Sam had heldback and given Cal some time to deal with Glenda and Jill himself.They’d both agreed it was best.
But she kept an eye on the cabin from her vantage point toward the back of the house.There wasn’t an easy way to get up here that wasn’t the main road, but with enough planning, it certainly wasn’t impossible to sneak onto Harrington property, and she figured if someone really was threatening Cal by following him, or something weird was going on with Glenda that involved someone sneaking up here, the threat would come from the back.
Sam glanced at her watch.Cal hadn’t been in there very long, but she was exhausted from the night’s events and getting edgy.
She shuddered.The image of the guy hanging from a rafter would haunt her for a long time.Maybe she’d thought herself… tougher, or something.She’d been through hell.She’dseenthings.She’d been there when Cal was shot.She’d seen the physical aftereffects of what had happened to Nate in the Middle East.
But she couldn’t seem to shake the slight swing of a body out of her consciousness.She never wanted to sleep again, but just standing here made the exhaustion seem to dig deeper.Her eyes drooped, and she jerked herself awake as the image crept into the edges of her mind again.
She muttered a few curses to herself then decided she didn’t give a shit about Glenda’s feelings over having an extra ear in there demanding answers.She could not just stand here.
If she waded in and made things worse, so be it.
She’d taken maybe three steps toward the cabin when she heard the sound of… voices.
Frowning, she carefully moved so she could see the back of the cabin through the trees.Glenda was standing there in the back yard, the door behind her open.Cal stepped out behind her, and they both moved stiffly forward.
It was such a weird tableau, Sam didn’t know what to make of it.Maybe she should suck it up and keep her nose out of the whole thing.Just stand here and wait and—
But then a third person emerged from the cabin.
Daryl Everly.
Shit.
Where the hell hadhecome from?Clearly he’d been in there since before Cal and Sam had gotten up here and that was… not good.
Glenda and Cal were moving at a quick clip forward, around Glenda’s gardens and into a clutch of trees.Even from this far away, Sam could see Everly holding something up and out.
A gun.Pointed at their backs.
Sam was going to lose the visual if she didn’t immediately follow.So, she moved forward slowly, carefully, silently pulling her own gun out of its holster on her hip.
She did her best to move toward their path while keeping out of sight just in case Everly looked behind him.She put all her effort into walking quietly and keeping the right amount of distance between her and the trio in front of her.
It dawned on her then that they were missing someone.Where was Jill?Part of Sam wanted to retrace her steps to the cabin.What if she was hurt?What if she needed help?
And what if Sam lost Everly and wherever he was leading Cal and Glenda at gunpoint?She hadn’t heard anything like a gunshot that might point to Jill being shot—unless it had been long before her and Cal had gotten up here.Plus, she didn’t think Cal and Glenda would be quite so placid—even with a gun pointed at them—if something had happened to Jill.
Not that Jill would be just hanging out in the cabin if Everly had pushed Glenda and Cal out of the cabin at gunpoint.
Sam was torn, but wherever Everly was leading them, it would be too difficult to follow in the spring thaw if Sam didn’t follow right away.There wouldn’t be a good enough trail.It was too much to risk.
She needed to get a text off to Nate, but she didn’t want to stop and lose the trio.They weren’t going particularly fast, but Sam had to make sure she didn’t make a noise that might tip Everly off.
Besides, she doubted very much she had service up here.If Jill was somehow okay, she’d call Aly from the landline.Maybe she was just still asleep.Maybe hiding… maybe…
Too many maybes and Sam knew she could only follow the one certainty she had.
Everly, Cal, and Glenda.Leaving Harrington property and crossing into the state forest.
Chapter Thirty-Two
An Unmarked Trail in the State Forest
Cal was workingthrough a million different things.Mainly, what the hell Everly thought he was doing, but also what might be hiding in the recesses of his own brain.
Would Cal ever be free of the things he’d repressed?
