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Chapter 4

Ishould've thrown the phone away after Alex's call. It was a burner, after all, and I could replace it easily. But for now, it was the only way my mom had of contacting me. I didn't believe for a second that she had given Alex the number, at least not on purpose, but he was resourceful as all hell. He'd probably gotten one of his less than upstanding cop friends to search her phone records and gotten the number that way.

And if he could find my number once, then he could find it again.

Shit. Shit.

How was I ever going to be able to live if he just kept finding me again? Would I spend the rest of my damn life running?

I couldn't just keep wandering around the few square feet of my apartment, waiting for it to suddenly transform itself into the home I'd been dreaming of back when I'd left LA.

I needed fresh air; I needed to breathe and get out into nature. I got up, unable to sit in that same spot anymore, and went into my closet to dig out my hiking boots and socks. I hadn't worn them in so long that, when I stuck my hand into the boots themselves, the leather seemed to have gotten much stiffer than they'd been the last time I'd worn them.

I pulled on my socks and then the boots, moving my feet around so that the leather slowly became flexible once more and, I headed outside to my car.

I remembered the spot out at the mountain where there was the trailhead from when I'd first come to town and looked up the list of good hikes and things to do in the area, and I drove out there on autopilot. Hiking was something I'd done every weekend or so when I'd lived in LA, but I hadn't made the time for it since I'd come out here, since I'd been clinging to my sanity by the skin of my teeth and nails.

I was grateful that Singer's Ridge was little enough for me to have gotten to know it like the back of my hand in barely an hour, and I found the trailhead without a problem. I tied the precautionary sweatshirt I'd brought with me around my waist and got out, heading into the woods.

The air was crisp and clean, and it wasn't for the first time that I thought of how ironic it was that the air in a place called the Smoky Mountains would be this fresh and beautiful. The hikes were gorgeous in LA, but there was way more gunk in the air out there than I'd ever breathe here.

As I turned a corner on the trail, I felt my phone start to vibrate, and I reached for it. But just as I'd pulled it out, the vibration stopped, and the banner on the screen told me I had a new voicemail. The screen told me I only had one bar of service, so I stopped before the reception could get any worse, and I opened the message while I still had enough service to hear it.

"Me again." My skin started crawling as soon as I heard that voice, and I almost doubled over in the brush as I listened to him talk. "Surprise! Guess where I am? Well, I know you hate surprises, so I'm just gonna tell you. I'm in Nashville! Ain't that a trip, honey? Do I sound like a local yokel yet?"

I rolled my eyes despite myself. For such a smart man, no one made an ass out of themselves like Alex. He could really be the biggest idiot I'd ever met.

"I'd best get some sights in. I'll see you soon."

The line clicked off, and I felt like every part of my body had gone numb.

My mind started spinning out in circles as I thought of all the possibilities of what was to come, but I knew that nothing good would come of just sitting here, waiting for the panic to bowl me over. I started walking, hoping that the clear air of the mountains would help me make a plan.

I took in all of the beautiful scenery, allowing it to filter into my blood and make it easier for me to breathe. Even if he was in Nashville, that didn't mean he would find me here. Singer's Ridge was a good three hours from the city. I still had time to get out. Thankfully, my shitty apartment was month to month, so I could always just take off and go somewhere else. At the end of the day, that might be the easiest option.

I took a look around, realizing that I'd wandered off the path as I'd been stuck in my head. Everything around me was unfamiliar, and no matter how many times I spun around, I couldn't spot the trail anywhere in my line of sight.

Aimlessly I started walking again in the hopes that at some point I'd come back to the trail and be able to start walking back to my car. A new fear started to settle into my stomach, and I genuinely thought I was about to panic.

I checked my phone, and the signal was well and truly gone. Even if I felt inclined to call Ally, since she was the only one whose number I had, I couldn't. I couldn't even drop a pin for anyone, since I'd given up my smartphone.

I'd never felt quite so dumb in my life as I kept walking, looking for any hint that could lead me back to the path.

* * *

It was another hour on top of the time I'd already walked through the forest, and I was starting to get tired. I looked up into the sky, and I saw that the light was lowering over the forest. I'd been afraid for so long that the panic I'd felt at the start had dulled into something heavy that sat in my stomach with a bitter taste.

I wondered at what point it would be worth it just to lie down and give up when I heard barking and started walking toward it. For the first time, the burning acid feeling in my gut started to let up a little bit, and I felt hopeful I'd find some help.

In my haste to find another human being, I didn't see the fallen log that rose up before me until I slammed my shin right into it. "Ow!" I cried, and my cry was answered by a few barks as a dog came bounding out of the brush and ran up to me. He looked familiar, and I leaned down to rub his ears.

