Where the Blame Lies

With a shaking hand, Josie smoothed out the coils in the small spring, holding her breath as she did so, afraid it might snap. But it didn’t. She continued to run her index finger and thumb along it until it was as straight as she could make it.

She held it up in front of her eyes, marveling at the sight of the straightened piece of metal, no longer than her finger.

A tool. She had a tool.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The small log cabin with the wraparound porch at the end of a trail that led through a dense grove of woods, would have been the perfect picturesque getaway if they weren’t “getting away” from a sadistic murderer. Still, the view of the mountains in the distance was beautiful and majestic, and as she stood on the porch breathing in the fresh air, she allowed herself to relax, taking a breath slowly in and blowing it out along with the pent-up worry held tightly in her muscles. She hadn’t fully realized how much the knowledge that she could be in the crosshairs of another evil man had stressed her, had caused her to look over her shoulder even when she was locked in her bedroom alone.

A bird landed on the railing, twittering, and then flying away. Josie smiled. Here there was no reason to worry, no reason to look over her shoulder. No one knew where they were except a few trusted employees of the Cincinnati Police Department, and for the first time since Zach Copeland had shown up as she stood in her backyard hanging laundry, Josie breathed more easily. She’d been a little resistant about leaving town at first, unsure if it was necessary, but now, now she was so glad Zach’s boss had recommended it. Whether it was “necessary” or not, safety-wise, whether Zach and his boss’s hunches had been correct, Josie needed this. She hadn’t realized how much.

“Not a bad day at the office.”

Josie laughed softly as Zach came up beside her. “Nope. Not a bad gig if you can get it.” She cleared her throat, her expression going serious. “I’m sure you didn’t volunteer for this though. I’m sorry you had to drop everything and drive me out of town.” She didn’t know anything about Zach’s life, didn’t know if he had a girlfriend, someone waiting at home for him. At the thought, her heart felt uncomfortably heavy. She attempted to dismiss the unwanted feeling, turning her body slightly and gripping the railing in front of her.

“Actually,” Zach said, facing her, his hip leaning against the railing, “I did volunteer for this.” Josie turned too, so they were facing each other. Zach was so near she could see the color of his eyes in the waning evening light. They weren’t black as they sometimes appeared, or even dark brown. They were a deep midnight blue and he had a tiny white dot in the middle of his left iris, something you could only see if you were right up close. Eyes were so individual, she thought, something twisting inside of her, some recognition she couldn’t explain. “I didn’t want anyone else out here with you, Josie, keeping you safe.” He frowned slightly, something that looked like confusion passing over his features, vulnerability maybe. “I seem to have a hard time turning that job over to anyone else.”

She stared at him, at those midnight eyes. He’d just admitted something to her, though she wasn’t sure what. Maybe he didn’t even know. But she felt the subtle shift between them, the way he was looking at her not as a cop looked at the victim he was protecting, but as a man looked at a woman. Or was she reading too much into this moment? It’d been so long . . .

Josie turned away, looking out to the mountains beyond once again. “Tell me about yourself, Zach,” she said, giving him a quick glance. She wasn’t sure what subtle change had just occurred between them, wasn’t even sure it was something that would be acknowledged again, but he knew so much about her—more than just about anyone come to think of it—and she knew practically nothing about him. Her champion. Her guardian. And yet in many ways, a stranger.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, shooting her a smile.

“Are you from Ohio?”

“Yup, born and raised in Cincinnati.”

“And your family? They still live in Cincinnati too?”

“Yup.”

“Sisters? Brothers?”

She had turned toward him with interest as he answered her questions. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, though there was something slightly sad in it. “One sister. I had a younger brother, but Aaron passed away when I was eight. Cancer.”

Aaron. “I’m sorry,” she said, tilting her head, seeing this man differently, realizing that she’d viewed him as a sort of superman, a heroic protector. And he was. But he was also just a man. A human being who had his own hurts. His own story as everyone did. A person who had suffered loss as well and obviously still carried traces of it inside his secret self. Her heart reached out to him. And she was glad not to be the focus of their conversation for the very first time.

He nodded. “Thanks.”

She glanced out to the horizon where the bare slip of a translucent moon wavered in the cobalt sky. Daylight dwindled, the sun quickly lowering, and for a few moments, night and day existed all at once. “And beyond your family, do you . . . have someone special in your life?”

She felt his gaze on her and met his eyes, wishing suddenly she could withdraw the question. She didn’t necessarily want to know. And more so, knew that in asking, she’d revealed to him that she cared about his answer. His eyes did a quick sweep of her face, and she felt his focus on her sharpen. It made her stomach jump.

“No, I don’t have anyone special in my life,” he answered.

“Why not?” Why would a man like Zach Copeland be single?

His lip quirked and he squinted off into the distance. “Married to my work, maybe? Is that a cliché?”

She let out a small laugh. “Not if it’s true, I guess.” So that was her role right now. Perhaps he was interested in her as a woman. Because she was the focus of his work. But that wouldn’t always be the case. She didn’t know if the knowledge that his interest in her would inevitably be temporary mad

e her feel more or less vulnerable.

Maybe it didn’t matter either way. Her life was a complicated mess. And Zach Copeland was married to his job. Maybe under different circumstances . . . But it was what it was.

“What about you, Josie?” he asked. “Tell me about yourself.”

She gave him a confused laugh. “What else is there to tell? You know everything about me.”