It took two days before I could go to the bathroom without Garrett’s help, then another two days before I could take a bath with my leg draped over the tub. By that time, I couldn’t even bear to sniff my pits, and I found a new admiration for Garrett. He’d been attending to me dutifully and hadn’t commented on my desperate need for a bath.

I sighed as I lay back and rested my head on the edge of the tub, the warm water swirling around me.

Garrett had remained distant, only warming to me in rare moments of wry humor. They were so brief and dry that I sometimes wasn’t sure if he was joking or just saying something to shut me up. Any time I’d felt like I gained ground with him, he’d leave abruptly and not return until it was time for one of his terrible meals or one of Bonnie’s delicious ones.

I didn’t know how long I’d been soaking before I heard the familiar creak.

“Garrett?”

Assuming he wouldn’t show up until mealtime, I’d left the door to the bathroom open. The bath was just water, no bubbles to hide my nude form, though I don’t know why I was shy. He’d perused my body plenty as he changed my bandages and carried me to the bathroom. His fingers lingered on my skin longer each time, his hold on me tighter.

“Elise?” A man’s voice.

I sat up straighter in the water and cursed myself for not laying my towel closer. “Who’s there?”

“Sheriff Crow.”

I relaxed against the porcelain. “Hi. I’m in the tub.”

“Oh.” The creaking stopped. “Sorry about that.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m happy to see you.” I stared at the door. “Not that I can see you…”

He laughed. “I know what you mean. How are you recovering? I been meaning to come by sooner, but there was a hunting accident a couple days ago I had to look into. Took up too much of my time. Len—I mean, Mayor Freeman—chewed my ass when he heard I hadn’t made it out here yet.”

“I’m doing better. But I’d like to have my cell phone.”

He coughed. “I’ve been in touch with your professor already. He’s glad you’re okay. There wasn’t any other family to notify. He said you didn’t speak about your dad and your mother passed—”

“Great, but I want my phone.” Frustration seeped into my voice. What else had Professor Stallings told the sheriff? Irritation and petulance mixed as I considered how helpless I was under the Blackwood roof. “I want my phone. It’s mine.”

He sighed. “I’ll talk to Garrett. I believe he has it. I’m sorry about that, Elise. It’s just that I knew you were in good hands, and I didn’t want anyone thinking less of my county. Len figured you didn’t need the distraction—”

“No one expects you to control wild boars. And what I choose as a distraction is my business, not Mayor Freeman’s. And you didn’t have to leave me here with…with him.”

Another creak—he was moving closer. “He hasn’t done anything, has he?”

I shook my head even though the sheriff couldn’t see me. “No.” Had I thought about Garrett doing something to me? Something I might like? Yes. I chalked it up to the meds and my year-long dry spell. “But you don’t have the right to take my phone. And the mayor doesn’t have the right to cut off my communication just because he’s afraid of bad press.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Damn. Yeah, you’re right. I got carried away. Len’s like Chicken Little, and I didn’t think it through. I’ll make sure Garrett gives your phone back to you. Okay?”

“Yes. And someone took my car.” I stared at the silver faucet, a slow drip plopping into the clear water at a steady pace.

“Your car?”

“Yeah. My car was gone when I walked out of the woods that day.”

His shoes scuffed along the wood floors, as if he were turning in a circle. “I don’t know anything about that. Gone? Where did you leave it?”

“There’s a logging road. I think on the county map it’s marked with an L-8. I was parked about seven miles off the main highway.”

“Huh.” More scuffing sounds. “Sounds like a theft. Maybe some kids came along and jacked it for a joy ride.”

My memory fired. “Oh, there was a guy! In the woods! He had like, long hair, a scraggly beard, crooked teeth. Tall and sort of, I don’t know… He looked like he could use a good meal.”

“Danny. Had to be.”

Another fizzle of memory. “Danny, the crazy one?”

“How’d you know that?”

“I heard it on your radio at the diner that morning. Someone called in and said he was yelling about lights in the woods.”

“That’s him all right. I never took him for a car thief, though.”

“Maybe he didn’t steal it, but he could have seen who did. I don’t know, but he was there with me. Seems important.”

He was silent for a beat. “It’s odd. I have to admit. I’ll definitely look into it.”

“Thanks.”

“Very welcome. Well, I have to get back to it. I just wanted to stop by since I got a breather from the accident investigation.”

“What happened?” I adjusted my leg upward and moaned at the relief from the blood rushing away from it and back toward my heart.

“You all right in there?”

I pressed my fingers against my forehead. Oh my god. “Yeah, fine. Thanks.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, we aren’t quite sure what happened. One man shot dead with a high-powered hunting rifle. Damnedest thing. A local hunter found him still alive, but bleeding out. Couldn’t even talk to him before he died.”

Glancing to my leg, I realized how lucky I was. “Poor guy. Someone you knew?”

“No, that’s the part that’s got us standing here holding our di—err—I mean, scratching our heads. Not from here. No one recognizes him, not even the property owner.”

“I hope you figure it out.”

“You and me both. And after what happened to you, I’m trying to decide if I should get some guys together and go on a wild boar hunt.”

I swished the water back and forth with my palms. “I’ve been eating the hell out of the sausage and bacon that Bonnie sends as payback.”