"Where did you come from?" I asked, picking up the heavy rubber bone that he'd dropped at my feet. He latched onto the toy, gripping it hard in his teeth, and cocked his head to the side as if he were inviting me after him.

I followed him through the bushes to the front of a neat, well-appointed cabin, set in a corpse of red spruce trees. All of the windows were well lit, and I sucked in a breath at how beautiful the sight was. An incredible porch wrapped around the house, and all of a sudden, I had a vision of myself sitting out there with a sketchpad and letting the world go quiet.

"Bucky!" called a deep, familiar voice from behind me, and I turned around, suddenly understanding why the dog had been so familiar. Dillon, from the grocery store stood in the clearing. I stopped short when he saw me, and I stumbled forward, never having felt more relieved to see anyone.

"Dillon, right?" I asked, feeling my throat get tight with the relief I felt at seeing him.

"That's right," he said, looking at me with hesitation.

"Thank God I've found you," I said, starting to laugh with relief. "I came out here to hike, and I took a wrong turn off the trail hours ago."

He was quiet for so long that I was wondering whether he'd actually heard me.

"Where did you start out?" he asked.

"Over at the Jewelweed trailhead," I said, remembering the sign where I'd started. "I've been walking for about four hours."

"Yeah, I know it," he said, tucking his thumbs and looking at me with disapproval. "That's a ways away. You ever been out here before?"

"No, never," I said. "But I've hiked a lot."

"These trails aren't all that well maintained," he said, not smiling or letting up on the seriousness of his expression. "You shouldn't have hiked it if you weren't familiar with the area."

"Well, I didn't intend to get lost," I said, a little nettled. "I got distracted."

"That'll get you in trouble."

"Obviously." I was really starting to get pissed off with this asshole and his high-handedness. "Could you at least tell me how to get back to the trail so I can get back to my car?"

He looked at me thoughtfully for a few minutes before saying to me, "Wait here a minute."

I was confused as he went into the house, but when he came back out with his keys, I hurried to say, "You really don't have to drive me anywhere."

"Well, who's to say you won't wander off the trail again? I don't wanna be the one to blame when that happens," he said, beckoning me over to his truck. I rolled my eyes at his arrogance but got into the car with him. I knew that I was pretty screwed for options at that point. But when Bucky climbed into the front seat next to me, I realized it was a moot point. I was such a sucker for dogs that it was completely worth it for me to hang out with a jerk just to be with one.

Thankfully, Dillon was quiet as we drove, allowing me to just sit in the silence and think through everything that had happened that afternoon since I'd come out to the trail. I didn't really know what my next move was, but I knew I had to make one, and fast.

I pulled out my phone as we went down the mountain, crossing my fingers that we had gotten to a spot with enough cell reception that I could call my mom. I saw him eyeing my crappy phone out of the corner of his eye and ignored him as I saw the banner that told me I had a new voicemail. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I opened it and started to listen.

"Hey, baby! It turns out Singer's Ridge is an even nicer town than I would've thought. And they have great barbecue; I see why you like it so much, although I never would've had you pegged for a shithole apartment complex like this one. I'll see you when you get home. Since I don't have a key, I'll just wait for you at that café on Moore Street, okay? I'll see you real soon."

My stomach dropped as he said that, and my hand went numb as it fell away from my ear. I'd been so careful, and he'd still found me. Even here.

"We're here," Dillon said as we pulled up to the white Toyota Camry parked at the trailhead, and he looked at me expectantly. I couldn't look back at him, feeling like a stone had fallen into my stomach.

The humiliation started when I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks, and my breaths started coming shorter and tighter.

"Whoa, Macy. What's wrong?" Dillon asked, throwing the car into park and turning to look at me.

"I can't—I can't go back to my—my ap-ap—" I could barely talk for the tears that had started to clog up my throat, and I had no idea how else to proceed with life. There was no way I could go back home now, and I had nowhere else to go.

"Your apartment isn't safe for you?" he asked, seeming to understand exactly what I meant. I nodded. "What are you going to do?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I was going to take off from my apartment tonight, but I can't now. I don't think I can go back to town."

He sighed, reaching back to run his hand through his hair. "Look. I know this is going to sound weird, but you can come stay with me. There's an extra bedroom in the cabin. You'll have your own space, and it's isolated enough that whatever you don't want to find you won't be able to."

I looked at him, my mouth dropping open. At that moment, faced with the choice between the devil I knew and the devil I didn't, I realized that it wasn't a choice at all.

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