Chapter 7
SEVEN
Mason
Declan’s words still echoed through me. I didn’t know whether I believed them, but they were becoming easier to hear. Despite that, my shoulders were tight, and my heart pounded as I walked to Brooke’s cabin.
I should probably wait until after lunch, as the conversation was guaranteed to be emotional, but since deciding to tell her, I was itching to get it done.
It didn’t help that my bear rumbled beneath my skin to check on our mate.
So, I’d begged Hannah and Mae for a packed lunch for Brooke and me.
That way, we wouldn’t have to face anyone if our emotions were high.
I took the steps to her porch slowly, my mind blanking on how to convince her to let me in.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t feel as strongly about not seeing me as she had last night.
I considered briefly what I would do if she turned me away.
Would she listen to Declan? It should come from me, but if that wasn’t possible, he could be my voice.
I knocked and waited, but there was no response. Knocking again, I opened my senses and tried to scent her, but the smell of wild roses and rain was almost gone. She wasn’t here.
I started down the steps, but my bear tugged at me as my stomach tightened. There was an instinct inside telling me to turn back.
I crossed the porch to the window and peered inside.
My heartbeat sped up when I saw clothes everywhere, as if her suitcase had been upended.
It didn’t look like someone getting dressed.
Had Vince come back? Gone through her things?
The fear wasn’t rational. Why would he do that? But something still felt off about it.
I returned and tried the door. The knob turned freely in my hand. Guilt spiked over invading her personal space, but I brushed it off. I needed to ensure she was okay.
I pushed open the wooden door and tried to scent whether anyone else had been in the cabin. My shoulders loosened slightly when I only smelled her.
I promised myself I’d only take a quick look to make sure everything was okay.
Then I’d try to find where she was. I was breaking her trust again, but if it kept her alive, I could live with it.
I stepped over a pile of clothing and scanned the bedroom area.
My gaze ran over the bed, the nightstands, the—
I moved to the closest nightstand, where the base of the table lamp held a scrap of paper in place. The writing was messy, as if dashed off quickly, but the words were clear enough they chilled my blood.
“Gone to get answers from Vince.”
Nothing more. No location. Nothing to help me find her. Urgency now powered my search. She said Vince had given her a burner phone. I tore the space apart—even checking under the mattress—but didn’t find it. She must have taken it with her.
My hands tightened into fists, the note crumpling beneath my fingers. I closed my eyes, trying to calm the fear and rage building inside me. Fear that she was in danger. Rage that Vince would have an opportunity to hurt her.
When I regained a tenuous grasp on my control, I took in a deep breath, inhaling Brooke’s scent. If Vince was close enough that she could walk to meet him, I might be able to track her. Or Luke could. He was our best tracker.
She had a head start, and I couldn’t afford to waste time, so I followed her trail, which was faint but present. Hopefully, that meant she had come this way recently. It was hard to gauge, as her scent was already more potent to me as her mate.
My stomach dropped when the trail led to where her car had been parked. It was no longer there. Tracking her would be nearly impossible now. My only hope was Luke, and even for him, finding her would be unlikely.
I strode across the yard, hoping Luke wasn’t out on horseback. If he was, I’d never locate him in time to track Brooke. I rushed by the farmhouse as Declan came down the stairs, but I only spared him a quick glance as I passed.
“Mason?” Declan caught up to me, jogging at my side. “What’s wrong? You look like something’s on fire.”
“Brooke left to see Vince.” The words shot out of me as I picked up my pace. “I need Luke to track her car.”
He swore. “Luke’s out in the east pasture, fixing the fence.”
I stumbled to a stop, chest tightening until I thought my heart would burst. Declan was saying something, but I heard nothing over the rushing in my ears. She would be impossible to locate now, and I couldn’t begin to guess Vince’s plans for when they were alone. If only I knew where he was.
Declan was still talking. “If we—”
Inspiration struck, and I took off running, not waiting for him to finish his sentence. I’d never been much for prayers, but I sent a wordless plea skyward, hoping someone was listening. The door to my workshop banged into the wall as I burst through, heading straight for my computer.
“Mason, what are you doing?” Declan followed me, looking over my shoulder.
I turned the monitor on and checked Brooke’s program. My body slumped with relief at the pop-up on the screen. Subject found.
I entered the coordinates on my phone, and the map brought up a location deep in Blackwater Pines, a forest a little over an hour away. The pinned location would take two hours to reach if I drove the speed limit. I could cut a chunk off that, as long as no one stopped me.
“Call the sheriff,” I told Declan, already standing and preparing myself for battle. “Send him to these coordinates. Brooke and I will be there with Vince.”
“You’re not going alone.” Declan followed me out the door. “I’ll grab Austin from the barn, and we’ll meet you at the edge of the forest.”
“This is my fight. I’m the one Vince wants. If we all show up at once, he might hurt her. If it’s just me, he might make a deal.”
“You’re not giving him what he wants.” Declan grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around.
I gave him a grim smile. “Of course not. But this ends today.”
Brooke
The brush caught on my pant legs as I hiked through the trees.
The air was damp from a recent rain, leaving the path muddy.
I’d left the trail earlier to circle around the meeting location and check things out.
Vince had chosen a spot in a small clearing that was shaded by the towering trees surrounding it.
I’d parked my car as far away as possible, but I still needed to stake out the area surrounding the meeting location. I suspected Vince was staying nearby, as I didn’t pass any other vehicles on my drive into Blackwater Pines.
Taking a chance, I widened my search, moving outward in circles around the clearing.
