Page 18 of Been There Dragon That
The man stared hard at the sheriff like he was trying to suss out if Aarav was saying what it sounded like he was saying. That he would end the problem by ending the men.
“Let me know if you need any help when you are out there. The storm will hide them for a couple of days, but they’ll either be back for me … or they’ll come after another house. Another family.”
“Let us know immediately if you see anything suspicious.” Aarav handed Ryan a card and took Connie’s heavy bag from her, slinging it over his shoulder. “We take protecting this town very seriously. I’ll not stand for anyone thinking they can come in here and attack, steal from, or hurt people in Mystery.”
Ryan tipped his head, acknowledging Aarav’s statement, but probably still not believing it. Wrath watched the man’s gaze flick to the forest and then back to them.
“Don’t go out in the storm.” Wrath’s voice was deep and threatening. “I’d rather not have to hunt for your body.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow, amusement curling his lips upward. “Speak soon, Sheriff. Deputy,” he said, his tone polite but dismissive.
The fool was going to do whatever the hell he wanted.
Aarav knew it too. But the storm was coming. Neither of them had time for this man’s foolishness. Wrath knew Aarav was grinding his teeth to get Connie back safely to their home before the brunt of the storm hit. And he wasn’t going ten feet from Rylee’s house all night, even if it meant he was sleeping outside in his SUV.
He wouldn’t freeze.
“I’m out.” He left Aarav and Connie and halfway jogged to his vehicle.
By the time he made it out of Ryan’s neighborhood, along the river a few miles and back into the neighborhood where his mate’s house was, the snow was coming down in sheets. The wind was horizontal. And visibility was almost at zero.
He inched the SUV slowly along the road, careful to listen for anyone and anything that might be moving around or driving in this howling mess besides him. Nobody native to Mystery would try it, but visitors didn’t always have the best instincts.
A sharp crack, loud enough to cut through the wind, caught his attention. He threw the vehicle into park and leapt out of the car into the wind and snow. The Florence house was only two doors further up the street. Except the house now had a tree laying against it and through an exterior wall. A gaping hole stretched from the second story all the way to the bottom level. Between flurries of snow riding the wind, he could see inside the bathroom where she’d been showering an hour ago.
He lunged forward, fear driving him through the wind like it wasn’t pushing him backward at fifty miles an hour.
She could be hurt.
She could be dead.
ChapterSix
Rylee
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The whole house had shaken. The roar of the wind from the storm. Then something had hit the house and shaken it like what she imagined a bomb would feel like.
Had Jeff sent someone all the way to Alaska? Was he that desperate to punish her for ruining his perfectly laid out future with her? Nausea climbed up her esophagus and grew roots in the back of her throat.
Wind whistled through the halls, and snapping and cracking beams had sent her diving for the storage closet beneath the stairwell. She’d pushed herself as deep into the closet as she could manage. The floor was cold. The closet was dark and empty.
She breathed softly on her hands, trying to warm them.
More cracking. More thumps.
Then heavy footsteps.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Her heart stopped beating for at least several seconds. She couldn’t breathe. Someone was here. Someone was in the house. Someone big with heavy boots.
A man.
There was a man in the house.
The noose of fear tightened around her neck. She thought she’d slipped it by coming to Alaska. She’d thought she’d gone far enough.
