Page 75 of In Hiding

“I have no doubt it was, but if you’re a killer, then why did you let him live?”

Erik had asked himself the same question a hundred times over and never once had he found an answer. “I don’t know.”

Magnus nodded. “Because you are not a murderer.”

The vehicle slowed before Magnus took a left-hand turn into a private driveway. They followed the drive, lined either side with dormant roses, up to a sprawling homestead. Beyond it, Erik glimpsed smaller dwellings. They looked like cottages. Magnus brought the vehicle to a stop at the bottom of stairs that led to the homestead.

As the engine idled, Magnus turned to him again. “My wife saved my soul. Without her, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I would gladly step in front of a bullet for her. I thought I would’ve happily killed for her but when the moment arrived, I found I couldn’t. She changed me, brought me back from the brink.”

Up on the veranda, a figure stepped out of the home. Dressed for the weather, he jogged down the steps and climbed into the back seat. Magnus smiled over his shoulder as a hand ruffled his hair.

“This is Hollywood, the man I was telling you about.”

Erik twisted in his seat to shake Hollywood’s hand. “He shot you?”

Hollywood chuckled, his blue eyes bright in the morning light. “Ignore him. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

Erik frowned at their banter, not understanding it. He’d thought prison a strange reality. Turned out Wills Crossing wasn’t terribly different. Behind the wheel, Magnus sighed emphatically.

“I was trying to tell our new friend, Erik, here, that he’s not a murderer.”

“Oh,” Hollywood appeared to play along. “Well, Magnus has a point, Erik. Have you shot any of your friends lately? Did you hold your mate’s girlfriend hostage?”

Gob smacked, he stayed quiet.

“No, and no,” Magnus answered for him. “He merely assaulted the man who tried to kill his sister.”

Hollywood patted his shoulder from the backseat. “Perfectly normal. Drive on.”

The strange conversation turned Erik’s head upside down as Magnus drove back toward the road. At the end of the drive, he turned left and continued up the winding mountain road.

“Where are we going?”

“Just for a drive,” Magnus said casually. “Keep your eyes open, you might see something familiar. Say, Hollywood, you need to get out and clear the roads.”

Hollywood made a disgruntled noise. “I have another baby on the way and no time. I really need to hire someone.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Erik saw Magnus look at him and understood they expected him to be that someone. He kept his eyes forward and watched the road ahead. The higher they climbed, the colder and snowier it got. There were no tire tracks in the snow, no hint of anyone up this way and he had half a mind to tell Magnus to turn back toward town. If there was no one who needed the road plowed, why bring him here?

Then he saw it.

A letter box to the right.

Andersen.

His heart stuttered in his chest as the car slowed to a stop. He hadn’t been here in more than twenty years. The last time they’d visited their great aunt, he and his little sister had spent hours foraging in the forest looking for lizards. He’d been young enough to have no idea where this place was and the intervening decades had eroded most of the memories they’d made.

Except the letter box. He smiled as he remembered back to his youth.

The driveway leading right disappeared up a steep embankment. From the road, he couldn’t see anything on the other end. No house. No cars. No sign she was here, but they wouldn’t have brought him if she wasn’t.

So close and yet so far.

Sarah.

“There are a couple more residences further up the ridge,” Magnus said softly. “The road would need to be plowed once school starts in a week or so, to allow the bus to pass safely. Twice a day, at least.”

“Not to mention the town center,” Hollywood chimed in. “Early morning, late afternoon. That would cover your board.”

---