Page 5 of Shadow of Fear
He stared into the distance, his gaze vacant. “I guess we did have some good times.”
“I know I did, and I always appreciated your mother letting me hang out at the campground when my mom and dad worked all the time. I can’t wait to get back there.” She glanced at her watch. Late. Just as she thought. She couldn’t waste any more time. “After all of this mess, I’m late, and Jada’s waiting for me. I suppose it would speed things up if you gave me a ride.”
“Now who doesn’t sound convinced?” He eyed her.
“Sorry, this has all thrown me for a loop.” The shooting, yeah, but seeing him was almost as unsettling. “I can call Jada on the way to tell her you’ll be with me.”
“She’s not going to like me horning in on your time together, but it can’t be helped.” He frowned. “I’ll help you with your things.”
“If you’ll grab my box of memories, I’ll get my suitcase.” She spun for her car trunk and popped it open.
Over the years, she’d saved memories from their past, the box growing larger and larger. If she added much more, she would need multiple boxes to make things manageable. All thanks to growing up around the Graham family. Summers especially were such fun that she couldn’t wait to get to the campground.
Kinsley stared into her trunk. She could just see their week now. They would take out each item in one of her favorite places on earth, and they would walk down memory lane together.
“Earth to Kinsley.” Dev bumped her out of the way and grabbed the box.
She returned to the present. “Careful with that. It’s got breakable things inside.”
“Feels heavy to be a bunch of memories.”
If he only knew what the box contained, he would definitely razz her about the things she’d saved. She retrieved her suitcase and caught up to him. They crossed the crumbling parking lot, walking past the forensic staff, who’d placed markers by every bullet strike. The sight of so many tiny plastic tents dotting the concrete evaporated any joy Kinsley’s memories had just provided.
She moved closer to Dev and averted her eyes from the white-suited workers until she reached his black SUV, caked with Oregon mud. The vehicle could definitely use a wash. He’d never been the neatest guy and maybe that hadn’t changed.
They stored her things in the back and got into the SUV. Empty protein bar wrappers, energy drinks, and Hershey bar wrappers—something he’d always had a fondness for—littered the interior of the vehicle. Yep, he hadn’t changed. Her cleanliness and desire for order begged her to clean it out. That would be rude, so she sat on her hands.
“Sorry about the mess.” He got the vehicle running, gunning the gas and sending a trio of crows pecking at something in the parking lot into the air. “I was on a stakeout all last week and haven’t had a chance to clean it up.”
“Stakeout?” She swiveled to look at him, kicking a few energy drink cans on the floor and sending them rattling. “I thought at Shadow Lake Survival you taught people how to live off grid, but that sounds like police work.”
“Sort of.” He clenched the steering wheel. “We had a break-in at the campground. We think it was a bunch of kids, but I was trying to figure it out so I could teach them a lesson and keep them away in the future.”
“‘Break-in at the campground as in Boulder Lake Campground where we’re headed?”
“Yes.”
Another crime. This one less serious, but it was unnerving. Was it safe for her and Jada to be staying there? “And did you figure it out?”
“No.” He let the one word hang in the air, then glanced at her. “Gave it a week before I had to get back to work. I probably devoted too much time to it anyway. It’s not like anything was taken. Someone just broke a few of the locks on the cabin doors. Seems like they were scared off before doing any damage or stealing anything.”
He exited the parking lot, his gaze constantly searching around them. “I’ve already replaced the doors and locks, and despite my mom’s disappointment, I put up security cameras on the property.”
“She was always the trusting type who loved to make sure her guests had privacy.” And she afforded her children the same privacy but wasn’t at all hesitant to step in when they needed a parent butting in and taking over.
Kinsley loved that about her. “How is she doing, by the way? Jada said she was living with you and Colin for a while due to a big lupus flareup.”
“Actually, things are better right now. Her flareup has subsided, and we’re hoping her current medicine will keep it that way so she can move back home. But we’ll see. No point in pushing it. Not when we don’t mind having her around.”
She had always liked his mother, who, even when she was a teenager, had put up with her moods. His mother had encouraged Kinsley to call her by her given name, Sandra—Sandy. At the time, Kinsley had thought that was so grown up and embraced it fully.
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing better. She’s one of the kindest people I know. She’s always considerate of everyone and knows when to approach and when to stay away. She deserves nothing but the best.”
“Agreed,” he said. “Though I remember her pushing me at times instead of staying away.”
“She was probably a little more laid-back with me since I wasn’t one of her children.” But how Kinsley wished she had been. Her mother basically ignored her in favor of her career. And when she didn’t, she steamrolled over any of Kinsley’s hopes and dreams and insisted Kinsley do what she asked. And her father? He was intimidated by her, stood back, and watched it all happen.
But when Kinsley was in first grade, she met Jada at a day camp, and they hit it off right away. At their first playdate at the Graham’s big family cabin at the campground, Sandy welcomed Kinsley with open arms. Kinsley’s mother had been more than willing to drop her off at the campground most every day on her way to work. Kinsley spent many nights sleeping over with Jada in their favorite cabin. When they got older, they climbed up on the roof late at night when no one knew they did it. Watching the stars. Dreaming of the life she always wanted to have. Later dreaming of a life with Dev that she never would have.
