Tyler’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Brooke caught it, though, before his expression smoothed back to neutral.
Interesting.
Sue was watching her with a sly smile. The kind that said she’d seen exactly where Brooke’s attention kept landing, and she found it amusing.
Brooke’s face heated again. She focused on her sandwich, but she stayed aware of Tyler in a way that felt hard to ignore. The way he moved, still alert despite the casual setting. How his gaze kept sweeping the parking lot and the tree line, never quite settling.
“Do you hike alone often?” Tyler asked, and there was something in his tone that wasn’t quite criticism but close.
“Not usually,” Brooke admitted. “I know better. But my friends canceled at the last minute, and I needed...” She trailed off, not sure how to explain the desperate need she’d felt this morning to get into the mountains, to prove she could still do this, even if going out alone was a reckless decision.
“Needed what?” Tyler’s eyes were on her now, focused and intent.
“To not let fear win,” she said quietly.
Understanding crossed his face, like maybe he knew something about fear.
Brooke couldn’t deny there was something between them. Attraction, yes, but also a flicker of recognition, as if they both understood more than either wanted to say. Like they were both carrying weight they didn’t talk about, both pushing against things that wanted to hold them back.
Sue cleared her throat softly, and Brooke realized she’d been staring at Tyler.
“Well,” Sue said with forced cheerfulness, “I’m glad we happened to be here today. Even if the circumstances are awful.”
“Me too,” Brooke said, meaning it. She didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if she’d been completely alone when she found those bodies. If she’d had to hike out by herself, panic building with every step. If she’d had to wait there alone for law enforcement to arrive.
Tyler made it bearable. All three of them had, but especially Tyler.
She caught his eye again and saw something warm in his expression that unsettled her in a way she wasn’t ready to examine.
This was wrong. Not just wildly inappropriate when she should be focused on the victims, on who might have killed them, and on the danger that could still be lurking in these mountains, but it was risky on a personal level as well.
Her thoughts kept returning to how his voice had cut through the panic, how quickly he caught her when she stumbled, and how naturally he had taken charge without making it about himself.
Brooke took another bite of her sandwich and tried to ignore Sue’s smile.
The afternoon was going to be very long.
Chapter 4
Tyler
Tyler finished his sandwich and resisted the urge to check his watch again. Thirty minutes, Robert had said. Maybe longer. Every minute that ticked by felt like time stretching too thin.
He should leave. Slip away. Today was Sunday, and it was still tourist season. The trailhead was visible from the highway, and a steady stream of cars moved along the well-traveled road. He could just walk to the pavement and stick out his thumb. Maybe someone would stop. Maybe they’d even be heading back to Irma.
Or they might take him to the seasonal store nearby. From there he could hitch again or wait for Robert and Sue. They could deal with the law and then pick him up after they were done.
The smart move was to disappear before the sheriff’s department showed up. Before deputies started asking questions, taking statements, and running names through their systems. Depending on who responded, running his name might not even be necessary. Too many of them knew him by sight.
Tyler didn’t trust cops, and for good reasons. The kind of reasons that left scars you couldn’t see but were felt every time a badge came near. Some of those badges stung worse than others.
He shifted his weight. His muscles tightened with the familiar urge to move, to put distance between himself andwhat was coming. His eyes stayed on the access road, watching for the dust cloud that would signal approaching officers.
But he didn’t move.
Two things kept him rooted to the parking lot, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with either of them.
First, the practical problem. They would want his statement. He had seen the bodies, helped mark the trail, and been part of the group that made the call. If he left now, they’d just track him down later.
