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It took more than guns to be a hunter.
Dave pulled back, and he swung his keys around his finger as he nodded at Charlie. He wandered to his old truck and started her up, maneuvering her so that she was now parked in front of the garage and not blocking Charlie’s way out.
Charlie and I got into her car, and neither one of us said a word as she backed us up. Last time, she drove around the block and let me out nearby. This time, I didn’t want her uncle driving by and seeing me walking through yards or on the sidewalk, so once we were on the road, I said, “Let’s take a little drive. Give your uncle some time to leave.”
With both hands on the wheel, Charlie nodded. She drove in no particular direction, taking random turns and sighing every once in a while.
I watched her heavily. Something was clearly wrong. “Charlie, you okay?”
Her hands tightened on the wheel. “I’m fine.”
“You say that, but you don’t sound fine, and you sure as hell don’t look fine. What’s on your mind?” She was silent, and that bothered me more than I wanted to admit. Had she learned nothing? She needed to tell me everything, not hide things from me. “Find somewhere to park, because you and I need to talk, sweetheart.”
Anytime I said that, she got prickly. She didn’t like me calling her sweetheart. At first, I’d done it out of sarcasm, but now… now things were a little different. Obviously.
This time, however, she didn’t get annoyed with me. She sighed again and drove us toward the city.
The first restaurant we passed, she pulled into. We parked in an empty spot, and she turned the car off. She wouldn’t look at me, instead staring straight ahead.
“Charlie, you’re acting off,” I told her. “And don’t say you’re not. No one else might’ve noticed, but you’ve been acting off all night. What’s wrong?” I almost asked if it was about Zak, but I stopped myself. No need to bring up her ex who I killed with the vain hope that he was her stalker.
“I—” She started to say something, but then she got quiet, so I reached for her, taking her hand in mine.
“Tell me what’s bothering you,” I whispered. “If it’s something I can do, I’ll make it right, whatever it is.” Come to think of it, she always acted a little weird when surrounded by her family, as if she was used to be overshadowed by her sister, but she wasn’t likethis. This particular mood had begun when her uncle had arrived.
Suddenly my gut feeling about the guy was accompanied by red flashing lights.
“Is it about your uncle?” I asked carefully. Charlie was like a deer. Frighten her and she’d bolt, and you’d be lucky to find her again once she calmed down. I’d do whatever I could to get her not to run from me again.
That question snapped her back to reality, and she looked at me. “No,” she said quickly. “It’s just… having everyone there reminded me of what it was like, years ago. When things were simple, and I—” She stopped.
“And you had Zak?” I finished the sentence for her, hating to bring the asshole up.
“Yes and no. Things have always been kind of weird with my family. Half the time it’s like I don’t exist to them. I guess I got used to it. But tonight, when they were asking questions about us, about you, I don’t know.” Charlie fell silent again, and she scratched at her jeans with the nails on her free hand, an absentminded gesture.
I didn’t know what to say. Comforting someone wasn’t a forte of mine. I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, but I did know that I hated to see her like this. If I could improve her spirits, I would.
Squeezing her hand, I whispered, “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“When I first agreed to help you, I couldn’t wait to be done with it. I wanted to get back to Eastcreek and finish what I started. It was all I could think about.” My eyes were on her, my head turned as it leaned back on the headrest. “And then, somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking about going to Eastcreek, because all I could think about was the sad girl with big, brown eyes and grandma sweaters.”
She chuckled at that, a soft, breathy laugh that I immediately bottled up in my head to save for later. “You can’t let that go, can you?”
“Nope. But that’s okay, because you’re kind of cute in your grandma sweaters.” I ran my thumb over her knuckles, holding her hand over the center console. “I didn’t care about laying low or healing. All I wanted to do was finish my business, and if I got caught, I got caught. I had a one-track mind… but now that one-track mind is on you, Charlie.”
Those dark eyes of hers studied me. The parking lot had thin metal light poles, and the light illuminated her soft features.
“I don’t care about going back,” I told her, lifting my other hand and sweeping it along her face, tucking some hair behind her ear. “The only thing I care about is you.”
Her eyelids looked like they were heavy, because she blinked slowly at that, and she whispered my name, “Brett.”
What I didn’t tell her was that I didn’twantto go back to Eastcreek, not anymore. Not if it meant I got caught and I never saw Charlie again. To give up retribution, to not go after that Montgomery girl for what she did… it wasn’t like me.
Was I in love with this girl?
Shit. How’d that happen?
