Chapter 53
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
kole
Dani yawned again before reaching over the counter and grabbing her coffee from Hallie. Adella was standing next to me, a coffee already in her hand.
“Dani doesn’t seem as upset as I thought she’d be,” Adella whispered, turning her attention to me. “I thought she wanted to stay.”
“She does,” I muttered. “But Susan isn’t giving her a choice.”
Dani hadn’t put up much of a fight at all this morning. I bit my tongue, curiosity flaring.
She was probably too tired to make a scene.
Because she sure as hell didn’t stay in my bed last night.
“I’m going to miss you.” Hallie rounded the counter, pulling Dani into a tight hug. “Will you tell Miles goodbye for me? He’s leaving today too, and I can’t leave the café.”
“Of course,” Dani replied with a small smile. “I know you two have gotten closer in the last couple of weeks. He’s going to miss you too.”
I gritted my teeth, the foreign emotion of jealousy swallowing me whole.
I fucking hated that Miles was leaving with Dani.
He had feelings for her, and while I was positive Dani didn’t feel the same toward him, I didn’t like it.
The moment these killers were caught, I was leaving Winterlake.
I’d already emailed Sean, letting him know my decision.
He wasn’t happy since I was their inside voice of this town.
But I did my time. My record was wiped clean, and I would be able to start fresh once I left.
Dani checked her watch. “We need to go. The helicopter is scheduled to leave in a half hour.”
Her sudden eagerness to be on time surprised me.
From how much she’d been fighting Susan this week, I thought she’d do everything she could to stay longer.
I grabbed the handle of her suitcase, noticing how light it was.
She’d barely brought anything to Winterlake.
Where was she going once she left? Did she have a house to go back to?
A job? Any time I tried to ask her, she’d redirect the conversation.
“I can take it,” she told me as we exited the café, eyeing her suitcase.
“I got it,” I said gruffly. “Drink your coffee.”
Adella followed us, and it was the only reason I wasn’t questioning Dani about her whereabouts last night.
When she’d slipped in the back door at three in the morning, I’d been getting ready to go searching for her.
Her story about stalking around, searching for the killers didn’t ring true.
Yet, I didn’t fight her on it. I’d learned long ago she would never divulge her truths unless she wanted.
Asking or demanding anything from her would never end well.
“Well, I’m going to miss you,” Adella piped up, linking her arm with Dani’s free one. “Promise you’ll stay in touch?”
Dani smiled. “Of course. You already gave me your email.”
“Good,” she stated, shooting me a taunting grin. “I’m sure you’ll be emailing her every day, won’t you?”
Before I could answer, Miles’ voice rang through the wind. I glanced over my shoulder to see him lugging his suitcase through the snow until he heaved it on the shoveled sidewalk. The small smile he gave Dani didn’t reach his eyes as he got closer.
“What the hell happened to your face?” I asked, eyeing the yellowing bruise on his cheek.
Adella shook her head. “He already filed a complaint with Harry. Though I doubt it’ll go anywhere.”
“Complaint?” Dani questioned, concern in her voice. “Who did that to you?”
“I got jumped by a few locals last week,” Miles muttered with a scowl. “They’re blaming the murders on the interns. I’m sure they’re happy we’re leaving.”
Dani frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped.”
“You were dealing with your own stuff,” he answered. “You were attacked. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“He’s fine,” I said, attempting to keep the annoyance out of my voice. He already had a hard-on for Dani. If he realized she worried about him, it would only get worse.
“I can’t believe they’re making us leave,” Miles grumbled, lowering his voice before speaking the next words. “What if the killers leave too? They’re obsessed with you, Dani—”
“No one except the interns are leaving,” I cut him off sharply.
Miles scowled at me, his eyes darkening. “How do we know an intern isn’t the killer?”
Adella pursed her lips, unease flitting through her gaze.
We had the answer, but interns had no idea.
Before anyone came to this town, they were thoroughly examined in every part of their life.
All the interns had extensive background checks, even if they didn’t know about it.
They could not have any connection to the inmates who were in this town.
Any criminal activity—even in adolescence—would exclude them from the program.
There was a slim chance the killers were interns.
“We’ll be fine,” Dani assured him gently. “Susan promised to keep me updated on the case.”
We reached the end of the road, and I picked up Dani’s suitcase when the snow got deep. Adella cursed under her breath, stepping in my tracks to avoid getting fresh snow on her shoes.
“Harry could have let us borrow his truck,” Miles muttered. “I never knew this helicopter pad existed until interns started getting sent away.”
“Because it’s near the factory,” Dani spoke up. “No one ever comes out this way.”
I glanced at her, and as if knowing I was looking, she tipped her head the other way.
Annoyance strummed through me as I narrowed my eyes.
She’d been avoiding me ever since she came home this morning.
She’d locked herself into her room to pack, refusing to answer my questions.
Her excuse about wanting to be alone because it was too hard to leave me was something I wished I could believe.
But when it came to her, it was almost impossible to detangle her truths and lies.
The factory came into view, and Dani perked up. Ever since she found out it was also a prison, she’d wanted to snoop. Now she wouldn’t get the chance.
The noise of an engine cut through the air, and we all looked behind us to see Harry’s truck.
