Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
dani
“No,” I croaked out in a tortured whisper. He was too far away to see anything else, but evil brown eyes and yellow teeth formed in my mind.
Something crashed to the floor, and I didn’t realize it was my coffee until the hot liquid splashed on my pants.
“Dani,” Adella gasped. “Are you okay?”
“What?” I mumbled in a daze, staring at the man across the street. If he would move out of the shadows, I’d be able to see for sure if it was him…
“Let me help.” Hallie appeared in front of me, wiping coffee from my hand that I didn’t even know was there. I must have tilted the cup in my hand before dropping it. “I hope it didn’t burn you.”
I couldn’t even feel it. I couldn’t feel anything. I stepped to the side, my stomach bottoming out once I saw that the street was now empty. It couldn’t have been him. My heart clenched as I staggered away, accidentally kicking my coffee cup.
It looked just like him. Was I imagining things now?
“Hey.” Adella grabbed my shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I choked out. “I’m sorry—I’ll pay for the mess.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hallie said, concern laced in her voice. “Maybe you should go home. You don’t look very good.”
“You’re white as a ghost,” Riggs added from somewhere beside me.
I backed away, my body trembling. “No. No, I’m fine. I need to get to work.”
I ignored their arguments as I stumbled out of the café. The frigid air smacked me in the face, but it didn’t do anything to help my building panic. I fought through my fear, attempting to think logically. Natalie’s murder was getting to me. The similarities to my attack were creating this.
I nearly tripped over the curb as I rushed toward the clinic. But there were too many similarities. What if my attacker was here? The one who was murdering the people in this town? I whipped my head around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man again, but now it was a ghost town.
I cried out when I slipped on a patch of ice, and an arm banded around my waist, saving me from falling.
“Jesus,” a voice muttered. “It is not your morning, is it? Are you…why are you shaking, Dani?”
My eyes snapped to the side to see Riggs with a worried frown.
He was going in and out of focus as my nightmare threatened to take over again.
All I could see was the monster’s face. The smiling evil who took delight in torturing me all night before leaving me for dead.
And I was almost positive I just saw him again.
His arm tightened around my waist as he slowly led me off the ice patch.
Once I was on solid ground again, I grabbed his wrist, pushing him away.
Somewhere in my mind, I knew he was only trying to help.
But I couldn’t be touched. Not now. Not by someone I didn’t know.
He raised his hands, taking a step back.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“You just startled me,” I said, barely recognizing my own voice. The fog wouldn’t lift, and I had no idea how I was going to function today.
Maybe going home was the best idea. Dread coiled through my limbs.
I’d be alone if I went home. When I left this morning, Kole had been sleeping.
I was sure he’d be annoyed when he realized I was gone since he’d been walking me to work every morning.
But he needed sleep too, and he’d been staying up every night for me.
By now, he was most likely on his way to the bar since he had to restock today.
Work was a better choice. If I was alone right now, I would only spiral. If I could calm myself enough to keep my mask on, then I’d be fine.
I straightened up, a different emotion erupting inside me.
Fear was my first response, which was logical.
But I’d spent the last twelve years training my body and mind to confront my demons.
I had vowed that I’d kill every last one of them.
If the person I saw lurking in the shadows was my monster, then I wasn’t going to run scared.
He wasn’t the only predator anymore.
A fire lit through my veins, the panic fading away, giving into rage. The familiar sensation of vengeance rippled over me. My fingers wrapped around my new knife hidden in my pocket.
“Maybe you should get checked out at the clinic,” Riggs said quietly, jolting me back to the present. “Or take a few days off. You went through a lot last week.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.” It was a struggle to keep my voice steady and light. I just wanted him to leave me alone. “Don’t let me keep you. The clinic is like a ten-minute walk.”
He didn’t take the hint, and I bit my tongue attempting to stay grounded. All I wanted to do was search the entire town for the man I just saw. He remained silent, keeping pace with me as I forced one foot in front of the other.
I spotted the next patch of ice, but before I could make a move to go around it, Riggs put his arm around me again, steering me away from it. I stiffened under his touch, something he didn’t miss since he let me go.
“I saw it this time,” I muttered, stepping off the curb. “I don’t need any help.”
“You really don’t like being touched, do you?”
Suspicion flitted through me at his question. Maybe he was honestly curious, but I had no plans to open up to him about anything.
“You left the house early.”
Kole’s gruff voice came from right behind me, and both Riggs and I whirled around. We were still close enough that our shoulders brushed, and something darkened in Kole’s eyes as his gaze slid to Riggs. I wondered how much of the conversation he heard.
“I was going to get coffee before work,” I said, my heartbeat calming slightly when he met my stare. “You were still sleeping.”
My breathing was finally under control, and I flexed my fingers as the trembling slowly subsided. It seemed Kole could chase away my nightmares even when I was awake.
“I’ll walk you to work.” Kole stepped toward me, forcing Riggs to move back. “Where’s your coffee?”
“She dropped it,” Riggs answered for me, annoyance in his voice. “It’s pretty rude to interrupt someone’s conversation.”
Kole locked eyes with him as he wrapped his arm around my waist, gently pulling me closer. “I wasn’t aware you were talking.”
Riggs’s jaw ticked, his gaze stopping on Kole’s arm before he glanced at me. “Are you two a thing?”
“She doesn’t mind me touching her,” Kole murmured, the possessiveness in his voice making my pulse thud. “I think that says everything, doesn’t it?”
