“I’ve got them. You just take care of yourself. That’s what friends are for.”
Friends . . . It felt nice to know Ansley had a friend.
Ryan had waited for Luke to arrive at Ansley’s apartment building. He’d taken photos of the carving on the windowsill. Throughout it all, Ansley hadn’t appeared.
He was surprised. She seemed like the pushy, nosy type who would want to see what was going on.
At least Ryan hoped that his discovery might eventually lead to some other clues.
But the Woodsman?
A chill rushed through him every time he thought about it.
Back at work, his crew had a busy afternoon. They were called out to help an elderly woman who’d fallen and needed help getting up, to a cardiac situation at one of the nearby campgrounds, and even to rescue a cat up a tree.
Ryan had only gone to the cardiac situation, more in an inspector capacity. At the office, he’d also learned the ins and outs of ordering equipment and doing payroll.
Meanwhile, the forest fire an hour away seemed to be contained. That was good news. Despite that, he could still smell the smoke in the air.
As Ryan sat at his desk, his thoughts went to Ansley. He wondered how she was doing. What she was doing.
He shook his head. It was none of his business. The last person he needed to be thinking about was Ansley.
Though most people couldn’t see it, Ryan was too broken to even begin to explore the possibility of a relationship. Philly had nearly done him in. Especially that fire where he lost a man . . .
Grief gripped him at the memory, and he quickly shoved the thoughts away. This wasn’t the time to beat himself up. He needed to focus.
Finally, he stood. There was nothing else he could do here this evening. He would head home and start fresh again tomorrow.
As he stepped outside of the fire station, he paused.
There it was again. That same feeling he’d experienced last night.
The feeling that he was being watched.
He scanned the buildings around him. There were several gift shops, a couple restaurants, plenty of nightlife going on around him. Plenty of people wandering to and from the local eateries.
Yet he didn’t see any eyes on him.
But he knew they were there.
He still didn’t move. Instead, he surveyed the area one more time.
Nothing. No one.
Why would someone be watching him? He had no idea.
But he didn’t like this.
He reached his SUV and tugged on the handle. As he did, something fell to the ground.
He leaned down and picked it up.
It was a wooden gnome . . . just like the one Dustin had, same strange little face and all.
He glanced around again. Who had left this here?
He knew. It was from the faceless killer who called himself the Woodsman.
Now more than ever he needed to be on guard—especially until he knew what was going on here.
Chapter Twenty-One
Things have happened. Things that I hadn’t expected.
I’ve planned every aspect of this. Every. Single. Aspect.
My plan can’t go wrong. There’s too much on the line.
Things like justice. Maybe some would call it vengeance. I think that’s a fine line.
I’m doing what I can to keep this situation under control.
But my emotions fluctuate between total admiration and total fury. The clash leaves me feeling unbalanced. It makes my hunger feel insatiable.
But, in the end, it will all make sense.
There are steps that need to be taken here, people. Can’t you see that? This situation must remain in my control. When you cut down one tree, you plant another one. It takes time for it to grow. A lot of time.
Some things can’t be rushed.
Like my plan.
I take a deep breath. I’m overthinking this. Everything is going to be okay. I just have to keep moving forward. I have to stick with my plan.
I swallow hard and taste blood. I must have been biting down on my tongue with anticipation.
Because I know what’s coming. I’ve been watching. And my targets seem too easy. Too oblivious.
It reminds me of my childhood. My dad would take limbs from the trees in my backyard. Switches, he called them. He liked the ones from the maple trees. Said they worked the best. And whenever I did something that didn’t please him, he whipped me with it.
The wood would slice into my skin. I would cry.
My mom would stare off in the distance, her eyes closed as if she couldn’t watch. But she never tried to stop it. Never.
Coward.
I wouldn’t be a coward.
In the meantime, I just need to focus on not getting caught.
My gaze stops on one person.
Ryan Philips. He stands on the sidewalk, glancing around. Can he feel me watching him?
It doesn’t matter. He can’t see me. I blend with the darkness. And I’m careful. I’m so very careful.
He wasn’t a part of my plan. But maybe he should be. I’ll add him to my list.
Why?
Because he’s going to hurt Ansley. I can sense it. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at her.
Besides, I know all about what happened in Philadelphia. He hasn’t been so quick to share those stories, has he? Is he ashamed? He should be.
But all that matters to me right now is that he’s a threat, and all threats must be stopped.
My lips curl at the thought.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, Ryan paced toward his FLFD SUV after wrapping up an early morning incident. Luke Wilder had responded to the scene as well, and the sheriff now walked beside him as they left one of the row houses on the outskirts of the Fog Lake downtown area.
It was only 7:45 a.m., but they’d already responded to a 911 call. Thankfully, it wasn’t something too serious. Someone had fallen down the stairs and appeared to have contusions, along with a sprained ankle. The older woman would be taken to the hospital for an X-ray, just to be certain.
