Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22019 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22019 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 110(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
“Unbelievable,” Mack scoffs once more. “Look at the facts! The cops found blood in the back of his truck.”
“So? He lives in the woods. Maybe it was from hunting!”
“The cops said it was human blood,” Mack counters. My heart skips a beat. I glance over at Anna, who sadly nods her head.
“That is…super sketchy,” Todd agrees.
“And think about how you two met,” Anna says softly. “Is a man who chases you down with a mask, threatens you with a knife, ties you up and carries you back to his cabin in the woods really…normal?”
I rocket to my feet, overwhelmed by a rush of painful emotion.
“I loved what he did to me!” I lash out as tears spill down my cheeks. “Does that mean I’m not normal?” Everyone just looks at me.
“The fact that Hawk helped me fulfill a fantasy of mine does not make him a killer!”
“So why did the cops arrest him?” Mack laughs. “What about the blood? You think they just randomly picked him up for no reason? They’ve clearly been tracking him–”
“We don’t know that,” Anna interrupts. But yet again, Mack simply laughs as though we’re both idiots.
“Come on, Mack,” Todd chimes in. “Give it a rest.”
“Women are ridiculous!” he sneers, throwing his hands up. “I make one joke she doesn’t like and she walks out on me, then Hawk tries to start a fight with me, and she’s defending him? How dumb can you be?”
“That’s enough, Mack,” Todd says sternly. He brings some chips and salsa over and sets it on the coffee table. “It’s been an emotional day already. Let’s not make things worse.”
Todd takes pulls up a seat and starts snacking, but I’m still too torn up to even function, let alone eat. Anna rubs my back, doing her best to comfort me, but my mind is so scattered I’m having a hard time deciphering how I should really think about this.
Could Hawk actually be The Tree Saw killer?
I desperately don’t want to believe it, but am I thinking emotionally or rationally now?
Mack, despite being a jackass who clearly still thinks he has a chance with me, has actually made some decent points that I can’t ignore.
Why the blood in his truck? Why would the cops be on him like that without reason? Living in a cabin off the grid would provide him with a perfect place to commit his crimes…
But you know him! I scream at myself inside.
But is that true? How well do I know him really?
I know that he’s touched me in a way no one else has before, and I don’t mean just physically. I came alive after my experience with Hawk. I became a new person thanks to him. And doubting him now makes me feel like I’m betraying him.
“Anna?” I finally manage to say, turning to look at her. “What do you think?”
I can see the hesitance in her eyes, but after a moment, she shrugs softly and looks back at me with sympathetic eyes. “I think there’s just too much to ignore here.”
My stomach sinks.
“Thank you! Finally!” Mack says loudly.
Something inside me breaks, and tears flow from my eyes with abandon. I bury my face in my hands as despair washes over me. I’m on the brink of a full-fledged nervous breakdown when there’s a loud knock at the door.
“Are we expecting someone?” Todd asks as he stands. We all shake our heads. “Maybe it’s that grocery order I called in yesterday that never showed up.”
Todd chuckles at his bad attempt to lighten the mood, then opens the door.
Hawk stands there, his face stern, filling the doorway with his broad shoulders.
Anna gasps as he steps past Todd into the living room, and I nearly have a heart attack as I’m flooded with an overwhelming urge to throw myself into his arms, but at the same time, am nearly paralyzed by fear.
I hate myself for being scared of him.
But how else should I feel?
He turns to me, and our eyes meet, and all those wondrous feelings start to rise up again, and I realize that I’m absolutely nowhere near in control of myself.
“Are you okay, Pen?” he asks in a tone that reaches out like a warm hand to touch me.
“I’m–”
“Whoa, buddy,” Todd says, immediately stepping in front of Hawk to block his path. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
“How’d you get out, more importantly?” Mack snarls. The tension in the room is tangible. Todd and Mack both look ready to throw down if need be, but Hawk simply stands there calm and cool, his eyes fixed on me.
“The cops released me,” he says coolly.
“Released you!?” Mack looks like he cannot believe what he’s hearing. Hawk looks directly at him with such severity in his eyes that the entire room bloats with pressure.
“That’s right.” He nods.