Before Alexander could ask her to elaborate, a loud smacking noise distracted them. Winston was in the process of devouring the order of chicken wings, and a layer of barbeque sauce had already coated his face. When he spotted Alexander, his gaze narrowed on the pair.
“Who’s your new friend?” he asked Ellie, his voice dripping with envy.
“Winston Henderson, meet Alexander Thorne. I accidently knocked his tray over and thought I’d make it up to him by inviting him to eat with us. I hope it’s OK.”
“Pleased to meet you, Winston.” Alexander pulled out a chair for Ellie.
Winston spoke through gritted teeth. “Charmed.” When Alexander offered his hand, Winston gripped it and squeezed. Alexander merely smiled and held Winston’s resentful gaze until he released his hold.
There was something strange about him that Ellie couldn’t quite place. Winston looked from Alexander to Ellie and back again as Alexander grabbed a piece of pizza.
“Thanks again, Ellie.” Alexander took a big bite out of the first piece. “This tastes fantastic.”
“I’ve never heard of you before, Alexander,” Winston interrupted before Ellie could respond. “New to town?”
“My father bought a farm in the area a few months ago. I’m staying here with him while waiting for college to start up again.”
“That’s an interesting ring.” Winston regarded a black ring with two entwined serpents on Alexander’s left hand.
“It was a gift.”
“It looks old.” Winston appeared interested. “I’m fascinated by antiques myself. I have a very large coin collection.”
Alexander looked amused, and Ellie shook her head, unable to suppress a smile at the awkward comment.
“What about you two? Are you in college?”
“Almost,” Ellie replied. “We just graduated from high school.”
“That’s exciting. Picked a school yet?”
“Not exactly. I know I’m cutting it close.”
Winston cleared his throat. “I think the karaoke machine is open, Ellie.”
“I think I’m going to get myself another drink,” Alexander said. “Sorry for interrupting your date. It was nice meeting you two.”
Before Ellie could reply, Alexander was out of earshot. Watching him walk back to the counter, she fought the urge to glare at Winston for chasing away their new acquaintance.
Winston followed her gaze. “I think there’s something off about him.”
“He seemed nice enough to me.” When she turned around, Winston was staring deep into her eyes.
“I meant what I said about the karaoke machine. What do you say to a duet?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” That was one way to put it.
“Then how about a dance? My hand-eye coordination has improved since we learned ballroom dancing in music class.”
Ellie cringed at the recollection of his woeful performance on the dance floor. She was once unlucky enough to be partnered with Winston, and despite her best efforts did not avoid his errant stomping feet.
Winston suddenly stood up and pulled her to her feet. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”
She looked nervously at the dance floor, aware that eyes were starting to move in their direction. Sarah would never let her hear the end of this.
“No, really, I’m not—”
“Ellie Sullivan?”
Malory was watching nearby. “And what brings you here?” She sneered at Winston.
“We’re on a date,” Winston proudly volunteered.
Malory looked like all her dreams had just come true at once. “You’re on a date with Winston Henderson?”
Ellie tried to protest. “It’s not really a date.” She regretted the words immediately. From the look on his face, Winston was clearly hurt. He dropped his arm from her shoulders.
“What contest did you lose?” Malory asked. “Wait until everyone hears about this. Look at him—he’s turning red!”
Winston fled the arcade.
Ellie put her hands on her hips. “That was cruel, Malory. Even for you.”
“You’re a fine one to talk. You may have everybody in this dump fooled, but not me. You’re no better than anyone else.”
“I don’t claim to be.” Now people were staring.
“Please. You walk around all holier-than-thou while planning to steal people’s boyfriends.”
“For the last time, I didn’t take Jeremy away from you, Malory.”
“Liar. He would never have left me if it hadn’t been for you.”
Ellie didn’t know what to say. That much was true, yet she had never encouraged Jeremy. In her jealousy, Malory couldn’t see that.
Malory cornered her. “What’s the matter? Not so confident without Sarah Preston to fight all your battles for you?”
Ellie took a step back, and her foot caught on the leg of a stool behind her.
Time seemed to pause as her body fell backwards. With every eye watching, and the smirking Malory Baker standing over her, all she could do was pray for her shame to end.
Her body never hit the ground.
Two strong arms caught her from behind. Alexander helped her regain her footing before casting his gaze on Malory. “Is there a problem here?”
When he folded his arms across his chest, Ellie couldn’t help noticing his biceps tense under his shirt.
“Not at all.” Malory curled a strand of hair. “Do I know you?”
“I’m a friend of Ellie’s.”
“Wait,” Malory stuttered. “You’re here with him?”
“That’s right.” After relishing the satisfaction at her rival’s crestfallen expression, Ellie felt a pang of guilt for lying.
Malory recovered quickly and kept her focus on Alexander. “I’m Malory Baker. Are you going to be staying around long?”
“Actually, Alexander and I were just leaving.” Ellie winked at Malory, who seemed completely immobile while they made their way to the exit. She added to him, “Thank you for that. You have no idea how much humiliation you saved me from.”
