by Laura Wylde
I left the bar and walked home. It wasn’t far, and it was only when I got to the door that I felt like someone was behind me. I was spooked from what I had learned that night at the crime scene. It wasn’t too far from here. When I turned around on the porch and looked out into the darkness, I didn’t see a thing, but as I looked for the longest time, my eyes started to get adjusted to the dark, and I could see a pair of eyes staring back at me.
Every hair on my body stood on edge, and a shiver ran through me that I couldn’t stop. It was hard to think about what it was. I thought about the two mauling victims, and I wondered if this was how they felt before they died.
My hands started to work again, and I went inside quickly, locking the door behind me. I felt a little better because neither victim had been in a house, but out in the open outside. I hoped that the fact would help me be okay. I wasn’t usually so freaked out, but today had been a rough day, and it was looking like it was just going to be more of the same.
“Calm down, Kayla. You’re freaking out.”
“Well, you look like shit.”
I looked up at Freddy and gave him an expression to sum up how I felt. A finger gesture would have been better, but that was frowned upon at the precinct.
“Damn, okay, sorry. I was just saying you look like you had a worse night than I did. I couldn’t get that woman’s body out of my mind.”
“Yeah, it was pretty rough. I still don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. I wish it was quieter sometimes. Besides that, I went out and had too much to drink. It helps you sleep, but it’s really hell in the morning.”
Freddy grinned, and I think it was the first time he had a genuine smile for me. It was weird because we were always arguing, but for once it felt like I actually had a partner.
“Yes, I know that I’ve had many of those nights. Went out with your dad many times to Trudy’s. She is the only place in town that we can go, and I frequent it quite a bit.”
“I’m in walking distance, so I probably spend too much time there.”
“I’m surprised that I’ve never seen you there.”
He had seen me there several times. I’d caught his gaze or saw him looking my way, but he’d never said hello. I wasn’t going to call him on it at the moment because there was a moment of peace that I didn’t want to shatter. It didn’t matter what the truth was.
“Me too. Well, it’s time to get to work anyways. Where do you want to start with this?”
My head hurt too much to come up with anything at the moment. I knew that we had to find the killer, whether it was man or beast, but I was out of ideas. I was just trying to make it through this cup of coffee, really hoping that I would be able to get it together. I don’t know why, but I kept going to the idea that this was a man doing it. It wasn’t Trudy’s words from before that stuck with me but just a feeling. Those tracks hadn’t come from nowhere. I’d seen several boot prints, but no more bear tracks. Something didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense when Dad and several others were attacked either. None of this made sense so a random, roaming bear didn’t make sense. If it didn’t make sense, I figured there had to be another option. There had to be something that I was overlooking.
“I don’t know Kayla. We can go ask some of her family questions? See what she was doing out there, and if she had any enemies. It just seems silly because she was mauled to death. We’re not looking for a killer. We’re looking for a wild animal.”
I know that I should agree with him. all of the evidence pointed to that as the truth, but my gut disagreed, and I’d learned nothing surer than to listen to my gut. I just wasn’t able to convince other people of that.
“Okay, Freddy. You drive. I might still have a bit too much in my system.”
He laughed like I was joking. But I really wasn’t. I don’t know if I was just hungover badly, or if I was actually still drunk.
Chapter 5
Baron
The night before went as bad as it could have possibly gone. I was worried about getting Kayla to see things my way. She was still mad at me, that much was clear but again, I was going to be an optimist and try to make it like it was a sign. It meant that she cared. I could have done with a totally different kind of caring though, one that got me the girl instead of wondering what the hell had happened watching her leave.
I paced all night in the small hotel room. This place was making me crazy and I went out for a run before I finally tried to go back to bed. If a run through the woods couldn’t get me right, nothing could. I had been having trouble sleeping since I came back to Shady Way, and I was sure that it was because of the history I had here. Some of the best and worst times were on this land. I found out who and what I was here. So many things that had changed my life and the course of it forever. I’d told myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t come back here. I’d wanted Kayla for all that time, but something had always kept me away, namely her father.
Mike was always going to hate me, and I can’t say that he didn’t have at least one good reason. He’d pushed me and though I don’t know what he’d truly planned for me that night so long ago, I knew what I thought was going to happen. He’d pushed too hard and brought out a part of me that I didn’t even know existed. I tried to hide that part of me because it scared the hell out of me, but I couldn’t--not forever. At some point, I’d decided that I had to get on with my life, one way or another.
That meant that instead of avoiding Mike, I was going to have to go down there and pay him a visit. He was down at the precinct right now and like his daughter, me and the old man had unfinished business. I would have liked to have thought that I wouldn’t have to chase Kayla down, but I would have to. I wished that I didn’t have to go through her job, but I had a couple of reasons to be there. I wanted to give Mike a hello since he was going to be so glad to see me.
