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“What keeps you awake at night?” Bailey asked, studying me closely as she piled my plate with food. “How do you know I don’t sleep?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Am I right?”
“Yes, I lay awake until I see daylight. Whether I take something or not, I don’t sleep. I like being awake when it’s dark outside, I don’t know why.”
“Did it start while you were in prison?”
“No, it began when my parents died.”
“That’s so sad. You don’t feel safe because your parents died and left you kids alone, and you were scared. You wanted to keep watch over your family.”
I looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. I wasn’t scared.” I saw the sad smile on her face. “I wasn’t scared,” I repeated.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I was mistaken,” Bailey said before heading to her room. I knew what she was doing and I had to make her understand she was wrong.
We were walking when Carly looked at me. “Why can’t we take one of our vehicles? This seems silly walking all the way.”
“The less we give him, the safer it is for Bailey.”
“But what do I have to do with this? Why am I here?”
“You live alone up there, and you need to stay away from there until this man is caught. Were you able to call your cousins?” I asked Bailey.
“No, I don’t have enough signal strength to call yet. As soon as we get to the bottom, I’ll call. It looks different when you can slow down and take your time looking around. My favorite place here is the swimming hole. I bet you guys spent a lot of time there growing up.”
“Yeah, it was a favorite place for almost all the kids growing up here. What happened to your parents? I remember you said your sister was all you had.”
“My mother left us when I was sixteen, and Jackie was fifteen. Our mother ran off with some junkie, who was just like her. My mother became addicted to pain pills when Jackie and I were in middle school. She fell off the roof, cleaning out the gutters. They prescribed oxycontin for her. Our lives were never the same after that.”
“The state knew nothing about her leaving us until Jackie was killed. When the police came to tell my mother what happened, I told them she left two years ago. I was eighteen at that time, so they did nothing. I buried Jackie, and I went away to culinary school. My heart has never healed from losing my sweet sister.”
Carly stopped walking and glanced at me. “I’m going take the other road, so it’s goodbye for now. I hope to see you again soon, Bailey; you take care of yourself.”
My heart raced as I turned to look at my new friend. “Carly, I thought you would be here with me. Can’t you stay a few days until I get to know the others? Please stay for a couple of days.”
“I haven’t spoken to Ryan since I was nineteen, no matter if he lives this close,” she pulled me closer, “I’m scared to be so close to him again.”
“I understand,” I said, my hand shaking as I hugged her goodbye.
“Alright, two nights, and then I’m getting in my car and going to a book conference.”
“Thank you,” Bailey said, taking Carly’s hand. I was surprised Bailey was nervous about being around strangers. She wasn’t shy when she first met me.
“I don’t know why either of you are nervous. Ryan is so busy working that we hardly ever see him between work and Patty. He’s gone most of the time.”
“I’m not nervous. I just don’t want to be in anyone’s way that I don’t know. But now that I believe that it’s Jackie’s killer who is after me. I’m glad I brought my gun,” Bailey glanced over at Carly. “Did you bring a gun?”
“Yes, I did. Stay close to me, and I’ll shoot the bastard. I will put all of this into my next book,” Carly added before looking at me. “I’m not nervous, Cole. I just don’t feel like seeing Ryan again. So maybe he’ll stay at his girlfriend’s house for these two nights.”
“I didn’t say he stayed the night with her; I said he’s with her when he’s not at work. That’s because she shows up at our house.”
“Fuck, I wish I had known that before I said I would stay two nights,” Carly grumbled.
“Hold your head up high and show him what he missed out on—the prettiest girl on the mountain,” Bailey said, linking arms with Carly.
“I’m glad you are now my very best friend,” Bailey chuckled as we reached the house. Allison was sitting on the porch, and she stood up as we approached.
4
