Like he wanted to be seen just enough to make sure someone noticed eventually.Which was deeply creepy and honestly rude.
I sighed heavily and shut the laptop before the footage started melting into nonsense again.The room suddenly felt too warm and too small.I needed air.Real air.Not haunted island clubhouse air mixed with coffee, leather, and the faint smell of whatever the hell Piney kept microwaving at two in the morning.
Just outside for a little while.
I glanced toward the hallway door.
I knew I should tell Push.
That thought alone irritated me.Not because Push would necessarily tell me no, but because I hated the idea of asking permission to go for a walk like I was grounded.I wasn’t planning to swim off the island or hitchhike into town.I just needed to clear my head before I started hallucinating hoodie men in every frame of footage.
Besides, Push had been in the common room with Prime and Vin for the last hour talking about haunted house repairs or security or motorcycles or whatever biker meetings turned into when everyone was drinking beer and grunting at each other.
I could go for a quick walk.
Nobody would care.
I slipped quietly from my room and headed through the back of the clubhouse.The place was calmer than usual tonight.The haunted house wasn’t open yet, which meant most of the club was still around the clubhouse getting ready before heading out.
The lake stretched dark beyond the trees while the last bits of sunset painted the sky in streaks of orange and purple.The island felt different at night.During the day, it almost seemed normal.Quiet.Pretty even.
At night?
Everything changed.
The shadows got deeper.The woods looked thicker.And every little noise suddenly sounded suspicious.
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and headed down the path toward the lake.
The gravel crunched beneath my boots while my brain kept circling the same thoughts over and over.
The victims.
The footage.
The hoodie guy.
Erin.
Nothing connected cleanly yet, and I hated that.Investigations usually had threads.Even messy ones.You found something, tugged on it, and eventually another piece moved.
This?
This felt like grabbing smoke.
I knew the club was telling me the truth now.At least about not being the killers.There were too many genuine reactions.Too much frustration.Too much protectiveness when it came to their own people.
Bob alone had proven that.
Nobody sat beside a hospital bed looking at a man like that unless they genuinely cared about him.Which meant somebody else was targeting the island.
Somebody smart.Somebody patient.And somehow my sister had gotten tangled up in it.
My chest tightened at the thought.Where are you, Erin?
I kicked a rock off the path harder than necessary.
The lake water lapped softly against the shoreline ahead while the wind moved through the trees overhead.It should’ve been peaceful.Instead, unease crawled slowly up my spine.
