Page 79 of Mine to Protect

“I’m not wearing any.”

Sadie’s dark brows furrowed together. “How convenient for you.”

“Thanks?”

The boys struck up a side conversation, probably to avoid the creepy one I was trapped in.

Leaning closer, Sadie propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. With a smile, most likely to make it look like a happy conversation, though I knew right away it wouldn’t be, she whispered, “I don’t care that he loves you. He’ll love me more in the end. They always do.”

The noises of the bar came roaring back to life as I watched her lean back against John’s shoulder with a menacing smirk.

Chandler was quick to discount my thoughts of the person abducting the women being a woman or at least a killing team, but I wasn’t.

I had to find a way to tie her back to Tennessee. There had to be one. Sadie had to be a part of it in some way.

Because this was real life, not some stupid horror movie. I mean, what were the odds of two psychopaths being in the same small town?

26

Alta

Streetlights and darkenedstorefronts whizzed by outside the window on our way back home. After Sadie’s comments, the impromptu meeting only lasted long enough for someone to snag the waitress and pay the bill. Even Cas and Chandler couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

“I see what you meant by creepy,” Chandler said while trying to stifle a yawn with a fist against his lips. Wrist on top of the steering wheel, he weaved in and out of the late-evening traffic. “I still don’t think she has anything to do with the case and everything happening with you, but no doubt there’s something going on there.” Switching hands, he shifted in his seat to lean closer to the center console. “I’ll check her out. If not for your sake, John’s. He’s an idiot getting involved with that level of crazy.”

A part of me felt validated that it wasn’t only me who saw her crazy, but another part felt sorry for her. If Sarah’s story was true about Sadie running from a bad relationship, maybe she was just a bit broken like me and didn’t know how to be normal.

The two men joked back and forth about the various crazies they dated in the past, but I tuned them out to stare out the window into the growing darkness as we drove out of town.

Everything had to be linked to me. But why? Who did I piss off so badly in Tennessee that he started abducting women, one of whom was a federal officer, and followed me here? Ever since Chandler brought up going through my files from that final year, I tried to recall anything memorable from those last twelve months, but nothing came to mind.

“Most women go their whole lives without being the object of someone's obsession,” I said to no one in particular. My hot breath fogged a small patch of the cold window. With my pinkie finger, I made two dots for eyes and a frown before it vanished. “And here I am having it happen twice in less than a decade.”

Silence reigned for the rest of the drive. Sadness at the situation I’d somehow found myself in again settled deep, making my thoughts heavy. A single tear slipped from the inside corner of my eye, leaving a damp trail down my cheek. Not wanting the two to notice me quietly breaking, I swiped it away with the back of my hand, removing the evidence of my weakness.

By the time the loose gravel of the drive up to my cabin rattled under the tires, my eyelids were almost too heavy to keep open until the Suburban slammed to a halt, throwing me against the seat belt with a jolt.

“What the—”

Every nerve shifted from sleepy to high alert at the familiar slide of a gun engaging. Shifting to look around the SUV, my eyes widened at Cas and Chandler situating their clips and handguns like they were about to head into battle.

“Stay in the car, Alta,” Cas commanded. “Chandler, on my six.”

“What—”

“Lock the doors after us,” Chandler said in a tense, no-nonsense tone he hadn’t used before.

First my fingers, then my whole hand trembled. It started making its way up my arms as the two stepped out into the elements. The leather seat groaned as I shifted to watch the two stalk toward the front door of my cabin, using pointed hand gestures to communicate.

Only then did I notice the cabin. A sliver of light from the inside shone through a gap between the door and the frame. I studied the bit of light, brows furrowed, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Either Cas forgot to shut the door when we left, or…

Someone had broken in.

The two men prowled up the steps. Dread dropped in my stomach like a lead weight.

What if the person was still in there?

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