A low growl answered her. She took a step back, two, but the noise seemed to follow her. She froze and strained to hear. A stirring of leaves lifted the hair off her scalp.
Keeping the trees within reach, she crept sideways, fumbling as she searched for limbs to climb. Of course, if a bear was after her, it would simply chase her up the tree faster than she could shinny.
A comforting thought.
The low rumble tracked her as she continued her slow sidle. She widened her eyes in hopes they would pick up light in the gloom. Then again, she might be better off not knowing when the beast pounced.
Her mind chose that moment to leap to the creature in the moviePredator, and her heart slammed itself against her chest wall. She couldn’t hear above her own ragged breathing.
Sagging against a tree trunk, she slowed her panting. Quiet encircled her. The sudden lack of sound was more unsettling than the noises had been.
You’re letting your imagination take over.
Pushing herself off the tree, she stood on shaky legs, willing them to hold her up. Then she heard it. Breathing, heavy, not human.
Everything happened all at once.
Noah scoured the wallof trees as Neve maneuvered her truck along the dirt track in the woods above the rec center. “Why would they be out here by the rink?” The thing had been drained weeks ago, not that the fact added to or subtracted from his confusion.
“I don’t know,” she answered evenly, “but it’s our area to search, according to Reece, so that’s the plan we’re sticking to.”
Noah’s phone rang, and Charlie’s golden retriever face flashed on his screen. Noah answered without a greeting. “Where are you?”
“About an hour out. I finally got into cell range. I’ve tried calling you, Shane, Reece—everyone—every few minutes without any luck. Now listen so I can get this out before we lose the connection.”
“I’m with Neve. I’m putting you on speaker.” Noah slid her a sidelong glance. “It’s Charlie.” She acknowledged him with a nod, and he hit the speaker icon. “We’re listening. Go.”
“I installed the cameras late yesterday, and I was testing them out when I ran into a glitch, so I shut everything down before heading to GJ.”
“Okay?” Noah hadn’t realized his brother had finally taken delivery of the cameras, let alone rigged them, but why the hell did this matter now?Especiallysince they didn’t even function?
“Like I said, I thought I’d stopped them from recording, but the bug kept everything rolling. It’s smart technology and has some kind of built-in warning system that signals you when it detects something way outside the norm or in conjunction with something else, like smoke or heat. But it was on a delay—the glitch again—so I only got the alert a while ago, after I started heading back to Fall River.” Charlie’s voice grew more excited.
Noah sat forward, and his pulse kicked up several notches. “Yeah?”
“Noah, I saw who tried to burn your place. It’s the same person who left the notes.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they left another note tonight, right before they set the fire. Did anyone check Hailey’s windshield?”
Noah exchanged a look with Neve, who shrugged.
“Her car was there, but I wasn’t paying attention to it, so I don’t know if there was a note. Neve didn’t see one either.”
“I’ll have Reece or Shane check.”
“Charlie, for fuck’s sake, who did you capture on the camera?”
Chapter 35
Lassie Come Home
Hailey would have shriekedif every last drop of air hadn’t escaped her lungs. Instead, she stood frozen to the ground, unsure which way to flee as the sound of two animals tearing into each other filled the night.
Though the clash was mere yards away, she could only make out dim shadows striking one another in a violent, vicious confrontation.
The sounds of the struggle began sorting themselves. A feline snarl. A canine yelp. A hiss. A growl. Claws lashing at flesh. Teeth sinking into muscle.
