Chapter 28 #2
Walker looms over my shoulder, gazing down at my pieced-together sketch, and a knot of anxiety twists in my stomach.
I don’t like him seeing this. It’s like he’s peering into my soul. I know it’s just a simple charcoal sketch, but I feel as if this paper reveals too much about myself.
I don’t know when Levi and Santiago come over here, but Levi is the first to speak up.
“Butterfly...” His voice is softer than usual. “You drew this?”
Heat creeps up my neck. “It’s just a sketch.”
Walker doesn’t take his eyes off the page. “It’s us.”
Santiago crouches beside me, carefully picking up one of the torn pieces. His thumb brushes the edge without disturbing the charcoal. “You even caught the way Walk scowls when he's pretending not to laugh.”
Walker shoots him a look.
Santiago only smiles.
Levi studies the page for another second before looking at me. “You’re incredible.”
I duck my head, suddenly fascinated by the floor. “They’re just drawings.’
“No,” Walker says quietly. “They’re moments.”
Scooping the shreds into a pile, I hide the image and begin to pace the length of the front wall. Levi and Santiago go back to searching the room, but Walker observes me, which only serves to tighten my stomach into a ball of nerves.
Maybe if I keep ignoring him, he’ll lose interest.
Fat chance.
That man’s concentration is like a laser beam—narrowed and piercing.
Thankfully, Levi steps out of the bathroom, uncomfortably tenting his gloved hands together in front of his chest. “I think it’s safe to say you may owe Mason some damage fees.”
My forehead wrinkles. “What’re you talking about?”
Santiago diffidently raises his hand as he declares, “I found Bear locked in the bathroom and barking his head off when I came in and…”
“He chewed up parts of the bathroom door and the frame, trying to get out.” Levi finished for Santiago.
“What?” My eyes widen, then swing to Bear, who is standing guard in the open doorway.
“Whoever did this,” Levi waves to the mess in the room, “locked him in there.”
“Asshole,” I curse.
Levi crouches down, sliding his finger over a spot on the tile in front of the bathroom door. He rubs his fingers together, analyzing them like they hold important information. Then he crosses the room to Bear and takes a knee.
“Open,” he commands, and Bear instantly obeys.
My arms cross loosely over my chest. “What’re you doing?”
“Checking Bear’s mouth.” Levi’s focus doesn’t waver. “Bingo!”
The rest of us gather around Levi and Bear.
“Nice catch,” Santiago commends.
Walker passes Levi a few forensic swabs while Bear holds perfectly still as if he’s a professional statue.
Another conversation that I’m unable to follow. This is getting old. “What are we looking at?”
Levi wipes the cotton between Bear’s teeth and holds it up for me to inspect. “DNA. Bear bit your intruder.”
Dropping to their level, I wrap my arms around Bear. “That’s a good boy. Someone is getting extra treats. Yes, he is.”
Walker places each swab in a plastic bag. “There’s no guarantee we’ll get clear results from this, but it’s worth a shot.”
Santiago shrugs. “Worst case scenario, results are inconclusive, but it won’t be hard to find the person in town with a dog bite.”
After the swabs are taken, the guys disperse to resume combing through my room, but I stay with Bear and shower him with love.
Santiago meanders over to my murder wall, as he calls it—the only untouched thing in the room. He carefully scans over the photographs, sticky notes, and papers tacked up there.
“Is this different? I don’t remember this being here earlier.” Santiago points to a piece of yellow paper with bold print all over it. I recognize the paper as an advertisement for the grand opening of Silver Pines, the ski resort. They’re all over town.
Stepping forward, I examine alongside Santiago. “Some of this has been moved.”
Someone. Touched. My. Wall.
I’ve spent days putting all of this together. It’s not some mix-and-match game.
Walker moves to my other side, joining Santiago and me. “I’ll get my deputies to take some pictures. You can look at them with fresh eyes later.”
Levi appears on the other side of Santiago. “Why do you have a murder wall in your bedroom, Butterfly?”
A groan reverberates through my chest. “It’s not a murder wall.”
“It’s a murder wall,” Walker contradicts me.
Santiago lowers his head toward me and whispers, “I told you.”
Walker peers closer at a paper. “I don’t want to know how you got these copies.”
My eyes dart around the room, looking everywhere but the guys.
I’m not sure if what Jolene did was legal, but I’m not about to rat out my inside woman.
