to fall asleep. Anything to get him out of her mind.
She tossed and turned for hours, looked at the clock more than once, hoping against hope it was morning. Beside her, her German shepherd, Mollie, raised her head, ears perking as she looked around. Apparently she couldn’t sleep either.
McKenna listened but heard nothing. The entire day, so out of her comfort zone, had her on edge. She must be passing that uneasiness on to the dog.
The red lights on her digital clock blinked 1:02 a.m. McKenna tensed as she heard something that sounded like a door creaking. This time Mollie let out a low growl and McKenna motioned with her hand for the dog to stay put. It was probably nothing, after all. No sense in either one of them getting up.
More creaks followed, these sounding like someone walking on the old, probably rotting, floor. Most likely the intruder was a large man. McKenna knew someone her size wasn’t heavy enough to cause the creaking. She eased herself out of bed, reaching into her nightstand drawer for her duty weapon, just in case. The dingy brown shag carpeting in the trailer that served as her house would muffle her footsteps. If there was someone there, she should be able to sneak out and confront him undetected.
Despite being told to stay, Mollie followed her to the edge of the room and at the next slight sound from the main living area let out a warning bark.
McKenna heard someone mutter something, then a clatter. She hurried down the hallway, but made it to the living room just as the door slammed and whoever had been in the house ran outside, concealed by the darkness that had finally fallen over the Alaskan sky. She watched out the window for a minute, hoping to see a car or something that would help her identify the person later, but she saw nothing. Defeat threatened to overwhelm her. Finally McKenna moved away from the window, making sure the dingy miniblinds were shut tight before she turned on the lights. The last thing she needed was uncovered windows with the lights on, making her shape an easy target.
After taking a few seconds to try to calm herself down, she moved her weapon from a low-ready position pointing at the floor to directly in front of her, and prepared to check the rest of the house. First she glanced into the kitchen, which she could see from her tiny living room. It was clear, she could see that from where she stood, so she didn’t bother to investigate closely yet. It only took a few minutes to clear all the rooms, Mollie at her heels. McKenna appreciated the canine company, but in truth, Mollie was even less qualified for this than McKenna was. At least McKenna’d had the training. Though the dog was a German shepherd, a favorite of police departments everywhere, her dog had no training and was more at home napping on the couch or trying to climb into McKenna’s lap than sniffing out criminals.
Heart still pounding, McKenna walked back to the living room, took a quick glance out of the corner of the blinds. Still nothing there. She tried to relax some of the tightness in her shoulders since the crisis seemed to be over for now, but her body refused to cooperate. It looked as if sleep wasn’t happening tonight. Instead, she walked to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.
McKenna breathed a quick prayer that God would keep her safe, deciding it wouldn’t hurt to ask for a little help at this point. She’d been in town less than a week. How she’d managed to get caught up in a mess like this already was beyond her. But she would handle it. She had to.
McKenna sat down at the kitchen table as she listened to the comforting noise of brewing coffee, trying to take deep, even breaths and work through what had happened. She was assuming the intruder was the person responsible for the bodies she’d seen on the tundra, but why had he come to her home? Surely he wouldn’t kill her just for seeing his crime scene. Would he?
She stood up to retrieve her coffee then moved back to the table, setting her mug down as she reached to replace the chair that the intruder had knocked over in his hurry to escape. She bent to lift it and noticed a small index card on the floor next to it, blank side up. Hesitantly, she reached to pick it up, just by the corner in case there were prints, and flipped it over on the table.
When she read the words, she dropped into her chair immediately, reaching out to pet Mollie to try to calm her racing-again pulse.
A shiver ran down her bare arms and she read the words again, this time aloud. “‘Go back to where you came from and forget what you saw today, or the next body found on the tundra will be yours.ʼ”
Glancing at the phone next to her, she let out a sigh. She had to text Luke for help. She was now officially in over her head.
* * *
Somehow sleep must’ve finally found McKenna, because when she woke up from her cramped position on her living room couch, the clock said it was past six.
Still alarmed from the previous night’s events, she glanced around the room to see what could have woken her. Was she just done sleeping, or was it something else?
Something or someone banged against her door with increasing force. McKenna jumped. Mollie lifted her head in alarm, then looked to McKenna to gauge her reaction. McKenna took a deep breath. Her assailant, back to shut her up forever? Reason stepped in. No, if he’d wanted to kill her, he’d have done so already. He must have meant to warn her.
For now.
Besides, criminals didn’t knock. Usually. Still, she crept toward the door, stealing a glance out of one of the front windows to see...Will?
She opened the door to him, noting that he looked half-asleep himself. “What are you doing here?”
“Good morning to you, too. That seems like a common question for us, doesn’t it? How about you let me in and pour me some coffee and I’ll answer you.”
She hesitated, looking down at her yoga pants and old T-shirt from a 5K she’d run several years back. Even if there could be nothing between them, her pride would rather he not see her like this.
Will nudged the door. “Come on, McKenna. I’ve seen you look worse. Just let me in.” He pushed the door open farther and stepped in, shutting it behind him and turning the lock.
He looked around the room and shook his head. “Nice place you’ve got here.”
“I recognize sarcasm when I hear it. Even if I am barely awake.” She tossed the words at him as she walked to the kitchen. She’d rather not comply with his request—no, demand—to make coffee, but she could use more herself and she wasn’t about to do without just to spite him.
“Seriously. Did you look for the house that looked most likely to have been the site of a murder?”
“Yeah. That was totally what I was going for.” So maybe the trailer was on the shabby side, but it meant she could save her money. That way, when she finally ended up in Anchorage, she could afford someplace nice. She glared in his direction. “Again, why are you here? Did you have a purpose, or are you just supposed to be a little ray of sunshine on this cloudy morning?”
The smile fell from his face. “Your brother texted me.” His tone was heavy. Serious.
“Oh.” McKenna looked away, went back to fixing the coffee. Great. She’d texted Luke to ask for advice because she was independent not stupid. Luke had said he’d get back to her with some suggestions for keeping herself safe and solving this and that was what she needed. Not Will Harrison showing up and seeing her all damsel-in-distress.
That was the last way she wanted him to see her. Maybe second to last. Right up there behind “like a sister.”
“I
