Page 220 of Show Me

The bell over the door jingles before I can answer as Brent walks in with a brunette I don’t recognize. His expression hardens when he sees me. “Oh, good. The stalker’s here.”

“I’m not stalking you.”

Dad posts up beside me like he’s ready to throw down if needed. It’d be comical if everything weren’t a complete shitshow.

“You’ve driven past my house four times a day.”

More like ten. But correcting him at this point probably isn’t a good idea.

The brunette blinks. “Seriously?”

Brent gestures toward me. “He thinks I attacked Ruby.”

I plant my hands on the desk and push to my feet. “You threatened her.”

“I warned her.”

“There’s a difference?” Everything that’s happened to Ruby flashes through my head. The notes. The gifts. The smashed windows. Ruby unconscious in the grass.

My fists tighten against the desk.

Brent takes a step back. “Yes,” he says. “I was worried about her.”

“Son.” Dad grips my shoulder. “Don’t.”

Every inch of my body is coiled to strike, but I stay where I am. There’s no proof it was Brent. If there was...

“Brent didn’t hurt her,” the woman cuts in. “I was with him.”

“When?”

“I got into town before ten that night.”

Ruby was attacked around nine thirty. Not enough to clear him. But close.

“We’ve been seeing each other for a few months,” she adds. “He told me about Ruby. He was worried you were leading her on.”

Brent slides an arm around her. “You done following me now?”

Brookhaven isn’t big. He still could’ve gotten from Ruby’s house to his before ten.

But for the first time, I’m not sure he did. And if Brent isn’t the one doing this, we’re no closer to finding whoever is.

Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

Ruby

Several Days Later

The farmhouse gets too quiet in the afternoons. Dad’s out checking fences, leaving me alone with the creak of the old house and my silent phone.

Seventeen days since I saw Xavier. I don’t expect him to chase me. I’m the one who asked for space. That doesn’t stop some stupid part of me from wishing he would.

A car crunches up the gravel drive. Dad’s old hound gives one lazy bark before Emily walks in carrying Grace on one hip and coffee in the other hand.

“Well,” she says. “You look slightly less ghost-like today.”

“High praise.”