Unknown
Chapter Ten
McKayla
Two more days of surveillance footage and I was officially ready to launch the clubhouse laptop directly into the lake.
Not gently either. I wanted to really put my back into it.
I sat cross-legged on the bed in my room staring at the paused screen while rubbing at the spot between my eyes that had started throbbing an hour ago.
The footage blurred together after a while.
Tourists screaming through the haunted house.
Employees walking between buildings. Club members coming and going.
Teenagers making out where they thought cameras wouldn’t catch them.
Unfortunately for them, cameras caught everything.
Except the one damn thing I actually needed them to catch. The guy in the hoodie hadn’t shown up again.
That was the part that kept bothering me. The more footage I watched, the more convinced I became that he knew exactly where the cameras were. He moved around them too carefully. Whenever he did appear, it was brief. A shoulder. A profile. A glimpse of boots disappearing around a corner.
It almost felt intentional.
Like he wanted to be seen just enough to make sure someone noticed eventually. Which was deeply creepy and honestly rude.
I sighed heavily and shut the laptop before the footage started melting into nonsense again.
The room suddenly felt too warm and too small.
I needed air. Real air. Not haunted island clubhouse air mixed with coffee, leather, and the faint smell of whatever the hell Piney kept microwaving at two in the morning.
Just outside for a little while.
I glanced toward the hallway door.
I knew I should tell Push.
That thought alone irritated me. Not because Push would necessarily tell me no, but because I hated the idea of asking permission to go for a walk like I was grounded.
I wasn’t planning to swim off the island or hitchhike into town.
I just needed to clear my head before I started hallucinating hoodie men in every frame of footage.
Besides, Push had been in the common room with Prime and Vin for the last hour talking about haunted house repairs or security or motorcycles or whatever biker meetings turned into when everyone was drinking beer and grunting at each other.
I could go for a quick walk.
Nobody would care.
I slipped quietly from my room and headed through the back of the clubhouse. The place was calmer than usual tonight. The haunted house wasn’t open yet, which meant most of the club was still around the clubhouse getting ready before heading out.
The lake stretched dark beyond the trees while the last bits of sunset painted the sky in streaks of orange and purple. The island felt different at night. During the day, it almost seemed normal. Quiet. Pretty even.
At night?
Everything changed.
The shadows got deeper. The woods looked thicker. And every little noise suddenly sounded suspicious.
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and headed down the path toward the lake.
The gravel crunched beneath my boots while my brain kept circling the same thoughts over and over.
The victims.
The footage.
The hoodie guy.
Erin.
Nothing connected cleanly yet, and I hated that. Investigations usually had threads. Even messy ones. You found something, tugged on it, and eventually another piece moved.
This?
This felt like grabbing smoke.
I knew the club was telling me the truth now. At least about not being the killers. There were too many genuine reactions. Too much frustration. Too much protectiveness when it came to their own people.
Bob alone had proven that.
Nobody sat beside a hospital bed looking at a man like that unless they genuinely cared about him. Which meant somebody else was targeting the island.
Somebody smart. Somebody patient. And somehow my sister had gotten tangled up in it.
My chest tightened at the thought. Where are you, Erin?
I kicked a rock off the path harder than necessary.
The lake water lapped softly against the shoreline ahead while the wind moved through the trees overhead. It should’ve been peaceful. Instead, unease crawled slowly up my spine.
I stopped walking, and the feeling hit suddenly and hard.
I was being watched.
I turned slowly toward the clubhouse behind me.
Nothing.
No Push. No giant biker lurking behind a tree. No one standing on the trail.
I frowned and slowly spun in a circle, scanning the woods around me. The island stretched dark and quiet in every direction.
Nobody there, and yet the feeling stayed. That prickling awareness at the back of my neck only got worse.
“Okay,” I muttered under my breath. “Maybe the haunted island murder mystery is finally getting to me.”
Totally possible.
I took another few slow steps toward the lake.
Snap.
