Chapter 25
25
ALTA
I didn’t smoke. Never even tried it in high school or college.
But right now in the freezing temperatures, with the eerie fog descending on the small parking lot, the idea of a cigarette seemed nice. More than nice, it felt necessary.
Rotating to peer over my shoulder, I sighed. Cas and Chandler were still locked in conversation with the police chief. It ate at my anxious nerves not knowing if this case was connected to the others, but I had to wait. Soon I’d know what they knew.
Headlights beamed through the thick fog as a truck pulled into the back of the parking lot. Only the bright beams were visible as it sat there idling. Lights still on, the driver door swung open. Shielding my eyes from the brightness, I watched as a familiar gait ambled closer.
“Birdie?”
At John’s voice, I pressed up from where I slumped against the metal railing to stand straight. “John? What are you doing here?”
Halfway up the stairs, he stopped. “You look… different.”
At my nod, he continued up the final few steps, which was when I noticed he looked different too. Dressed in slacks, a pressed button-up and a nice coat, and smelling divine too, this John standing in front of me was a far cry from the division manager I was used to seeing—and sometimes harassing—on a daily basis.
“You have a hot date tonight or something?” I joked, trying to ease the weird tension that settled between us. Only it made it worse. His cheeks, already red from the cold wind, blushed even further. “Oh.” Right, stepped into that one.
“She’s in the truck,” he said with a resigned sigh. “Agent Peters said someone in town went missing, and I wanted to see if it had anything to do with the cases in the park.”
“Me too,” I mused before glancing back to the idling truck. “I don’t know how much longer they’ll be. I can tell Chandler to give you a call after, if you want to get back to your date.”
“Nah.” He leaned against the railing that was barely protected from the storm. “I like her, don’t get me wrong. It’s just this case is… consuming, you know.”
I nodded.
After a few seconds of silence, he looked over his shoulder through the glass doors.
“So you and the USPP guy.”
I raised a shoulder and nodded. “He’s not what you think.”
John let out a sarcastic laugh. “Funny, that’s what I was going to tell you.”
Annoyance at his words pricked at my patience. “I’m going inside.” The cold railing bit into my bare palms as I shoved against it.
“Wait.” John tugged on my wrist, pulling me to a halt. “I’m sorry, it’s just… for so long… then he showed up and now everything’s… different. I want you to look at me the way you look at him.” His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
“John,” I breathed. Hand over my heart, I pressed hard to keep it from pounding out of my chest. “I can’t explain it. He makes me feel whole again.”
“How?” he said through clenched teeth. “You’ve known him all of a fucking week, Alta. I’ve known you for two years. What in the hell does he offer that I don’t? I love you, not him.”
My head drooped, allowing my hair to shield me from his exploring eyes. The answer was simple. Cas didn’t want to fix me, didn’t see me as damaged or give me sympathy. No, Cas accepted me and wanted me, all of it. All the broken bits.
“He—”
“You love her?”
We both whirled toward the bottom of the stairs, where Sadie stood glaring at us.
John hurried down toward her. “Sadie, sorry, I?—”
“I thought you said we were here because of the missing women case, not her,” Sadie said, staring past John’s shoulder straight to me. Even in the little light from the flickering bulbs on either side of the doors, her hatred was apparent.
My stomach rolled as unease settled with a bit of fear mixed in. Sarah was right, this chick was unhinged. No way did I want to instigate Sadie to show her true crazy.
John’s voice turned apologetic as he lowered his tone to talk to her without me overhearing.
My frozen hands and numb nose confirmed it was time to go back inside. Initially, I stepped out to get some air away from the stale coffee and day-old donut smells. It was all too similar to the station back home, where I’d visited several times after everything went down in my apartment. Even though no one pressed charges against Beth, lots of paperwork and interviews were needed to make sure the self-defense case was airtight.
Inside the quilted lined pockets of my coat, I worked on shredding each thumb’s cuticle. “I’m going?—”
The two doors at my back swung open, a burst of warm air blowing over my shoulders rustling my hair.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” Cas demanded. Even with my fluffy coat, his grip on my bicep felt tighter than necessary.
