Chapter 2
Kylie
My lungs burn by the time I reach my neighbor’s house, every breath like needles piercing through my chest.
That’s what I get for being a home-office couch potato. At least I didn’t slip on the muddy ground. No better first impression than knocking on a new neighbors door covered from head to toe in wet earth.
Abby is by my side and stares up at me with eyes that say, ‘Seriously?’
Easy for her to think. She’s a dog. They have great endurance by design, Australian Shepherds even more so. Clearly, she finds my athletic abilities laughable.
I’d care more if I wasn’t fighting for every breath as I walk around the house and try to find a front door to knock on.
Whoever lives here, their home is even bigger than I thought.
Even from a distance, I could see it’s bigger than mine, but up close?
Damn. It’s also way more modern and has the kind of subtle extravagance that’s probably twice the obvious extravagance price tag.
The windows are mirrored, there’s no way to look inside during daylight, but what I can see is neat and tidy. There are no toys in the front yard. So, not a family with small kids, what a relief. Abby is not the biggest fan of tiny humans.
Finally, I find a door and ring the bell with the urgency of a delivery driver trying to hand over the last package of the day.
“Come on, come on.” I wheeze, then take a step back and put my hands on my knees as I try to suck in a deep breath.
Holy shit, what a run. I should start jogging again. What if a serial killer decides this lake is the perfect scenery for a murder and breaks into my home? If I can only run five steps, I wouldn’t even make it out alive.
“Hello?”
I glance up, and my next attempt of a deep breath gets stuck in my throat.
“Hi,” I croak and force myself upright, clutching my shirt above my chest. Fuck, breathing is a challenge.
“So, um…” I stare at the guy and spontaneously forget how talking works.
Wow. I expected my neighbor to be less… hot.
Maybe a nice retired couple who want to spend the rest of their life in the serenity of nature.
Instead, it’s a guy almost as tall as the doorframe, with tattoos creeping down his muscular arms and even up his throat where they disappear in his raven-black hair.
And damn, what a wall of a man. His shirt is so tight over his biceps, one wrong move and the seams will pop open.
“Uh…” I stammer. An amused grin tugs at his lips. He must be used to making women speechless. “So, funny story-” I press out, but the rest of the sentence succumbs to my lungs fighting for air.
His eyes dart behind me and his cocky grin turns into a real smile as soon as he notices Abby.
“Oh, who’s this?” He crouches down and beckons her closer.
Abby immediately runs up to him and puts one of her muddy paws on his knee.
“You’re a little beauty,” he coos, unfazed by the dirt on his jeans. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Abby,” I wheeze, still fighting for air. Finally, breathing is starting to come a little easier and my heart is calming down.
I’m not trying to peek into his house. I swear I’m not. Until suddenly a little fluffy head pops around the corner to his hallway, swiftly followed by the pitter-patter of dog feet on the ground rushing closer.
“Hi, Abby. Sorry-” He glances up at me with a worried frown, keeping his hands just above Abby’s fur. “I should have asked. Is it okay if I pet her?”
“Yes, of course. Abby loves head scratches,” I mumble distractedly, still staring at the golden retriever suddenly in the doorway. What an adorable creature. “So, I’m kind of your new neighbor and—”
“Really?” He looks up and I didn’t think it’s, but his face lights up even brighter.
“Oh my God, that’s awesome. I love having more dogs around!
You know, Nic and Lauren, the two girls who live over there-“ He points away from my house, to the other two mansions along the lake shore. “-they have cats.” He lowers his voice. “And not that I don’t like cats, but… they’re a little boring.
Wonderful cuddle partners, though, I’ll give them that.
I’ll have to introduce you to them sometime.
Whoops. Speaking of introductions—” he gets back up again, pats some dirt off his jeans, gives up when a spot remains, and extends his hand. “I’m Kieran. Nice to meet you.”
“Kylie,” I answer. Finally, the fire in my lungs is extinguished and I can take a deep breath. Keep up, Kylie. “Listen, Kieran, it’s lovely to meet you and all, but I’m not here for introductions.”
If I were I’d be wearing something more presentable than the comfortable jogging pants I threw on when I expected this day to be a bunch of cleaning and unpacking.
“You weren’t?” He cocks his head, eerily similar to Abby when she’s trying to figure out if I’m going to give her some of the food I’m holding anytime soon. “Do you need sugar? Some eggs? Don’t worry, I’m the perfect neighbor. I have everything here.”
“What? No, I’m not baking. I just…” Calm down, Kylie. I take a deep breath and clear my throat. “So there kind of might or might not be a human skeleton in my yard.”
Kieran freezes. Then his eyes widen, his jaw drops and he blindly reaches for the doorframe.
“And I was wondering if you knew who to call here. Obviously, I’m new and I don’t know anyone and… do I call 911? Or do they have some kind of law enforcement here? Because judging by the looks of my…” I clear my throat. “…friend in the backyard, it’s not an emergency anymore at this point.”
“You found a body.” He blinks and scratches the back of his neck. “In your backyard?”
“Well, Abby did,” I clarify and point at my dog, who’s eyeing the shrubbery next to his front door.
“You know, she suddenly decided she’s gopher and decided to give my backyard a good dig and found what I’m eighty percent sure is a human bone.
Honestly, I don’t think there’s much of a body left.
” I scratch my head. “On that note, does this town have a vet? Because I’m not sure how great it is for dogs to gnaw on human remains. ”
Oh my God. The more I think about it, the more I realize what’s actually going on here and suddenly the collar of my shirt seems too tight and I pull at it.
There’s a dead person.
On my property.
