Page 96 of A Stranger in Town (Rockton 6)

“I think she came for the guy Colin killed. She saw he was dead, freaked out, saw Colin and really freaked out.”

Dalton curses. “They must have been tracking him together.”

“Exactly what I figured. Anyway, I’ll explain later. Right now, if you’re safe, we need to get back to Petra.” I pause. “I may have gotten a little pissed off at her.”

“Ah.”

“Yep, I planned to confront her, but not quite like that.”

“Did she deny it?”

I shake my head. “No denial. No anger. Totally calm and collected.”

“Bitch,” he mutters.

“Right?” I say. “Damn her for not waving a gun in my face, telling me I’ve got it all wrong and if I tell anyone my crazy theory, I’ll be sorry.” I hug him again. “Thank you for understanding that her reaction only pisses me off more.”

“It hurts you,” he says. “But yeah, we’ll go with pisses you off, if that helps.”

“It does.” I kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

* * *

The place where I left Petra and Colin is empty.

Earlier, I’d almost overshot it, and then even when I reached them, I’d mentally mused at how unremarkable the spot was.

As I’d chased Storm’s barks, I’d taken note of my path as best I could, so I could find my way back. All that was unnecessary. I had someone with me who could have found their way back even if we’d still been in the middle of a thunderstorm. Apologies to Storm, but it’s not her.

Dalton led the way, and

as we approached the place, my mind began ticking off landmarks with small nods of satisfaction. Then we reach the actual spot, and I find myself hoping Dalton has made a mistake.

He has not made a mistake. There’s a dead hostile on the ground, exactly where we left him, leaving zero doubt that this is the spot.

“Paula!” I shout, my voice echoing in the night. “Paula!”

“Petra!” Dalton’s shout is a snarl that cuts above mine.

It’s possible the hostiles returned and kidnapped Petra and Colin. Neither of us even voices that idea, though, because if it happened, there’d be at least one more dead hostile on the ground. Petra had a gun, and she would use it.

Did she use it … to take Colin hostage?

I still want to believe she only retreated to Rockton. Took Colin back and left some message here that I can’t see. Yet I fear the scenario I imagined earlier, where Émilie and Petra flee. Where they don’t dare stand their ground and try to explain away Émilie’s culpability. Where they fear that we won’t let them explain—that we’ll demand truth and reparations, neither of which is in their interests.

So what are you going to do about it?

I knew she’d been worried about what I planned to do with my information, how it might affect Émilie. Yet I left her here and I ran, and I can seethe at that, but if it played out again, I’d do the same thing. Dalton and Storm were in trouble.

We comb the spot they left behind. The pack—with Colin’s sat phone—is gone. The dead hostile remains exactly as we left him and so does everything else. I do find signs of a scuffle in the dirt.

We follow Petra’s trail, even as we realize it’s pointless. She helped raise and train Storm. She knows what our dog can do, and sure enough, we haven’t gone more than fifty feet before the trail ends at a stream, where she must have ordered Colin barefoot as they waded in freezing-cold water. I only hope the poor guy doesn’t lose toes to frostbite.

I keep thinking about Colin. The guy who came here because he was worried about his clients. Came to save them and ended up attacked and blinded, and now kidnapped.

We don’t try very hard to find the trail again. There’s little point. Petra’s heading to Rockton. Slip in under cover of night, warn Émilie, and the two of them will fly out in her grandmother’s plane. As for why she took Colin, the angry part of me wanted to insist he’s a hostage, in case she needs leverage. The calmer side admits that she likely took him because it would be wrong to abandon a blind man in a forest with hostiles who want him dead. She’ll take him to Rockton and leave him there, safely.

Petra already has a head start. The creek trick, though, will have cost her time. She’s only done that to ensure we don’t follow her direct trail. Now she’s on her way to town. The only problem? In diverting for the creek, she may stumble around in the general direction of Rockton before finding the trail. So we have an advantage, and we use it, hightailing it to the trail and proceeding along it far faster than a woman leading a blind guy.

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