Chapter 25
LUKE
GABE: Hang tight. I’m getting close to getting into the phone. I’ll have an answer soon.
I toss my phone onto the couch cushion with a reluctant sigh, watching it bounce slightly before settling into the fabric.
The past few days have been full of helplessness as I wait for Gabe to decipher something from my father’s phone.
I wait for the lab to call with any news about the evidence they’ve uncovered.
I wait for Tim to tell me they’ve found a lead.
I wait for any glimmer of hope in this convoluted investigation.
Isla doesn’t leave my mind for a second. She still has to find a way to move forward after her mother’s death, deal with all the logistics of getting rid of her house, and be on the lookout for some unknown threat that doesn’t want her in Wildhaven—doesn’t want her with me.
My leg bounces, keeping time with the relentless thrum of anxiety flowing through my body. But then Isla’s hand steadies me, and I realize she isn’t just calming my nerves; she’s the only reason I’m not unraveling completely.
“Guess what?” she says, turning her whole body toward me on the couch, her knee bumping mine.
“What?” I ask, already bracing for one of her facts.
“Cleopatra married both of her brothers.”
My brows knit together. A low rumble slips from my chest. “Well…that’s disgusting.”
“I know, right?” She breaks into that bright, delighted laugh I haven’t heard in too long.
I slide an arm around her and pull her against my side, pressing a kiss into her hair. God, I’ve missed this woman—her warmth, her weird facts, all of it.
“Do you want to go for a walk?”
At a little after 9 PM, darkness blankets the cabin like a heavy cloak. Yet, maybe stepping into the night air is exactly what I need to clear my head.
“That sounds like a good idea. I think a walk would do me some good.” We’ve been sitting on the couch with all the lights off, with only the dim glow of the television edging out the darkness.
A reality dating show plays out, set on a beautiful beach, and everyone is crying. It looks like hell on Earth.
The corner of my mouth lifts. “Grab a sweater. It’s chilly outside.” Isla’s smile stretches wide across her face, her eyes sparkling with joy at the simple prospect of taking a walk in the woods near my cabin. I’m reminded that she’s a caretaker at heart, always finding ways to uplift others.
The little things make her happy, and there’s nothing more I want than to be the one to make her happy.
In less than two minutes, she reappears from the bedroom, draped in one of my oversized sweatshirts that swallows her frame, and her well-loved UGG boots.
As she reaches the doorway, she loops her arms around my neck, her fingers twisting the hair at my nape. “Ready to go?”
“Yep.” I pat my side where my gun rests securely in its clip holster.
Curiosity dances in her eyes. “What are you expecting to encounter out there?”
“This is bear country, Isla. You’ve been a city girl for too long.”
She laughs before planting a quick, playful kiss on my lips.
While there isn’t a defined trail near my cabin, there are areas where the thicket thins—paths I’ve carved out over the years that now bear the mark of countless footsteps.
With my fingers intertwined with hers, Isla and I weave through the dense trees, surrounded by the symphony of nighttime creatures and the soft glow of the moon. “I had forgotten how beautiful this place can be at night,” she marvels, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open as if seeing it anew.
“Did you miss it?”
She pauses before replying, “I couldn’t allow myself to miss it. If I stopped and thought about everything I left behind, I wouldn’t have been able to move forward.”
“And now that you’re back?” My voice breaks on the question.
“Now that I’m back, I understand that Wildhaven isn’t just in my blood—it’s the marrow of my bones, the pulse in my veins.” Her fingers dig into my arm. “Being with you is part of who I am.”
The confession hits me like a physical blow. My chest constricts, memories flashing of her walking away, the hollow ache that consumed me for months. The thought of her vanishing again—claimed by San Francisco’s lights or whatever darkness stalks these woods—makes my heart hammer against my ribs.
I won’t survive losing her twice.
“Don’t go back,” I growl. “I know it’s selfish, but I want you here. With me.”
I brace for rejection, for hesitation. Instead, her eyes blaze in the moonlight, wild and certain.
“I’m staying, Luke. This second chance? It’s ours to seize or to squander. And I’m done squandering.”
I crush her against me, one hand tangling in her hair as my mouth claims hers with desperate hunger. This isn’t just a kiss—it’s a vow, a binding oath sealed with the taste of her lips and the thunder of our hearts beating as one.
“Will you do something for me?”
No hesitation. “Yes.”