A branch cracked somewhere off to my right near the tree line.
I froze instantly.
The sound wasn’t huge. Not horror movie dramatic, but it was enough.
My pulse kicked harder. I stared toward the woods, trying to see through the darkness gathering between the trees. Nothing moved.
Probably an animal.
A squirrel.
A raccoon.
A very judgmental deer.
Still… I took two cautious steps toward the sound.
“McKayla!” Push’s voice thundered across the island hard enough to make me jump.
I spun around fast and saw Push stalking toward me from the direction of the clubhouse, looking absolutely furious. Behind him on the back porch stood Prime, Piney, and Vin. All three looked amused as hell.
Traitors.
I stayed where I was while Push closed the distance between us with long, aggressive strides that looked very murdery for a man who insisted nobody on this island was trying to kill me.
His expression was dark enough to stop traffic.
Interesting.
I folded my arms loosely and waited.
Push stopped directly in front of me, chest rising slightly harder than normal like he’d come outside expecting disaster. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Yep, definitely pissed.
I didn’t answer right away, partly because I wanted to see where this went and partly because he looked kind of terrifying when he was worried.
Not scary terrifying, protective terrifying.
His jaw flexed. “Well?”
I glanced behind him toward the clubhouse porch where even more club members had started appearing to watch the show.
Great, an audience.
I looked back at Push innocently. “Well, what?”
His eyes narrowed. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing out here?”
I smiled slightly. “I needed some air, and taking a walk seemed like a good idea.”
“You disappeared.”
“I walked outside.”
“You didn’t tell anybody.”
“I didn’t realize fresh air required paperwork.”
Push dragged a hand over his face roughly. “Jesus Christ.”
I tilted my head. “You all keep saying I’m not being held captive.”
“You’re not.”
“Then walking shouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s not the damn point.”
“Then what is the point?”
“The point,” he bit out, “is that there’s a killer dumping bodies on this island, and you vanished without saying a word.”
I blinked at him. Oh.
That was genuine panic sitting behind the anger.
The realization softened something in me immediately, but I covered it fast. “I wasn’t planning on wandering into the woods and joining the ghost population.”
“That’s not funny.”
“A little funny.”
“No.”
“Okay, maybe a medium amount funny.”
Push stared at me hard enough that I finally started losing steam.
Not because he intimidated me exactly.
Well.
Maybe a little.
But mostly because I could see the edge beneath his anger now. He’d really thought something happened to me.
That changed things.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “I just needed a break from the footage.”
“You could’ve said something.”
“I didn’t want to ask permission to go for a walk.”
His expression shifted slightly at that.
“I wasn’t trying to leave,” I added quieter. “I just wanted air.”
Behind him, Piney loudly stage-whispered, “They’re fighting like an old married couple.”
Vin smacked him in the chest.
Prime laughed.
Push didn’t even glance back. His focus stayed locked on me. “You can do what you want.”
I blinked slightly. That wasn’t what I expected.
“But,” he continued roughly, “with everything going on, somebody needs to know where you are.”
I opened my mouth to argue automatically, then stopped. That was fair. Annoying, but fair. I sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Yes, Push. Fine.”
“You tell someone before you go wandering off.”
“I wasn’t wandering.”
“You literally wandered toward the woods.”
“I heard something.”
“You hear things on an island.”
“That sounds deeply unhelpful.”
“It’s true.”
I crossed my arms tighter. “You’re still overreacting.”
Push stepped slightly closer. “You scared the shit out of me.”
That shut me up.
His voice dropped lower on the last part, rougher and more honest than anything else he’d said tonight.
For a second we just stared at each other. That dangerous pull that kept happening between us showed up hard enough to make my stomach tighten.
I cleared my throat first. “Well,” I said lightly, “good news. I’m very difficult to kidnap because apparently I trip over rocks before anyone can even try.”
The tension cracked instantly.
Push huffed out a laugh despite himself and shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve been told that before.”
“I leave to take a piss and come back to your room empty.”
