I glance out the diner window. My car is somewhere being looked at by a mechanic I’ve never met. My entire life fits in two suitcases. I have nowhere to be and no plan beyond “get far away from New York.”
“What have I got to lose?” I reply.
“That’s the spirit.” Ruby stands and leaves a wad of cash on the table. “Come on. Let’s go see about getting you a job.”
As we leave the diner, I catch sight of Connor again, talking to someone outside the hardware store. He glances over, catching my eye, and something in my chest pulls toward him like a compass finding north.
This is a terrible idea. Getting involved with anyone right now, in any capacity, is the worst possible plan.
But maybe terrible ideas are all I have left. Maybe this little town with its friendly people and strange phrasings and a security officer who looks at me like he can see through every wall I’ve built. Perhaps this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Or maybe I’m just too exhausted to keep running.
Either way, as I follow Ruby back toward the medical center, my battered suitcases still in my dead car, my entire life reduced to what I could grab in twenty minutes, I let myself imagine staying.
Chapter 2 - Connor
The timing belt didn’t snap on its own.
I crouch beside Fern’s Honda in Joe’s garage and run my fingers along the frayed edges of the belt. The damage is too clean. Someone cut halfway through it, and the edges are still fresh—done recently, maybe within the last day or two. Left just enough intact that it would fail after some distance. Whoever did this wanted her stranded, and they timed it carefully.
“What do you think?” Joe asks from behind me and wipes grease off his hands with a red rag.
“Someone sabotaged it.” I stand and brush dirt off my jeans. “Cut the belt so it would fail eventually but not immediately.”
Joe’s bushy eyebrows climb toward his hairline. “That’s what it looks like to me, too.”
I point to the cuts, the pattern too uniform to be wear and tear. “Question is who and why.”
“She piss someone off?”
“Don’t know yet.” But I intend to find out. The protective instinct that flared when I first saw her standing on Main Street with Ruby grows into something darker. Someone hurt this woman’s car, which means someone wanted to hurt her.
My wolf doesn’t like that. Not one bit.
“How long for the repair?” I ask.
“Parts won’t be in until Friday at the earliest. Could be Monday if the supplier’s backed up.” Joe scratches his chin. “She got somewhere to stay?”
“Ruby’s handling it.” I pull out my phone and text Ruby.Where’d you take her?
The reply comes fast.Medical center. Meeting Patricia about the therapist job. Why?
Need to talk to her. Keep her there.
Everything okay?
Her car was sabotaged. Need answers.
There’s a pause before Ruby responds.Come quick. Patricia’s about to offer her the job. She just wants a quick chat with her first.
I pocket my phone and head for the door. “Thanks, Joe. Let me know when the parts arrive.”
“Will do. Connor?” Joe’s voice stops me. “Be careful with this one. That kind of sabotage… Whoever did it knows what they’re doing.”
“I know.” That’s what worries me.
The walk to the medical center takes five minutes, long enough for my mind to run through possibilities. Ex-boyfriend seems most likely. The exhaustion in her eyes goes deeper than a few days on the road. Someone’s been making her life difficult.
