The chief shrugged. “I’ll do all I can, Miss Wells. But the people of Raven’s Cliff are pretty worked up. They’ve been through a lot. Some folks aren’t thinking rationally.”
“I appreciate your efforts,” Nicholas said. “But I can handle this myself.”
“I don’t—” Whatever the chief would have said was interrupted by his cell phone. He pulled the phone from his belt. “Swanson.”
Camille’s burst of adrenaline abandoned her, leaving her weak and feeling defeated. What did they do now? Finding her child had to be priority. If anyone got in the way—
The chief’s call ended and he tucked the phone back into his belt, dragging her attention to him once more. “Looks like we’re about to find out just how ugly this is going to get.”
The air in Camille’s lungs evacuated.
“There’s a riled-up mob headed this way. My deputies are trying to dissuade them, but they’re not cooperating.”
Before Nicholas or Camille could respond, the sound of angry shouts erupted outside.
The chief rushed to the window and looked out, then turned back to Nicholas. “They’re here.”
Chapter Three
Nicholas stepped back from the window. At least a dozen villagers had climbed out of the four vehicles parked haphazardly in front of his cottage. The darkness shrouded their faces and whatever weapons they carried. Two police cruisers, blue lights throbbing, had screeched to a halt in the narrow street. Judging by the angry shouts, cooperation wasn’t part of the plan.
“Nicholas, you and Camille stay inside and let me and my men handle this,” Swanson ordered.
Since Camille had apparently walked through the rain to get here, there was no vehicle outside to give away her presence. The last thing Nicholas wanted was for her to be dragged into what was likely to happen.
He pushed aside the news she had announced. Now was not the time to contemplate the unexpected emotions the revelation had evoked. There was an immediate decision to be made.
This could turn into a violent confrontation. Nicholas had no desire for any of the villagers, whatever their intent, to be hurt or arrested. This, all of this, was his fault.
He turned to the chief. “Obviously they have questions for me. Hiding won’t change how they feel. I need to give them the answers they seek.” He couldn’t change the fact that more than likely all of Raven’s Cliff now knew his identity. It was time to face the consequences of his secretive presence.
“Mr. Sterling,” Chief Swanson argued, his tone firming into one of judicial formality, “I’m certain that’s not a good idea. You just stay in here and I’ll get these folks settled down. You go out there and there’s no telling what might happen.”
“He’s right.” Camille moved closer, her expression worried. “Don’t go out there, Nicholas.”
Nicholas didn’t miss the frustrated look the chief sent in her direction. Did this man actually believe that Camille would be capable of abandoning, giving away or somehow hurting her own child? Impossible.
“Stay with the chief,” Nicholas instructed Camille.
“Sterling,” the chief protested as Nicholas reached for his overcoat, “whatever score you believe you have to settle with those folks would best be settled when emotions aren’t running quite so high.” As if to punctuate his statement, Raven’s Cliff’s official representative of the law stepped in front of the door.
Chief Swanson had no idea of the score, as he called it, Nicholas had to settle. “Unless you’re going to arrest me,” he said bluntly, “step aside and allow me to do what I must.”
“You can’t go out there,” Camille urged. “They’ve been through a lot, Nicholas,” she added gently, “we all have. Let them get used to the idea that you’re alive before jumping into a confrontation.”
Her tawny curls were still damp. Strands clung to her soft, pale cheeks. It would be easy to take her advice, but he’d taken the easy way out for far too long as it was. It was past time to do this right.
“Keep her in here,” he said to the chief. “I don’t think her parents would be too happy if you allowed her to get caught up in this.”
Nicholas pushed past the chief and walked out the door before further arguments could be raised. He knew what he had to do, and there was no putting it off. The truth was out now. As Camille said, the people of Raven’s Cliff had been through tremendous challenges.
He wasn’t going to drag this one out any longer than necessary. Careful to keep his right profile turned to the crowd, he moved a fair distance from the dim glow sifting through the rotting drapes of the cottage windows.
“That’s him!” a voice shouted from the dark perimeter of the yard.
Raven’s Cliff’s finest had kept the mob off Nicholas’s property to this point. The small crowd loitered at the roadside, the moon spotlighting their angry demeanors. Keeping them that far away couldn’t have been an easy task.
Murmurs and more shouts rumbled through the crowd, most directed to one another.
“You brought back the curse!” a man shouted as he pushed past the deputy struggling to restrain the crowd. “All of this is your fault!”
Others joined him, breaking the perimeter and daring to step onto private property. Property owned by the beast. Few of the villagers had gotten a close look at Nicholas, and he intended to keep it that way. The few who had had wasted no time in spreading the rumors of his hideous side.
At the first lull in the ranting, Nicholas spoke. “Legend would confirm your accusations,” he admitted. “But living in the past won’t change the future…or the present. I’ve returned to Raven’s Cliff, my home, to rectify my mistakes.”
“Considering all that’s happened, you’re a little late, aren’t you?”
Nicholas squinted to get a better look at the man who had stepped forward. Rick Simpson. The new mayor.
“Yes.” Nicholas didn’t bother defending himself. He was guilty. He had failed his grandfather and all of Raven’s Cliff. “I will—”
“There’ll be more trouble!” a woman shouted.
Nicholas didn’t recognize her but her accusation carried significant weight.
“The only way to be rid of the curse once and for all,” a man who looked vaguely familiar to Nicholas offered, “is to run him out of town for good.”
This was the reaction Nicholas had expected. “You don’t understand—”
“You folks should be helping with this situation, not adding fuel to the fire.” The chief surveyed the crowd. “Chapman, are you seriously taking part in this?”
Stuart Chapman, the owner of the general store. Nicholas had thought he recognized the man who had a reputation for always getting along
