Hunter shakes his head. He knows the answer, but sharing it won’t help Bethany. Aaron is a sociopath, the rare teenager who gets his thrills from hurting others. Relationships are meaningless to boys like Aaron Torres and Sam Tatum. They get off on power and delusions of superiority. Neither feels remorse over the rapes, only that the police caught them.
“How are your parents dealing with this?”
“Not good. Mom hasn’t slept in weeks, and Dad stopped talking to me like it’s my fault. Like it was my responsibility to see this coming and stop Aaron before he did something stupid.”
“What do you mean your fault?”
Bethany lowers her head. When her face reappears, her eyes are puffy, hair angled across her scalp as if she yanked it.
“Hey, Bethany. You’re telling me everything, right?”
“Yeah,” she says, glancing away.
“Your parents don’t blame you, Bethany. This is just your folks trying to process Aaron’s charges. Give them time.”
Bethany coughs into her hands and wipes a tear from her eye.
“Yeah, I get it. It sucks, but I get it. But listen to me acting like I’m the only one in the world going through problems. You can’t even tell me where you are, but I’ll ask, anyway.”
Hunter glances around the mall. It’s beginning to clear out, the crowd thinning as they finish shopping and head home for dinner.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. We’re in some Georgia town I’ve never heard of, staying with my cousin.”
“Georgia, why?”
“I better not say. I’m not supposed to be talking to friends, not even you.”
“That sucks. Is this about that crazy guy who tried to kill your mom?”
“Something like that,” Hunter says as Jennifer sets her bags at his feet and sits beside him.
“What’s that in the background? It looks like you’re shopping.”
“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Not funny.”
“Too soon? Okay. It’s just some mall up the road from where we’re staying. Well, I better sign off. I don’t know if my mother checks data usage.”
“Don’t be a stranger, Hunter. I miss you.”
“I promise I won’t, and I miss you too.”
“It’s not fair of me to say, and you don’t have control over any of this, but I really need you, Hunter.”
She’s hiding something. Whatever happened to Aaron, it’s worse than she’s letting on. Anxiousness surges through Hunter as he concocts plans to return to Genoa Cove so he can fix this.
“I’m coming back for you. Do you believe me?”
“Yeah.”
“I promise.”
When he closes the FaceTime app, his heart drops. He’ll see Bethany again, he tells himself. Except Mom won’t return to Genoa Cove except to load the moving truck, and even then she might hire somebody to clean out the house so she never has to set foot inside again.
“She still loves you?” Jennifer elbows him and giggles.
“Knock it off.”
Hunter forces himself to grin before the hair on the back of his neck prickles. Shoving the phone into his pocket, he stands and lifts his bag, scanning the crowd.
“What’s wrong?” Jennifer asks, climbing back to her feet.
“You know that feeling you get when someone is watching you?”
“It’s not a real feeling. That’s just a horror movie cliche. If you want to know the truth…”
Jennifer’s words fade as Hunter moves his eyes over the crowd. A group of teens, the boys with their arms around the girls’ shoulders, sneer as they pass by. Two girls make sarcastic jokes and playfully shove one another outside the video game store. Then Hunter sees the man in the long black jacket staring at them from a bench down the hall.
Hunter swats Jennifer on the arm, just enough to stop his sister’s chatter and grab her attention. She gives him a quizzical look, and he lifts his chin at the man.
“Still think it’s a cliche?”
The man stands and walks away, blending into the crowd until Hunter can’t find him.
“It was just a guy. So what? Whatever you do, don’t tell Laurie. And don’t let Mom know. She’ll never let us out of the house until we’re in our fifties.”
“That guy was watching us.”
“So he’s a creeper. Who cares? People stare all the time in malls. You scared him off, anyway.”
Though Hunter wants to believe Jennifer is right, the voice whispering in his head warns of trouble. This wasn’t some ordinary guy checking out his little sister.
He glared like he knew Jennifer. Like he knew Hunter too.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Yes, I’m certain the door was closed and locked,” Darcy says, running her finger along the jamb.
The ancient wood rises and falls with warps and rot. Drawing an exasperated sigh from Hensel, Darcy enters the house ahead of him. Wind shoves at her through the open doorway. Laurie’s bills lie scattered on the kitchen floor.
At the staircase, Hensel grips her arm and purses his lips. She steps back and lets him take the lead, the FBI agent’s gun drawn as they move up the stairs. It takes a few minutes to check each room and determine the house is clear. Nothing appears out of place or missing, but Darcy will tell Laurie and the kids to check their belongings after they return.
“Think we should call the sheriff?”
Hensel shakes his head.
“And tell him what? For all we know, the wind blew the door open, and based on the lack of damage, I believe that’s what happened.”
“It doesn’t feel right.”
Hensel slips his gun into his holster. He sits on the top step and runs a tired hand through his hair.
“I’m inclined to agree. It looks like someone forced the door open, but a gust of wind could have done the job. Let’s install the door before your cousin returns. If she finds anything out of place, I’ll call Tipton.”
The wind cuts through Darcy’s sweatshirt and touches her skin with cold fingers as they work outside. Standing on tiptoe, she unscrews the hinges on the old door while Hensel observes with his hands on his hips.
“What?”
Hensel exhales.
“This is no good. Look at the construction. The wood flakes off in my hand. All of it needs replacing.”
“You’re turning this into a full day’s project.”
“Sorry, but there isn’t any point installing the new door if the jamb falls apart.”
With no other choice, they drive back to Scarlet River, Darcy behind the wheel this time while Hensel answers work emails on his phone. As they pass through downtown, Darcy keeps an eye out for the man who harassed them.
By the time Hensel picks out the supplies and loads the car, clouds swallow the sun and steal what little warmth remains. They race against the lengthening day, and Hensel is out of the car and popping the trunk open before Darcy puts the Prius in park. Laurie hasn’t returned with the kids yet. Darcy wants to fire off a text, but she doesn’t want to seem pushy or more of a worrier than she already is.
Behind the house, Darcy aids Hensel as he replaces the rotten wood. Then they lift the door and attach the hinges, both Darcy and Hensel blowing on their numbing hands as daylight fades. The final hinge in place, Hensel aims a flashlight so Darcy can twist the last screws home. Then the headlights of the Prius sweep across the yard. As if he’d sensed her anxiousness earlier, Hensel gives her an I-told-you-not-to-worry smirk.
Hensel admires their handiwork with a satisfied grin as Darcy forces herself to walk, not run to the driveway. Her heart slams until Jennifer and Hunter climb out of the car, Hunter holding a large bag from a sneaker store, no less than four bags tucked under Jennifer’s arm.