed.

His only answer was “The hotel.”

I examined his neat handwriting for all of two seconds before I saw him move out of the corner of my eye.

And then I did something that altered the course of my life forever.

“I saw you’re hiring.”

Chapter Two

I keepmy gaze trained on the shot glasses I’m filling with tequila, the loud tables of hockey fans shouting over the sound of the TV. Drunk laughter engulfs me, along with the unmistakable click of glasses meeting one another.

Bannport really fooled me. There’s nothing small about this small town’s Saturday nights, especially not when hockey is on.

Someone slams their fists into the bar, turning the tequila shots I was pouring into a small waterfall. I lose count of the number of times patrons have called my name or at least have called for me—beautifulseems to be a favorite tonight.

---