I Hope You Find Me (31 page)

The room was quiet around me. “It’s just a
theory.” I shrugged and looked down at my feet.

“It’s a damn good one. Makes sense to me at
least.” Fin said. I smiled at him, grateful for the support, even
if what I suggested sounded wild and unbelievable.

Skip stood and clapped his hands together,
startling all of us. “Okay, so until one of us becomes a ghost
whisperer…how about we just plan on staying out of the cities for a
while?” Soft chuckles and nervous laughs broke out around the
room.

“Deal.” I said to him.

I let Connor slide his arms around me in a
hug as the room gradually emptied, everyone eager to find something
else to do, and something else to talk about. Only Matt stayed
behind, still standing in his corner with his drink in his hand.
Before we passed through the doorway on our way outside, I turned
around to glance in his direction and I noticed how the shadows of
the room seemed to envelope his space completely. The darkness
inside him seemed to be growing, and when he set his icy glare on
me, a shiver jolted down the length of my spine.

***

Everyone was on edge around the grounds for
days after our group discussion in the Rec room, especially Fin. He
skipped whatever group meals we had and spent most of his time in
his cabin or the greenhouse. Ana had officially moved into Jacks’
cabin, bumping Winchester out of the roomy second bedroom into the
small single-bed space off the kitchen. Which made her my neighbor,
but fortunately she spent most of her time inside or driving the
little golf cart previously reserved for the lodge's gardener
between the main buildings and the cabins.

She began spending a considerable amount of
time with Jacks and I suspected they had a thing going before
showing up at the lodge. I knew the others were aware of the
private time Connor and I tried to cut out of the days. Thankfully,
no one called us on it and even Jacks didn't mention it. So in a
way, I was glad he seemed to be spending time with someone else. I
just wished it could have been anyone other than the
high-maintenance and whiny Ana.

I sat on Fin's sofa, my elbow propped up on a
fuzzy brown pillow. My mind raced, refusing to settle on one
thought at a time. Connor was next door, riffling through his
things for a clean change of clothes.

“Is he officially moving back into your
place?” I jumped when Fin's voice spoke from behind the sofa.

“Oh, no. He's...just getting something...I
think.” I stretched and tried to smile at Fin, but he walked past
me into the kitchen.

“Was thinking of making vegetable pot-pie for
dinner tonight, if you guys want to join me.” He moved around the
kitchen with ease, pulling pans from cupboards I had yet to explore
in my own cabin. He had set a sack on the table and out tumbled
several ingredients for his meal onto the counter.

“That would be nice. Thanks Fin.” I smiled at
him but he didn't look up from his work.

“Gotta eat some of these potatoes; there's a
whole bin of them in the greenhouse.” He said.

I opened my mouth to comment but what sounded
like a single firework blast erupted from the woods and I jumped up
and ran to the door, with Fin not far behind me.

“What was that, a back fire?” I asked, my
voice shaky.

“No, that was a gunshot.” Fin stared at
me.

Connor's footsteps pounded down his porch
stairs and I matched his worried gaze with my own as he met up with
us on Fin’s deck. We stood near the railing huddled closely
together, craning our necks and straining to hear anything unusual.
Silence stilled the forest around us; even the dog was quiet.
Zoey…where was she?
Almost a full minute had passed before
we heard Kris's piercing screams echoing off the trees.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I ran into the woods crashing through the
waist-high shrubs, oblivious to the branches that snagged my
clothes and skin while my eyes darted around wildly, searching for
any signs of Kris and the dog. The scream had come from somewhere
in the trees. I knew Kris had taken Zoey for a walk, but I didn't
ask her where they were going. I cursed myself as I jumped over
tree roots and slid on mossy rocks. Connor and Fin were running
close behind me, until Fin yelled at me to stop.

“Riley, listen!” He shouted at my back.

