“Last time we talked, you were seeing a girl. What was her name . . . Kendra?”
“Yes, I was seeing Kendra. But we broke up a month or so ago.”
Darryl’s brows lifted. “Well . . . that’s probably for the best.”
Max studied his friend’s face, curious about his statement. “Why would you say that?”
Darryl glanced around before lowering his voice. “I ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago while I was out hunting in West Virginia. We got to talking about different areas where we’d lived and hunted, and I mentioned Blue Ridge Hollow.”
“I know she lived in West Virginia before she moved here . . .” He had no idea where Darryl was going with this.
“As soon as I said Blue Ridge Hollow, he made a face and asked if I knew a woman named Kendra Williams.”
Max kept listening, his pulse pounding faster now.
“I told him I’d heard the name,” Darryl went on. “Didn’t see the need to go into too many details. Anyway, he said if I ever crossed paths with her, I ought to stay as far away as possible.”
A slow unease slithered into Max’s chest. “Why?”
“Said she dated a friend of his. When things ended, she didn’t take it well.”
Max’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like where this was going. “How so?”
“He thought any hard feelings between them would blow over after their breakup,” Darryl said. “But they didn’t. Then he started seeing someone else, and things started happening to her. Strange stuff that didn’t make sense.”
“Like what?”
“At first, she just thought she was being watched. Then her apartment was trashed. Then she got sick. Something she ate was poisoned. He’s nearly certain it all traces back to Kendra. Didn’t have enough evidence to prove it in a court of law, and thankfully, after she moved, it all stopped.”
Max froze as the pieces began to fall into place. All the strange incidents that happened to Hadley lately: the bad reviews, the missing appointment book, the broken window.
Those were all things that Kendra could have done.
He had to talk to her.
Now.
CHAPTER 38
Max had thankedDarryl then excused himself. He pushed through the ER doors, scanning the waiting area until he spotted them.
Lyndee sat in a chair with her shoulders hunched while Sheriff Sutherland stood nearby, talking with a nurse. The sheriff’s attention shifted the moment he saw Max striding toward them.
Max didn’t slow. “Lyndee.”
She looked up, startled at first, then confused. “Max? I thought you left.”
He stopped in front of her, his pulse still driving hard from the conversation he’d just had. “When Kenny was at the cabin—when he was talking to whoever showed up—did you hear the other person’s voice?”
She frowned, trying to follow. “I told you, I didn’t see anyone.”
“I know.” Max forced his voice to remain steady. “But did you hear anything? A voice?”
Lyndee hesitated before swallowing hard. “I . . . I’m not sure. I thought I heard a little of the conversation, but like I said, the other person had a softer, lower voice.”
Max leaned in. “What did you hear?”
She frowned, her entire face scrunching with the action. “I thought I heard a woman. I told myself that couldn’t be right, that I was just . . . I don’t know. I thought maybe I was going crazy.”