A couple more interns were farther behind, trekking along with their luggage.
Harry nodded to me as they passed, and Susan was in the passenger seat, barely sparing us a look before going farther into the trees.
“She gets a ride, but the people with the suitcases have to walk,” Miles mumbled bitterly.
The truck parked ahead of us between two massive pine trees. It only took us a few minutes to catch up, and by then, Harry was leaning against his truck door, smoking a cigarette. Susan was all business and had her clipboard out with the list of intern names who were leaving.
“Miles, Dani, Trish, and Jared,” she listed them off, even though two of them were still far behind, trying to carry their suitcases through the heavy snow. “I’m going to have to request a second helicopter, or it will take weeks to get all the interns out of town.”
“I can just stay.”
Susan lifted her head when Dani spoke. “Not an option. You’re scheduled to leave today, and that will be happening.”
Dani clenched her jaw, not saying a word. Her lack of arguing had me staring, nerves flooding my veins. Why did I have a feeling she was up to something?
Susan raised her arm to check her watch. “The helicopter will be here in ten minutes. We’ll wait near the pad. If this trip is quick, they might be able to do two today.”
“Any updates?” Adella asked, adjusting her beanie.
“No,” Harry answered with a shake of his head. “We are still questioning—”
“We will update everyone when we can,” Susan cut in briskly. “Let’s get going, please.”
She led the way to the helicopter pad, her boots sinking in the snow. I fell into step with Dani, refusing to let her leave without her talking to me.
“Don’t shut me out,” I breathed out. “Not now.”
She stiffened, her guarded eyes meeting mine. “I’m not. You’re the one who was giving me the third degree at home.”
I let out a long breath. “I was not. All I did was ask where the hell you went in the dead of night when masked killers are after you. You know I worry about you.”
“And you know how careful I am,” she retorted. “I wanted one last chance to find the assholes who are stalking me.”
“Did you find anything?”
“Obviously not, since I’m about to leave Winterlake.”
“Fuck, Dani,” I hissed in a whisper. “Talk to me. You should know by now that you can trust me.”
Her gaze softened a fraction. “I do trust you, Kole.”
“Ready to get the hell out of this place?” Miles asked, interrupting us. He got close enough to Dani to brush against her puffy jacket. “I can’t wait to hit the beaches again. If you’re ever in Florida—”
Adella’s gasp cut off his words, and my eyes snapped to her. She was staring straight ahead, her face paling. I followed her gaze, my stomach plummeting. Dani halted beside me, her coffee dropping from her hand.
In front of us, in the center of the massive cement slab was a body sprawled out on its back. Harry spat out a slew of curses, going after Susan as she ran closer. The rest of us followed behind, and Miles sucked in a breath when we got closer.
I read the bloodied message, my heart beating faster.
No one leaves. Or more will die.
Fresh snow covered the body, but it wasn’t enough to obscure his identity. Monty’s lifeless corpse laid there, with a knife protruding from his chest. His eyes were open, staring at the cloudy sky.
By now, the other two interns caught up, and they were staring at the scene with horror etched on their faces.
Miles didn’t move a muscle, his suitcase forgotten beside him.
My eyes slid to Dani, her face a mask of shock.
Her coffee had splattered her pants when she dropped it, but she didn’t seem to notice as she looked at Monty’s bloodied body.
“What now?” Harry asked, looking at Susan for direction.
“They get on the helicopter once the body is moved,” she answered stiffly.
Dani gaped at her. “Are you serious?”
“Fuck this,” Miles added, running his hands through his hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I have people I care about here. I’m not leaving so they can get hurt.”
I didn’t interject, listening to everyone else talk. A chill traveled under my skin, and I couldn’t place why. Something was wrong—more than the dead body in front of me.
“We will not allow these killers to dictate what we do,” Susan snapped.
“Let’s take a moment,” Harry argued, worry glinting his gaze. “If we let anyone else leave, we could all end up dead.”
They all continued to argue, their voices rising. Dani didn’t add anything else, her focus remaining on the murder scene. Fear swam in her eyes, her chest heaving as she crossed her arms. I frowned, her reaction making the back of my neck prickle.
She’d been to every crime scene since the killings began happening.
Twice, she was attacked. During all those times, I’d never seen the fear in her eyes that she was revealing right now.
Was Monty’s murder hitting her harder? My pulse thudded.
Or was she feigning her reaction? Guilt sliced through me as I tried shaking off that thought.
Dani had been through more horror than anyone should ever have to experience. Questioning her made me an asshole.
Yet, my mind kept wandering over everything.
This happened last night…when she was gone. My stomach churned as I recounted the moments when she’d returned to the house early this morning. She hadn’t been acting any differently. But she was exceptional at masking her true feelings, even from me.
My pulse thrashed when I remembered how she spoke about Monty at my bar earlier yesterday. She was convinced being in this town wouldn’t help Monty. That he wasn’t someone who could change.
The bloody scene at the bridge flashed through my mind. She killed Tristin and Leon to save herself. It was in self-defense, and she seemed torn apart about having to do it. Now I was questioning her reaction to that and everything else.
She couldn’t—wouldn’t kill someone to stay in Winterlake.
Would she?