I slammed hands first into a large pine tree
and leaned against it to catch my breath. In the distance was the
distinct sound of a barking dog. My barking dog.
Thank god
.
I thought to myself, as I pushed off the tree and cocked my head to
the side but I was unable to pinpoint Zoey's location. Her barks
were too sporadic, so I whistled sharply and the barking stopped.
Good, at least she knows I’m out here looking for them
. The
three of us stood in a semi-circle, waiting anxiously, not sure
which direction to go. I whistled again, louder, and Zoey barked in
return. All three of us turned to the right and began running south
through the trees that bordered the lake. Zoey would bark every
time I whistled and she was getting closer to us. When she finally
crashed through the bushes and ran up to me, jumping and whining, I
realized Kris wasn't behind her.

“Where's Kris, Zoey?” I asked, even though I
knew the dog couldn't answer. A succession of sharp gunshots boomed
through the trees, much closer than the first one had been.

“
Zoey, go get her, go get Kris!
” I
whispered into her ear and off she ran with her bushy black tail
straight up in the air, back the way she had come. Fin and Connor
followed behind me as we ran through a dense crop of pines. Both
men struggled to keep up and I swore to never complain about my
short, 5’6” frame again, as Connor and Fin tripped on every root
and ran into each low-hanging branch. When the tree line cleared, I
could see a small meadow ahead of us, and someone in a dark
sweatshirt was sprinting across it. Fin yanked on my shoulder to
keep me from running out of the safety of the massive tree
trunks.

“Let go, it's Kris!” I hissed.

“I know! Riley, just wait. Something’s
wrong.” He hissed back.

Connor moved around Fin and took my arm. We
moved quietly through the woods, circling the meadow hoping to run
into Kris who was no longer in sight.

“
There!
” I whispered.

Twenty yards ahead of us was a dark shadow
crouching in the bushes at the base of a large tree. When I
whistled softly, the bushes shook and Zoey closed the distance
between us in a handful of seconds. Kris stood up slowly, peering
into the darkness of the woods until her eyes met mine. She looked
at me wildly, shook her head and then pointed toward the
meadow.

“It's Matt.” Fin said through clenched teeth.
We dropped to our knees and watched as Matt emerged from the far
side of the meadow with the missing rifle held out in front of him.
Bobby, his own gun in hand, was directly behind him. Alan took up
the rear, also armed.

“What the hell are they doing?” Connor asked
quietly.

“
They wouldn't shoot at Kris, would
they?
” I whispered, hoping neither of them would answer.

Connor cupped his hand over my mouth to
muffle my scream as Matt fired the rifle into the woods. The
loudness of the shot rang through my head like a metal pin-ball.
From our crouched position I couldn't see Kris anymore. I clamped
my hands over Zoey's snout when she let out a low growl.

“
Shush!
” I whispered in the dog's
ear.

She quieted but kept her gaze on the three
men striding through the tall grass of the meadow. They were
arguing and gesturing around them.

“I think they're looking for her.” My heart
sank. We had to do something before they fired off another random
shot from the rifle and actually hit one of us.

“I have my pistol.” Fin said quietly. “I
could fire in their direction. They won't be expecting her to shoot
back, will they?”

“What if you hit one of them?” I asked.

He looked at me flatly before pulling his
pistol from the back of his waistband. “I won't. Not unless you
want me to.”

He leaned against a tree trunk, obscuring
most of his tall and wide frame. I slithered up a tree as well,
catching loose bark and dead pine needles in my hair, edging around
it until I could see Kris. I signaled for her to stay put and
pointed at Fin. His hand was steady as he aimed his pistol high
above the three men. I didn't think the bullet would make it out of
the trees at all. It was only in danger of taking out a branch at
best.

When the shot rang out, Matt and Bobby
dropped to the ground but Alan stood shocked, before turning and
running back into the tree line. Fin fired another bullet into the
air and Matt and Bobby scrambled to their feet and took off behind
Alan.

I waved Kris over to us and she bolted
through the brush, running into my arms. Her freckled nose was
scratched and tears had left dirty track marks down her cheeks.

Connor shoved me from behind and we ran back
through the woods, not stopping until we reached the cabins. My
throat burned and I was sure my heart was going into irregular
spasms when I collapsed on my front porch. We took a moment to
catch our breath before Fin asked Kris what happened in the
woods.

“Let's go inside first.” I said between gulps
of air, while I scanned the woods nervously.

