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He exhaled hard and dragged his hands through his hair before shutting the laptop. “We need to go for a walk.”
Rebel jumped up and her tail started a slow wag.
“Yeah, figured you’d like that. Let’s go check on Vee.” He grabbed a flashlight and his coat on the way out the door. It may be early summer, but Northern California didn’t know that. Fog had rolled in off the ocean and twisted around the trees, dampening all sound and leaving a wet chill in the air.
He zipped up his coat and headed out into the night, Rebel bounding ahead of him in the bright white beam of the flashlight.
His phone rang again as they stepped into the woods, and he snapped it up, expecting it to be Veronica.
“Hello?”
“Hey, baby,” a familiar voice purred into his ear. “Miss me?”
He stopped walking, and his heart dropped into a freefall, bottoming out somewhere near his knees. It had been months since he’d heard that voice, but he’d know it anywhere.
“Sara?” he breathed.
“That’s right, sweetie. Long time no see.”
Rebel whined at his feet, sensing his distress. He patted her head reassuringly and tried to keep his voice steady.
“What do you want?”
“I just got into town, and I want to see you.”
Connelly drew the phone away from his ear and cursed long and hard. Then he exhaled to calm himself and raised the phone again. “I’m not in Seattle. And if you contact me again, I will call the police and enforce the restraining order.”
Sara chuckled on the other end of the line, the sound sending shivers down Connelly’s spine. “Oh, come on, baby. You know you want to see me, too.”
“I don’t want anything to do with you.”
Rebel growled low in her throat, her protective instincts kicking in.
Sara’s voice turned cold. “You’ll regret turning me away, Connelly.”
He hung up before she could say anything more, his hand shaking with anger and fear. He thought he’d left her behind when he moved to California, but apparently she had other plans. Plans that involved stalking him and trying to wiggle her way back into his life.
Goddammit.
Rebel leaned against his leg. He scratched her behind the ear, taking comfort in her warm, steady presence.
“We have to be careful, girl,” he murmured. “Sara’s not someone we want to mess with.”
They continued down the path, Connelly keeping a tight grip on the flashlight as they navigated the twisting trees and foggy darkness. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched, that Sara was lurking somewhere in the shadows, waiting to pounce.
Sara fucking Parker. He hated that she had the ability to rattle his usually unflappable nerves.
He picked up his pace and breathed a sigh of relief when Veronica’s cabin appeared from the mist. The cabin was dark, except for a faint glow coming from one of the windows. He made his way to the front door and knocked softly.
“Vee?”
There was no response, so he tried again, this time knocking a bit louder. Still nothing. He tried the front door and found it unlocked.
This wasn’t right.
She wouldn’t leave the door unlocked.
He should call the sheriff.
