; Pete’s eyes widen in joy, as if I told him a secret, and now we were the best of buddies.
“Must be nice owning a house in the woods, huh?” he looks at the house, and whistles.
I turn to it, and see that Maddie’s window is lit up. We need to send this guy packing, before she passes by it and reveals there’s someone else here.
“Yeah,” I nod. “Or having a friend that does.”
“I bet,” Pete chuckles, then finally folds his map and puts it back in his backpack. “Thanks for the help, guys.”
“No sweat, Pete,” I try a smile, and manage one. Anderson just raises his hand in a wave, and we both watch him as he disappears down the road that I pointed him to.
“So, what do you think?” Anderson wonders, when we couldn’t see the moving figure any longer.
“I’m not sure,” I shake my head. “And, when I’m not sure, then it’s not good.”
I release a heavy sigh. We’ll have to bring in Maddie on this one and tell her about the hiker. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to, but this is too much of a coincidence.
We both go inside this time. It’ll be a quick watch of a few hours each, as we both need to rest. I let him take the first nap and after getting a quick bite to eat, I get back out on the porch. The sounds of the night are soothing. It’s like the whole world wants me to fall asleep. But, I won’t. Not now. Especially not now.
Chapter 13
When I walk into the kitchen the following morning, I see Fynn sitting there. He looks troubled, much more than usual.
“Good morning,” I call out, a little apprehensively.
I know we sorted everything out, in a way, but it always feels like walking on eggshells around him. I feel like I could say something wrong at any given moment, and he’ll be back to his brooding self, snapping at me for no apparent reasons. And, yet, I want to be in the kitchen with him. I want to know why he looks so worried.
“Oh, good morning,” he tells me a moment later, when he realizes I’m there.
“You look troubled,” I comment. “Much more so than usual, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“We had a visitor last night,” he suddenly tells me, without changing the tone of his voice.
“What?” I almost drop the cup that’s in my hands, but instead I put it gently on the kitchen table and sit opposite him. “What visitor?”
“Anderson and I were out, and a hiker walked over to the house. He asked for directions.”
He says it in a way that doesn’t reveal much about the whole story. So, my gut feeling awakens immediately and starts panicking.
“Was it Sven?”
“Sven?” he repeats, giving me a cross look. “No. We would recognize him. Don’t be stupid.”
I’m so scared at the potential outcome of this that I don’t even pay attention to the comment he just made. I want him to tell me that the guy was just a hiker and nothing else, and that there is absolutely nothing to get worked up about. But, waiting for him, I see he has no intention of doing that.
“So, who was he?”
Fynn just shrugs. His eyebrows are furrowed, brought together all the way close, and the usually fine lines on his forehead have become much more prominent.
“Is he a threat?” I ask again.
“We don’t know.”
“So, how are you supposed to keep me safe if you have no idea if I’m even in danger right now!?” I snap at him, and my words cut at the air between us like a knife.
He pulls back, and gives me a puzzled look. He isn’t angry. But, he should be.
“Are you the cop here?” he growls at me. I don’t even grace him with an answer to that obviously rhetorical question. “So, calm down. There is no sign of a threat, at least not at the moment. It’s highly unlikely that the guy’s a mole, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. We just need to stay put, and be twice as vigilant.”