Chapter 2 #2
“Yeah, I sure do. I mean, how many times do you see somebody at a vehicle with a dead body in it, and then you almost get run down by a truck, all in the same day?”
“When you put it that way—”
“I’m not putting it that way,” he clarified, with a note of humor. “It is that way. And the only reason I’m not racing in there right now is because I know you’re exhausted, but I also want you to stay safe.”
“You don’t think he’ll come after me at Sterling’s place, do you?” she asked cautiously.
“I have no idea, but I sure don’t want him to know where you live.”
More silence came after that. “Meaning?”
“Think about it. If he’s after you, and he follows you out of that damn parking lot, he’ll find out exactly where you live. He’ll also find Sterling and Grandpa.”
“Thank you for that image,” she snapped.
“You’re welcome,” he replied equally snappy.
She groaned. “I don’t know why I’m pissed off at you because it’s not your fault.”
“You’re pissed off because it’s another intrusion into your life,” he explained. “You can be as pissed off at me all you want. I just want to ensure, no matter whatever the hell is going on, you stay safe.”
In the background she heard him talking to somebody.
“Just come here,” he suggested.
She frowned. He sounded sure, and his tone was calm. “Come where?”
“Come back to the Haven.”
“I can’t just keep living at the Haven,” she protested.
He asked, “Are you tired?”
“Yes, I’m exhausted. Can’t you tell?”
“Yes, I can,” he confirmed. “You’re definitely snippy.” She groaned. Still calm and collected, he added, “And that’s fine. I like snippy.”
“Then you’re one sick puppy,” she snapped and then groaned again. “See? … You’re making me crazy.” When he burst out laughing, it made her smile in spite of herself.
“Will you get any sleep tonight?” he asked.
She groaned. “I honestly don’t know. I’m desperately in need of it.”
“Timber has no problem with you staying here. Get your ass over here.”
She laughed at that. “Now that sounds like Timber.”
“Yeah, it sure does,” he said happily, “and he means it. The last thing we need is anybody finding out where you live.”
“But if he’s following me, he’ll follow me right to you then,” she pointed out. “That’s not good either.”
“I think most of us would be totally okay with that.”
“Yeah, and you are forgetting that I’ve got quite a few Haven people at the farm too, and I don’t think they’ll take kindly to that either.”
“I’ll call Sterling and explain everything.”
“He’ll just tell you to get your ass there and explain in person.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“No, no, no,” she argued. “You don’t need to do that. I’m going home, and I will no doubt head straight for the bed and crash and burn.”
“You sound like you’re already there.”
“I’m already at the crash part for sure,” she muttered, sighing. “I didn’t realize I was as tired as I am.”
“Well, particularly if your boss was hard on you today and for no good reason, in my opinion. I don’t see how she can get away with it.”
“It doesn’t matter. I just need to finish, and, since she’s the one who gives the recommendations, if I come away on the bad side, it’ll be hard to get a job here.”
“Right,” he noted. “Sounds to me that she has way too much power.”
“Maybe, but right now she is the one who wields the power, and I need this job.”
He sighed. “Fine, head for home, and call me the minute you get there.”
“I’m almost there,” she declared, with a note of laughter. “I’ve been driving this whole time I’ve been talking to you.”
“Good, at least you can let me know if Sterling and the guys are there.”
“They are usually home,” she said, “but of course tonight could be the one time they’re out.”
“It could be, but I need to know either way.”
As she pulled in, she noted the place was deserted. “Looks like nobody is here. Grandpa is probably asleep as all his lights are off.”
“Damn, I’m on my way.” And, with that, he disconnected.
She stared down at her phone, wondering when and how she had collected a watchdog.
Not that she was against it, particularly after that close call in the parking lot.
She wasn’t even sure if it really was deliberate, which was why she didn’t want to phone Richard.
What if she was wrong? What if she was just so exhausted that she misconstrued the event?
And maybe it sounded foolish, but she also didn’t want to end up causing chaos where it wasn’t warranted.
She parked her vehicle around the side of the house, tucking it a little farther out of view than she normally would. But just something about what had happened worried her. As she got up to the house, she realized it was 100 percent empty.
Frowning at that, she headed to her room, doctored her knee a bit before lying down for a moment to catch her breath.
When she heard an odd noise downstairs, she froze, slipped downstairs to see what was going on.
When she came around the corner, Sterling was there with a load of groceries in his arms.
He looked at her in surprise and then smiled. “Hey, I wasn’t sure you were home.” Then he saw the look on her face. “What’s the matter?” he asked, and, when she didn’t speak, he raced over to her. “What’s the matter, Chels?”
She let out a deep breath and quickly explained. Looking at her in surprise, he shook his head. “Good God, and you thought I was him?”
She gave him a wan smile and shrugged. “Let’s just say that my nerves are shot enough that I wasn’t sure.”
“Understood,” he replied. “The good news is, it’s just me, and the bad news is, he’s still out there.”
She groaned.
“Cuz, in my world it’s much better to have the enemy you know right at your side, than to have an enemy that you have to keep watching out for.”
She stared at him and then slowly nodded. “I actually prefer that too, now that you mention it. At least if I can see him and can understand what he’s up to, I won’t be so afraid every time I turn around. At least I’ll know where he is—if only I knew who he was.”
“Exactly.” Sterling smiled. “So, the bigger question right now is, was it a true attack, and, if it was, why? And, if it wasn’t, what the hell are these people doing driving like that?”
“As far as I’m concerned, it was a real attack, an attempt at one anyway. I don’t know anything more outside of the fact that I saw that vehicle.”
Sterling sighed. “At least you saw the vehicle.” Then he looked out the window and nodded with a smile. “And here comes the cowboy.”
She looked out to see Joel racing toward her. She stepped out on the deck and couldn’t miss the look of relief on his face when he saw her.
“I’ve been calling you for the last twenty minutes,” he cried out, pushing her back inside.
Startled, she pulled out her phone and winced. “I turned it off when you said you were on your way here,” she confessed. “I didn’t even think about that. I’m sorry.”
He grabbed her, pulling her into his arms for a big hug. “That’s fine,” he muttered, “but, Jesus Christ, I died twenty times over.”
She wrapped her arms around him and just hung on. “I don’t like this,” she muttered against his chest.
“I don’t either,” he whispered against her hair. “At the moment though, this is the chaos that we have. I’m just not quite sure how or why.”
“I don’t care about the how or the why,” she wailed. “I just want it all to stop.”
He smiled, rubbed her back gently, then looked over at Sterling. “Did you just get home?”
Sterling nodded. “I did, and she just told me what happened.”
“Yeah, which means as far as I’m concerned—”
“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Sterling stated grimly. “I’ll be home for the next few days, and I just picked up supplies so I could stay here and could get some work done.”
Joel laughed. “As if you don’t get a ton of work done now? Plus, I heard Timber talking about sending the new dogs over here, once they are cleaned up, evaluated, and inoculated. Just so you can pick out the best ones to train. So you’re doing that as well as updating the farm?”
Sterling perked up at the thought of that. “Yep, I did tell him that I would love to do that again. Just more to set up here at the farm though.”
Joel nodded. “It’s never-ending, isn’t it?”
“Well, I want to think not, but then shit happens or things break, and it’s just like back at the Haven. I mean, as soon as you do one thing, twelve other things break, and you have to handle that much more.”
“Oh, I hear you.” Joel smiled. “As the newest guy, I do whatever needs to be done for anybody out there, and I tell you that it just never seems to end.”