Page 18 of Tangled Past
“We need to bring Chief Kelly in on these latest happenings,” JT said as he paced nearby. “If the man from that night is still watching Maya, then he’s afraid of what her hidden memories might reveal.”
Asa covered Maya’s cold hands with his. “You’re safe.”
She met his eyes. “Am I?”
He didn’t blink. “Yes. Because I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
“I want to go back,” she said in a whisper of a voice.
The room stilled.
Rachel frowned. “Back where?”
“To the barn.”
Asa straightened. “Maya, that’s not a good idea.”
“I need to,” she said, shaking her head. “If the chime brought back a memory . . . maybe something else will as well. Asmell. A sound. The angle of the light. I don’t know.” She rubbed her eyes. “I have to try.”
Asa exchanged a glance with JT, who remained quiet, letting Asa take the lead.
He crouched next to her, level with her eyes. “Listen to me. That place is going to hurt. It’s going to shock you, and it might wake things up you’re not ready for.”
She didn’t look away. “You coming back to town looking for answers has made me realize something. I’m tired of running from things I don’t remember. I’m tired of being afraid of shadows I can’t name.” Her voice broke on the last word.
Asa exhaled slowly. “If you go . . . I go with you.”
Her chin lifted. “Good.”
JT nodded. Whether good or bad, the decision was made. “We’ll call in reinforcements. Declan, Eli, and Chief Kelly.”
Asa rose to his full height, his jaw tightening. “If the man from that night is watching her, he’s not going to like this.”
JT shrugged, his face grim. “Good. Let him sweat.”
Asa didn’t react. His world had already narrowed back to Maya. She was remembering, and that meant the killer’s identity was closer than ever.
???
He watched her through the falling snow behind the pines that bordered Main Street. The storm threw curtains of white across the parked cars and shuttered storefronts, but he’d followed her movements the way he always had—patiently, deliberately, secretly.
She was remembering. Not everything. Not the whole truth. Not yet, but enough to make him nervous.
He’d watched her for years from a distance, half expecting those memories to come back sooner, yet they’d remained buried until now, untilhisreturn.
He shifted the weight in his coat pocket, his thumb brushing the cold metal of the weapon. He wouldn’t let her ruin what he’d built for himself.
Those secrets had to stay buried.
No matter what.
