I reached the trees, checked out the ground for cigarettes and footprints, but didn’t see anything. Before reaching the tree with the camera, I heard a sound I hadn’t heard in a long time. It was an undeniable sound; my head whipped around, expecting to see Tom the turkey behind me. My thoughts went to Brock. I heard the turkey again and followed the sound, my feet moving without direction from my brain, because I believed it would lead me to Brock.
I didn’t know how long I walked until it dawned on me that I was going deeper into the woods, following a wild turkey with the hope of seeing my friend, who I hadn’t seen in fifteen years, one who had made avoiding me a full-time job. I started back for home and realized I got turned around; everything looked the same. I had my phone, but I had no signal. I heard the turkey again, so I walked in the other direction. I walked for a while and still didn’t recognize anything. I could climb a tree. I’d climbed more than my share of trees as a kid. Getting a grip and that first leg up was a challenge; I wasn’t eleven anymore, but I managed and climbed as high as I dared and looked all around. I thought maybe I saw my house in the distance, and then I saw the truck, a white truck. I almost called out to them, relieved that I wouldn’t be lost in the woods, but realized the truck was on my property. Relief shifted to anger and fear. Who the hell was on my property?
I climbed down and debated on what to do because the truck was in the same direction as my house. The sun was going down, and I didn’t want to be out here at night, especially not if there were bears and raccoons and who knew what else. I tried to be very quiet as I picked my way through the forest. I then stopped in my tracks when I heard the sound of an engine turning over. I crept a little closer and saw the truck, the emblem on the side. It was the ranger guy. What the hell was he doing on my property? He pulled away. I followed after him. At least I’d find my way to a road. I wasn’t sure where I was, but the trees cleared, a road appeared, but I stopped just inside the trees because the ranger had stopped, his truck pulled up alongside someone. It was a few minutes before the other truck pulled away. My heart dropped because, though I didn’t know the driver, it was the same truck I saw in town the other day. The ranger turned around and followed after the guy. What the hell had that been all about? I waited, because I didn’t want them to see me, before I stepped out onto the road, tried my phone again but still had no service. If I walked long enough, I was bound to find someone or, better yet, my driveway. No one needed to know about this, but I wasn’t that lucky. I didn’t get very far when I saw the black pickup coming up the road. He veered off the road and was out of the truck and in my face faster than should be humanly possible.
“What the fuck?” Killian said softly, deceivingly soft.
There was a vein in his forehead that looked like it might burst. His face didn’t give much away, but that vein said plenty.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“My parents.”
Right, dropping off the boys. “I can explain,” I said. Then shivered because it had gotten pretty cold.
He grabbed my hand, pulled me to his truck, tossed me in, not really, but kind of, climbed in himself and punched up the heat. “Explain.”
I hadn’t been gone that long. I didn’t understand why he was so pissed then I saw the clock on the dash. It was after eight. “Holy shit. I’ve been gone for six hours.”
His jaw was ticking now. “Yes,” he bit out.
“Hey,” I said softly.
He wouldn’t turn to me.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“Explain.”
Shifting my focus out the front window, I explained, “Natalie mentioned Monica and her waving the gun the same night you cooked dinner at my place. Seemed kind of coincidental to me, especially since you found the cigarettes the following day. I don’t know...an argument could be made that she was the distraction. I was curious; I wanted to check the cameras. I only intended to check the one right inside the trees but…”
He turned to me then. That vein was still out, but the knot at his jaw was gone.
“I heard a wild turkey.”
His brows furrowed, and, for him, that was the same as someone else’s jaw dropping.
“When I was a kid, Brock and I rescued a turkey. He was going to be the Millman’s Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You stole a turkey?”
“I did. I replaced it with a frozen one.”
He looked back out the window, but I saw the grin.
“That turkey became an urban legend in our town. Spotting Tom was a sign of luck.”
He was looking at me again, not hiding the smile now. “You named him Tom.”
“Yeah. I realized I was following a random turkey because I thought maybe I’d see Brock.”
The smile dropped from his face.
I turned into him. “I just want to know my friend is okay. It’s the not knowing. Is he alive, dead, happy…he deserved better than he got. And as much as I loved him, what you make me feel, I’ve never felt this way before.”
His voice was rough when he asked, “How’s that?”
“Crazy and excited, hot and anxious. One minute you make me laugh and the next you make me…wet.”
He looked suddenly hungry and was looking at me like I was dinner. “And that look…that look kills me,” I added.
“I’d fuck you right now,” he muttered and started up his truck. “But I’m the fucking sheriff.”
“Killian.”
His hot gaze swung back to me.
“I saw the ranger on my property.” Heat turned cold so fast I got a chill. “I climbed a tree to find my house, saw a truck. Got close enough, saw the emblem. I followed him off the property, but he wasn’t alone. There was a man in a truck, same truck I saw in town.”
“Lots of trucks in town, Baby.”
“He was watching me.”
His expression turned dark; his voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Did he approach you?”
“No, but when he pulled away, he was watching me in the mirrors. It was creepy.” Killian was clenching his jaw again. I thought I understood the ire until he said, “Not sure if I’m more pissed that fucker was on your property or that, once again, I’m being kept from sinking my cock into your sweet body.” He pulled back onto the road.
“Definitely the latter for me,” I whispered.
He glanced over, those blue eyes warmed, and he grinned.
Chapter Twenty