Page 16 of Blackwood

“No, it’s okay. I’m happy to see you.” I stared at the door. “Not that I can see you…”

He laughed. “I know what you mean. How are you recovering? I been meaning to come by sooner, but there was a hunting accident a couple days ago I had to look into. Took up too much of my time. Len—I mean, Mayor Freeman—chewed my ass when he heard I hadn’t made it out here yet.”

“I’m doing better. But I’d like to have my cell phone.”

He coughed. “I’ve been in touch with your professor already. He’s glad you’re okay. There wasn’t any other family to notify. He said you didn’t speak about your dad and your mother passed—”

“Great, but I want my phone.” Frustration seeped into my voice. What else had Professor Stallings told the sheriff? Irritation and petulance mixed as I considered how helpless I was under the Blackwood roof. “I want my phone. It’s mine.”

He sighed. “I’ll talk to Garrett. I believe he has it. I’m sorry about that, Elise. It’s just that I knew you were in good hands, and I didn’t want anyone thinking less of my county. Len figured you didn’t need the distraction—”

“No one expects you to control wild boars. And what I choose as adistractionis my business, not Mayor Freeman’s. And you didn’t have to leave me here with…with him.”

Another creak—he was moving closer. “He hasn’t done anything, has he?”

I shook my head even though the sheriff couldn’t see me. “No.” Had I thought about Garrett doing something to me? Something I might like? Yes. I chalked it up to the meds and my year-long dry spell. “But you don’t have the right to take my phone. And the mayor doesn’t have the right to cut off my communication just because he’s afraid of bad press.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Damn. Yeah, you’re right. I got carried away. Len’s like Chicken Little, and I didn’t think it through. I’ll make sure Garrett gives your phone back to you. Okay?”

“Yes. And someone took my car.” I stared at the silver faucet, a slow drip plopping into the clear water at a steady pace.

“Your car?”

“Yeah. My car was gone when I walked out of the woods that day.”

His shoes scuffed along the wood floors, as if he were turning in a circle. “I don’t know anything about that. Gone? Where did you leave it?”

“There’s a logging road. I think on the county map it’s marked with an L-8. I was parked about seven miles off the main highway.”

“Huh.” More scuffing sounds. “Sounds like a theft. Maybe some kids came along and jacked it for a joy ride.”

My memory fired. “Oh, there was a guy! In the woods! He had like, long hair, a scraggly beard, crooked teeth. Tall and sort of, I don’t know… He looked like he could use a good meal.”

“Danny. Had to be.”

Another fizzle of memory. “Danny, the crazy one?”

“How’d you know that?”

“I heard it on your radio at the diner that morning. Someone called in and said he was yelling about lights in the woods.”

“That’s him all right. I never took him for a car thief, though.”

“Maybe he didn’t steal it, but he could have seen who did. I don’t know, but he was there with me. Seems important.”

He was silent for a beat. “It’s odd. I have to admit. I’ll definitely look into it.”

“Thanks.”

“Very welcome. Well, I have to get back to it. I just wanted to stop by since I got a breather from the accident investigation.”

“What happened?” I adjusted my leg upward and moaned at the relief from the blood rushing away from it and back toward my heart.

“You all right in there?”

I pressed my fingers against my forehead.Oh my god.“Yeah, fine. Thanks.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, we aren’t quite sure what happened. One man shot dead with a high-powered hunting rifle. Damnedest thing. A local hunter found him still alive, but bleeding out. Couldn’t even talk to him before he died.”

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