I wince as I move my injured arm, fumbling with the clasp of my watch. Isla’s eyes follow my movements.
“Wear this watch.”
Her laugh bubbles up, soft and light. “This is the ugliest engagement ring ever, but okay.”
“I can track you with this in dead cell zones. We use them for search-and-rescue operations. I just—” My voice catches.
Her fingers brush against mine as she takes the watch, slipping it over her slender wrist. The band hangs loose, rotating freely even at the tightest setting. She holds her arm up and smiles.
“Imagine how nice it’s going to be when we can be together without worrying about being killed.”
An ironic chuckle leaves my throat. “What will we possibly do with all of our extra time?”
“I can think of a few things,” she replies, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
“You’re lucky my shoulder is injured, or we’d be doing a few things up against that tree.” I grin and wiggle my eyebrows, the movement making her laughter ring out, bright and infectious, as she tosses her head back.
“We should head back,” I say, glancing at my phone’s screen, which stubbornly shows only one flickering bar of signal.
The moment our feet touch the wooden planks of the front porch, my phone buzzes to life as the signal bars shoot up to full strength. Two messages pop up instantly. The first is from my mother, letting me know that my father won’t be coming back until tomorrow morning.
That’s unsettling, but I’ll deal with it later.
I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with him tonight anyway.
The second is from Doc Stevenson, asking me to call him back.
My heart rate skyrockets as I punch in his number and pace around my living room, turning on every possible light until he answers. “Hello?”
“Hey, Doc. It’s Luke.” My eyes squeeze tight for the briefest of moments after releasing a deep breath. “You got something for me?”
“I do, Luke. I’m afraid it’s not much, but the lab sent the results back.
” He clears his throat. “First, Gretchen Tanner. No anomalies—everything in her bloodwork and tissue samples points to natural causes. Coronary artery disease.” My chest tightens—natural, my ass.
With the MDMA and beta blocker gone by now, of course, the lab sees nothing, which is precisely what her killer was counting on.
“Anything else?” I force the words out.
“Yes. You asked us to run the red rock for DNA. There wasn’t enough DNA to test, but the partial print on the stone hit in the system. It matches an unknown offender whose prints have shown up at multiple homicide scenes in other states. No ID, just a profile.”
The oxygen is sucked out of the room, and my heart drums so hard the room spins. Whose is it?
I rock back on my heels and thread my hand through my hair. From the couch, Isla looks on with wide-eyed concern.
We may have a killer in Wildhaven. How did he slip into our quiet town? The thought alone is enough to break me in half.
“Luke? You still there?”
“Yeah,” I say with a shake of my head. “Thanks, Doc. I appreciate you calling in favors at the lab to get me results this fast.”
“Wish I had more,” he replies. “Sorry.”
“Me too.” I hang up and set the phone on the piles of folders growing on my dining room table, and turn to Isla.
“What is it?”
I take a slow breath. “The guy who was near the scene of your near hit-and-run—and who may have been in my parents' home—looks like a professional hitman.”
Her hand flies to her mouth. “That’s…that’s the same man who might’ve killed my mom?”
I swallow. “Possibly. We don’t know his name. We only have fingerprints and the crimes he’s linked to.”
I pick up the phone again. “I’m calling Gabe to see what his connections can dig up.”
Isla nods but remains silent. The room closes in, the darkness pressing around us despite the lights, and for the first time since this all began, I worry that this case might be too big for us to solve.
I dial Gabe’s number, my fingers tapping impatiently against the phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. Frustrated, I hang up and quickly type out a message.
LUKE: CALL ME. IT’S URGENT.
Then I redial it, foolishly expecting a different outcome. I glance at Isla, who stands across from me, her eyebrows raised, and her shoulders lifted. Her blue eyes search mine for answers. “Now what?”
I don’t want to burden her with the weight of this temporary defeat, but I’m not going to lie to her, either.
“I’m not sure. Hopefully, Gabe’s contacts can dig something up for us. We’ll revisit everything with fresh eyes in the morning, start from scratch, and maybe then things will make more sense.”
“So, we just wait?” Her voice is tinged with impatience and resignation. Wait. It’s the theme of the day.
“Sometimes that’s all you can do in an investigation.” I exhale. “You keep working with what you have and wait for something to break. I’m really sorry, Isla. I know this is really frustrating for you.”
“It is frustrating.” She takes a deep breath, steadying her voice. “And scary. But I feel safe here with you. Safer than I’ve felt in years.”