Page 53 of Dark Roads
The moment was shifting, making room for too muchthought. The silence wide. He would walk away soon. He’d run out of things to ask her in the middle of the aisle.
She didn’t like endings. Not when it was by someone else.
“I better go before this ice melts. Fix my stove, and I’ll make you a drink, okay?”
He nodded again, and she pushed her cart away, focused on her shopping, picking up a couple of items. She didn’t look back. If she did, he might see in her face that she was a little too pleased about the turn of events.
Her last stop was the liquor store, where she bought a bottle of cheap vodka, Coke, and some lemons. They’d have a drink or two. She’d get a better sense of him, and maybe he’d tell her more about Hailey. Maybe she’d find out why Vaughn hated him so much.
CHAPTER 21
The sun was disappearing. She’d gone for a swim, and let her hair dry in waves while she sat on the dock. Each time she heard a vehicle she glanced toward the campground road, looking for a cloud of dust, a flash of silver paint, but still no sign of Jonny. She pulled on her shorts and T-shirt and headed back to her site, then stopped. A white police truck was parked behind her car.
When she came around the side, she recognized Vaughn tapping out something on his phone. He noticed her at his window and got out with his hand resting on his gun belt.
“I see you’re all set up.”
She followed his gaze around her camp, irritated by his attention. Had he checked on the other sites, or just hers? The boys were working on their bikes, voices quiet. One snuck a peek at them but lowered his head right away. There wasn’t a beer in sight. The music was soft.
“Something wrong?”
“Just heard you were out here. Wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She had been “out here” for a grand total of twenty-four hours, half of them spent at the diner. No one in that campsite knew her and she doubted any of the boys would have spoken to Vaughn.
“I’m fine.”
“Each summer we get people camping out of the park boundary.” He pointed into the dense woods behind the lake. “It’s private land, owned by a logging company, but some peoplethink they’re above the law. You see anything that doesn’t look right, let me know.”
“Okay.”
He walked over to the stove, opened it up. “Make sure you have a bucket of water handy. No campfires. Not even a spark, and keep anything plastic away from the stove.” Did he seriously give this same speech to everyone? He was acting like she’d never seen fire before.
“Is that everything? I was going to have an early night.”
His eyebrows slowly rose up his forehead, the serious expression turning more annoyed, almost surprised. He wasn’t used to being dismissed, and she regretted it for a moment. If she pissed him off, he might hold back any new information about the case.
“I really appreciate you checking on me.” She forced a smile.
His brow smoothed and he gave her a nod. “You need anything, you call the—” He abruptly turned and looked toward the road as an engine rumbled into the campground.
A silver truck came around the bend. Jonny. She let her breath out, then sucked it back in when she remembered how he’d reacted the last time he saw Vaughn. Would he think she had set him up? He stopped near his friends, said something through the window. They laughed. Then he put the truck in gear and drove over to her site, where he pulled in tight beside Vaughn.
The brim of Jonny’s baseball cap shadowed his face as he got out. He lifted his head and met her eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was angry. He stayed silent as he leaned against the front of the truck, legs crossed at the ankles, arms flexed as he braced against the grille.
“What are you doing out here?” Vaughn didn’t even try to sound polite.
“Living my best life.” He smirked.
Vaughn walked toward him, then past him, looking in the back of the truck first, then into the cab. He wrenched open the driver’s-side door before Jonny could say anything and felt under the seat. Nothing legal about that search.
“You been drinking?”
“Nope.”
Vaughn shut the door and stood close to Jonny, nose to nose. “One fuckup. That’s all I need.” Vaughn said the words low, but Beth heard them and cleared her throat. Vaughn waited a second, still staring into Jonny’s eyes, then turned away and walked to his truck.
He looked over his shoulder at Beth. “Keep your valuables locked up. All sorts of thieves around here. They’ll rob you blind.”
