Chapter Sixty-Five
The man in the woods is definitely a stranger. But not a creepy one. He has really short hair and a face like a dad. He’s dressed in hiking pants and boots and long sleeves, even though it’s kind of hot for all that. But then, Hayley’s wearing flip-flops, so he’s probably thinking she’s the weirdo.
“You’ve been waiting for me?” Hayley asks, thinking he has her mixed up with someone else.
Then it dawns on her.
“Wait, are you my grandfather?”
He looks confused.
She gets a better look at him and wonders if maybe he’s not old enough to be a grandfather. But if he’s not, he’d probably say so. Maybe he just forgot. She heard Aunt Kelly talking about her mom last night. Older people get confused and forget stuff, sometimes even their own names.
“Who are you?” he asks.
“I’m Hayley, Talia’s daughter.”
“Good to meet you, Hayley.”
He doesn’t say his name, and Hayley doesn’t know it, because she hasn’t gotten the DNA test results back yet.
She wonders if they’re supposed to shake hands or hug or something.
A hug would be weird. And he’s not offering a handshake. He’s just standing there staring at her.
He’s probably thinking she looks a lot like Mom. People always say that.
“I figured you might be around here,” she goes on. “Last night, I saw someone out here and I thought it was probably you. Well, my grandfather. That, or a ghost.”
“I’m definitely not a ghost.”
“But you were here yesterday?”
“Here, in Mulberry Bay? I was. I thought we were going to meet. Like I said, I was waiting for you.”
“You should have just knocked on the door or something if you wanted to meet me. And my mom. I mean . . . I’m pretty sure she’d want to meet you. I was actually going to tell her I was looking for you, but I didn’t have a chance, and anyway, surprises are nice.”
“Sometimes they are.” He’s smiling, but his voice sounds cold. Like he’s angry with her.
Which is crazy, because he doesn’t even know her.
“This is a beautiful property, by the way. Are you staying here?”
“Yes. Just for the weekend.”
“Can I ask how old you are?”
He can ask, but she’s not about to tell him the truth.
“I’m fourteen.”
“You’re only fourteen?”
Resenting the only and the shocked expression on his face, she’s compelled to add, “I’m almost fifteen.”
“And you’re here by yourself?”
“Of course.” She shrugs as if this isn’t a new thing—being allowed to stay home alone while her family is out.
“How about your dad? Where is he?”
“At the beach.”
He nods, almost like he was expecting her to say that. “But does he know about this? About me? The DNA match?”
“You already got the results? That’s why you’re here!”
Okay, now he looks as confused as she feels.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“No. My mom doesn’t know about the test. I was going to surprise her.”
“Your mom? Are you sure we’re alone here?” he asks, looking around.
“How would I know?” She, too, looks around.
She isn’t scared, exactly . . . She’s never scared. She reminds herself of that, sternly.
It’s just that her stomach is starting to feel weird and queasy and her heart is thumping hard and fast, kind of like when she went on the roller coaster with her dad at the carnival.
It’s probably because she’s not used to being in the woods.
Or alone at all.
Or alone in the woods with a strange man, even though he looks like a regular person. Although maybe not a grandpa. But definitely not an axe murderer.
She wishes she hadn’t said the words axe murderer to her mom earlier, and she really wishes she hadn’t read all that stuff online about the Haven Cliff curse and the Winterfield murders and the girl who disappeared out here on prom night.
At that thought, she hears a rumble of thunder, like something out of the ghost story she was planning to tell Chloe.
The man hears it too. He looks up at the gray sky.
“Uh-oh. It’s about to rain. We’d better get moving.”
“Get moving where?” Hayley takes a step back, away from him.
He gestures at the path that leads away from the clearing, into the woods. “The pavilion. We can talk there. We have a lot of catching up to do, right?”
Her hand goes to the back right pocket of her shorts, but her phone isn’t there. That’s right, because it’s locked in the house, and she’s locked out of it.
“Come on.”
“I think . . .” No. Her voice sounds small, almost like a scared little girl. Hayley is not a little girl, nor is she scared.
She clears her throat, lifts her chin, looks him in the eye, and starts over. “I think you have me mixed up with someone else.”
He tilts his head and looks at her, like he’s trying to figure out something.
Her instinct is to turn around and take off. But she forces herself to stand her ground, not sure how fast she can run in flip-flops. Maybe faster than him, since he’s kind of old. But so is her dad, and he can run pretty fast.
Not that she thinks this man is actually going to chase her . . .
Is he?
He takes a step closer to her. One arm is folded across his chest, and the index finger on the opposite hand is pointed to his temple, like he’s thinking. “You are the one who emailed me? About the DNA match?”
She takes a step back, bending her right leg and plucking off her flip-flop, then taking another step back and doing the same with her left.
He still looks like he’s thinking, but he’s also watching her.
“Whatcha doing?” he asks in a quiet voice.
Hayley turns and starts to run.
So does he.
He catches her quickly, his strong arm yanking her from behind and his hand covering her mouth, muffling her scream.