Page 5 of Splintered Memories (Ember Hollow Romance #2)

August

I draped a throw blanket over Emersyn, my bad shoulder twinging and burning with the motion. I’d landed on it hard when I’d knocked her to the ground as we’d dodged a damn bullet. Multiple bullets.

I ignored the lingering tremors in my hands. It had been a long time since I’d been shot at. Focusing on someone other than myself helped ward off the dread of past memories.

Emersyn’s eyes shot to mine. “What’s this for?”

My gaze narrowed on her. She was sitting in a chair at the small breakfast table.

The moment she mentioned her brother lived in the building, I’d taken her to his apartment.

Anywhere was better than that unsecure, open lobby.

The police had arrived shortly after the shots had fired, though it had felt like an eternity.

We’d spoken to them briefly before I insisted they accompany us upstairs.

A patrol officer stood in the corner of the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest as his radio crackled in and out with a flurry of activity. Ember Hollow was a small town. We didn’t have many shootings. This was a very unprecedented afternoon. Everyone had to be on edge.

Now, we were waiting for a detective to come ask a few questions.

“What?” Emersyn snapped when I didn’t answer her and continued to stare.

The table she sat at was against a wall in the kitchen.

No windows were near her. I’d made sure to draw the curtains on the giant ones lining the living room wall and checked every inch of the apartment before letting her relax.

It was safe. There was no one else here but me, Emersyn, her brother, and the police officer.

I shrugged, finally shifting my eyes from Emersyn’s dark-green ones. Her brother, Jake, sat next to her, fidgeting nervously. His dark hair was disheveled, his face pale. His fingers twisted into knots on the table surface, his arms shaking.

“I thought the blanket might help,” I finally answered.

The truth was, I’d been waiting for Emersyn to start showing signs of shock. Other than the brief bout of dizziness and confusion right after the incident, she’d seemed nothing but calm and unfazed.

Almost too calm.

“I’m fine,” she said.

Her mouth was a hard line as she stared at me. There was a scratch on one of the lenses of her glasses, but other than that, there was no sign that anything had happened to her. I wasn’t sure whether to be worried or fascinated by her. Maybe I was a little bit of both.

A sharp knock drew my attention. I glanced over at the door, and then briefly to the cop in the corner before striding across the room and leaning my eye against the peephole .

Two men stood outside dressed in suits and ties. One I recognized, the other I did not.

“It’s the detectives,” the cop inside said, his voice coming from over my shoulder.

I’m sure it was, but I wasn’t about to open this door unless one hundred percent sure.

“Identify yourselves,” I commanded, voice loud enough to penetrate through.

The two men shared a brief look before the one on the right, the older one with a salt-and-pepper beard, reached into his coat pocket. He pulled out a leather badge case and opened it, holding it up toward the lens of the peephole.

I couldn’t stop the slight widening of my eye at the gleam of the golden shield. I didn’t need to see the identification card to know that he was FBI.

“I’m Special Agent Hoffner, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and this is Detective Whize, from the Ember Hollow PD. We’re here to speak with Emersyn Hawthorn.”

The FBI.

Why the hell was the FBI here?

I unlocked the door and opened it. Agent Hoffner returned his badge to his pocket. The man’s eyes scanned me, taking in every little detail of my appearance, from my laced-up boots to my short-cropped hair.

“May we come in?” the agent asked.

I nodded, gesturing inside. Agent Hoffner stepped in first, followed by Whize.

Whize glanced at me as he came in. “August,” he said with an acknowledging dip of his chin .

“Hey, Brandon.” I knew the man mostly by name.

My brother Reid had worked in the department for years before he came to Hearthstone.

Apparently, Brandon was promoted to detective within the last five months, replacing Xander Cohen—the man who confessed to murdering my sister after getting away with the crime for almost a decade.

It had all come crashing down after Xander had become so paranoid and delusional and he had tried to murder Lark Meadows—my brother’s fiancée. But Xander ended up losing his life instead.

I didn’t mourn the loss of someone so horrible, but I hated what Lark had gone through. Reid was the one who pulled her through it, though. And now, they were getting married. A happy ending to a horrible story.

I shut the door behind the two men, watching them as they approached the table where Emersyn and her brother sat, unmoving.

Agent Hoffner introduced them, and Emersyn blinked. “FBI?” Her brows rose. “Why is the FBI here?”

