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The curtains had been pulled back on the windows, and light entered the space. The kitchen lined the far wall. To the left, the door to the bedroom. She could see the end of the mattress but, knowing that’s where they’d found Karen, couldn’t force her body to step inside.
To her right, a sitting area with a plaid sofa and an ottoman. The kind of furniture she’d seen in countless hunting cabins. Old, durable. Frayed. Nothing on the walls. Nothing personal.
Except for the rocking chair.
It sat in the middle of the room, as if it had been dragged inside. She studied it as she’d done with the one in her attic this morning. There it was. A carving on the one armrest—a circle with a bear on its hind legs, paws in the air. Not a coincidence. This was the same design. Same workmanship. A match to the one she’d stored since she’d met Aaron in NorthCarolina years ago, but in better condition. This one hadn’t been hidden away and allowed to rot.
Her senses leapt to life. A thundering started in her ears. She inhaled deep, openmouthed breaths to keep from dropping to the ground in an anxiety-induced haze. She didn’t know what she’d expected to find or feel, but all she could call up was emptiness. An overriding, pummeling guilt that pushed against her shoulders, trying to slam her to the dusty floor.
“I wondered if you’d come.”
She closed her eyes at the sound of the familiar voice. The one she’d hoped not to hear. She’d never wanted so badly to be wrong.
She turned around and saw him. Tall and sure, dressed in his hiking gear and wearing that expensive watch.
Holding her hammer.
“Jared.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
“I TRACKED YOU. HELL, I’VE BEEN TRACKING YOU SINCE YOURbig fight with Aaron two months ago. Figured you’d get curious and drive out here one day.” Jared whistled. “But today you seemed distracted. When you ran out of the sheriff’s office, head down and all determined, I knew you’d found something because I know you.”
They always said that. Today she hated to hear it. “You don’t.”
“I could see it in your expression.”
That persistent, nagging memory. “They weren’t coins.”
The words seemed to dampen his enthusiasm. “What?”
“In your office drawer at home.” Her mind went back to her break-in. Coins in the desk drawer and coins in a jar a few feet away. That didn’t seem like the meticulous Jared she knew, but she didn’t pick up on the strangeness then. She’d been too busy feeling crappy for snooping around his office.
“Right. Spare charms. You found them before I could toss them out of a car window somewhere far from here.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bracelet just like theone in the photo on Ginny’s board. “Number eighteen. I’m hoping we don’t need it today, but that really depends on you.”
The words shot right through her. The number. What it meant. What he had planned for her. What he really was.
Jared shook his head as his smile returned. “Those fucking videos started all of this.”
The tone, so deep and flat. Lila felt her stomach fall. “What?”
“I told Aaron to destroy them. Hell, I told him to stop going after his students and just play with the women I found, but he refused to listen.” He pocketed the bracelet and spun the hammer’s handle around in his hand, looking as if he were born to wield it. “It’s like how he was when he first saw you. He was obsessed, and I told him to back off, but no. Then when he found out about your background, he knew you were perfect for him.”
The perfect cover for the secret life he led.
She tried to think of the right words, to stall until her brain could catch up and she could figure out what to do. “What are you doing here? Why follow me?”
He frowned at her. “We’ve been playing this game. The notes. The fights. Arguing about Aaron.” He scoffed. “Hell, I almost came right out with it a few times. When I found you in my office? I thought you were trying to tell me you’d figured it out, but then I realized you felt guilty for being caught looking around.”
“I thought Aaron might have hid something in your house.”
“He did. I kept copies of the videos with the girls and someof the other evidence he collected to keep them in line. It was in the safe under my desk. Note my use of past tense.” Jared winked at her.
So many questions bounced around in her head. She grabbed on to the one thought she could articulate. “You wrote the notes to me.”
“Of course,” he shot back. “I couldn’t just let you kill Aaron and not pay a price.” He shrugged. “I thought for sure you’d guess. The notes were my way of getting even and letting you know who was in charge.” He tapped the hammer harder against the side of his leg. “Me. I’m in charge.”
He could get close to her house without anyone questioning it. He came in and out of her life, her office, and her home. He was always just... there. Dependable and strong. No-nonsense and undemanding.
