Chapter Thirteen—Chris #2
I nod. “The police are treating Farris as their primary suspect. Stone also found evidence connecting him to the messages and purchases.”
Her gaze moves to the front door, then to the window beside it, and then toward the kitchen.
The lodge is already changing for her. This was the place she came when she needed somewhere he couldn’t reach.
“Willa.” Lorna’s voice is sharper now.
Willa moves beside her. “I’m here.”
“Does he know where I am?”
I answer because this part is my fault. “He knows the county.”
Lorna turns to me so fast coffee drips from the table onto the floor unnoticed. “What?”
“The first package I had shipped here went through Fenton. Stone found searches narrowing to this area after he processed it.”
She takes one step backward. “No.”
“Lorna...”
“No.” She looks toward the windows again. “He doesn’t get to have this place.” The fear in her face changes into anger abruptly.
“This is mine.” She points toward the floor beneath us. “He doesn’t know this house. He doesn’t know this road. He doesn’t know where I sleep here.”
“Not yet,” Willa says.
Lorna’s attention snaps to her.
Willa doesn’t apologize for the wording. “We have to assume he’s trying to find out.”
Lorna grabs the coffee mug from the table, carries it three steps toward the kitchen, then stops as though she’s forgotten why she picked it up. Her grip shifts on the mug. “He’s had days to search the county.”
“Yes.” I don’t let myself look away from her fear.
She sets the mug down on the nearest surface. “He could already be here.”
Willa has her phone out before Lorna finishes. “When did he disappear?”
“Thursday. Apartment cleared, phone off, and cash withdrawals before that.”
Willa walks toward the kitchen as someone answers. “Tremaine. I need an immediate threat escalation and local coordination.”
Lorna moves away from the windows without being told. She crosses into the hallway and stops where the exterior walls aren’t directly visible.
I stay near the door.
Her breathing has changed. It’s too fast, though she’s fighting to control it. She looks down at her bare feet. “I slept with the window open Saturday.”
The sentence punches straight through me. I was beside her then, at least.
Willa turns from her call, covering the phone. “Lorna, look at me.”
She does.
“We don’t know that he’s here.”
“You just told me to assume he’s trying to find me.”
“I did.” Willa keeps her voice steady. “That means we act as though he could get close. It doesn’t mean he already has.”
Lorna swallows and gives one short nod.
Willa returns to the call.
I don’t go toward Lorna. She doesn’t need me crowding her right now.
After several seconds, she looks at me. “He knows I’m here because you told him where to send your files.”
“Yes.”
Her face twists briefly before she controls it again. “You were twenty yards away from me, and he was still between us.”
There’s nothing I can say to that, so I don’t try. I deserve every bit of blame she assigns.
She looks toward the kitchen where Willa is still talking to law enforcement. “How close can he get with only the county?”
“I don’t know.”
Willa ends the call and comes back into the hallway. “Too close. Local law enforcement is being notified, and I’m moving you.”
Lorna straightens. Fear hasn’t left her face, but she has somewhere to direct it now. “When?”
“As soon as I have the destination secured.” Willa checks her phone again. “I’m working on it now.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
Lorna looks toward the stairs. “I’ll pack.”
Willa catches her arm before she takes the first step. “Stay away from the windows while you do it. Curtains stay closed. Nobody leaves the property.”
“How long?”
“Give me twenty minutes to get the first layer in place.” Willa releases her. “If either of you sees or hears anything unusual, you tell me. You don’t investigate it.”
Her gaze shifts to me on the last sentence, full of warning. “Don’t let your ego or guilt make you do something stupid.”
I nod. “Understood.”
Willa starts toward the back of the lodge, then turns. “Chris, Stone sends everything to me and law enforcement from now on. Nothing goes through your office.”
“Agreed.”
She disappears into the kitchen.
Lorna remains at the foot of the stairs.
I take one step toward her and stop. “Lorna.”
She looks at me, visibly trembling. It hurts to see her like that. “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head immediately. “Not now.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t do that part right now.” She rubs one hand over the opposite forearm. “I need to know where my shoes are. I need my laptop, medication, chargers, and enough clothes to leave. That’s what I can do.”
“Okay.”
She starts upstairs, then stops on the second step. “Did he know I owned this place?”
“Not from anything Stone found.”
“Did you ever tell Fenton?” She’s glaring at me, full of suspicion.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
The question hurts because she has every reason to ask it. I search my memory before answering. “I never gave him the lodge address. I gave him the post office for the shipment. That’s all I’m certain of.”
Lorna nods once. “Then don’t tell me anything you’re not certain of.”
“I won’t.”
She goes upstairs, and I return to the guesthouse. My bag is still against the wall.
I pack everything I brought quickly. The rings are in the zippered pocket inside my jacket.
My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number.
I open the message.
You should have listened to her, Chris.
My entire body locks.
I take a screenshot, forward the message to Stone and Willa, then call Willa.
She answers immediately. “What?”
“I just got a text.” I keep my eyes on the window while I speak.
“Don’t delete anything.” Movement sounds on her end. “Screenshot it and send it to me.”
“Already done.”
“What does it say?”
I read the message aloud.
Willa is silent for one beat. “Stay inside the guesthouse. Lock the door.”
I look across the yard. “You’re twenty yards away.”
“Chris.” Her voice turns hard. “Lock the door.”
“Okay.”
I lock it.
Five minutes later, Willa calls again. “Local deputies are on the way. Extraction moves as soon as they arrive.”
I shoulder my bag. “Understood.”
“Stay where you are until I come for you.”
“I will.”
The call ends.
I wait by the window, far enough back that anyone outside shouldn’t see me easily.
The lodge is visible through the trees, close enough that I can see part of the porch where Lorna kissed me Saturday night.
My phone remains in my hand, and no second message comes. I don’t go outside, though every instinct is screaming to be with Lorna.
Willa told me to wait, so I wait.