Page 34 of Silent Threat
The maliciousness of the idea raised goose bumps on her arms. She had a hard time believing anyone would do that. There had to be another explanation.
Cole kept watching her. “You drive around town an average amount?”
She nodded.
“Do you see roadkill always in the same spot, this often?”
She thought about it. “Roadkill yes, but here and there, not concentrated like this. It’s the country. We have animals all over. You see roadkill every day. But not in the same place.”
She had trouble comprehending what that meant. After all the grief and worry and heartbreak she’d felt because she hadn’t been able to save these animals ... someone had done that to her on purpose.
Who would do something like this?
She still didn’t want to accept the possibility. “I don’t think—”
Irritation flashed across Cole’s face as he took her by the shoulders. A shoulder and an elbow, actually, since his injured arm didn’t have full range of motion and couldn’t reach all the way up.
He fairly towered over her, and her breath caught. He really was as big as a bear.
He flashed a dark scowl. He was standing too close, his gaze too heated, his tone clipped when he said, “You can’t brush this off.”
She tried to shrug his hands off, but he was unmovable. “Stop trying to scare me.”
“Stop pretending, dammit! Denial can be as lethal as a hand grenade.” He growled the words.
Chapter Eight
COLD FURY COURSEDthrough Cole at whoever was threatening Annie. Close on fury’s heels came frustration. He couldn’t stand seeing her so crestfallen.
His fingers tightened on her as he drew in a rough breath. “You’re too damned determined to assume the best of everybody.”
She needed to grow up, and in a hurry.
“You’re the most softhearted person I’ve ever known, you know that?” Pure light. Hopelessly unfit for living in a harsh world. He wanted to shake her and snap her into reality. He wanted to protect her.
Maybe if he stopped acting like a Neanderthal, she’d let him.
He dropped his hands.
“I’ll see what I can do about the fence.” He pivoted while she still stood there, wide-eyed at his outburst. He stalked toward the collapsed section, calling over his shoulder, “You call the cops.”
Whoever was messing with her like this had to be a sick and evil man. A sick and evil man Cole meant to hunt down and deal with before he left Broslin.
He glanced back. Annie had wrapped her arms around her midsection. Her gaze cut to the fox, then back to Cole. She looked as if someone had punched her in the gut. “I don’t think the police will care about someone moving roadkill around.”
He turned and took a step back toward her, then decided to stay where he was so he wouldn’t put his hands on her again. “You’ve been stalked. Then dead animals were left for you to find.” He gestured at the fence behind him. “And now destruction of property.”
Because she still wasn’t reaching for her phone, he added. “It’s calledescalation. Whoever wants to terrify you is escalating. Do you understand? Next step could be to harm you physically.”
A shudder ran through her.
Damn if the thought of someone trying to harm her didn’t make Cole’s blood boil. He didn’t enjoy scaring her, but he would hate it even more if she got hurt. “Call the police.”
When she pulled out her cell phone at last, he resumed walking toward the fence, but he kept an eye on her.
She made the call while heading back to her garage, probably to feed her animals.
When she passed out of sight, Cole assessed the damage—more than he could fix here and now. He noted the supplies he’d need: a hole digger, two posts, a ten-foot section of chain link. The rest, he could probably reuse from what lay on the grass. He began separating what he could salvage from what would have to go to the dumpster.