When I didn’t say a word to refute him, Riggs shook his head and strode away with his hands in his pockets.
I tilted my face up to meet Kole’s gaze. “We’re a thing, huh?”
He chuckled. “Seeing as I wanted to beat the ever living shit out of Riggs for touching you? Yeah, Dani. I’d say we’re something.”
He kept his arm around me as we walked, and there wasn’t any part of me that wanted him to let go. The back of my neck prickled, and I peered around, half convinced I was still being watched.
“And what happens when this year is over?” I asked quietly. “Will we still be something?”
I was almost scared for his answer. It was a stupid question on my part. We could never be anything. Not when I had blood on my hands that he would never find out about.
“Finally. Where the hell have you been?” Harry’s irritated voice rang out, and Kole grumbled under his breath. “We have a meeting, did you forget?”
I looked up to see Harry standing outside the clinic, tapping his boot in the snow impatiently.
My breath caught when I saw the newcomers standing next to him.
They all looked freezing, and less than happy about being here.
Both men looked to be in their late forties.
One of them had brown hair that was graying.
The other man had no hair, and I wasn’t sure why he didn’t have a hat in this weather.
The woman’s sharp eyes met mine for a moment before she brushed wisps of her blonde hair from her forehead.
With a frown, I glanced at my watch, noticing I still had five minutes before I was expected to be at work. Harry’s eyes cut to where Kole was holding me, but he didn’t comment on it as we got closer.
“We’ll see you inside,” the bald man said as he and the other two went back inside.
“You called and wanted me here for what?” Kole asked.
“I’m deputizing you.”
Kole tensed against me. “Excuse me?”
“You wanted to be part of this investigation. Now you are.”
I glanced between them in bewilderment. “What’s going on?”
“These people think I can’t handle my town,” Harry hissed, his eyes flashing in anger. “I need to prove that we don’t need help with this.”
“The FBI?” I questioned.
Harry looked at me for a quick second. “Yeah. They want the details of the murders.”
I tilted my head slightly, staring at him. He wasn’t being honest. Why would he lie about that?
“Did you forget I have a bar to run?” Kole muttered. “I can’t spend every day working a second job.”
“You’ve been helping me for years,” Harry shot back under his breath. “This just makes it official. It will show those assholes that I have more people working on it.”
“Fine,” Kole gritted out. “Am I getting a paycheck for this?”
Harry scoffed, looking a little happier now that Kole relented. “Let’s just go inside and get this over with.”
“How did they get here?” I asked as Harry opened the door for us. “I thought the road was closed from the snow.”
Harry paused, holding the door halfway open. “Helicopter. There’s a spot near the factory where it can land if the weather is clear.”
I glanced at Kole. “I didn’t hear one land.”
“Maybe because you’ve actually been getting sleep,” he answered, leading me inside. “You slept like the dead last night.”
Harry arched an eyebrow. “Well, shit. I see that you two worked out your issues with being roommates.”
“Dani. I need a word, please.”
My gaze went to the woman, who was standing by Martha’s reception desk.
The woman’s cold voice matched her frosty exterior.
Her black pantsuit was wrinkle-free, making me wonder where they were staying since there was no motel here.
No way she wore that in a helicopter and still looked so put together.
“Umm, sure,” I said uneasily as the air thickened with unknown tension.
Kole dropped his arm from me as I strode away, following her to the back where Miles had gotten stitched up. Once we were alone, her icy blue eyes trailed down my body before she met my eyes again.
“My name is Susan Harris. I’m Natalie’s replacement.”
“Replacement?” I repeated, shock flaring through me.
She nodded briskly. “We worked at the same office in New York. When the clinic alerted us of her untimely death, I was asked to come. I expect you to get me up to speed on everything. You did work for her, correct?”
“Yes,” I answered slowly, still trying to wrap my head around her words. This wasn’t how the world worked. Who hired Natalie? The clinic? Why would they need a replacement so soon? “Only at the police station. She also was a therapist here, but I wasn’t a part of that.”
“I’m aware.” She tossed her leather gloves on the closest gurney. “You have a file on the murders?”
“Harry has it.”
“We will be working close together, and I expect honesty. If I can’t trust you, then this won’t work.”
Her words were like a slap, and my dislike for this woman grew. “I take this internship very seriously,” I forced out, keeping my voice polite.
She leaned closer, her lips tipping up in a knowing smirk. “Oh, I’m sure you do. I know this internship is important to you, Dani Henderson. Because I know where you’ll go back to if you fail.”
Ice chilled my veins. “What?”
“You didn’t think we’d check up on you to make sure you’re behaving? Do the work I assign to you, and we won’t have a problem,” she said, stepping away. “Go get the file from Harry.”
My feet remained glued to the old tile floor, her words echoing in my head.
No one here should know the details of my internship.
I didn’t fucking like it at all. Was this a test to see if I was doing what I promised when I signed the contract to come here?
My heart pounded painfully in my chest as I stared at her.
“Did you not hear me?” she asked, folding her arms.
I rushed away, my breaths coming short and fast. I fucking needed this internship.
It was my fresh start. But now I had a feeling I was under a microscope.
If this woman found out—or had any hint—that I was involved in Lucas’s death, I was so screwed.
All of this would have been for nothing.
I’d be right back where I was before I came to Winterlake.
Somewhere I promised myself I’d never go back to.