We huddled around the kitchen-island with
tall glasses of water in our hands, waiting for Kris to speak. Fin
paced behind the windows, pushing the curtains aside to peer out
every few seconds. He tapped his gun against his thigh repeatedly,
as if itching to use it.

“I was walking Zoey.” She paused to take a
sip from her glass. “And she ran away from me, chasing after
something in the woods.” Another pause for water. “Then there was
like, this gunshot and I thought someone shot her. Zoey, I mean.”
She looked at me before continuing. I nodded for her to keep
talking. “Okay, so then I saw her, running through the trees. The
deer. You know the one we saw?” Another sip of water. “Matt was
shooting at her.” She looked down at her hands. “I couldn't let him
shoot her. I couldn't.” She said quietly.

“Did he know you were out there, Kris?” I
leaned against the counter and pinched the bridge of my nose. My
headache was back.

“Oh yeah. He knew because I ran through the
trees as loud as I could shouting at them. I think the second time
he was actually aiming at me. He was really mad.” Her eyes darted
to the front door. “Will he come here?” Her voice wavered.

“I don't think he will. I mean, right now he
thinks you have a gun too.” Fin said gently.

Zoey huffed and a knock at the door made us
all jump. Connor and Fin approached it cautiously and then relaxed,
letting Skip inside.

“What was all the shooting about?” He asked
the room, his usually jovial face full of concern.

Kris slipped out of the kitchen quietly and
rushed up the stairs and I followed her, trusting the others would
be able to fill Skip in without me there. The sounds of the men
talking downstairs drifted up the stairway, and even though I
couldn't hear exactly what was said, I knew Skip was upset. His
voice rose above the others several times.

I sighed and watched her reflection in the
bathroom mirror. She looked pale as she rinsed her face with splash
after splash of cool water. Her eyes were darker than usual, and
her mouth was set into a quivering pout. When she stood, she met my
eyes in the mirror for a moment and turned around slowly, leaning
her narrow hip against the sink.

With her face buried in a hand towel she
mumbled, “So, what do we do now?”

“I don't know. But we have to do something.”
I squeezed her in a quick hug. “Don't worry. We’ll figure it out,
okay?” She only nodded.

It didn't take much convincing to get her to
lay down on her bed and rest. I pulled a thick cotton blanket over
her and tucked her in, much like I did for my own kids. When I
patted the mattress, Zoey happily jumped onto the bed and cuddled
up against her. I ran my hands over the dog, just to make sure she
wasn’t injured, before I quietly left the room. I glanced at Kris’s
small body curled under the white blanket and the black dog that
had her head resting on the girl’s shoulder. I wondered what would
have happened in the woods if Matt had been a better shot. I felt
my skin flush with anger at the thought of finding Kris laying in
that meadow...bloody...dead.

I crossed the hall and walked into my room
and stood in front of my bedside table. Fin's loaded .45 was
exactly where I had left it. After I tucked it into the front of my
jeans, I pulled my sweater down to hide the bulge. Several hours of
target practice with Fin was about to become useful. Matt wouldn't
know what hit him.

***

“Where are you going?” Fin's voice rose above
the others. My hand was tightly curled around the front
doorknob.

“I need some air.” I peered at him over my
shoulder, trying to act normal. Fin nodded at me from across the
room and returned to arguing with Skip and Connor. Winchester had
come in at some point while I was upstairs, and he stood quietly in
a corner listening to the others. Like the rest of them, he didn’t
seem concerned when I stepped outside and closed the door behind
me.

I held my breath as I walked away from the
cabin and didn’t release it until I slipped into the driver side of
Ana's golf cart, blowing out a gust of air when I saw the key in
the ignition. I was sure Connor or Fin would come running after me,
as if my thoughts were written across my forehead in permanent
marker. But they didn't. The little engine roared to life and I
thought then I might get caught. But no one seemed to notice that I
had taken the four-seater even as I drove it up the path. Instead
of the almost ten minute walk, I made it to the lodge in less than
one minute. I parked the cart near the storage building and stepped
out onto the gravel, taking in the long expanse of the main
building.