If I figured out where he was living, I could hide until he left to meet me.
It would give me an opportunity to sneak in and search for the information I was seeking.
A plan that allowed me to get in and out without ever meeting Vince, eliminating the risk he posed.
A loud thwack had me turning to my left. I stepped carefully through the undergrowth, trying not to give away my presence. I peered through the bushes that blocked me from sight and watched a man chopping wood outside a rustic cabin. His back was to me, so I couldn’t identify whether it was Vince.
I waited, legs cramping from crouching too long, until he finally bent to pick up the pieces, giving me a profile view. It was enough. This was where Vince had been hiding.
He carried the logs to a woodshed near the cabin and dropped them onto the pile. Then, he disappeared inside.
I used the opportunity to shift positions and settled in to wait again. I checked the time. He would need to leave soon to reach the clearing. When he came back outside, his hair was wet and he had fresh clothes on. He moved with confidence, his long strides carrying him quickly down the path.
I held still a few minutes longer until I no longer heard him.
Then I slipped from the brush and jogged to the front door.
I tried the knob, but it wouldn’t turn. Pulling the lock picks from my pocket, I got to work.
The lock was a simple one, and soon the door opened for me.
I stepped inside and surveyed the space.
The cabin had a large main area with a tiny kitchen and table, an old couch facing an enormous fireplace, and two doors to other rooms. Behind the first door was a rough bathroom. The other led to his bedroom. As always, I chose to start there.
There was a tall dresser next to a narrow bed, but it only held clothes. I checked under the mattress and beneath the bed, but there was nothing. A pair of curtains at the opposite end of the bedroom blocked the entire wall. But it was an interior wall, so what was it covering?
I crossed the bedroom and slid the curtains over. My body turned to ice.
Pictures covered the walls. Pictures of Aaron when he was on deployment and from between deployments.
Some were candid shots, taken from a distance.
Ones I doubted Aaron had known were taken.
I also recognized the photo that Mason had of Aaron and himself, except Vince had scratched out Mason’s face with deep gouges.
Then there were photos of me. From the funeral, from my everyday life. Shots of me getting in my car, sitting outside a cafe with friends. Even a few taken through the front window of my house. The most recent ones were of me on Shifter Ranch.
An unpleasant shiver crawled over my body. This wasn’t grief over losing a friend. This was stalking. Years of it, going back to before Aaron died, then switching to me following his death. The candid shots of Aaron suggested Vince’s obsession with him predated my brother’s death.
It would explain his grudge against Mason. If he believed Mason was responsible for the object of his obsession dying, it would have enraged him. But why the switch to me?
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
I spun around, finding myself face to face with Vince.
He appeared calm on the surface, but an edge of madness crept into his eyes, as if his hold on reality was tenuous.
I shifted on my feet to keep ready to move.
Whatever his story, I knew enough about stalkers to recognize that being alone with Vince was dangerous.
“You should have met me at the clearing.” He spoke in a conversational tone, like we were talking about the weather. “Everything would have been so much easier.”
“How did you know I was here?” I tried to circle to the side, but Vince didn’t move from his position in the doorway. The window was too far for me to reach and open before getting caught, and I stood zero chance in a fight against him.
“Alarm.”
I closed my eyes, cursing under my breath.
I should have learned that lesson after breaking into Mason’s cabin.
When I opened them, Vince had stepped a few feet closer but still blocked my exit.
He shifted his gaze to the wall of photos, and satisfaction filled his expression.
“Isn’t it wonderful? Seeing your pictures side by side was just what I needed. ”
He turned his gaze back to me, and the madness edged further into his eyes. “You look so much like your brother.”
A wave of revulsion washed over me, settling in my gut. I wondered if he truly saw me as me, or just as an extension of Aaron. I spoke slowly, trying to buy time while I figured out an escape plan. “You were friends with Aaron.”
His gaze blurred, a half-smile sliding across his face. “There was a spark to him. I knew instantly we were meant to be best friends.”
The smile morphed into a scowl. “But Mason had to get there first. He blocked Aaron from really seeing what should be. And he kept pushing me out so he could take what was mine. Leaving me in front of a computer screen while he played hero at Aaron’s side.”
Thoughts ticked in my head. How far did his obsession go? Could he have—
“It should have been Mason who died that day.” His eyes darkened. “That’s what I planned. Mason went in first, and the blast should have killed him. But your brother saved him.”
Terror caught in my throat, but I held it back, forcing myself to stay in the moment. I wished I was recording this. The implications of his admission were huge.
“If Mason had died when he should have, Aaron would still be alive.” His gaze locked on mine, half-crazed. “You see now. Mason killed him. Mason killed Aaron.”
The way he twisted his narrative to blame Mason instead of himself chilled me. He wasn’t rational. There would be no reasoning with him.
“Then I saw you. You were so sad at Aaron’s funeral. I wanted to go to your side. That’s when I knew the truth.”
“The truth?”
“I was pulled to Aaron because of you. He and I were meant to be best friends, and you were meant to be mine.” He stepped closer, and I moved back, causing him to frown. “You must know this. Surely you can sense we’re meant to be.”
He gritted his teeth. “Or did Mason try to steal you from me too? Did he tell you that you’re his mythical fated mate? He lies. He’ll do whatever it takes to take what’s mine.”
This wasn’t love or friendship. This was possession. Of Aaron. Of me. He truly believed I was his. Fear consumed me. I’d been in tight situations before, but I’d never questioned my survival.
For the first time in my life, I saw no way out.