“I think I have an idea. I’d watch out for that girl if I were you. She has it in for you.” He stepped out of the doorway to allow new patrons to enter the arcade. They stood on the sidewalk, facing the parking lot.
“It’s a long story. Thanks for playing along with me.”
“No problem. It was actually kind of fun.”
Ellie looked at the time on her phone. “Oh wow, I didn’t realize it was so late. I should really be headed home.”
“It was nice meeting you, Ellie. I hope we run into each other again.”
“I’d like that.” The music coming from the arcade was softer outside, making it easier to talk. “I’m sure we’ll see each other sooner than you think. Hazard is a pretty small place.”
“Can I walk you to your car?”
“No need.” Ellie nodded goodbye. She couldn’t help looking back in his direction as she climbed into the vehicle, mentally replaying the evening’s events.
That didn’t go as I’d expected. Ellie knew in the back of her mind that she needed to make things right with Winston somehow, but her thoughts kept coming back to the mysterious Alexander Thorne. She hoped their paths would cross again. Turning the key in the ignition, Ellie pulled out of the parking lot and cast one last glance in the rearview mirror toward the arcade entrance.
Alexander was already gone.
Chapter Two
Matt Simmons was beginning to believe he’d made a serious mistake. Still clutching the two-way radio, he turned off the highway with a frustrated scowl. The radio crackled and roared to life as his police cruiser advanced down a solitary gravel road.
“Deputy Simmons? Did you hear what I said? Mr. Wright found a dead deer on his property. He claims Patrick Doyle was poaching again. I told him you would look into it.”
Matt’s jaw tightened. The Doyle brothers were always up to something. Patrick had a laundry list of possession arrests, and his younger b
rother Jeremy was constantly getting into fights. With more pressing matters at hand, Matt didn’t appreciate the distraction.
“Sheriff, I’m on my way out to the Sullivan farm at the moment, but I’ll check on it after.” He hoped his tone didn’t betray the aggravation he felt.
Maybe he should have gone to college. In high school, Matt always assumed his skills on the basketball court would be enough to earn a scholarship. He never bothered trying to keep his grades up. The scholarship never materialized, depriving him of his one-way ticket out of Hazard. He fit in well at the sheriff’s department, but occasionally he still felt trapped. Still, Hazard wasn’t all that bad. It was a peaceful place to live—bordering on boring—and his job afforded him plenty of time to go hunting and fishing. But some days he really wondered if he made a difference.
The day had started simply enough, when Julianne Wells called the station to report a bear sighting. It wasn’t the first time the eighty-nine-year-old woman had phoned in an outrageous claim. Word around the station had it she once called to report a bigfoot sighting. That hadn’t stopped the sheriff from promising her Matt would look into it.
Then a farmer called the station to report one of his cattle missing. It wasn’t the kind of thing they’d waste time on in the city, but the man was a friend of the sheriff, and Matt ended up with the undesirable job. He was in the process of searching for the lost animal when someone else made the same complaint. That sparked his interest. The two farms were separated by almost a mile. When Matt couldn’t find any trace of the animals, he decided to pay a visit to Doctor Sullivan.
His police cruiser came to a halt at a large barn next to the clinic. A winding dirt path led from the barn to a modest house at the end of the road. Matt noticed the veterinarian on his cellphone outside the barn. Dismissing any lingering regret over his career choice, he slid his key out of the ignition and exited the vehicle. “Afternoon, Dr. Sullivan.”
“Deputy Simmons. To what do I owe the pleasure?” A black Labrador retriever following at the vet’s heels happily wagged his tail.
“It’s Matt.” The Labrador sniffed Matt’s boots, and he knelt down and patted the dog’s head. “Sorry to trouble you, Doc. I tried to reach you on the phone but couldn’t get through.”
“That’s not surprising. The office phone has been ringing off the hook since my wife left for town earlier.”
Sullivan had the look of a former bodybuilder who hadn’t visited the gym in a while. He was in his early forties, and his blond hair was graying around the edges.
“You too, huh?” Matt let the dog wander back to his owner. “I’m not interrupting anything too important, am I?”
“Not at all. Why don’t you follow me into the barn, and we can talk while I work?”
Although Matt didn’t know him well, he admired Sullivan—by all accounts a good-natured man who had worked hard to establish himself in Hazard. Sullivan’s wife worked as his assistant to save expenses. Both were extremely generous, and Matt had heard they often accepted non-monetary forms of payment from poor farmers.
When they stopped outside a stall containing a foal and its mother, Sullivan pulled on a pair of latex gloves and opened the latch. “What brings you here?”
“Kelly Allen and Rick McCarthy both reported missing cattle earlier today, but I couldn’t find any sign of them. Is there some kind of sickness going around?”
Sullivan didn’t appear surprised. “It’s funny you should mention Rick. A couple days ago I had to put down his walking horse. Poor thing was frightened out of its mind.”
Matt raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“It was behaving uncontrollably, running until it didn’t have any energy left. Its eyes kept flickering around erratically even once it was downed. The horse was pretty old, but I couldn’t find any of the usual causes of death.”
“Maybe it’s related to the missing cows. Could it be a virus? West Nile or something?”
