Page 57 of Jersey

I know the windows and doors are locked. I checked them again this morning when I got up, and that was after checking them before lying down and suffering through a fitful night of sleep. It seems I can add a little OCD door-and-window checking to my daily routine thanks to Roman and finding several windows unlocked the other night.

With more bravery than I feel, I sneak to the back door, wondering if whoever is out there can see the shadow my form is casting over the curtained window. In the same movement, I flip the back porch light on and sweep the window curtain to the side, shrieking when I see the shadow of someone darting through the yard and disappearing into the line of trees edging the property.

The human form makes it impossible to convince my head that it's a bear or some other creature out looking for something to eat.

My hands shake when I pull up my phone, and my fingers instantly search for the contact information Nolan gave me yesterday.

Me: It's Caitlyn. I need you.

This is the exact reason Eli's dad gave me the phone number. Although I put the information into my contacts, I never imagined I'd have to use it, much less need it less than a day after the information was provided.

Those three little dots pop up, and then they disappear.

This happens several times as I crouch down and press my back to the wall, unsure if the person lurking around my backyard has been completely scared off by the light coming on or if they're simply waiting in the shadows and making a different plan from whatever their original one was.

Roman: I'm sending someone.

He's sending someone? He can't be bothered to come help me himself?

Disappointment hits me in the chest, a sharp, quick punch that I don't have time to prepare for.

I scream, terror running through my veins, when a knock sounds on my front door.

"Caitlyn?"

I don't recognize the voice.

Me: Someone is at my front door. I'm so scared.

Theconfession seems like too much, as if it reveals more than it should to a man who can't be bothered to help me when he vowed that he'd keep me safe. Relying on others has never been a strong suit of mine. I've always known that I had to depend on myself and no one else unless I wanted to be disappointed.

Roman: It's Lark, baby. Let him in.

How is it even possible for the man to show up a minute after I text Roman?

Did he have the guy waiting outside in case something bad happened?

Why would he send someone else instead of being out there or even inside with me?

"I'm going to check around your house," the guy on the front porch says. After being told who he is, I realize I sort of recognize the voice.

I haven't spent much time speaking with anyone at the cabin other than Aspen and Nolan, but I've been in the same vicinity as the others more than once.

I swallow, listening to the footsteps leave my porch, but then there's nothing but silence.

The click of toenails on the kitchen floor draws my eyes to Kiva, who doesn't seem to have a clue what's going on. She stretches out her body, yawning as she walks toward me. I see the confused look in her eyes with me being on the kitchen floor, but she doesn't seem too bothered by it as she uses the opportunity to crawl into my lap. I hold her close, trying to calm my labored breaths by pressing my face into her fur.

A knock on the back door makes me scream a second time, and I realize just how bad I am in stressful situations.

"It's Lark, Dr. Rudd. Can you open the door?"

Kiva, closer this time to the noise, lets out a quick bark, but then she settles back into my arms, unimpressed with what is going on.

"Some guard dog you are," I mutter as I begin to stand and lower her to the floor.

She looks at me, disgust in her eyes at not being given a chance to snuggle, but I realize she's still tired from her interaction with Eli as she saunters back into the living room to find a comfortable place to go back to sleep.

I turn my body sideways as I move to peer out the window because it's something I remember seeing on a crime drama, something about making your person smaller and a harder target if someone wants to shoot or stab you.

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