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She didn’t take his hand, either.
It took her a minute before she felt steady enough to climb back to her feet. Right away, Mason put his arm around her shoulder, trapping her to his side. She was too weary to do more than protest weakly. He pointedly ignored her objections, holding her close as he started to lead her through the woods. Tess stopped fighting. As long as he was taking her back to civilization, she'd go with him gladly.
When he sensed that she'd given in, Mason clicked his tongue. “You shouldn’t be out here by yourself. It’s dangerous, Tess, heading out in the trees at night. You were running at the gulley. Did you know that? If you got that far, it could’ve swallowed you up before you knew it. Thank goodness I found you before you hurt yourself.”
Tess imagined running into the gaping maw of the valley that bordered Hamlet on one side. She liked to think she’d stop before she tumbled headfirst into the gap. Panic was a funny thing, though. Before she discovered that note, she would’ve thought she’d have enough sense not to hide in an unfamiliar woods wearing nothing but her night clothes and a pair of slippers.
She shivered, as if just feeling the night’s chill. Mason rubbed his hand along her arm, comforting and warming her at the same time. “Here, let me take you back to my cruiser. I’ve got water in the car. You can sit down, settle your stomach and tell me what it is that’s got you upset. How’s that sound?”
Tess’s throat burned. She could still taste the bile in her mouth from when her stomach turned. Water sounded amazing, the deputy’s protection and care even better. As her shivers turned to full body trembles, she buried her nose in his uniform jacket and nodded. Mason smelled woodsy, a mix of fresh air and pine.
It calmed her. Her pulse went from a rapid drumbeat to a dull throb. The adrenaline fading at last, she sagged against him.
Though it felt like she ran forever, she hadn’t actually gone that far. Within minutes, Mason was leading her out of the trees, half carrying her to where his cruiser waited for him on the opposite side of the street. She tried not to notice it was parked in the same spot as the car that circled past Ophelia all last night.
Once at the cruiser, Mason insisted on wrapping her in the fleece blanket he had stowed in the trunk of his cruiser. It was fluffy and warm and, though it carried a weird mix of his scent and something she thought might be gun oil, Tess was feeling a lot more settled as he helped her sit in the passenger seat.
He left the door open as he retrieved two bottles of water from his trunk. He handed one to Tess, then set the other on the ground. Hiking up his uniform trousers, he crouched down so that they were eye to eye.
He waited for Tess to take a few tentative sips from her bottle before he said, “Okay. Start at the beginning. What happened?”
It hit her then that she was talking to a deputy. The law. If anyone could help her, he could. So, with a shaky voice and a hint of tears, she did what he asked. And she watched as his handsome face grew grim and grimmer as she spoke.
“Do you have the note with you?” he asked when she was finished.
She shook her head. “I must’ve dropped it on the floor when I ran for the door. It was locked, so I went for the window. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I mean obviously, right? I… I just lost my head for a second.”
“I don?
?t blame you.”
“It’s just—“ Tess shuddered, a quick shake that had water sloshing out of the top of her bottle. She could still see the threat, knew she wasn’t exaggerating. “Those cut-out letters scared the crap out of me. It was like I had to run. I didn’t want to end up like Jack. I don’t.”
He didn’t want that, either. “No. Of course not.”
“I never thought to bring the paper with me when I went.”
“It’s all right.” Mason patted her knee. “We can get it later. It’s more important that you’re safe now.”
Tess sat a little straighter in her seat. She didn’t realize how worried she’d been that he wouldn’t believe her outlandish story until he accepted it so easily. “I wasn't before you found me. Thank you.”
“Hey, I got you. Don't worry.” The pat became a tender caress. “You can trust me.”
She wasn't so sure she should. The heat from his palm seemed to go through her sweatpants. Why was he touching her? Why did he keep touching her? She didn't want to offend the deputy, but if his hand traveled any further north, she was going to scream again.
Mason must have sensed it in her silence. Drawing his hand back, he swiveled his body, pointing at the dark, looming shape of the house in front of them. Tess followed his point, relieved at the space he carefully manufactured between them.
Ophelia was quiet, empty. She couldn’t see a single light on, which was weird considering she hadn’t turned her light off before she escaped through the window.
“You’re staying there, right?” Mason asked. “At Maria’s place?”
“Yes. The doctor brought me here yesterday.”
Tess glanced at Mason’s profile in time to see his jaw tighten.
“I have to go check this out. I have to check on her.”
Her stomach dropped straight down to her slippers. In her fright, she’d forgotten all about Maria. “Oh my god. I didn’t think—”
