Page 35 of Bound By Truth (An Island Bound Novel)

Reed sucked in a breath. No point in getting ahead of himself. He knew better than most not to judge someone until they had all the facts.

* * *

Sierra woke with a start. Where was she? She’d fallen asleep on a couch, and was slumped at an awkward angle, half-sitting, half-lying.

Then it all came back to her. She was at Reed’s place. She lifted a hand and touched the side of her head. It was sore, she’d need some more painkillers soon. The clock above Reed’s TV said it was nearly five. She must’ve fallen asleep almost as soon as Reed left. But she was feeling a little better after her three-hour nap.

Stretching gingerly, she tested the soreness in her ribs. She could barely lift her hands up above her head. She was going to be stiff for a few days to come yet. The ice pack had slipped off her knee during her nap, and she reached down to pluck it off the floor, before getting up to her feet. Wow, her whole body ached. Shuffling to the kitchen, she flipped the kettle on and searched for a mug. A hot, sweet cup of tea was in order. As she waited for the water to boil, she checked in Reed’s refrigerator. He’d said to help herself. She couldn’t believe how much she’d relied on him today. Needed him. She wanted to thank him for all his help. As her gaze roamed over the sparse food in the fridge, an idea took hold.

The very least she could do was to cook him a nice dinner, he had said he would be home by then. It was a start to show how much she appreciated his help.

Sierra glanced out the window. The glow of the setting sun was lighting up the high clouds with a tinge of pink. Drakes supermarket was only a five-minute walk from Reed’s place. She could be there and back before it got truly dark. Drakes also stocked a lot of local produce from the island, and they would have the ingredients she needed for the dish she had in mind. And a walk out in the fresh air would do her good, perhaps loosen up some of the stiffness in her legs and body. She remembered Reed had told her to stay put, but surely that didn’t mean she wasn’t allowed to pop down to the market for a few minutes? Now where did she leave those painkillers the doctor had given her?

Ten minutes later, Sierra entered the glass sliding doors of the supermarket, happy to be out of the biting wind. At first, she’d had to force her legs to move. They protested for a few minutes before she got warmed up and moving. Her knee still hurt, and she couldn’t quite hide the limp, but on the whole, she was glad she’d decided to get out.

She headed straight for the wide, glass-fronted, deli section, eager to see if they had any venison in stock. There was one local deer farm on the island, and their products were just scrumptious.

“Sierra, fancy seeing you again.” The familiar voice came from behind her left shoulder, and she tensed before turning around.

“Blake,” she replied woodenly, taking an unconscious step away from him and crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Twice in two days. Imagine that.” Her heart began to thump in her chest. Surely this was just a coincidence. Nothing more. Of course, he wasn’t following her. This was a small island; she was bound to run into him occasionally. She stared up at him. He really was handsome, tall, blonde, blue-eyed, with a square jaw most men would kill for. Sierra searched for any kind of reaction within her body at the sight of him. Nope, not a thing. Instead, an image of Reed, shirtless, played in front of her mind’s eye.

“Yeah, imagine.” His mouth quirked into a wry half-smile. But the smile didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Not under the best of circumstances, though. What’s going on? I thought I was moving to an island haven, away from all this kind of shit they get on the mainland.” He shook his head, his shaggy, blonde, surfer locks swinging into his eyes. Then his eyes widened as he noticed the bruising on her face.

“Are you okay?” He reached up, as if to touch her face, and she moved away even farther.

“Don’t touch me.” The words were out before she could stop them.

He narrowed his eyes and lowered his hand. She hadn’t meant to offend. But he didn’t have a right to touch her. Not anymore. And after all the strange things that’d happened to her in the last little while, she had a right to be wary. Didn’t she?

“Oh, your car. Something happened to your car today.”

“What?” How the bloody hell did he know about her car? Sierra drew farther away until her butt came to rest up against the edge of the deli counter. How could he possibly know about the car accident? If he knew, then…Did he have something to do with it?

“I saw a car being towed into the auto shop as I drove into town this afternoon. I thought it looked like yours. Was it your car? Fuck, Sierra, were you in a car accident?”

She studied his face carefully. There seemed to be genuine concern hovering in the questions behind his eyes. But it was getting so she didn’t know what to believe anymore. She couldn’t even trust her own judgement.

“Yes,” she admitted slowly. Was that true? Had he seen her car being towed? Or did he know something else? Did he have something to do with her accident? With her chickens? No, surely not. She was just being paranoid. Again, her mind conjured up the way he’d glanced at her yesterday out at the crime scene. Spitefully. As if he did indeed harbor some kind of animosity for her. There was no hint of that look today. His good-looking features were carved with anxiety.

But there was no way she was going to tell him the truth. “I ran off the road on my way into town today. Ended up in a ditch. Silly really.” She tried to make her voice light, as if it hadn’t been that big a deal. As if she was some stupid woman who got easily distracted when driving.

“Well, thank God you’re okay. I mean, you look okay. Are you?” He seemed suddenly uncertain, that boyish charm gone now. She felt a tug of self-reproach. She was being unkind to him. But right at this particular moment, it was the only way she knew how to handle him. To keep a cold, aloof distance between them.

“I’m fine,” she said, giving him a half-smile. She just wanted him to leave. An awkward silence gathered between them.

Finally, Blake said, “Look, I get it, Sierra. You’re not interested. I must admit, part of the reason I applied for the job on KI was because of you. I thought…Well, I guess it was obvious what I thought. But you’ve made it abundantly clear how you feel.” His last words held a note of bitterness. And that sly lift of his eyebrow was back. The one that made her blood run cold.

Sierra wondered if it was all just talk. She wanted to believe him. But with all the strange stuff going on at the moment, she was finding it hard to trust anyone. Except Reed, a small voice at the back of her head kept repeating.

“Look, Blake…” What did she say? How to make this as painless for both of them as possible? “You’re a great guy. But—”

“Yep, whatever,” he interrupted quickly. “See you round.” Turning on his heel, he strode back down the aisle, effectively dismissing her. An air of disquiet hung around her like a dark cloud and she suddenly wanted to get her shopping done as quickly as possible and get back to Reed’s house.

She hadn’t given it a second thought when she left Reed’s place, but perhaps she’d made a mistake coming here on her own. It was only a short walk back to his guesthouse, but it was nearly dark now. It suddenly hit her that perhaps she should be worried. If it was true, and someone had gone to the trouble of sabotaging her car, what else were they capable of? Was she safe walking the streets of Kingscote by herself anymore?

She quickly gathered the ingredients she needed, hurrying though the supermarket, casting a glance behind her every now and then. There were lots of people here, after a pint of milk, or like her, ingredients for tonight’s dinner. She had no reason to be afraid. And there was no sign of Blake now. But a small voice kept asking, was one of them her stalker? Her hand shook as she handed the cashier the money, and he gave her a curious glance as she tossed everything on top of each other into her shopping bag.

Dashing out between the glass sliding doors, she wasn’t looking where she was going, and hurtled straight into a man standing on the pavement. She let out a tiny scream before she could stop herself as a pair of arms came up to steady her.

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