AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a shaking hand, she extends her fingertip toward the lighter. “Does that have a monogram on it?”
I lean forward and pick it up. The metal is twisted under my fingers, clearly having been burned a little. I rub my thumb along the side, and I feel the smooth line of etching under my finger. “Sure does,” I say, frowning as I look at it.
“And is it an A, a J, and a T?”
I squint. “Yeah. Nora, why?—”
Nora shuts her eyes and shoves her face into her hands. “I know who started the fire.”
“Who?” I demand.
“Those initials stand for Aaron Justin Thomas. He’s my ex,” she whispers. “He came for me here. He must have followed me home from Colorado. I… I think that he’s going to try to kill all of us.”
CHAPTER 14
Nora
Iknow it sounds crazy. I absolutely know that. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Aaron started that fire. It’s his lighter. I’d know it anywhere. He got the stupid thing when he graduated high school, and every time we went to a party, he would make a huge deal out of offering people a light with it.
The memory of it lighting candles on my birthday cake is vivid for me, and as I stare down at it, I have a violent reaction. I grab it and throw it into the corner.
“Nora,” Clint says, walking to where the lighter landed. “The fuck did you do that for?”
I sink my head into my hands. “I don’t know. I just…”
I just needed to do something. Aaron coming up here to follow me? It’s impossible.
“It can’t be him,” I whisper.
“I think that the evidence is saying it probably is,” Landon says quietly. “I reckon that he’ll be coming back anytime, so we need to get a game plan together.
A game plan. A fucking game plan.
I shake my head. “I?—”
“Show us what he looks like,” Clint barks. “If that motherfucker comes close, we’ll shoot him on sight.”
It still isn’t computing for me. There’s no way that Aaron could be here. I never took him home. I never even told him where I lived. I guess that he could do some kind of research to figure it out, but still… It’s impossible for him to be here.
Isn’t it?
My eyes widen as I remember all the weird shit that’s been happening lately. “Holy shit. Do you think that he also messed with the flamethrower?”
“We don’t know, Nora,” Shane admits. “But we need to know what he looks like, in case we do see him.”
“Because you’re going to shoot him?”
All three of the guys are dead freaking quiet.
I close my eyes. “I just… Aaron’s an asshole, but he’s not a murderer.” Why would he burn the barn down? Why would he try to mess with our stuff? How am I going to keep him from coming back?
This is all my fault.
I put my head in my hands, unable to stop the tears now.
“Nora?” Landon lays his hand on my back. “Hellcat, you have to tell us what’s wrong. If you don’t tell us, we can’t fix it.”
“You can’t fix any of it!” I practically yell, snapping my head up. I stand up, pacing around the living room. “You can’t fix any of it. The ranch is going under. We’re not going to be able to pay our mortgage. You can’t make my dad heal faster from his cancer diagnosis. You can’t keep my psycho ex-boyfriend from stalking me. You can’t…”
