A man with silver streaks in his hair stepped in front of the group and then approached me. His gaze held mine, and I recognized him as Gavin, the police chief of Stock Creek. Even though I haven't had any run-ins with Gavin, I've seen him around town.
"Erin Montgomery?" he asked in a voice that was both authoritative and comforting.
"Yes," I squeaked.
"Can you tell me what happened here?" Gavin's question was gentle, a nudge rather than a push, but it opened floodgates I'd struggled to keep closed.
I glanced at Laurie, her face pale but her eyes resolute, and something in me shifted. She deserved to know. Everything. And Ashton had just saved me. That earned some truth. "It's a long story," I said over the distant sound of the ambulance. "One that started back in Chicago."
Ashton stepped into the kitchen at that moment and stood at my side. Laurie wrapped an arm around my shoulders, a gesture of solidarity that helped me confess the secrets that had chased me to Stock Creek.
"I couldn't sleep one night." I kept my eyes on Gavin. "So, I got some ice cream at the corner store. I witnessed a robbery and the clerk getting shot." The memory surged, vivid and unbidden, casting shadows in the present. "I ran, but they followed me to my home. I shot one of them in self-defense, the poor kid." Gavin's nod was almost imperceptible, encouraging me to pour out the rest of my haunted past. "The police told me it was a mob initiation. That's who I killed. The kid being initiated. I saw too much and recognized faces I shouldn't have. They put me in witness protection, but it wasn't enough. An officer died helping me escape." I sucked in a shuddering breath. "After that, I didn't go back to witness protection. I hid myself. Stock Creek was supposed to be a new start. I bought the inn with the last of my inheritance, under a trust so my name wouldn't lead them here."
Through it all, Laurie's grip never wavered. Ashton stared at me with an intensity that almost unnerved me. Like he wanted to pull me into his arms. That was crazy, right? He didn't know me.
In telling the story, the burden I had carried seemed to lessen fractionally, as if the words themselves were part of a spell that could ward off the darkness.
"I was working in the garden and a man took me this morning, he was holding me in a cabin out in the forest to the East of the town. He said he’d called his boss." I stopped before telling everyone he’d been turned into pulp by a dragon, nobody needed to know about my breakdown. Chief Mitchell would have me sectioned. "I got away, but when I arrived here to get my go bag Vito was at the Inn. Ashton saved me." I took a moment to glance at the man, who’d saved my life.
Gavin looked up from his notebook where he was taking notes, "Where did he take you? The first man?"
I wasn’t sure I could remember the route I’d taken from the cabin, in my hurry to get away I’d just driven. Instinct taking over. Shaking my head. "I’m sorry Chief, I can’t remember."
"Don’t worry about it Erin. We’ll have a look at the car, see if we can track it back." Gavin said. "We'll take it from here. You've been brave."
"Bravery had nothing to do with it," I said. It was about survival, about holding onto the slivers of life that remained when everything else had been stripped away.
"I'll contact Chicago PD immediately," he said with the authority that came naturally to his position as chief, his graying hair catching the light as he nodded solemnly. "If this is the guy who was after you, Erin, it's over."
His promise should've been soothing, but my instincts churned with skepticism. Could the end of this nightmare truly be so simple?
"Thank you, Chief Mitchell." My gratitude genuine even as suspicion buzzed at the back of my mind.
"We'll also increase patrols around your inn," he said, locking eyes with me in a silent vow of protection. "Your safety is our priority." With a final nod, he turned to coordinate with his officers.
Ashton stepped closer, his voice a low rumble that resonated within me. "I'm not going anywhere either. I'll help keep watch."
At that moment, despite the oddity of it all, I believed him. Something in his eyes told me he'd go to hell and back to keep me safe.
"Thank you," I said softly.
He nodded his acknowledgment and followed Gavin out of the room. I heard him talking to Gavin, I assumed giving his statement.
Laurie squeezed my hand.
As the officers filed out after the body, the weight of years spent looking over my shoulder began to lift. It was as if each step they took carried away some of my fear.
"Is it really over?" Laurie's question hung in the air, echoing the tremulous hope blossoming in my chest.
"Maybe." I allowed myself to begin to believe it. "It just might be."
The shadows of the evening crept across the walls of the living room, painting a scene that felt both surreal and achingly real.
I lit a fire, the dancing flames momentarily banishing the weight of my past and filling the room with a comforting glow. Laurie didn’t ask questions or demand any explanations, just worked with me, tidying and sorting the room. Allowing me to process everything that had happened, today and in the past.
For the first time since the night that changed everything, a future unfettered by dread seemed possible. I let out a breath, my first true sigh of freedom.
Chapter 7
