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“Please, I have to know for sure.”
I nod, understanding her disbelief. She isn’t going to believe the danger if she doesn’t see the body. “Okay.”
We make our way to the small, rickety shed behind the cabin. I pull open the door, stepping back to allow her entrance. She walks in with apprehension evident in her wide-eyed gaze and drawn face.
“Ready?” I ask.
She nods. I pull back the tarp, revealing the body.
A gasp escapes her lips as she recognizes the man lying cold and still beneath it. “Oh God,” she whispers, tears welling in her eyes. “It is him.”
She reaches out tentatively, fingers brushing against the pale, lifeless skin of his face. Her breath hitches as she takes in his bruised flesh and blood-stained shirt. “Who could do this?” she sobs.
“I don’t know,” I reply honestly. “But we have to be careful.”
“He’s out there,” she says, her voice trembling. “It has to be him.”
“Who?” I ask, pulling the tarp over the body. “Who did this?”
“My ex,” she says, her eyes darting around the shed. “He was always jealous of Eric. We actually came out to this cabin together a couple of years ago.”
I curse under my breath. This changes everything. “So he knows the place. And he’s got a grudge.”
She nods, hugging herself tightly. “We’re sitting ducks here.”
“Let’s get back inside.”
I feel like we’re being watched even now. I thought it might be Vincent and his guys, but now she seems to know what’s really happening. I need to find out more. The prospect of spending another night here with a potential killer on the loose sends a shiver down my spine. I look at Mia, trying to gauge her strength. She’s tough, but even the toughest have their breaking points.
Once inside, I lock the door and resume my attempt to get a fire going.
“I did this,” she whispers. “Poor Eric. I can’t believe I did this to him. He was innocent. He didn’t know.”
I blow on the embers, getting the flame going before I turn around to face her. She’s not crying, but it’s clear she’s in shock. I have a feeling that once it wears off, she will be in rough shape.
“Why do you think your ex is involved?” I ask.
She looks at me, her eyes filled with pain. “He murdered the young woman staying in my house while I was on location.”
It is my turn to be shocked. “What?”
“I rented my place to a woman named Dawn for the month while I was on location,” she starts to talk, but it feels like she’s narrating a story instead of being a part of it. “I got home, and there was this horrific smell. I thought it was rotting food. And then I found her in my bed.”
I get up from the floor and sit beside her on the couch. My arm wraps around her, pulling her close to me. I need to make her feel safe.
“I know it was him,” she repeats.
“Why do you think it was him?” I ask.
She takes a deep breath. “Carter is my ex-boyfriend. We were together for a year. I thought we were going to get married. I loved him. But I started to notice things. At first, I thought it was sweet that he always wanted to travel with me. His jealousy was cute and made me feel special at first. We came out here to meet Eric, and it was all fine, but when we got home, Carter was furious. He accused me of flirting with Eric, a man twice my age. I broke up with him shortly after that, but he refused to accept that I didn’t want to be with him. He showed up at my house at all hours of the night. I changed my phone number and avoided him as much as possible.”
“Holy shit, Mia! Did you go to the police?”
She sighs and nods. “Several times. But he never actually did anything. He always had an excuse for why we happened to run into each other. The cops did talk to him, but it didn’t help.”
“He killed the woman in your home?”
“I know he did, but I have no proof.”
