Page 18 of Shadow of Hope
This incident stressed him out. Big time. He was a capable guy, but she knew he must’ve seen the things man did to man in his prior job. Knew the real danger she was in.
Had she been underestimating the risk to her safety? Underestimating her abilities to keep herself safe? Alive?
Yes. An emphatic yes! She couldn’t handle this on her own. She needed help.
He glanced down the path. “We need to keep an eye out in case you woke the others when you cried out. I don’t want them to see this.”
“Understood.” She sank onto the cold ground. Looked at him.
He ran an assessing gaze over her. “What do you know about this?”
So, so much, but where to start? Just blurt it out before you chicken out.“My name isn’t Kari Curtis. It’s Ava Weston.”
He drew in a sharp breath and shot a look toward the campsite. Maybe he was checking to see if anyone would come in search after her noisy fall, or more likely, he couldn’t stand to look at her.
At least they were in the dark .She didn’t want to see his eyes. She knew they would hold disappointment—maybe hurt—over her lies. But that was the easy part. Her next reveal? That would elicit revulsion, and he would likely turn her in to the law.
“I’m wanted for murder in Portland,” she said the words before she chickened out.
That breath? Sharper still. His body unmoving, save his fingers clenching and unclenching.
“I didn’t do it,” she rushed on. “But there’s a video that makes it look like I did.”
“Who?” he asked, his tone flat and emotionless. “Who did yousupposedlykill?”
She didn’t like how he’d emphasized the word, but at least he was speaking to her. “A woman in my care at a hospice care center. Her name was Holly Boyle. Her son Layne located a security video that makes it look like I poisoned her. He told me to turn myself in within three days or he would kill me. I think he’s behind tonight’s attack.”
“Not likely.” Micha looked back down the path. “I doubt he got onto our property unseen. More likely he had one of these guys working with him. Do you think that’s what’s going on?”
She shrugged.
He dropped to the ground facing the path to the campsite and stretched his long legs in front of him. “That’s the only logical explanation. Unless he tracked you to the compound. He couldn’t get into the fenced area, but the property out here isn’t secured. It’s possible he tracked us, though as I said, I doubt it. One of the guys here could’ve hidden a phone and told him our location.”
She knew hiding a phone was entirely possible as she was guilty of doing the same thing. “You’re sure about the compound?”
“Absolutely. The secured area is covered by cameras, and Reid would’ve gotten an alert for any breach of the perimeter. Which he didn’t. So no one got in to put the note in your backpack at the cabins. If you’re sure it wasn’t in there when you arrived at the compound, then one of these guys had to have done it.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t there when I packed my bag for the trip.” She shared the two times the pack was out of her sight.
He didn’t speak for a while, then looked at her, his light landing on her face. “Has this Layne guy communicated with songs before today?”
“No.”
“He into music?”
“His mother was a concert pianist. One of the reasons we had so much in common.” Ava closed her eyes so she wouldn’t cry over the loss of the dear woman who she didn’t even get to say goodbye to. “Holly said she gave him piano lessons, and he tried to learn the trumpet but had no real interest in either one and dropped out right away.”
“That’s odd then,” he said. “Why suddenly change his communication to include a song?”
“I don’t know. Maybe to keep others around me from seeing this was a real threat and wouldn’t be inclined to help me?”
“Except I didn’t buy that explanation when you gave it.” He looked at her long and hard. “Or could someone else be threatening you, and it’s not about Holly at all.”
Could someone else have a vendetta against her? She ran through the song lyrics again. “No. The song tells me to turn myself in. I have nothing else I need to turn myself in for.”
And right now she had an even bigger question to worry about. “Are you going to turn me in?”
He didn’t answer but continued to study her. “Tell me about this evidence in the video.”
