Lone Wolfe Protector by Kaylie Newell Page A

dropped an octave, was so soft and believable, that she simply stared at him.
    A charged silence settled between them, before he cleared his throat and looked at the road again.
    “How’s your head?” he asked.
    “It hurts.”
    They turned a corner, and there was the Inn. It seemed to be waiting patiently by the side of the road, the porch light burning through the darkness to guide them home.
    Koda put the truck in park and came around to help Maggie out. She was still unsteady, and wobbled a little.
    “Whoa,” he said, taking her arm. “Got it?”
    Her pulse quickened at the touch. “Yeah. Thanks.”
    “You know, I never asked before. But what were you doing driving around up there in the middle of the night, anyway?”
    Maggie shrugged.
    “Because,” he continued, “this isn’t exactly the kind of place where you go exploring on your own.”
    “I couldn’t sleep.”
    “So you decided to take a drive in the fog and ice? At midnight?”
    Shrugging again, she pulled away.
    “Hey.” He grabbed her arm. “I’m not kidding.”
    “I know, Deputy. You’re very serious.”
    “You think this is some kind of joke? Some kind of game you’re playing?”
    He was getting mad now. And that annoyed her. He’d just said he liked her hair.
    “Yes. I think this is some kind of game. It’s so fun that I lost my best friend, quit my job, and moved here to try and find out what happened to her. Fun, fun, fun.” She was surprised to find she was on the verge of tears.
    He took a visible breath. “You may not want to believe this, but we do know what we’re doing. We’re not a bunch of hicks in charge of this case, no matter what you might think.”
    “I don’t think—”
    “Ah, save it. You’ve been on TV, remember? You’ve been quoted in national newspapers saying we aren’t doing enough.”
    “Well, saying you aren’t doing enough and saying you don’t know what you’re doing are two different things. I don’t think you’re doing enough.”
    “Oh, really. And what would you do differently in your infinite wisdom?”
    Her face warmed. He had her there, and it stung. She wasn’t a cop. She was just a person who wanted answers. Desperately.
    “For starters,” she bit out, “I wouldn’t have shut out Aimee’s closest friend from the beginning. Has it ever occurred to you that I might have been able to help in some way right after her disappearance?”
    “You were a suspect right after her disappearance.”
    “That was routine.” Her head swam, and she just wanted to lie down. “The sergeant from OSP said so.”
    He reached out to steady her again, but she shrugged him off.
    He stood there with his hand suspended in the air. When he dropped it, he looked tired. And older.
    “As a sheriff’s deputy in this county, I feel like it’s my responsibility to tell you you’re being careless and stupid.”
    She glared at him.
    “Like I said before,” he went on, “it’s a free country and I can’t tell you to leave. But I can make it my mission in life to follow your every move.”
    “You’re going to stalk me?”
    “I’m going to try and make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”
    She bit her tongue. This man had seen her with a toilet-paper tail. Technically, there was a limit to how mad she could get without picturing that debacle.
    “What’s it going to take to convince you that what you’re doing is dangerous? Whoever took Aimee is still out there. You don’t think they might know you’re looking? You’ve only advertised it to the whole fucking country. You don’t think they might take exception to that?”
    He was right. Of course he was. She could add him to the list of people who thought she was insane, along with her mother. But she couldn’t explain, even though she knew it was stupid and careless, she couldn’t not be here.
    She had to find out what happened to Aimee, even if it meant being bait to do it. And maybe that’s all it would come down to in the end. Baiting