Page 189 of Crucible
The moment he’s out of hearing distance, Khalil takes my arm. “We got to go.”
“Wait. What about the seeds and other stuff we need?”
“One of us will return for the rest in a couple of days,” he answers tightly.
Without me, he means.
As we approach the dark gray, heavy-duty truck, I take one look around the quaint town. There’s a fat chance I’ll ever see it again, so I look my fill, stumbling over my feet as Khalil pulls me along.
Seth reaches the truck first and opens my door for me. He kisses the top of my head in apology before rounding the truck bed and climbing in on his side.
And just like that our outing is over. I barely got to see anything.
I go to follow my guys inside the truck when I feel eyes on me and pause. Looking around, I spot the culprit three cars down.
It’s the sheriff.
He’s standing next to his cruiser, watching me with a contemplative look on his face, and I don’t look away.
I can’t.
I hold his gaze through the mask, and time slows as we stare at one another. The town, the truck, and even my guys fade away as the sheriff attempts to unmask with me his eyes, and I teeter between wanting him to and wishing he’d go away and forget he ever saw me.
Judging by the suspicion rapidly growing in his gaze, I know there’s little chance of that.
A horn blows nearby and snaps us out of it.
The sheriff lifts a hand and waves like he’s greeting a neighbor instead of the missing woman whose face has undoubtedly been plastered all over every news channel in the world.
Lifting my hand, I force a smile before remembering he can’t see it and awkwardly wave back.
I don’t exhale until I’m safely inside the truck.
Thorin, who’s in the driver’s seat this time, starts the engine while Seth blindfolds me. I feel the truck making a U-turn, and then he speeds all the way back to the trail where the snowmobiles are parked.
The mood by the time we return to the cabin is dark as hell.
Thorin puts my bags down and then goes back outside to blow steam chopping wood.
Khalil goes down to the basement, where he trains well into the night.
Seth goes to lock himself inside his destroyed bedroom, and I have a feeling it’s to keep himself in rather than keep us out.
Sensing that it won’t end well for me if I poke the bears, I quietly perform my duties. I put everything away, mop the wooden floors, organize the kitchen cabinets, and make their dinner, which goes untouched. There’s safety in reminding my mountain men why they’re keeping me alive. Afterward, I shower, grab a gardening book from the shelf to study, and crawl into my loft to hide until morning.
Hopefully, they’ll be in a better mood.
As much as I try, I can’t get how the sheriff looked at me out of my head. Once the basement quiets and Thorin comes inside, only to go straight into his room, I allow myself to admit what Thorin, Khalil, and Seth must have already figured out.
The sheriff knows.
AURELIA
One month later…
“Aureliaaaaa!”
Birds burst from the canopy at the roar, and a whimper tears from my lips. Knowing who that pissed-off voice belongs to, I pick up my speed despite my body begging for a reprieve.