“Needed air,” I said, yanking my arm from his grasp before massaging where his hand had been.
Realization flicked behind his eyes as he watched my movements. “Sorry.” Bandaged hand scrubbing at his face, he said, “Don’t walk away like that again, please.”
“Did he hurt you?” John stormed up the stairs, making a beeline for me.
“Can everyone just calm down for a second?” I said, my words dripping with pure annoyance. “What did you two find out in there?”
“You’re not working this case?—”
“Fucking hell,” I yelled, cutting John off. Everyone quieted. I never cussed. Guess Cas was a bad influence after all, but hey, it got them to shut up. “Stop it, would you? I’m sorry you’re not in control anymore, and I’m sorry it’s not going the way you wanted, but stop.” Face burning, I turned to Cas, who wore a cocky smirk. “And you.” His smirk fell. “You could see me the entire time, so don’t act like I was breaking any of your rules. And not only that, but I highly doubt the guy doing all this is stupid enough to snatch me in front of a police station!”
The freezing rain trickled in the parking lot as a gust of cold wind barreled through the five of us.
“Wow,” Chandler said, allowing a minute of the other two men’s quiet sulking to pass. “It’s a mix of Law and Order and Jerry Springer out here tonight. If you two are done upsetting my friend Birdie, I say we take this somewhere warmer. If we stand out here discussing everything we just learned, I might never see my dick again.”
The constant yelling around the sports bar rang in my ears as someone scored, sending the crowd into near hysterics. Had to hand it to Chandler—this was the perfect place, neutral ground for Cas and John to discuss the case without anyone overhearing our conversation. Heck, we’d have to yell at each other as it was.
A young server with her boobs pushing out of the top of the deep V-neck uniform bounced up to our table, eyeing the three men. Immediately Sadie’s arm snaked around John, claiming him as hers, in case the death stares weren’t enough.
“Hi, I’m Becky, and I’ll be helping you all tonight. Want to start with some body shots?” she asked while laying a few cocktail napkins around the table. “I have the perfect place.” Eyes twinkling, Becky looked to Cas.
“Whatever IPA you have on draft,” Cas responded while looking at his phone. I couldn’t stop the smirk that crept up my lips, which of course Chandler caught and returned.
“Same,” Chandler said, still smiling like a fool with a secret.
John ordered some light beer while Sadie ordered a white wine. Cold wine in this dreary weather—no thanks. Becky didn’t bother looking up from her notepad when it came to my turn.
“Bottled water, please.”
“We’re out.”
“Oh, um, okay. How about sparkling bottled water?”
“Aren’t you the life of the party?” Becky grumbled under her breath.
My cheeks burned hot. Under the table, I tucked both hands under my thighs to keep them still.
“You know what, I changed my mind,” Cas said, now very interested in the conversation. “I’ll have the same as my girlfriend here.” He nodded my way before leaning in for a quick peck on the cheek.
“Same goes for me,” Chandler said. “That’s all.”
Embarrassment shifted her earlier snarky attitude to a humble one as she turned on her black sneakers and sulked toward the bar.
“Where do you get your hair done?” Sadie asked out of nowhere.
Eyes a bit wide, I shook my head and said, “I don’t.”
“It’s really pretty.”
Dang, where was that water? My throat was on fire. “Thanks.”
“Out with it, Agent Peters,” John said while eyeing Sadie and me. “Is it the same guy or not?”
Chandler’s smile dropped, turning his features grim. “Looks like it. The husband remembered seeing a note earlier in the week, but like all the others, he dismissed it. We didn’t get to meet with the guy in person, so I can’t say for sure if he fits the physical type. She went missing earlier this morning, never came home from a morning run through the trails.”
A shiver of dread snapped my shoulders up to my ears. “Which… which trail?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. There was no way this was all a coincidence.
“One the park just renovated, Lilly something,” Chandler said absentmindedly.