Ryan’s mind continually drifted back to everything that had happened since he’d arrived in Fog Lake. He ended with the eyes he’d felt watching him last night.
He’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about everything that had transpired. He’d halfway expected someone to creep into his house. He wasn’t normally given to paranoia, but too many strange things were happening here. Until he had answers, he would be on guard.
In the meantime, he kept a mental list of who might be behind this.
It had to be someone who was foolhardy enough to sabotage a zipline while they were on it. Someone who was familiar with how the zipline worked. Someone who knew the area.
The momentum on the case was just now starting. What Ryan couldn’t figure out was what someone’s motive might be.
“Any updates on the zipline situation?” Ryan asked Luke, slowing as he reached his car door.
“No, things have only gotten stranger.”
Ryan twisted his head, curious about his words. “What do you mean?”
Luke crossed his arms and let out a breath, the air from his lungs turning frosty as it hit the atmosphere. “We discovered that Dustin tried to place a call to Ansley in the middle of the night. Ansley, being Ansley, doesn’t have her phone. She left it in her locker at work and never picked up.”
Ryan waited, anxious to hear what this meant. “Did you find her phone? See if he left a message?”
Luke tilted his head. “No, that’s where it gets strange. I went to the zipline facility last night to retrieve it. It was gone. Everything else was there in Ansley’s locker, just like she said. But no phone.”
Ryan paused by his vehicle and crossed his arms. “Did Ansley forget and actually leave it somewhere else?”
“She says no, and she’s probably right. She has a decent memory for stuff like this. She said she called Boone before work that mo
rning and reminded him it was Jaxon’s birthday. Then she put the phone in her locker. Boone confirmed she called.”
“So what happened to the phone?”
Luke pistoled his finger and bent his hand toward Ryan. “That’s the million-dollar question.”
Ryan’s gaze turned toward his EMTs as they carried a woman on a gurney to the ambulance. His captain was overseeing the scene, but he was still trying to learn the personalities of those under him.
“Do you think the killer could have realized Dustin made that call and taken the phone himself?” Ryan asked once everyone was out of earshot.
“That’s exactly what I’m wondering. Anyone with minimum skills could have picked the lock on her locker.”
Ryan’s thoughts continued to churn. “But how would someone get into the facility?”
“No one has really been there since we shut the zipline down, so if someone wanted to sneak into the building, there would be no one to see him.” Luke turned back toward the first responders around him, nodding a hello to one of the firefighters.
The bad feeling in Ryan’s gut grew. The fact that Dustin had called Ansley and that the phone had been stolen were two signs this could be important. Just what was on that message? “Isn’t there a way to access her voice mail without having the phone itself?”
“We’ve tried,” Luke said. “If there was a message, it’s been erased. We’re working with Ansley’s phone carrier now to see if we can retrieve it, but it’s going to take some time.”
Ryan nodded. “Thanks for the update—and let me know if I can do anything.”
Luke nodded and took a step away before pausing. “Listen, Ryan . . . one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I do need one favor. And it’s a bit unconventional.”
“Now I’m curious.”
“While you’re out and about around town, could you keep your eyes open for Ansley?”
Ryan paused, trying to read between the lines. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Ansley seems to be right in the thick of this. I don’t want to see anything happen to her. I’m not saying you need to be her bodyguard. I’m just saying . . . the more eyes I have on her, the better.”
“Understood.”
Luke nodded. “Thank you. Like I said before—it’s good to have you back in town.”
“Good to be here,” Ryan said.
But, even after Luke left, Ryan stayed a minute longer, lost in his thoughts.
This new information only confirmed in his mind that Ansley was more involved in this than it might appear on the surface. Why else would Dustin have called her in the middle of the night?
He only hoped this was resolved soon, before anyone else got hurt.
Ansley stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and shook her head. The circles beneath her eyes should win some kind of award for most hideous looking. They boldly proclaimed to everyone who saw them that she’d hardly gotten any sleep last night.
Actually, Ansley had been sleeping soundly—until her brother called. After that, she’d been wide awake and unable to fall back to sleep. Of course.
Was it only because he’d woken her? Not necessarily.
It was also because her phone was missing. Because Dustin had called her before he died.
What was on that message? Who had her phone? Why had this person erased her messages?
A bad feeling churned in Ansley’s gut.
She raked a hand through her hair, continuing to stare at herself. The one thing about returning to her natural hair color was that she thought her skin looked paler. She looked more like her mom.
Her stomach twisted again.
It had been ten long years since her mother had abandoned the family, but Ansley still found forgiveness hard to come by. Her mom had left them when they’d needed her the most. To make matters worse, her mom had run away with Danny Axon’s father.
Ansley wasn’t sure she could ever forgive that. But she knew bitterness was only eating her up inside. She was trying to do better. To make amends in her life. To be the person her father would be proud of.
Every day that took effort and being purposeful.