“Unlikely. West Nile is fatal to horses, not cows. Still, I can look into running some tests if a pathogen becomes a concern. Have you considered predators?”
“I didn’t see any trail or trace of blood in the woods, though I could have easily missed something. I was in a rush, and there was a lot of ground to cover.”
The Labrador bolted toward a pretty blond-haired girl approaching from the house.
The girl laughed and petted the dog. “Hi, Dad. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Ellie, this is Matt Simmons. I believe he graduated a few years ahead of you.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Matt said. “Thanks again for your help, Doc.”
“Sure. Let me know if you have any more questions.”
“I’ll tell you if I find out anything else. It could be anything at this point. A predator, broken fence, sinkhole—you name it.” Matt returned to the stationary cruiser and hoped it wasn’t too late to do something useful with his day. With any luck, the cows would return of their own accord. Predator. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Ellie watched Matt Simmons drive off.
“You’re looking chipper today,” her father said.
“It is the weekend.” Boomer jumped at her, and his paws landed in her hands, as if they were dancing.
Her father discarded his gloves in the trash. “I thought maybe it had something to do with your date last night.”
Ellie wrinkled her brow. “Is there anyone who doesn’t know I went to the arcade with Winston?”
“Your mother told me you went out, but I didn’t know it was with Winston until you mentioned it just now.”
Ellie playfully rolled her eyes. “Why is everyone so interested in my love life all of a sudden? It was one date—and hardly even a date, at that.”
“Relax. I’m not going to interrogate you. Besides, from what I hear, there’s probably no one less threatening than Winston Henderson. It doesn’t exactly give me cause for concern, like when that Doyle boy was giving you trouble.”
“You can say that again. Even though I tried making it clear to Winston we were just friends, I might have hurt his feelings. It’s my own fault. I thought I was being nice, but I think I sent him mixed signals.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it right. You always do. You’re just like your mother that way.” As usual, her father knew just what to say to make her feel better. “Do you have anything planned for tonight?”
“As a matter of fact, Sarah and I are planning on going camping. It’s the first time we’ve both been off work on the same weekend in weeks.”
Concern crept over her father’s face. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?”
Ellie frowned. Her father rarely questioned any of her camping trips with friends before. “Why do you ask?”
“Some farmers reported missing cattle earlier. They wanted to know if there was something going around. Matt Simmons and I were discussing the same thing. There could be a predator on the loose.”
Ellie laughed. “We’re just camping in the woods behind the barn. It couldn’t be any safer.”
“I’d feel better if you took Boomer with you.”
Ellie scratched Boomer behind the ears. “Boomer would love to come with me, wouldn’t you, boy?” She hesitated. “Could I borrow your debit card to pick up a few things for tonight when I go into town?”
“Borrow?”
“I’d use my own, but my paycheck doesn’t come until next Thursday. I’ll pay you back. Promise.”
As her father removed a money-clip from his pocket, Ellie remembered her parents’ financial troubles and felt a stab of guilt. Many of the farmers who came to her father for help had difficulties of their own and often couldn’t pay their bills on time. Running the clinic wasn’t cheap, and her dad was still paying off his student loans.
He must have seen her reaction, because he made an extra effort to smile broadly when he handed her the card. “Here you go, kiddo. Have a great time with your friends.”
Ellie
averted her gaze and felt herself blushing like she had in the arcade. She had also planned to bring up the subject of college with her father, but decided it was not the best time.
“Thanks.” She gave her father a big hug. “I don’t need much.”
Look at how busy he is. He’s working himself to the bone to keep the clinic afloat and still manages to stay optimistic. Ellie wasn’t sure when she would end up falling in love but knew she would have to look a long way to find someone as good as her father.
“Bye, Dad,” she called over her shoulder as she left the barn. “I’ll be back soon. Text me if you need anything.” Warm summer air washed over her as the light hit her. She opened the van door. “In you go, Boomer.”
The dog bounded onto the back seat and stuck his head out the open window. Ellie reached for her keys and paused for a moment, her gaze drawn to the barn. Something her father had said about predators concerned her. If the police were involved, it couldn’t be good.
Ellie dismissed the thought and fired up the engine. She shouldn’t worry about it. Deep down, she suspected her family’s financial troubles were what really bothered her. She tried to think of something else as the van made its way from the farm. Only a few hours remained before evening.
By the time Ellie entered town, any trace of worry had long since been forgotten. Her natural smile returned unhindered in anticipation of the night’s activities. When she passed the high school, the building awoke the same nostalgia she had felt every time she’d seen it since her graduation. She stopped at Braxton’s Frozen Yogurt, where Sarah worked a second job. Underneath her friend’s easygoing personality, Ellie suspected she, too, worried about paying for college.
“Wait here, Boomer. I’ll be back in a minute.” The bell rang loudly as the door swung open. Cold air rushed over her from the fan above. Ellie searched the room for her friend. “Sarah?” She hesitantly stepped behind the counter. Then she spotted her.
Sarah lingered in the far corner with her back to Ellie. She wasn’t moving. “Don’t come any closer. Something’s wrong.”
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