“That’s very romantic phrasing.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do,” I admitted.
The edge between us softened after that.
I sighed and dragged my fingers through my hair before glancing back toward the woods again. “Do you guys have cameras out here?”
Push frowned immediately. “No.”
I looked around slowly. “Huh.”
“What?”
I shifted awkwardly. “It just felt like I was being watched.”
His entire posture changed.
Every bit of humor disappeared instantly.
“What do you mean?”
Oops. I held up both hands quickly. “I probably just psyched myself out.”
“McKayla.”
“I’m serious. I’m on a haunted island where people keep dying. My imagination is probably working overtime.”
“What happened?”
I glanced toward the woods again. “I don’t know. It just suddenly felt weird out here. Then I heard something in the trees right before you yelled my name.”
Push’s eyes narrowed toward the woods immediately. And then before I could stop him- “Prime!” he barked. “Get your ass over here.”
“Oh my God,” I muttered. I grabbed his arm. “Push, seriously. It was probably a squirrel.”
He ignored me completely.
“A raccoon, maybe.”
Still ignored.
“An obese mouse?”
That almost got him.
Almost.
Prime, Piney, and Vin jogged over from the porch while several other club members leaned forward watching with interest like this was suddenly the best entertainment of the night.
“What’s up?” Prime asked.
Push nodded toward the woods. “McKayla heard something out there. Said she felt like she was being watched.”
Immediately, all traces of amusement disappeared from the guys.
Well, that escalated quickly.
“I probably imagined it,” I said.
Piney cracked his knuckles. “Or not.”
“Guys-”
Vin was already moving toward the tree line.
Prime followed.
Piney grinned at me. “If a murderous unicorn jumps out, yell real loud.”
I stared at him. “You are the least reassuring person I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks.”
The three of them spread out and disappeared into the woods while I turned slowly back toward Push. “This is ridiculous.”
“No,” he said calmly. “It’s caution.”
“It was a branch.”
“It could’ve been someone watching you.”
“It wasn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it again. Damn him, he wasn’t wrong. I sighed heavily. “You really think somebody would sneak around the clubhouse just to stare at me dramatically from the woods?”
“Yes.”
Well, that answer came too fast.
I rubbed at my temple. “You’re all overreacting.”
Push crossed his arms over his chest. “Keeping you safe isn’t overreacting.”
The words settled strangely in my chest. Push didn’t say things romantically. Everything he said sounded like he was threatening somebody or giving directions during a bar fight.
Still, there was something solid underneath the words that got under my skin.
The woods stayed quiet while the guys searched around for several minutes. Eventually Prime’s voice called out from somewhere deeper in the trees.
“Nothing.”
“Probably because there was nothing,” I muttered.
Push ignored that too.
A few minutes later the guys reappeared from the woods looking disappointed they hadn’t discovered a lurking serial killer.
Piney pointed at me. “No giant unicorn.”
“Tragic.”
Prime looked at Push. “Didn’t find anything.”
Push nodded once, but tension still sat heavy in his shoulders.
I stepped closer to him and lowered my voice slightly. “I’m okay.”
His eyes landed on mine and stayed there. “I know,” he said quietly. “I’d like to keep it that way.”
There it was again. That stupid little flutter low in my stomach that absolutely needed to stop happening.
I cleared my throat and started toward the clubhouse. “Well, congratulations. You all survived the great squirrel investigation of the century.”
Piney gasped behind me. “Don’t disrespect the process.”
Vin shoved him lightly.
Prime laughed.
Push fell into step beside me while we headed back toward the clubhouse. The lights glowed warm against the dark island night ahead of us while voices drifted from the porch again like nothing had happened.
And maybe nothing had.
Maybe I really had just freaked myself out after too many hours staring at murder footage.
Still… As we walked back toward the clubhouse with Push close beside me, I couldn’t completely shake the feeling that someone really had been watching from those woods.
But maybe overreacting was better than not reacting at all.