The idea that I would get to see my nemesis again was actually an exhilarating feeling. The old sheriff had tried his damndest to get through to me. He’d tried to talk sense into me. But I didn’t have much sense back then, and Mike didn’t have any patience. The final straw was getting caught with Kayla. It had infuriated him to no end. Apparently, I was good enough to help him when needed and to be mentored by him, but not to have feelings for his daughter. Kayla was off limits. He told me that once before, but that was the only time that I ignored a request. I had looked up to Mike in a way, even when I was getting in trouble.
We dated in secret for a long time before I’d finally had enough and wanted it to be public. Mike had gone out of his way, more than usual, to give me hell after that, and the more I tried to get him to see that me and his daughter were right for each other, the more he hated me. The night in the woods when he’d caught us had been the last straw.
I thought about that night and what he tried to do afterwards. He was the police chief, but there was no real justice in the town. Everyone was playing Mike’s games, and he had his own rules. Now I was going to go see what the old man was up to. I was sure that he wasn’t going to be happy to see me, but I wanted to see Kayla again and since this was the only guarantee I was going to have, I had to come here. Going to Mike’s house didn’t seem like a good idea.
If we were going to have to see each other, I would prefer that it was done in public so that I would know what was going on. He might try to do something like before. I didn’t put anything past him, but I was willing to risk it for Kayla. I had to show her that what we had was real. I was tired of letting her father dictate my life. He had for long enough and being close to Kayla again reminded me how much I missed her.
I went into the station with trouble on my mind. I wanted to get under Mike’s skin. I knew that it wasn’t a smart idea, but while he didn’t like me, he was afraid of me, and I wanted to see his fear. He’d kept me away from Kayla for all of these years, and now she thought one way about me that I didn’t get. I didn’t get why she wouldn’t forgive me, but I’m sure that it had something to do with her father constantly
being in her ear. I knew it. I just knew it.
Not wanting to go to jail, I knew that I was going to have to come at this in a way that made it so that didn’t happen. I liked to think that Mike still wasn’t running the town, but I knew he was. The man ran everything around him.
I went to the front desk and asked to see the sheriff. I knew that he was going to not be so happy to see me, but before I’d wanted to stay away. Now I wanted him to know that I was here. He told me to never come back or there would be hell to pay, but now I welcomed such a thing. I had many thoughts in my head, but a confrontation with Mike was on the top of the list. If I could somehow get over dealing with him, I would have more confidence with his daughter.
I was told that he was on a phone call and would be out in a few minutes. I just sat down on the bench. Of course, I would have to wait. What else could I do? He was a busy man, and I was going to make more work for him. I tried to prepare myself for him and played out what I was going to say in my head. It was hard for me to think about how everything was going to go. I just knew that it wasn’t going to work out the way that I saw it happening.
The longer I stood there, the more determined I was to see this through. He’d pushed me before, but this time I was older and stronger. I wouldn’t lose it like I had before. I hadn’t done that in a very long time, even though I still had dreams that were more vivid because they were actually night walks. That part of it hadn’t changed.
“What the hell are you doing here, Baron? Have you lost your mind?”
“Kayla, I didn’t know you would be here.”
“Yes, you did. Seriously, what are you doing here? You know that if my dad sees you, he is going to lose his shit.”
“I’m here to see your dad. I wanted to catch up and see how he was doing.”
She looked at me like I was crazy and maybe I was. I knew that I was toeing the line. It was hard not to.
“Why would you want to do that? He hates you. Nothing has changed.”
I told her that a lot had changed.
“Is this because of last night and that I wouldn’t leave with you?”
I hadn’t asked, but I liked where her mind was.
“No, it has nothing to do with that. Me and your father have our own dealings.”
She told me that I had to go and instead of waiting for me to choose, she just started pushing me towards the door. I didn’t have a choice in this.
“I’m just going to come back later. This is the only way I get to see you.”
She sighed at me. “You know that you’re a mess, right? That much hasn’t changed. You’re going to get me in trouble. Are you trying to get me fired?”
“No, I’m trying to get your attention.”
“Well, you have it now.”
“Go out with me.”
Kayla shook her head and the blonde wave moved from side to side. I watched her amber eyes look annoyed and then something else altogether. I don’t know what was going on in her mind, but I knew that I was going to have to figure something out.
“You can’t be serious.”
We were standing outside of the cop shop. It should be pretty obvious to her now that I was serious. I hated police, and they hated me in kind. It was one of the very last places that I ever wanted to be. But I would go there every day and face her father if that was what it took. Now that I was back and had seen her again, she was standing in front of me, nothing else was going to do. It was just that simple.
“I’m very serious. Come out with me, Kayla. I miss you, and I want to catch up somewhere quiet, not yelling over the loud music at Trudy’s.”
“You know that we can’t be together. I thought after everything that happened, you would get that now.”
