Page 48 of Bound By Truth (An Island Bound Novel)

After fifteen minutes of hard slogging through the forest, Sierra was out of breath and wishing she’d brought a bottle of water with her. This property went back farther than she thought. She was suddenly grateful for her long legs and glad she kept her fitness level up with lots of walking and swimming. Her bruised knee was beginning to ache with every step, however, and she stopped to give it a rub, ease some of the pain out of the tendons.

This place was really out of the way. Someone would have to be looking hard to find it. She thought the trees were thinning a little up ahead, and after another few more minutes, she was rewarded by a large clearing, and the square shapes of buildings morphing out of the forest.

Sierra stopped just inside the edge of the tree-line, and surveyed the structures in front of her. There were three of them, all huddled together a short way away. Long grass romped around the base of the buildings, and they looked deserted and uncared for. It was gloomy in here, surrounded on all sides by towering eucalyptus trees. Some people might like it, this closed-in view of wild scrubland and nothing else. A tree change, some might call it. But personally, she liked to be able to see the sky, and the ocean, the feeling of being unconfined.

She stared at the small farm for many long moments, looking for movement, signs that Evan might be here somewhere. There was no car parked nearby that she could see.

It would do no good standing here all day, so in the end she decided to move forward, head around the back of the first building, which looked to be a small tin shed, rusted through in many places. Her steps were quiet and precise. Stealthy, stalking toward the structure. What was she expecting to find? Did she really think she was going to come across a clue? Something to point to the fact Evan was a child abductor. That he had taken Jessica? It was preposterous. So why was she being so covert? She had no idea, really. All she had was a gut feeling, and her gut had been right in the past.

A circumnavigation of the small shed did nothing to enlighten her as to its contents. There were no windows, and only one small door, locked with a big padlock. The ground around the shed looked undisturbed, as if no one had been near it in a long time. Sierra found a small hole and put one eye to it, to try and see inside. It was dark and dingy, and from what she could see, completely empty. Nothing moved in there. It was all hushed and still. Not even the scuffle of a fleeing rat, or a bird tweeting.

Actually, the dead silence was starting to unnerve her. It was creepy. Sierra felt as if there were eyes boring into the back of her neck. She turned suddenly, and stared back the way she’d come. Then she gave a quiet laugh. There was nothing out there, she was being stupid. Nevertheless, she scrabbled in her bag and got out her cell phone, checked for reception. Shit, it wasn’t good, it oscillated between one bar and nothing. Mostly nothing. But she kept the phone in her hand.

“Hello, Sierra.”

She jumped and nearly screamed before she could cover her mouth. Then her hand flew up to press against her heart, which was about to beat right out of her chest.

“Shit, Reed, you bloody scared me,” she hissed, forgetting for a second that she was mad at him.

Reed stepped out from behind the corner of the shed and gave her one of those laconic grins, the one where the dimple in his chin showed. Had he been hiding from her? Stalking her? Her heart lurched at the sight of him, standing all tall and manly. Dark and dangerous. And very, very tempting. But then the terrible memories came crashing back down on her. She crossed her arms and took a step away from him. His grin evaporated as fast as it’d appeared.

“What are you doing here?” Her voice had regained some composure and was now cold, her tone slashing at him like a knife. And if her words weren’t enough, she also shot daggers at him with her eyes, warning him not to come any closer.

“I could ask you the same question.” His dark eyebrows lowered as he gave her one of his cop stares. Oh, no, he didn’t. He didn’t get to pull his cop card on her. Not now. Not ever.

“None of your bloody business,” she replied, jutting her chin at him in defiance.

“Well, actually, it is my business. You seem to be trespassing on someone else’s property.”

How did she get rid of him? The last thing she needed was Reed here, upsetting her equilibrium, so she could barely think straight. He was getting in the way of her investigation, was going to ruin it.

She glared at him, willing him to leave her alone.

“I got a text from your friend. Kylie, was it? I was worried about you, Sierra. Actually, I was scared shitless. I thought…” He didn’t need to finish his sentence, she knew what he thought. He was worried the stalker had got hold of her. He took a step toward her and she flinched backward.

“Don’t. Don’t you dare touch me,” she snarled with such force that he recoiled, as well. Good. She didn’t want him anywhere near her. Didn’t trust herself. If he touched her, all of her carefully constructed walls and excuses might crumble. She might even want to forgive him. And that wasn’t going to happen. She was never going to forgive him.

“Sierra, I…” He raised his hands, palm upwards, but she continued to glare at him. He sighed and looked away. But not before she saw the pain flash through his eyes. Too bad. She told herself she was glad he was hurting. Because it couldn’t be nearly as bad as how she was feeling.

“You may as well tell me what you’re doing here, because I’m not leaving until you do.” His voice was harsh now, all signs of the pain she’d seen before gone. The proficient cop was back. And he almost sounded angry. He had no right to be angry at her.

Shit. She could leave. She could turn around and storm back the way she’d come, toward her car and the road. But then she’d never know if her gut instinct had been right. And she was here now.

The bare minimum, that was all she’d tell him, no more. Then, as soon as they were sure there was nothing out here, she was getting the hell away from him. She glanced at him and then away. Her chest ached every time she looked at him. Because, for a second, she forgot what he’d done and her fingers wanted to go and tangle in his hair, pull his firm mouth down onto hers and have him kiss her.

But that was not going to happen again. Not now. Not ever.

“This place belongs to Evan, the guy who owns the newsstand in Penneshaw,” she began, not bothering to keep the begrudging note out of her voice.

Reed squared his shoulders, his gaze fixed on hers, intelligent eyes taking in every word she said.

“The other night, when you found me talking to him near the supermarket, I remembered he dropped a packet of candies.”

“Mmhmm,” he encouraged.

“They were caramels.” Sierra wanted to roll her eyes when he didn’t immediately twig to what she meant, but she kept her face deadpan. “The same kind as the wrapper we found on the edge of the road that day. And there was also a child’s hat in the bag. Evan doesn’t have any kids.”

Finally, his eyes widened with surprise, then quickly became shrewd and thoughtful. “Do you think he had something to do with Jessica’s disappearance?”

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