“Maybe…”
“No, not maybe.” Lena’s voice was surprisingly firm. “Going to the town meeting is one thing. Nosing around the Hearthstone development is another. Don’t forget that Harold wasmurderedover it.”
Technically we didn’t know that, but I got her point.
I tapped my foot, thinking. “I’d just feel better if I could bring her some proof the signature was Harold’s.”
Lena looked worried. “Listen, we haven’t known each other long, but tell me you’ll take this to Sheriff Crowe. It’s been a minute since I’ve had a real friend. I’d rather not lose you to some psycho killer when we’re just getting to know each other.”
“I will.”
And I would, but Sheriff Crowe had made it clear she wanted me to wash my hands of Harold’s murder. I wasn’t looking to be a hero, but if I was going to admit to ignoring the sheriff I wanted to bring her evidence, not unsubstantiated theories.
Besides, this was Blackwell Hollow. I was perfectly safe.
38
AVERY
I was still turningover the possibilities when I left Lena’s house two hours later. I’d met her gram, a small, vibrant woman with graying hair and Lena’s eyes, and had submitted to a Korean feast that made me groan with pleasure.
By the time I’d finally tapped out, I’d felt like I needed to unsnap the top button of my shorts.
It was twilight when I started heading home, and I glanced at Mrs. Diaz’s house and saw that Dane’s car was gone. I wondered if Beck and Noah knew that he volunteered at Harmony House, then decided they probably didn’t.
Dane clearly kept to himself.
I picked up my pace when I realized the shadows were encroaching quickly now that the sun was sinking below the horizon. I hadn’t intended to be at Lena’s so long — thank you, Mrs. Kim — and night was falling quickly in Blackwell Hollow, the streetlamps already glowing atop their black iron posts.
I thought about the Harold quandary as I walked. I understood why Lena wanted me to take my suspicions to Sheriff Crowe, but I wasn’t ready to do it yet. I needed to confirmthe initials belonged to Harold first, have something solid I could take to Sheriff Crowe when I brought her the slides.
Besides, there was zero evidence of a psycho killer on the loose. Harold had beentargeted.
I didn’t bother using my map to get back to Main Street. Blackwell Hollow wasn’t that big and I knew the general direction I was heading. Except by the time my brain cleared from my rumination about Harold and Sheriff Crowe, I realized I had no idea where I was.
I walked more slowly and looked around. I was still in a residential neighborhood, but this one looked more run-down. I didn’t remember passing through it on my way to Lena’s, which meant I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.
I pulled out my phone. It was embarrassing to have to use a map to get home in such a small town, but here we were.
It took me a few seconds of looking at the map to realize where I’d gone wrong. Now I was farther from Main than when I’d started. It would actually be faster to take residential streets back to Foxglove Lane.
I walked to the corner, made a right, and glanced back at my map to make sure I was on track.
And that was when the hair rose on the back of my neck.
It was a familiar sensation: the same feeling I’d had at the cemetery and in the gardens behind Aunt Evelyn’s house.
Except this time there was something else: footsteps behind me.
I glanced back and saw a black-clad figure round the corner behind me, the hood on their black sweatshirt pulled up around their face.
It was definitely a man — and a younger one, I thought — but I couldn’t make out any of his features.
I trained my eyes forward and walked faster, listening for the sound of the footsteps, praying they would fall off as the manbehind me turned onto another street or walked up the walkway of one of the surrounding houses.
They didn’t. He moved faster too, closing the distance between us.
My heart thudded in my chest, adrenaline flooding my body, and my brain frantically sifted through its fight-or-flight fog looking for possibilities: confront the person behind me and hope for the best, use my phone to call someone…