Ansley let out a sigh and turned around, leaning against the bathroom counter. She couldn’t stay here all day just thinking. She had no job to keep her mind occupied.
She could hang out with Harper or Brynlee, but they were both busy.
Boone could probably use some help at his place, the Falling Timbers Camp and General Store, but there was something about working for her brothers that drove her crazy. They still saw her as a little sister, as a baby. At least, that’s how it felt. She and her brother Jaxon had been the closest, but he’d left home for the army and hadn’t returned. He hadn’t even been able to make it home for Luke’s wedding.
Ansley missed him. He’d probably taken Dad’s death the hardest. Jaxon had idolized their father, and staying here in Fog Lake had apparently been too much for him. He had to get away.
Finally, an idea settled in Ansley’s mind. She knew it was probably a bad idea. A horrible idea.
But she was going to do it anyway.
Ansley put on some makeup and began to get ready—because she was an all-or-nothing girl.
Right now, she was going to fall into the “all” category.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ryan stepped into the fire station and sucked in a breath.
Ansley Wilder stood in the garage area, laughing with a couple of his guys. She had their rapt attention. For that matter, she had the attention of most hot-blooded males.
He wanted to deny that seeing her had caused a spike in his own heart rate. But he couldn’t. Not if he was truthful.
She stood across the room in form-fitting jeans, a flannel shirt, and with her hair loose around her shoulders. Ryan wasn’t sure if she was wearing any makeup or not—she probably didn’t need to wear any. Her skin looked pretty flawless to him.
And her smile . . . it made a person never want to look away.
Ansley spotted him and straightened. The rest of the guys followed her gaze and scattered to do their own tasks. Ryan was still new enough here that the crew didn’t know how to read him and was on their best behavior.
He paced inside and stopped in front of her. “Ansley . . .”
“Good morning, Ryan. I see you’re already busy—a real early bird.” She pushed a glossy piece of hair behind her ear and raised her head toward him.
Something about the way she looked caused his throat to tighten. Something about the way she stared up at him, her face open and wide . . . it made Ryan want to step closer. To plant a kiss on those lips.
Ryan brought his thoughts back into focus. “Tragedy doesn’t wait for office hours.”
A bittersweet smile tugged at her lips before quickly disappearing. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
“What brings you by?” he asked.
She extended her hand and presented him with a steaming cup of coffee. “For you.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s got caramel and vanilla. I tried to get a cherry on top, but they were all out.”
He let out a chuckle. “I’m not ashamed of my froufrou drinks.”
“It takes a real man to say that.”
He shook his head, entirely too humored by Ansley. “What really brings you by? You wanted to bring me this?”
Ansley glanced around the station and shrugged, her features all easygoing and nonchalant. She extended her hand. “Actually, you said you needed some help here. So here I am.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Were you joking?” Her gaze held his as she waited for his response.
“No, I wasn’t. I do need some administrative help. I’m going to have to go through the proper channels first.”
“That makes sense. How about if I just volunteer for the day then? Maybe with something simple and non-official?”
Ryan stared at her, trying to re
ad beneath the surface. She really wanted to do this. But why? It didn’t seem to fit her personality.
Ansley shrugged. “Look, I can’t stay home all day thinking about things. I need something to do. I remembered your offer, and came to help.”
He nodded, satisfied with her explanation. He had mentioned that.
He also remembered Luke’s request—that Ryan help keep an eye on Ansley. What better way than by having her volunteer here?
“I’d be happy to have you here, Ansley, and I know just the job for you,” Ryan said. “It involves filing.”
“I can handle that.”
“And no distracting my guys by flirting with them.”
She let out a short, clipped laugh. “I don’t try to flirt . . .”
He seriously doubted that. “It just comes naturally?”
Ansley narrowed her gaze. “I’m just playful and misunderstood.”
He let out a skeptical grunt.
But maybe what Ryan really wanted was for Ansley not to distract him. He’d never own up to it, but that would probably be his biggest challenge.
Because Ansley Wilder was a sight to behold . . . and someone needed to keep an eye on her. But it was a bad idea for Ryan to be the one to do so.
Ryan didn’t deserve to have a happy future, and no one would convince him otherwise.
Ansley had to stop herself from glancing over at Ryan as she worked in the room across from his office. She sat on the floor, pouring over boxes of files and trying to organize them before adding the contents to a wall of file cabinets on the other side of the room.
Had she always been a sucker for a man in uniform? She didn’t think so. But today she was becoming a believer that men in uniform were among the most handsome out there.
Maybe it wasn’t just any man in uniform. Ryan Philips wore his black one very nicely. Too nicely.
She averted her gaze and turned back to the files that she tried to organize. Chief Johnson, who’d previously held the position, had done a terrible job with this stuff. Everyone in town loved the man, but they’d known he was more of a politician than a fire chief. It was no surprise when he decided to run for state senate.
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