Chapter 13 #2
She continued heading toward the factory, and I upped my pace, closing the gap between us. Did she have no fear? Or was she so confident that she could handle any threat in the dark of the night?
The lights of the factory came into view, and soon Dani was only a few feet from the ten-foot fence that enclosed the entire building. She raised her head, looking at the sharp barbed wire that ran along the top.
“Whoever you are, this is your only warning to fuck off,” she called out, the wind carrying her words. “I might have run when you followed me in the woods, but I’ve learned since then.”
My pulse thudded unevenly. She sounded nothing like she usually did. The promise of violence was thick in her voice, and when she spun around, I caught sight of a small blade in her hand. She couldn’t see me in the shadows, and I crouched down more, wanting to know what she was going to do next.
I wasn’t expecting her to throw the damn knife.
A grunt left me when I slammed into the cold ground, the knife flying just above my head before it hit the tree behind me with a loud thud. She threw the weapon with practiced ease, and by the time I got over my shock and looked back at her, she already had another knife in her grasp.
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled under my breath as I climbed to my feet. I raised my voice so she could hear me. “You kill me, then there’s going to be problems.”
I stepped into plain view, watching as she aimed the blade until she recognized me in the moonlight. Her jaw dropped, and she glared, keeping the knife pointed my way. My heart was still pounding from how close she’d gotten to hitting me, but I kept my expression neutral as I stared at her.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed, anger swallowing her surprise.
“Someone followed you in the woods?” I ignored her question while striding closer. “When?”
“Are you kidding?” she sputtered, her grip on the knife tightening. “It was probably you that night since you’re doing the same thing right now.”
“No,” I said slowly. “I only followed you tonight.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I was outside the bar when you and that guy left,” I said, my irritation growing.
“And what?” She let out a humorless laugh. “Then you decided to follow me?”
I ground my teeth, fury lining my veins. But she was fucking right, which only made me more annoyed. I had no good reason for following her out here.
“Where’d you learn to handle a knife like that?” I questioned, changing the subject as I crept closer to her.
Her eyes flashed with warning, stopping me in my tracks. “I learned so I can protect myself from men who decide to follow me in the dead of the night. Do you get off on scaring women? First the woods, and now tonight—”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I exploded, my hands balling into fists. “But if someone was stalking you before, why are you out here now?”
A lethal smirk tipped up her lips. “Do I look scared, Kole?”
“I know where you live,” I murmured in a low voice. “Where you sleep. Why would I need to follow you through the woods? I’m here tonight because I was curious. That’s it.”
Before she could answer, a beam of light broke through the darkness. Dani whirled around as a guy with a flashlight appeared on the other side of the fence.
“This is private property,” he yelled, glaring at Dani. “You need to leave before I call the sheriff.”
I nearly snorted, knowing Harry wouldn’t be driving anytime soon since he was at my bar, and I took his keys after his third whiskey. I strode forward, my footsteps making the guy shine his light on me.
“We wandered off the trail,” I said smoothly. “We’ll head back to town.”
“Kole?”
“Yeah, Brett. See you at happy hour tomorrow.”
Brett sighed. “Just get out of here.”
Dani was already stalking toward the trees, giving me a wide berth. Brett stayed near the fence with the flashlight on us until I followed her, and we were concealed by the shadows.
“Go away,” she bit out as she rushed forward.
“We’re going to the same place.”
I nearly ran into her when she abruptly spun around to face me, jabbing a finger into my chest.
“I don’t trust you,” she hissed vehemently. “I don’t care if we live together. Find a different way home.”
I studied her, keeping my voice calm. “I don’t think you trust anyone. I’m no different.”
“You know nothing about me.” She withdrew her hand but stayed close enough I could see her features. “Why were you following me?”
“The truth?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, please lie to me.”
Her words reminded me of the night she dropped her towel in front of me. Did she believe the worst of everyone? That people just lied?
“With your job, you should know when I’m lying.”
Her gaze locked on mine, not looking surprised. She’d never told me where she was working, but it had been easy to find out. I knew she was at the sheriff’s station since the second day she was here.
“You study human behavior for your job, don’t you?” I asked, cocking my head.
“I study criminal behavior,” she tossed back. “Should I be analyzing you, Kole? Do you have stalker tendencies?”
I chuckled roughly. “I know one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“The reason I followed you tonight…I can’t get you out of my fucking head. But you already know that.”
She went still, only her chest moving as she sucked in shallow breaths. She took a large step back, and I followed, causing a scowl to appear on her lips as she attempted to create space between us.
“Am I lying, Dani?” I asked her roughly. “Am I following you for my own selfish desires? Or do you think I’m a danger to you?”
“I think people in this town are keeping secrets,” she snapped, changing the subject.
“Secrets like what?”
“Why is there a security fence and people patrolling if this is just a box factory?” She cocked her head. “Why is no one investigating when knives were stolen? Why aren’t there any kids in this town?”
With her working at the police station, I should have known she would hear about the robbery at the butcher shop. But she was asking too many questions.
“You were the first one at the butcher shop,” she said, surprising me. “According to the report, Jerry went to you before Harry.”
“People here expect me to help,” I ground out. “You need to mind your own business.”
“Crime in this town is my business,” she shot back. “Yet, no one told me about it until I overheard Harry and found the report on my own. There’s no investigation happening. No bringing in people to question. Why?”
“I don’t work at the police station, you do. Ask Harry these questions.”
She narrowed her eyes, her annoyance flaring when she realized I wasn’t going to give her any answers. She was an intern. People in this town took care of things in their own way, and to them, she was an outsider.
“Fine, don’t answer me.” She whirled around, stalking away from me. “Leave me alone, Kole. And stop fucking following me.”
This time, I let her walk away. My heart was hammering against my ribs, her questions echoing in my head.
For her sake, she needed to drop all of this.
I let out a curse, heading back toward town.
This was why I hated when interns arrived.
The calmness always disappeared when new faces appeared.
But Dani was taking it farther than she should.
The secrets of Winterlake were meant to stay buried.
If she attempted to uncover them, she might never leave here.