Читать книгу No End in Sight - Dana Mentink - Страница 6

Valerie was on her feet. Jackson yanked her toward the cabin. They barreled inside and he shoved the bolt home, closing all the drapes while Valerie locked the back door. She was on her cell phone with the police by the time he finished.

“They’re on the way.” She clicked off and went to the birdcage where the little green parakeet he’d given her sat tranquilly on his perch. She murmured something soothing to the creature. Calming the bird? Or herself?

He stood on the braided rug in the perfectly ordered cabin, heart still pounding from the adrenaline. She was deadly pale, almost as pale as her white-blond hair. She looked at him, her blue eyes still filled with fear, stark azure against the pallor of her face. No eyes should be that blue, he’d thought many times. At first he’d even wondered if she achieved the tint with the contact lenses she wore, but he’d later discovered it was God given, that exquisite sea-washed gaze that regarded him now. “You should be more selective about your driving companions.”

She took a breath. “He was in the forest along Twisted Pines Road. I thought he was with the construction crew. He pretended to be hurt.”

“How did he convince you to bring him back here?”

She sank into the chair on legs that suddenly seemed to fail her. He instantly regretted his tone and moved closer.

She took another deep breath, trembling hands pressed on her knees. “He knew where I lived. The knife…” She swallowed. “It’s mine. He’s been in my house.”

“So if he intended—” he had to force the words out “—to rape or kill you, why not wait for you here? Why come and find you?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

Jackson’s eyes traveled around the cabin. Nothing disturbed, nothing stolen other than the knife. “Maybe he was looking for something.”

“What could I have that anyone would want?”

The irony wasn’t wasted on him. You were all I wanted, Valerie.

He looked at her and in that moment he was lost in the pain she had caused him, the confusion and the anger.

Then he heard the sound of heavy footsteps moving fast outside.