He laughed, the sound rolling through the usual stillness of the house. “I like you. I’m glad you’re going to be sticking around. Still planning on doing your surveying and digging?”

“Definitely. As soon as I can walk well enough, I’ll be back out there.” I was too close to pack up and go home. Asking him about my father’s car was on the tip of my tongue, but my mother’s warning echoed in my mind: Don’t trust any of them. Not a one. I stayed silent.

He sighed. “Just try to be more careful this time.”

“I will. Don’t worry.”

“I can assure you I’ll worry. It’s my job. I’ll try and get back by here to see you in a few days. Keep resting up.”

I wouldn’t ask about my dad’s car, but the screams were fresh. Maybe Sheriff Crow could help out with the new mystery. “Sheriff?”

“Yeah?”

I shifted in the water. “The night I was in the woods, I heard something. I heard…screams.”

“Huh.” The shuffling noise resumed. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. That’s why I came onto the Blackwood property.” A white lie never hurt anyone. “I was looking for the source of the screams.”

“You find anything?”

“No.” I rested my chin on the edge of the tub and stared at the empty doorway. “Just the boars. Or I guess they found me.”

“It could have been an animal. They say panthers and such have screams that sound human. Other animals, too, maybe bobcats. No one else lives out here, you know? And I haven’t had any reports of missing persons. But I’ll take a look, all the same.”

I knew with unflinching certainty it wasn’t an animal. Maybe it was a good thing Sheriff Crow didn’t seem overly concerned. What were the chances something violent would happen in the same woods so close to where my father died? If they were related in any way, I wanted to be the one to discover the link.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. And please make sure I get my phone.”

“Sure thing. I’ll talk to Garrett on my way out. I gotta get going, but you keep resting up.”

“I will. See you later.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His footsteps receded.

If no one was missing, where did the mystery scream come from? I watched the steady drip of the faucet, trying to hypnotize myself into discovering the answer. The water eventually cooled, and I still hadn’t figured it out. But I would, one way or another.

“Why are your nails black sometimes?” I took a bite of the most disgusting chicken salad sandwich I’d ever tasted.

“Sheriff Crow comes to visit and all of a sudden you’re chatty?” Garrett leaned against my doorframe and watched as I struggled to eat the “mayo with a side of chicken” sandwich.

“I’ve always been chatty. Now it shows because the drugs have worn off and I’m not in agonizing pain.” I put the sandwich down and focused on the potato chips instead. “You’re the non-chatty one.”

He tossed my phone onto the bed. “Maybe that’s for a reason, Red.”

“What reason?” I picked it up and swiped across the screen. No service. Shit.

“I told you when you got here that I wanted you out.” He sighed. “That hasn’t changed.”

I dropped the phone with a grimace and picked at my sandwich. “Okay. And I told you that I can’t wait to leave, so we’re on the same page. Why would those facts keep you from telling me why your fingernails are covered in filth sometimes?”

“It’s not filth.” He shook his head. “While you’re lying around eating my delicious food all day without lifting a finger, I’m working.”

“On what?” In all the research I’d done, I never found Garrett to have any real source of income other than timber and oil royalties on the Blackwood property.

“Why do you care?” He crossed his arms over his chest, the rolled up sleeves of his shirt revealing some dark ink snaking across his skin.

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“Why does it matter?”

I crunched the salty chips. “It wouldn’t matter if you weren’t so stubborn about not wanting to tell me. Now I have to know.”

“You’re calling me stubborn?” He arched a dark eyebrow.

“I see your hearing is working fine.” I plucked out another chip.

His lip twitched, a smile trying to form but failing. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know you can’t cook for shit.” I ticked off my fingers as I went. “You avoid me if possible. You have a secret pastime that turns your nails black. You are secretly kind. And you desperately need a haircut.”

“That’s all?”

“And a shave.” I drew my legs up under the blankets, happy to be able to move them without searing pain.

“Want to know what I know about you?” He walked in and sat on the spot my feet had just vacated.

“Sure.”

“You forged my signature on permission documents. You trespassed on my land. You almost got killed by wild boars.” His smirk began to surface. “You are eternally grateful to me for saving your life. And you have some major daddy issues.”

I stopped mid-chew. “What?”

“That’s right.” He snagged a chip from my plate and ate it. “You talk in your sleep. Most of the time it’s nonsense, but every so often you say ‘dad’.”

“You watched me sleep?”

He glanced away. “Sometimes when you were on the pills, you’d be sleeping when I came in with food.”

I didn’t buy his excuse, but I was more worried that I said something to give myself away. “So what kind of daddy issues do you suspect?” I tried to keep my tone playful.

“I’m not sure, but there’s something about the way you say his name.” He pinned me with an inscrutable look. “It seems like you’re sad. Like…”

My appetite dried up. “What? Like what?”

“It’s like you’re lost and you’re desperately trying to find him. Like if you could only get to him, everything would be okay.” He shrugged. “It makes me hope you find him. That’s why I never wake you up.”

I studied the strong line of his jaw, the messy locks of hair, and looked deeper. The man underneath wasn’t so easily discerned. For the first time since I’d shown up on his doorstep, I finally saw Garrett Blackwood.