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I feel his other arm hook under my knees, and within seconds I’m off the ground. Cradling me to his chest, he carefully carries me out of the room, down the hall, and he kicks the front door open, before sets me onto a wooden stump outside.
“Stay here. I’m going to take care of the house and then we can go get you cleaned up.”
A statement, not a question. He’s lucky I’m too exhausted to argue.
The wolf walks over and sits against my legs, settling the weight of its heavy head onto my thighs causing me to stiffen at the contact.
I look down to see its hazel eyes staring back at me and I instinctively reach out to pet its head.
The motion is soothing for both of us, I think.
“I’ve decided to name you Dana.” I mutter to the wolf, and she raises her eyes to meet my gaze, tilting her face to the side.
“Pretty sure you’re a she, considering the lack of hardware, and after everything, you deserve to have a name.”
Dana rests her head on my thighs once more and exhales a soft canine sigh. I hear crackling and the door opens to the house as smoke rises out of the broken windows, dark plumes float into the night sky.
The similarities to what happened to my parents are too striking to ignore now. Particularly since I dreamt of this man being the one who stood in the doorway with my mother the night both she and my father were murdered.
“You..” My voice is no more than a pained whisper.
He glances at me and raises a brow.
“It was you that killed them, wasn’t it?” I asked quietly.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, I’ve killed a lot of people in my life.”
My eyes grow wide at the nonchalant admission, and though I’m exhausted, I can’t help but confront him now that I am faced with dots that I’d be a fool not to connect with his recent actions. It’s not like I have anything to lose at this point by doing so.
He could have killed me in that bed when I was restrained. He could still do it now.
I swallow painfully, “You’re the reason I was placed into witness protection, you’re the stalker aren’t you? My parents and I were staying in a cottage. Seventeen years ago-” My throat tightens as a tear streams down my cheek.
There’s a long pause and I use his shirt to clear my face as he eyes me, the muscle in his jaw working.
“I’m not your stalker, Lara. I’m the detective that was assigned to your case and put you into witness protection to start with.” His voice is soft as he digs to his back pocket.
The... Detective?
There’s no way.
That was nearly 20 years ago... He was a detective back then?
My eyes widen into saucers as he shows me his badge and ID from his wallet as if to prove his point.
“We need to get you cleaned up, we’ll talk more at my place.” He says with quiet indifference.
“No.” I shake my head.
He raises a brow, “No?”
“We go to my place. I need clothes, I need comfort. We talk, but in my home, not yours,” I pause for a moment and throwing caution to the wind decide to add, “Also, just in case you’re lying, please don’t kill me.”
He chuckles as he walks over, picking me up with minimal effort again as his voice reverberates within his chest. “If I had a reason or desire to kill you, Lara, you’d have been dead a while ago.”He glances at me as he emphasizes ‘a while ago’ with dry amusement.
“That’s reassuring.” I mumble sarcastically and fall quiet as he carries me down a path to a truck parked on the side of the road.
He opens the door to the passenger seat and sets me in gently.
