Page 54 of Dark Roads
Vaughn backed up and came within inches of hitting Jonny with the bumper. Jonny didn’t even flinch or look in his direction. His gaze was focused on Beth.
She dropped her shoulders when she heard Vaughn’s truck hit the highway, the engine changing pitch. The guys at the other campsite began talking. Music filled the air. Jonny glanced at them. She wondered if he was upset about Vaughn’s insinuation. Did he think she believed it?
“Wow. Vaughn’s a barrel of laughs, huh?”
“More like a barrel of bullshit.”
Jonny walked over to the picnic table, lifted the lid up on the stove, fiddled with a wire on the ignition, and screwed the propane tank on tight. He took a lighter from his pocket and silently showed her how to light the stove. Soft blue and gold flames flickered.
“You want me to put something on the grill?”
“Sure. You hungry? I have some hamburgers.” She flipped open the cooler lid. He glanced inside, noticed the clear bag of scraps on top, and gave her a curious look. She laughed.
“Those are for a dog I saw roaming around this morning.”
“Dog?”
“Yeah, a shaggy black thing who stole my breakfast.”
He lifted his head and looked at her, surprised. “One blue eye?”
“That’s him.”
“Sure. I know the dog. He’s a stray. He hangs around the campground sometimes.”
“Why hasn’t anyone caught him?”
He smiled. “He’s fast and tricky. Trust me, he’s not suffering, though. People leave food out for him and he knows how to survive on his own.” He pointed to the cabins, then met her eyes. “He’s not a pet. He likes to be free—and he’ll bite if you try to catch him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I tried and almost lost my hand.” He rubbed at his palm, then turned back to the stove. “You have any cheese to go with the hamburgers?”
They sat opposite one another at the picnic table. The lantern casting a glow. She liked that she could see his eyes—blue with dark lashes. They’d be too pretty if the rest of him weren’t so masculine. The strong planes of his face, the square jaw. He hadn’t shaved, his hair messy when he took off his cap and ran his hands through it. She poured him a vodka and Coke—and thought he might say no, considering Vaughn’s warning, but he drank it easily. She matched him drink for drink. They didn’t talk about much at first. Just safe topics. Where his family lived, what he did on the farm, how he raced dirt bikes. If Jonny noticed she wasn’t saying much about herself, he didn’t comment. Only thing he said was, “You have a university sticker on your bumper.”
“Yeah. I was going to be a lawyer.” Stupid vodka. That cameout too easily. Did he hear her say it in past tense? She steered the conversation back toward him. “Vaughn hates you.”
“The Iceman.”
“Is that what you call him?”
“Everyone does. Because of the way he looks.” He made a circle around his face. “And his attitude. He’s hassled me ever since Hailey disappeared. Before that too.”
“You were a suspect.”
He stared at her curiously. Not insulted. “You seem to know a lot.”
“Mason told me.” She didn’t want to tell him that Amber had also spoken about him. He might feel self-conscious. The vodka was making her voice thick, huskier, her arms and legs warm, the muscles loose. They’d started leaning across the table toward each other. His knee brushed against her, and he didn’t move it away. Male voices, laughing at the other site.
Someone yelled, “Where’s Jonny?”
He looked over his shoulder. “I have to load up one of their bikes. I’ll be back in a minute.” He untangled his long legs, walked around his truck, and disappeared into blackness.
She fiddled with her cup, stared around. Everything looked different in the dark, but she wasn’t scared with Jonny nearby. It was obvious Vaughn was wrong about him. He wasn’t a killer. He couldn’t be. She knew it the moment she saw the pain that came over his face when he said Hailey’s name.
The roar of a dirt bike startled her. She stood, watching the other site, which was now lit with headlights. Jonny was astride a white bike, his legs on the ground. He revved it a few times, shouting back and forth with Andy, the dark-haired guy who’d given her coffee this morning. Jonny looked relaxed and easy. Like he spent a lot of time on a bike. He backed it up, walking it out with his legs, then rode it toward his truck. He stopped the bike, dropped a ramp from the back, and drove it up.
Beth stared at his hands as he anchored the bike with straps in quick, assured movements. The men she knew could text and negotiate while hailing cabs under an umbrella in the Vancouver rain. She used to think that was confidence, but Jonny had it in spades.
