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Officer Miller nods too reluctantly.

I let Frank lead me to the door, but the weight in my chest only deepens.

Ensuring my safety was the reason I came to Shadow Bluff.

Instead, I’m leaving with the same fear, scribbled on a notepad, waiting for someone else to decide if it matters.

CHAPTER 31

ZAIYA

The air conditioner hums quietly now that the windows are shut tight. My bedroom is a soft place tucked away for my safety, a cage meant to keep bad things out, and this time I don’t want to leave it. I don’t even want to move. Anything that draws attention my way feels unsafe.

Every sound presses me deeper into the mattress. Water through the bathroom pipes. Bushes brushing the house outside. Each one electrifies me with the reminder that the man hunting me still exists somewhere in this town.

When Frank shut me in here, I half expected to hear a lock slide into place with the finality of being sealed in. Instead, he lingered in the doorway with that warm, careful smile, promising he wouldn’t leave, that I was protected.

I nodded as if I believed him.

Evelyn came to my side as soon as Frank told her what happened. I barely had time to sit with my fear before she was wrapping her arms around me. I apologized for not getting the cups, but she dismissed it with an easy wave. She held me against her, and I melted into the feeling of being loved. I let myself pretend I knew what it felt like to be cared for by a mother.

She canceled Bible study for the night. Keeping me safe mattered more.

A knock at the door startles me, gentle as it is. Calista pokes her head in.

“You okay?”

I nod, pulling my knees to my chest on the bed. “Just shaken up.”

She sits next to me, eyes on the floor, searching for words she clearly can’t find.

Then she puts her hand on mine.

“I’m really sorry you’re going through this, Zaiya.” She sighs. “I guess since I’ve lived here, it’s gotten weirdly easy to overlook the bad stuff that happens.”

My head tips back to keep the tears from flowing. “I just don’t understand why they chose me. I’m nothing.”

Her fingers tighten around mine. “Don’t say that. You’re not nothing. These assholes chose you ‘cause you look weak. But they were wrong, weren’t they?”

I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Not really.”

“You got away, didn’t you? Twice.”

A smile spreads across my lips. “By kicking him in the head.”

She laughs. “Hell yeah, girl! You’re such a badass for that. Probably gave him a fucking concussion.” She nudges my knees sideways onto the bed, making me loosen up. “That guy has to feel like such a loser piece of shit now.”

With a sudden seriousness, she reaches out to pick at the green ribbon around my neck.

“Where was Edwin during all this? Isn’t he obsessed with you?”

That thought had already crossed my mind. He always knows what I’m up to. He had come to my rescue before. My knight in shimmering black velvet must have fallen off his horse.

“I don’t know. He was busy, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent the guy to get you. Then he could keep you locked up somewhere without everyone knowing it was him.”

My brows pull together. “No, this started before I met him.”