Slapping my hands on my thighs, I change the subject. “So, I assume I can’t take any of my stuff.”
“It’s evidence,” Walkers says by way of confirmation.
“That’s what I thought.” Releasing a fake sigh, I pretend to be put out when I’m just happy that they accepted my segue.
Sauntering toward the open door, I’m stopped by a hand on my upper arm.
When I spin around, I come face-to-face with my three overbearing protectors.
They stand shoulder to shoulder with Walker in the middle.
To anyone else, they’d be intimidating.
But not to me.
Levi raises a single brow. “Where are you going?”
My lips purse together, confused as to why I’m being asked to state the obvious. “The front desk. I need to book another room.”
Walker scoffs derisively. “No, you don’t.”
My fists clench at my sides. “Did I miss the moment you became the boss?”
Santiago frowns as he rubs the back of his neck. “Technically…”
“I’m a volunteer,” I clarify. “That doesn’t make him my boss.”
“Blake…” Levi starts to beseech me.
“No.” My teeth grind together.
“None of us should be alone right now.” Walker’s voice of reason is getting on my last nerve. I don’t want to admit that he’s making sense.
Instead of rationality, I go with obstinacy, but something in his wording has my spine straightening. “Why not?”
“Do I have to explain it?” Walker’s question is meant to be rhetorical, but I caught what he said, and I’m not letting it go.
“You said ‘none of us.’ Meaning all four of us,” I point to each person, including myself. “I want to know why.”
“Shit.” A momentary shadow of unease flashes in Levi’s eyes.
“I told you we should’ve told her,” Santiago admonishes Walker.
“Told me what?” My mouth thins with displeasure.
Santiago spills the beans about the day before. Searching the reverend’s home, the man with the match, the fire on the lawn, and the word “hypocrite.”
My fists fly, pounding on whatever I can reach. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” Levi secures one of my wrists while Santiago secures the other, preventing me from taking out my frustrations on them.
But it’s not just that.
It’s the thought that they could’ve died, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it.
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?” Santiago gives me a look that says he knows that I know he’s right.
And I don’t like that he’s pointing out my duplicity.
“That doesn’t matter now.” Walker’s interjection is dismissive, but at the same time, I understand that he’s encompassed in distress.
Levi and Santiago release my arms.
My mouth hangs open, stunned that he isn’t taking the opportunity to call me out like Santiago did.
Instead, Walker gives orders. “You can go shopping in the morning. Accompanied. For now, we’re staying together. Two at minimum.”
Throwing my hands up in annoyance, I complain, “You’re enforcing a buddy system? This isn’t summer camp.”
“The snow on the ground makes that apparent,” Levi murmurs shrewdly.
“If I’m not allowed to stay here at Moose Gap Lodge—” I start.
Walker rubs his fingers over his mouth uneasily as he articulates a very good point. “I don’t think Mason is willing to rent you another room after this.”
“And I’m not allowed to take any of my belongings,” I continue, “then what do you expect me to do?” My mouth is tight and grim as I eye the three men in front of me.
Santiago’s face lights up as if he just had a world-changing epiphany. “You can stay at my house.”
My head flinches backward. “What?”
“We all can.” Santiago opens his arms, gesturing to the four of us. “I have the space,” he points to Walker and Levi, “and you two are there often enough anyway.”
All these men have to do is look at me, and my willpower turns into dust. They tempt me at every turn.
The more memories I make with them, the harder it will be to walk away.
Squaring my shoulders, I level them with a cold glower. “I’m not going.”
None of them are happy with my response.
Go figure.
Walker shoots me a challenging look, Santiago’s expression promises he’ll tie me down if he has to, and Levi’s gaze sharpens to a lethal point.
To my surprise, Levi bends, encompasses my thighs with his gigantic hands, shoves his shoulder into my stomach, and stands.
Twice in one night.
What the hell?
The yelp that comes out of my mouth is anything but ladylike. “Levi!”
“There’s no messing around when it comes to your safety.” Levi’s declaration leaves no room for argument as he marches outside.
I catch Santiago holding in a laugh as he ambles behind us. I give him the middle finger, causing his laugh to burst free, and Walker smirks.
“Two peas in a fucking pod,” I mutter irately. Bear trots at Santiago’s side, and I give him a chastising scowl. “We need to work on your guard dog training.”