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I had fallen for the lie, and now I was mourning the loss of a man who had never even existed. It was like falling for a loveinterest in a book, only worse, because this wasn’t a book. This was real life,mylife, and I couldn’t just pick up another book and find a new character to escape in.

I was alone. I had always been alone. And that was the most painful part to accept. I thought I had found my happily ever after, my Prince Charming who would whisk me away to a life of love and wonder and adventure. Instead, it was like I’d eaten the fruit and drank the wine, only now the veil had been pulled away from my eyes and I could see it for what it truly was: rotten and stale, covered in maggots and mould.

I wanted to throw up.

A high-pitched keening noise dragged me out of my head and back into the hell I was currently living in. Blake quickly removed the kettle from the heat and poured the boiling water into the mugs. He placed one in front of me, and I reached out my hands to warm them on the heat it offered. I wasn’t cold because of the temperature; I was cold because there was nothing left in my life to keep me warm.

The mug burned my palms. I didn’t bother to move them.

‘Kota, babe, are you okay?’ Blake asked, the false concern making me want to scream. But I didn’t. I tilted my lips up into an impersonation of a smile and forced out the biggest lie of them all.

‘I’m fine.’

I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not, but he seemed to accept the answer because he moved on like nothing had even happened.

‘So, what do you think of the place? It’s great, right? Cosy, with all this land, and the woods, and the river. Isn’t it perfect?’

A perfect cover.

‘Sure. It’s nice.’

‘Maybe we could vacation here this winter or something. You should see it with the fireplace on. We could set up a bonfireout back and make s’mores, then we could spend the night in front of the fire, building up a heat of our own.’ He winked suggestively, and I had to actively fight the urge to toss the hot liquid in his face.

I swallowed down the bile that rose up before I answered. ‘I think that sounds lovely.’

Was my tone too dull? Could he tell I was lying? Did he even care?

I was fucking this up. I couldn’t afford to screw up our chances before I got the evidence DeLuca needed to put him away. I hadn’t seen anything that could lead to somewhere he could keep someone prisoner. I hadn’t heard a peep from anyone else. No screams, no scratching, or banging, or pleading for help. If therewassomeone here, they were so well hidden I wasn’t sure I would be able to find them in time. I had the worst feeling that in order to get anywhere, I would need to keep putting myself in harm’s way and stay the night. The other problem with that was if there was someone trapped here, Blake wouldn’t be seeing that they were fed while I was around.

I needed to call DeLuca and ask him what to do. I didn’t think I could make that decision myself.

I was saved the trouble of trying to figure out how to do that without Blake noticing when my phone rang, making me jump. I got up to grab my purse from where I’d left it by the door, and pulled out my phone. Mikey’s name flashed on the screen, and I answered before I could think better of it.

‘Mikey? Is everything okay?’

‘You should get back here, Kota. It’s Rhodes.’

My heart dropped into my ass so fast it almost dragged me down with it. ‘I’m on my way.’

‘What’s going on?’ Blake asked, joining me in the entryway.

‘I’ve been staying with Rhodes,’ I told him, panic infusing in my voice.

He frowned. ‘Who?’

‘The guy who owns the campsite. Chance and the others hung around his place for a while for their investigation. Something about a lot of activity in the woods behind his house. But Rhodes has cancer, and he’s dying. When everyone left to go back home, I stayed behind to take care of him because he doesn’t really have anyone else. He doesn’t have much time left.’

‘And Mikey,’ he said in a dangerous tone. I thought he might have been trying to seem jealous, and there was a definite possessiveness as he glared me down, but it wasn’t out of love. No, he was worried someone else might be trying to move in on what he considered belonged to him, and he wasn’t going to tolerate that.

It was a reaction I had seem from him before, but back then I thought he really was just jealous. Now I knew better, it scared me. He was dangerous. Unpredictable. I had to tread carefully here, or else I could endanger Mikey by accident.

‘Mikey stayed behind because he’s waiting for Chance,’ I said, doing my best to hide the way my voice quivered on his name.

‘Oh. Where did Chance go?’

You know exactly where he went, you sick bastard, I wanted to scream at him. Instead, I forced my shoulders to lift in a shrug. ‘I don’t know. Something about following a lead.’

‘Well, I’m sure he’ll be back soon, then you can go home.’