I fought the smile pulling at my lips at the tone in her voice. Strong and demanding.

Emersyn’s attention shifted to Brandon Whize. “Since when do you work with the federal government?”

The familiarity in her voice made something stir in my chest. She knew him, fairly well, it seemed, because the wayward caution that lingered in her eyes when she’d looked at Agent Hoffner disappeared when she spoke to Brandon.

Brandon straightened. “Since we have a serial killer loose in town.”

Her shoulders stiffened. Her eyes flicked to me before refocusing on the two officers in front of her.

I crossed my arms over my chest .

That made more sense, then. The FBI was here for the Shadow Stalker case. It didn’t explain why Agent Hoffner was here now, though.

Emersyn seemed to be on the same page. “But why are you here? Talking to me?”

Smart girl.

Whize glanced at Hoffner, then back at Emersyn. “We know about the threats, Em.”

My muscles tensed. Threats?

Vaguely, I was aware of something going on with Emersyn these last couple of months. Reid, who was deliberately unspecific at the time, asked me to install one of our top systems in Emersyn’s home, along with plenty of cameras and floodlights…the works.

I assumed it was for the same reason the entire town was demanding more security: the lingering threat of the Shadow Stalker. With Lark having been so close to being murdered not too long ago, I figured Emersyn wanted to feel more secure.

I hadn’t known there’d been threats.

I shifted on my feet, clamping my mouth shut around the question I wanted to ask. This wasn’t my time to ask questions.

Emersyn had gone still. I wasn’t sure she was even breathing.

“They’re just internet trolls,” she eventually spat. “They want to scare me because they think it’s fun.”

Brandon cocked his head. “You sure about that? Because from what we’ve seen, these threats seem very specific and not the normal trolling.”

Her mouth pinched, but she didn’t argue.

Agent Hoffner pulled out the one remaining chair across from Emersyn and sat.

“Emersyn, we’re here to help you, okay? We know the videos you’ve been making are directing a lot of attention toward the Shadow Stalker.

We also know that the threats, whether directly from the Shadow Stalker or not, are insinuating that someone isn’t happy about what you’ve been doing to target him. ”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. A pulse of fear flashed across her face, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

Anger burned in the pit of my stomach, boiling up my throat and heating my skin. I was pissed that someone would ever think it okay to threaten her, but I was also pissed that no one had told me. Reid must have known.

“So what are you trying to say?” Emersyn asked, voice sharp.

“We just want to ask you a few questions.”

“Why?”

Brandon let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed that Emersyn didn’t go easy on anyone.

“Someone shot at you in the middle of the day, after you’ve been threatened for months by a possible serial killer.” Brandon shook his head in disbelief. “Of course we want to ask you a few questions when we’re trying to find the guy.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You think the Shadow Stalker shot at me?”

The doubt in her tone was evident. I didn’t blame her. It wasn’t the Shadow Stalker’s MO to shoot someone down. No, he was more the kidnap and torture type.

“We can’t rule anything out,” Agent Hoffner said. “Now, will you answer some questions or not?”

Emersyn’s nose wrinkled and she opened her mouth, but her brother grabbed her hand .

Jake’s knuckles whitened. “Please, Emy.” His voice wavered. “Just…just listen to them. Answer their questions so they can freaking help you.” A tremor ran down his spine, his whole body shaking with it. “I can’t have anything happen to you. I can’t—I can’t…” He looked away.

My eyes bounced between the two of them. For the first time, those sharp eyes of hers softened. There was worry in them, worry and affection and…love.

It lasted only a few seconds before she turned back to the two men in front of her. That edge returned to her features.

“Fine,” she said, with a curt nod. “Ask your questions.”

T hey had a lot of questions. After the first few, there wasn’t much for me to gain from listening in. Emersyn was safe, now. The police officer still remained, as well as Brandon and Agent Hoffner.

Silently, I drifted toward the door, gripping the handle and opening it with barely a sound.

I felt her eyes on me before I slipped out. Glancing over my shoulder, I met her eyes. She hadn’t halted her conversation with the men questioning her, but her attention was focused on me.

I hesitated. I wouldn’t be any more help here, but if she wanted me to stay, I would.

As if she sensed my thoughts, her chin jerked slightly to the left, then to the right, shaking her head before tearing her eyes away. She continued speaking, answering another question without missing a beat.

A smile tugged at my mouth, though I wasn’t sure why.