River Bodies (Northampton County #1)(63)

“I didn’t mean to,” she said. She was frustrated. Nothing was coming out right, at least not the way she’d intended. “You’re not a fool.” She reached for him, but he pulled his arm away.

He strode to the attendant with another fat pumpkin. “How much for these three?” he asked and pulled cash from the wallet he carried in the back pocket of his jeans. He paid for the pumpkins and picked all three up in his arms with ease. He brushed past her. She grabbed his bicep.

“Matt cheated on me,” she blurted. “And I think he’s been cheating on me all along.” She hadn’t expected to admit this to him, but she was surprised at how good it felt to say the words out loud, to put it out there and not carry it inside any longer.

Parker frowned, and his eyebrows pulled together in a knot. “Is that why you slept with me? To even the score?”

“No,” she said. “How could you think that?”

He stared at her. She could see the anger in his eyes, heard it in his words, but she could also see how much he was hurting.

“It’s the real reason why I came home,” she said. “It wasn’t to see my dad, although that was part of it. I know how horrible it sounds, but it’s the truth. And in a twisted, mixed-up way, no matter what my original intentions were, I’m glad I came home before . . . before it became too late.” All these years the child inside of her had been so angry at her father for sending her away, for his betrayal that had cut her so deeply. And then after she’d left, after college and veterinary school, she’d ended up right back where she’d started, living with Matt, a man who had been just like him.

“You still should’ve told me.” He shrugged her off, strode away.

“Parker, wait,” she yelled and happened to look across the street, spotting John on his motorcycle, watching her. For a moment she couldn’t move, her feet cemented to the sidewalk. She was afraid, and yet there was something deep inside her bones telling her not to be. He’d never had a reason to harm her before. But then he turned his head in the direction of where Parker was loading the pumpkins in the back of his car. It was when he returned his gaze to her that she knew whatever had been between them, their relationship to one another, their unspoken pact, had changed.

She tried to call for Parker again, but John’s glare was like a razor in her windpipe, making it hard for her to speak. She tugged on Romy’s leash. They wove through the crowd, darting in and out of the hordes of people surrounding the stands. She didn’t have to look back over her shoulder to know John was watching her. She felt his eyes on her back, a familiar feeling and yet unfamiliar, one that had never felt so terrifying until today.

She reached Parker’s vehicle too late. He was already pulling into traffic, driving at a slow speed through the market.

Dammit, Parker. Her heart pattered in a million different beats.



Becca drove as fast as she could through the busy town, edging down River Road. The chill on her spine had nothing to do with the breeze blowing through the open windows. She caught up to Parker, followed him to his cabin. He turned into his driveway. She pulled in behind him and climbed out of the Jeep with Romy.

“I can’t believe you followed me,” he said and slammed the driver’s-side door.

Romy jumped around him. Parker bent down to pet her. The dog rubbed against his legs, licked his hands. When Romy was satisfied, she trotted away to sniff the ground.

“There’s something else you should know.” She took a deep breath. The air tasted like autumn—dead leaves, dirt, a trace of winter. “I saw someone by the river the day before the body turned up,” she said, trying to be brave, although she was feeling anything but. She hesitated, unsure whether she could say John’s name out loud. Fear was a paralyzing emotion, and telling even a small piece of what she’d seen strangled her throat.

Her phone went off. She recognized her old number from her father’s house. It was as though he knew what she was doing, and he was trying to stop her.

Parker stepped closer. He was asking her questions, but she wasn’t paying attention to him, putting her finger up, signaling him to wait.

“Hello,” she said, pressing the phone to her ear.

“You need to come home,” Jackie said, sounding more than just tired. There was a hint of something else in her voice, something that sounded very much like finality.

“I’m on my way.” She hung up. “I have to go. It’s my dad.”

“But . . .” Parker said.

She cut him off and called for Romy to come. The dog hopped back into the Jeep. Becca jumped in on the driver’s side. Maybe she was using Jackie’s call as an excuse to get away, but it was also more than that. It had to do with her father, what she’d promised him, what he’d done for her.

“What did you see?” Parker asked.

She started the engine.

“Was it a man? A Scion? Would you be able to identify him in a lineup?” Parker asked as she put the Jeep in reverse, started backing out of the driveway.

She nodded yes to all of it. She thought about the tone of Jackie’s voice on the other end of the phone, knowing why she’d been summoned. Please wait for me, Dad. I’m coming.





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

As soon as Becca left, Parker rushed into the cabin for his gun. It was time he had a little chat with this John Jackson.