I sat there, neck throbbing, hip aching, and replaying the previous night in my head. The knife. I still had the knife. Whatever had happened out there, it had been real enough to leave something behind.
I got out of the car, grabbed my toiletry bag, and trudged toward the shower building. The facilities were clean, and I took my time, letting the hot water work on muscles that had betrayed me. When I emerged, feeling slightly more human, I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
I looked like hell. There were actual bags under my eyes that were big enough to hold groceries. I hadn’t slept so badly, even during the height of the Scott disaster, and that had been a six-month stretch of anxiety and nausea.
Maybe the naked man had been a stress-induced hallucination. Maybe I was finally losing my mind, the way my mother always said I would if I kept working so hard.
Not that I was working now.
I went back to my car, threw my toiletries into the passenger seat, yanked the sunshade down, and cleared the rest of the laundry from my windows. I wanted to be gone before the oversized park ranger—or whatever he was—came back to check my pulse or give me another lecture on local laws.
I usually loved being outdoors, but I’d had enough nature to last me a lifetime. I needed a grease-stained paper bag full of breakfast and a place with actual walls.
The gravel crunched under my tires as I drove toward the exit, and my eyes darted toward the tree line one last time. Nothing but pine trees. I didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until I turned onto the main road toward Ashford.
The town was cute in that way mountain towns always were, with wooden signs, flower boxes, and a general store that probably sold everything from local honey to hand-knitted socks.
I found a parking spot in front of a hardware store called “Nuts & Bolts & Stuff” and sat for a moment, trying to gather the energy to move. I leaned my head against the steering wheel, counting to ten, then twenty, wondering if this was what rock bottom felt like.
At least surrounded by normal people doing normal morning errands, I might be able to convince myself I was still a functional human being. If I could just convince my legs to work again.
I grabbed my keys, shoved my door open, and hesitated by my car before opening the back door. My pack mocked me from where I’d wedged it in with all my belongings. More money down the drain.
But maybe the knife was real gold and diamonds. I wasn’t an expert at determining if something was fool’s gold, so I grabbed the baggie with it and slipped it into my purse.
I headed for the entrance of the hardware store with a purposeful stride that usually meant I was about to fire a subcontractor.
A bell rang above the door when I walked in, and a woman behind the counter looked up with a smile. “Good morning!”
I gave her a small wave in greeting and went to the outdoor section.
Did I really need to replace my bear spray? I had no intention of going hiking or camping again, but I might feel differently tomorrow. Plus, even if I stayed in Ashford, a real bear might wander through.
Or another naked man.
“Can I help you find anything?” The woman from the counter joined me in the aisle.
“I’m looking for bear spray.” I scanned the shelves again but came up empty.
“We keep that behind the front counter.”
“Perfect. That’s all I need.”
I followed her to the register, where she rang up the spray. It was probably another unnecessary expense that I added to my credit card. At least Scott hadn’t gotten to it like he had everything else. Otherwise, I’d probably be crawling back to my parents’ house.
She slid the canister across the counter. “Anything else I can help you with?”
I hesitated before I reached into my purse and pulled out the plastic baggie with the knife. In the store’s lighting, it looked even more expensive than it had the night before.
“Any idea where I could pawn or sell something like this?”
Her eyes went wide, and she carefully took the bag, holding it up to the light. “Holy moly. Where did you get this? This looks real.”
“You won’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
I shrugged. “A naked man dropped it in the forest.”
