The Girl in the Mist (Misted Pines 1)

There was a beat before, “Right, then go down to the island to get away from a fuckin’ serial killer.”

“Bohannan is part of the team that’s trying to find that serial killer, and I’m falling in love with him, and he likes me around, so that’s not going to happen.”

Several beats of silence before, “Are you safe?”

“Am I ever really safe?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t like this, and the girls don’t either.”

“Well, they’re not girls and neither am I. It’s sweet, this concern, but I’m not only where I want to be, I’m where I need to be.”

Many, many beats of silence, so many, the gate to home was coming into view before, “Love you, Del. Always. Yeah?”

That was very sweet.

And it was very sad.

And it was very unlike me not to notice that not only had I not replaced him.

He had never replaced me.

But…

Thank God this was done.

“Love you too, Angie. Thanks for caring.”

“Take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

I heard him accidentally start saying a tortured, “Fu—, before he’d successfully hung up, and my heart hurt hearing that.

But not enough.

And not for long.

Because I cleared the gate and the trees surrounding the front of the house.

But I didn’t even make the clearing behind it before I saw Celeste standing outside her Mustang, beautiful face pale and haunted, watching a violently gesticulating Will Pulaski shouting at her.

Forty-Two

Shine out of the Dark

The Volvo rolled five feet with my door open and me half out of it before I realized I hadn’t put the bitch in park and turned it off.

I did that in record time, shot out of the car and sprinted to Celeste.

I pulled her back and got between her and Will, who could take us both and looked like he was going to, but I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“You need to calm down,” I informed him.

“Delly—” Celeste said softly.

“You don’t get it!” Will shouted.

“Take a breath, stand back and calm down,” I ordered.

He got in my face, nose to nose, and I flinched when he roared, “You don’t get it!”

We were surrounded by tires-skidding-over-wet-pine-needles noises as a Ram and a Yukon raced to a halt, and it was indisputable Jace and Bohannan were way more badass than I was in angling out of their vehicles.

Will was already retreating as, unhurriedly but with a mission, Bohannan advanced on him.

Jace stopped at us, which was good, since the look on his face said he wanted to tear Will’s head off.

“Mr. Bohannan—” Will began.

“You don’t talk,” Bohannan warned. “I talk.”

He stopped several feet away.

Will tried not to cower while cowering.

I wanted to watch, but the sleeve of my sweater was being tugged.

I looked down at it, then to Celeste who was doing it.

Wordlessly, she showed me her phone.

A video was playing on it. I wasn’t interested, but at the glance I caught, I did a double take and took it from her.

What I was watching, I didn’t want to watch.

But I couldn’t turn away.

At its end, when the visual stopped on a still that was no less shocking than the rest of it, my eyes drifted up to her.

“His parents. It’s everywhere,” she whispered. “Like, the whole school has seen it.”

Dear Lord.

I knew one of the two people in it was Dale Pulaski. I’d seen him in another video, the one where he was standing by his wife while she was entreating their daughter’s kidnapper to bring her home.

This one, though, had a different woman in it.

And apparently, that woman was Sarah.

I kept hold of her phone and called, “Bohannan.”

“—listening to me?” he was asking Will.

I approached him, repeating, “Bohannan.”

I shot a sympathetic look to Will as I stopped at Bohannan’s side.

Will watched me lift Celeste’s phone then he turned his face away.

I hit play and whispered, “It’s made the rounds.”

Bohannan’s head cocked down, and he watched the video of Sarah Pulaski fucking Dale Pulaski, her fingers in his hair, pulling back his head so there was no mistaking him, or missing a thing as he took it on his elbows and knees. The angle on the action and focus was exceptional. The intent of the video crystal clear.

But Bohannan didn’t wait for the money shot at the end.

He reached out and touched the screen to stop it and looked back to Will.

Before he could say anything, Will said, “I wasn’t shouting at her. I was just shouting.”

“Take a second and take a breath,” Bohannan demanded.

“I’d never hurt her. I’m just so sick of their shit,” Will said.

I did not blame him.

Not about shouting at Celeste, but if there were extenuating circumstances for anyone, no matter the age, there were here.

But he was only seventeen.

So there was that.

“That’s my mom and dad, Mr. Bohannan,” he spat. “I mean, that’s sick.”

Before Bohannan could reply, Will’s phone rang, he pulled it out of his front pocket, his face twisted, he took the call and said into it, “Like I said, fuck you! Fuck you now and fuck you forever. I’m never coming home. I never wanna look at you again.”