Page 8 of Undone
Chapter Four
“It’s better than nothing,” Jasper said.
I gazed out through the windshield at the road ahead. The sun was setting against the horizon, turning the sky into a vast palette of orange and red. The headlights cut the darkness head. In the twilight, nothing was as it seemed—bushes looked like critters, and the shadows cut odd shapes across the pavement. We had no direction. Filming had cut for the day, and everyone had gone home. Despite putting myself out in the open, my stalker hadn’t revealed himself.
“Though, I kind of wish he had,” I mumbled.
“What?” Jasper asked.
I shook my head. “Sorry. I was just thinking to myself about how my stalker didn’t take today to reveal himself. I was hoping he would. But I’m getting to the point where I wish he would just make a move. You know, I’d rather rip off the Band-aid so to speak. Get it over with.”
“Think of something else,” Jasper suggested. “Try to take your mind off it.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “I guess I was sort of hoping it was all staged. I was hoping that Daly was the one all along.”
“He still could be,” Jasper said. “Maybe he’s a hell of an actor.”
“What’s this, another test?” I asked. “You feeling me out, the way Sheriff Sands did earlier?”
“Maybe.” Jasper punctuated the response with a casual shrug of his shoulder.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I don’t think Daly has anything to do with what’s going on, I mean. I think he was telling the truth. He was at my room last night because he wanted to talk me out of digging at the site. Someone jumped him. That’s a scary thought.”
“Beating up an old man?” Jasper said, his voice hard-edged. “That’s not scary. That’s cowardly. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I could take or leave the guy. But he’s as old as the hills. You just don’t beat up on an old man like that.”
“It is cowardly,” I concurred. “And that’s what makes this so scary. Whoever’s out there stalking me, they don’t have any rules. If they’re willing to beat up on Daly, what else are they willing to do to get to me?”
“We’re not going to find out,” Jasper said flatly.
I sank my teeth into my lower lip as I fought past a wave of nerves.
“Like I said, think about something else.”
I sighed. “Where are we going, anyway?”
“Wherever the road takes us, for now.”
Inside the truck felt safe. Inside the truck felt secure. It was a fake safety, but it seemed like if we were moving, if we were hidden in the darkness and had the anonymity of being just another pair of nameless headlights traveling the streets, we’d be okay.
“What do you do?” I asked Jasper.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You say ‘think about something else.’ How do you do it? You always seem so focused.”
“I am, most of the time,” Jasper said. “Not all the time. Hell, if I’d stayed focused, this job would be over by now.”
“What’s distracting you?” I asked.
As Jasper pulled up to a stop light, he smirked at me. In the glow of the red light, he looked like a devil. I rolled my eyes.
“Now isn’t the time,” I said.
“With you, it’s always the time, babe.” He grinned. I was going to get a headache from all of the eye-rolling I was doing. “I’m just saying. You’ve had me distracted since the day we met. I don’t know why, exactly. I saw you, and you just…stuck.”
“So, I’m a parasite?” I asked. I unbuckled my seat belt and slid over to Jasper.
“You’re breaking the law is what you are,” Jasper cast me a sidelong glance. “Seat belt on. What if we get in an accident?”