And Abby fucking gnawed on their shin. Or maybe thigh? It was quite a big bone and I didn’t exactly get a good look at it.
“Hey, hey.” Kieran puts his hand on my shoulder and gently guides me inside his home.
If this were different circumstances, I’d be weary, but thankfully, he seems trustworthy.
And all my years of watching true crime documentaries have made me sensitive to eerie-people vibes, I like to think.
“Take a seat, Kylie. Breathe. That’s it. Everything is going to be fine.”
Fuck. Where’s Abby? I glance around and realize I’m in his kitchen. It’s huge, with black cabinets and a huge marble countertop kitchen island, separating it from the dining area and living room. And it’s pristine.
Shit, should I have taken off my shoes?
Abby is in the doorway, glancing around curiously. The golden retriever walks up to her slowly. Before I can even start to worry about the two of them getting along, they start playing with each other.
“Is my dog turning into a zombie?” I ask, voice breaking toward the end of the sentence as I watch the two of them dart around his spacious home. I’m not ready to lose her.
Kieran chuckles and it makes me want to throw something at him. I’m panicking here! How dare he be amused by it?
“Relax. I’m going to call the police station, and they’re going to send Erik out here. He’ll take a check out your backyard and handle it from there. Then I’ll call Henry and he’ll check your dog. No need to panic.”
“Who’s Henry?”
“The town’s vet,” he clarifies and grabs his phone.
Oh thank the universe, this town has a vet.
The prospect of having to drive an hour for someone to check if Abby is dying from some kind of flesh-eating bacteria was already planting more panic seeds in my mind.
“Give me two minutes and I’ll be right back. ”
“Okay.”
“Breathe, Kylie,” he reminds me, gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then strolls out of the room in what must be slow motion, though I suspect it’s my panic-induced brain overreacting. As soon as he turns around the corner to his hallway, two curious dogs stare at me.
“Hi.” I lean down and extend my hand for the golden retriever to sniff. He bypasses it and immediately nudges his nose against my knee to demand pets. “Oh my, you’re so cute.” Abby leans her head on my thigh as I run my fingers through the golden fur of our new friend. It’s so soft.
Before I know it, Kieran returns, sliding his phone back into his jeans pocket.
“Ah right. Sorry, apparently, I’m bad at introductions, but I see you two met. Kylie, that’s Dick.” He points at his dog. “Dick, that’s Kylie, our new neighbor and friend,” he mumbles nonchalantly and walks past me to his kitchen counter.
“Dick?” I stare after him, eyes wide. Did I hear him right?
“Yeah.” He shrugs and opens one of his cabinets to take out a glass, then glances at me over his shoulder as he faces turns to his fridge. “I named him after the one and only, the legendary, coolest actor of all time: Dick Van Dyke.”
“Right.” I run my palm over my face and force myself to take a deep breath. “Of course that makes sense. I named Abby after the forensic scientist on Navy CIS.”
“Oh, a crime series lover.” Kieran places a glass of water in front of me, then takes a seat at the other side of his kitchen island and leans his chin on his hands. “And now you’ve got your own crime at hand. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Thank you.” I turn the glass absentmindedly. “The wrong kind of exciting,” I mumble and roll my eyes. “I keep overthinking it. What if it wasn’t a human bone after all? What if it was just a deer or something and I’m panicking for nothing?”
“Then you’ve brought some excitement to Wayward Hollow.” He shrugs. Dick trots over to his owner and I redirect my petting efforts to Abby. “This town is as boring as they come.”
“Which is the reason I moved here,” I point out, but he waves me off and continues.
“If you give the town something to talk about? Trust me, everyone will love you, even if it turns out to be undramatic in the end. Speaking of…” He pulls his phone out of his pocket again and shoots me a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, but Nic and Lauren, would have my head if they find out I knew about a potential murder-victim appearing on your property and didn’t let them know.
Hell, they’d have my head just knowing I met you and didn’t tell them immediately. ”
His fingers fly over the phone screen. Then he suddenly jumps up. “All right. Let’s go.”
I scramble to a stand and hurry after him. Gah, I want to tug on his shirt to make him stop but it fits him like a very tight glove. “Wait, where are we going?”
“Your place.” The corners of his mouth twitch as he answers over his shoulder. “Someone has to be there when the cavalry arrives. The cavalry being Erik to check out your skeleton friend.”
Abby and Dick trudge after us. If they could talk, they’d probably gossip about how ridiculous this whole situation is.
Kieran talks nonstop on our way over to my property, but I barely listen to him, my thoughts are racing.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe a part of me wants something exciting to happen in my live and the bones are an animals’ after all. I’ll have embarrassed myself not even half a day after I moved here.
As we close in on the hole where Abby unearthed one of the bones, I keep her closer by my side. Kieran hands me his leash too and Dick sticks close to Abby as his owner carefully inches closer, almost slipping on wet grass, to take a look.
His now black leather clad shoulders tense. Then he turns around slowly, face as white as the mountain tops on the other side of the lake and eyes wide.
“What?” My heart races as I brace myself for his answer.
“I’m sorry to say, but this is most definitely a human skeleton.” He carefully walks away from the hole.
“What makes you say that?” I tilt my head. “Are you sure? It could be a deer. Hell, maybe even a bear.” I wave my hand through the air as I try to think of any other animals they could be from.
“I doubt any animal would have been buried with clothes.” He bites the inside of his cheek and puts his hand on my shoulder. “And I’m sorry to let you know, but there’s a very human-looking skull.”
“Oh fuck,” I mumble to myself and exhale the deepest sigh mankind has ever heard into the crisp autumn air. “Just my luck.”