“I do get that. I really do, but there is still more to this subject. You want to talk about the past, and I want to see what is left in our future. You waited a long time for me to call you. That tells me that you wanted to talk. So, let’s talk. And see what happens.”
I added the last part in there and grinned when she gave me a dirty look. I was pushing it. I know it, but the fact of the matter was that I wanted her to see that I wasn’t going to just go away. I cared too much about her, and Kayla would either give in to my demands or I was going to make sure that she couldn’t say no to them anymore.
“Come on, Kayla. That or I go back in there and me and your dad have a reunion.”
“If you really knew what lengths my dad would go through to keep us away from each other, Baron, you wouldn’t even be here right now.”
She was holding something back from me, and I didn’t like it. It was something important because I could almost always read what was in her mind, but not this time. This time she was holding it very close to her chest, and I was nervous about what it was. I was used to knowing all, and I didn’t like when I didn’t know what was going on.
“Tell me how far he would go, Kayla. What do I not know?”
Kayla looked away and smiled. “Nothing; never mind. I will go out with you, Baron, if that is what it takes for you to leave. You don’t know what my father is capable of, and I would never forgive myself if something happened…”
She looked up at me finally, and her golden eyes were filled with fear and maybe hate. I knew that they had never been close, but I didn’t think that it was this bad. What I didn’t understand was why was I so worried about it all of a sudden. I had this feeling that Kayla was trying to protect me. It was laughable from my point of view, especially since I knew exactly what the sheriff was capable of, rather intimately. Here I was thinking that I would protect her from ruining the image of him in his mind.
“I’m a big boy, Kayla. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to keep me safe. You know that, right?”
She waved me off. “Just tell me when and where, and I will meet you somewhere. Just not here. Never here again.”
I told her that I wouldn’t come here again, but I had to wonder why she was acting so strange. What had Mike done to his own daughter to make her fear him in such a way, and why is she working at the police station with him as her boss if he was so bad? I’d known that he was a bad guy for a while now, knew it from experience, but I wondered how Kayla knew about it. I hadn’t thought that she’d seen that side of him.
“Meet me at our place tonight. We’ve not been out there in a long time.”
Her face dropped, and she shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Why?”
“Well at the moment, there is police tape all around that old house because there was a bear-mauling victim discovered there yesterday. I was just leaving the scene when I ran into you at the bar.”
“A bear mauling?” My throat got dry, and I wondered again where I went during my sleep adventures. I’d come back in rougher shape than when I went to bed. I wondered…
“Yeah, this is the second one in about two weeks. I don’t know what is going on, but we can’t go there. Somewhere else?”
“Um, I’ll call you when I think of something. I have to go, Kayla.”
“Okay, well I guess I will see you later.”
I kissed her cheek. “Yeah, later.”
I turned around and got out of there before the real thoughts came into play. I don’t even know what to say or what to do. Bear mauling? This can’t be good.
Chapter 6
Kayla
For someone that had gone to such great lengths to see me, I felt like Baron really copped out. While he was talking about how much he missed me and wanted to be with me again, the truth of the matter was that he’d just taken off seconds later. It was almost like he was acting that way because I brought up the bear attacks, but I didn’t see how that was even remotely related. It was strange, and I watched him walk down the street and get into his car. What the heck was that all about?
I went back inside after watching Baron a few moments longer to make sure that he did in fact leave. I knew what would happen to Baron if my d
ad found out about him being here. It was best that he didn’t know anything, but that idea was about to be shattered when I heard him say my name.
“Tell me that I didn’t just see Baron walking out of here.”
I couldn’t, and I remained silent. What was I supposed to say? It’s not like I had anything to do with it. He was nice enough to help me out, and I just wanted to get Dad off of him. Baron might have talked big, but Dad had done something to him before to make him leave. It had to have been before Dad was attacked by a bear. The scars were as clear to the eye as they were the day it happened. Dad never got into much detail about what happened, but I knew that there was a reason that he kept it to himself.
“I can’t tell you that. It was Baron. I think he was here to see you, but I told him that it wasn’t a good idea.”
“Why would he want to see me?”
I shrugged because I couldn’t think of a reason why. My dad was a jerk. I didn’t know why he had the friends he had. He was always surrounded by people that he knew, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t have a reason to be so close at hand.
“I have no idea. The way you treated him, I’m surprised he would step foot in this place. You always had it out for Baron, and I know that you hurt him before he left.”
“There are things that you don’t understand, Kayla. I’ve shielded you from the worst of it. I will tell you like I did before. You will stay away from him. He’s bad news. Always has been and always will be.”
I didn’t want to hear it. He’d been telling me that for over ten years now, and it had been long enough for me.
“You don’t even know him, Dad. You didn’t know him back then either. I had no plans of seeing him. We were just talking, and I was getting him to leave. You’ve done enough to him.”