John’s blue eyes shot to me. “Birdie.”
“I know,” I breathed, which was becoming more and more difficult. An invisible weight settled on my chest, applying pressure. With a fist against my breastbone, I pressed hard in an attempt to alleviate the building tension.
“What?” Cas and Chandler said in unison.
Short wheezes kept me from gaining a full breath. A heavy hand rested on my thigh and squeezed. Focusing on the heat pouring from him to me, on the simple touch I now craved, the pressure eased, allowing a full breath to fill my lungs.
“It’s her favorite running trail,” Sadie chimed in. Everyone at the table—excluding Sadie, who looked to be enjoying my discomfort—watched with concern in their eyes.
What the…? How in the heck did she know that?
“Why… why does it keep coming back to me?” I bit out, anger quickly replacing the diminishing fear.
The table fell silent. No one knew, which meant we were nowhere closer to catching this guy than we were yesterday or the day before that.
“It started in Tennessee and now followed you here,” Chandler said solemnly. “I’m beginning to think it does have something to do with you. Maybe this guy saw you in Tennessee, or maybe one of your friends?”
“I don’t have friends,” I gritted out. Once again, the table fell silent as Becky deposited the round of drinks to our table. Holding the cap close to my ear, I listened for the crackle of plastic teeth, ensuring it wasn’t tampered with. Satisfied, I lifted the bottle to my lips, allowing the crisp bubbles to soothe my dry throat. “I didn’t have any there for sure.”
“Question,” Sadie said and leaned against the table. The green sweater drew out the brightness of her cunning green eyes. Something was alluring about her, something that pulled you in, much like a black widow spider or colorful venomous snakes. “Why isn’t Alta dead yet?”
Cas slammed his glass bottle on the table while Chandler mopped up the dribble that had escaped his gaping mouth with a cocktail napkin.
I slid across the stool, putting more distance between Sadie and me. “What?”
“I mean, based on what’s going on here, you should be dead, right? Sounds like someone’s playing with you. Kind of like a cat with a mouse.” With a sad smile, she added, “I love the way cats stalk their prey. Mesmerizing to watch.”
Half my right butt cheek was off the stool as I continued to slide closer to the safety of Cas.
“Right,” Chandler said, looking at Sadie like her head might start spinning with green vomit spewing from her lips. “We figure out how this is all tied to Birdie. Once we do, then we’ll find our guy. I’ll request every file you touched that last year you were in the Smokies. Which reminds me, you’ve never told us why you left for Colorado.”
Unable to stop myself, I raised a thumb to my lips to gnaw on the edges. “I just needed a change. My routine is no routine, so no one can follow you or learn your schedule. In the Smokies, it just started to feel too… safe, I guess. Which told me I needed to change things up. I applied here and a few other parks, but Rocky Mountain National Park called me first.”
“What kind of shampoo do you use?” Sadie asked, throwing me off balance.
“What?”
“It smells really good.” To my horror, she leaned in close, dragged her fingers through the ends and held it close to her nose. “Don’t you like it, John?”
Stunned into silence, John simply nodded.
Crazy eyes met mine. “I want some. Tell me where you got it.”
“Walmart, I think,” I whispered.
“What about your perfume?”
“I’m not wearing any.”
Sadie’s dark brows furrowed together. “How convenient for you.”
“Thanks?”
The boys struck up a side conversation, probably to avoid the creepy one I was trapped in.
Leaning closer, Sadie propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. With a smile, most likely to make it look like a happy conversation, though I knew right away it wouldn’t be, she whispered, “I don’t care that he loves you. He’ll love me more in the end. They always do.”
The noises of the bar came roaring back to life as I watched her lean back against John’s shoulder with a menacing smirk.
Chandler was quick to discount my thoughts of the person abducting the women being a woman or at least a killing team, but I wasn’t.
I had to find a way to tie her back to Tennessee. There had to be one. Sadie had to be a part of it in some way.
Because this was real life, not some stupid horror movie. I mean, what were the odds of two psychopaths being in the same small town?