I go silent, listening to the wind and the squeal of my mother’s wheelchair as she rolls down the hallway. I set the bowl of stew down on the counter, grab a paper towel, and wipe up the mess I made. As I toss it into the trash, Bullet lets out a single bark at the back window.
My eyes drift to the same place in the yard with the dancing shadows, but my breath catches in my throat. In the middle of the yard, a figure stands, unmoving.
‘If you see anything, you call us,’the Marshal’s voice echoes in my head.
I reach into the front pocket of my jeans, fingering the edge of the business card, as the words keep playing.
‘We plan to do an in-depth countywide search if we get any more tips.’
I suck in a breath through my nose, pick up the bowl of stew, and head for the back door. My heart pounds against the confines of my ribcage, and it’s all I can hear as I swing the door open a fraction, the wind howling around the house.
The figure shifts, now angling toward where I stand. However, I can’t really see him clearly, the light of the porch blinding.
So, I slide my hand along the inside wall and turn it off.
My eyes take a moment to adjust, and the crunch of footsteps coming closer causes my body to stiffen with fear.
But then the moon illuminates what the porch light could never.
I’m met with those same translucent eyes, practically sparkling beneath the white glow of the night sky.
“Noah,” I whisper.
He stares at me, the stubble lightly lining his razor-sharp jaw. His expression is almost impossible to read, and my gut screams at me to slam the door shut—that he might very well be here to exact some sort of revenge.
But he doesn’t know I did it? Does he?
I take a full step out of the house and let the door close behind me, pushing the thoughts away. “Are you hungry?” My words waver, and my hands tremble as I hold it out to him.
He eyes me, inches closer, and then takes it from my hands, not giving me anything other than his penetrating stare.
“There’s… Um… There’s…” My voice breaks before I can say anything more. My knees grow weak, and I struggle to remain upright. “Noah, I had no idea,” I blurt out. “I didn’t know it was you. I never knew it was you they locked up.” Tears stream down my face.
He sets the empty bowl on the railing of the back porch, and then lets out a sigh. “I wish I could actually believe you, Rue.” His eyes flick to mine, his irises riddled with what I think is pure fucking hate.
And it only makes me desperate to console him further.
“Please,” I take a step down, the cold biting through my coat. “Noah.” I stumble toward him, and at first, he retreats, like if I touch him, it might fucking kill him.
“I took the fall for something I didn’t do,” he grits out. “And you know that, Rue? Don’t you?”
Guilt crushes my chest, my mouth struggling to move. “You could never…”
He glares at me, the intensity sending a wave of ice through my body. “Oh, Icould,Rue.Ihave.But,” he’s suddenly close to me, his fist wrapped up in my coat, and holding me to him, his nose brushing mine. “But Ididn’tstab Matthew to death. I didn’t push him into the lake.”
“I know.” I whisper, adrenaline and something else pumping through my body in response to his woodsy scent.
He tilts his head, his lips inches from mine. “And why is that? Hmm?”
Tears build and then slip down my cheeks, my lip trembling. “Because I did it.”
His eyes flash with something dark and unsettling. “I saw you do it that night, Rue. I saw the whole fucking thing. I saw you stab him. I saw you push him in the goddamn lake. And I had to pay the price for it, because your daddy knew exactly where to point the finger.”
I swallow hard, my body trembling against him. “I didn’t know it was you.”
“Oh, and that makes it better?” he scoffs. “I wasnothingto you.” He releases me then, and I stumble backward, falling on my ass. “All the letters, all the calls, andnothing.I gotnothingfrom you.”
“What?” I have no idea what the hell he’s saying, but maybe it’s just the way my head is spinning as he looms over me. I realize he might actually fucking kill me for what I did to him.
