Broken River - Ruby Shae

1

Elle Masters glanced at the two manila envelopes sitting on the passenger seat next to her, and continued driving past the large building on her right. The words “Bear Lake” were burned into a large, rustic sign that hung across the top of the two-story building, making it the obvious place for visitors to stop after entering the property.

She didn’t stop, though. Her brother’s instructions were explicit, and she had to follow his exact words in order to find who she was looking for.

She passed the small parking area on the left side of the building, and then circled around the lot and followed the tree-line until she found the small access road located between two tall trees. There wasn’t a fence or a chain preventing access to the road, but both trees had signs drilled into them that warned against trespassing.

Elle ignored the signs, as her brother’s note instructed her to do, and turned down the path. Within a few feet, the blazing sun overhead was blocked out by the tall, massive trees surrounding the road, and everything around her seemed to darken as she ascended up the long hill toward her destination.

Unlike the relaxed, mostly open space down by the main building, this area was dense with trees, and when she glanced out of the driver’s side window, she could only see a few feet into the surrounding forest. Normally she wouldn’t be afraid, but the weight of what she was about to do had already left her feeling raw and vulnerable, and a shiver of fear raced down her spine.

What she was about to do was crazy—like literally crazy—but it was a little bit scary, too, and right now, the scary part seemed to be winning. In fact, the only thing stopping her from turning her car around—besides the single one-lane road that she was currently stuck on—was the fact that her brother had planned out this…adventure—at least, that’s what she was calling it for lack of a better word—and she trusted him completely.

At the thought of her brother, a wave of sadness washed over her, and the feeling was so strong, so acute, that she literally had to force herself to breathe. Her heart still mourned his loss, and every other feeling seemed to fade into the background except the grief and guilt she’d been carrying around for the last month.

She blinked several times, hoping to stave off the tears that threatened to fall every time she thought about him. His accident still didn’t make sense, and even though she knew he would chastise her for it, she couldn’t stop silently wishing she had been the one to die instead of him.

Luckily, she didn’t have time to wallow in those feelings.

The trees widened once again, signaling her arrival at the top of the hill, and as soon as she cleared the tree-line, a cabin came into view. The quaint, two-story building sat in small clearing, surrounded by the forest but not engulfed in it, and the path she was on turned into a roundabout that circled a small patch of grass that housed a fire pit and a single Adirondack chair.

A golf cart was parked across from the front door, mostly on the grass, so she pulled up behind it and shut off the engine to the SUV. She pulled the long strap of her crossbody purse over her head, took a deep breath, and then grabbed the two manila envelopes—one thick and one thin—from the seat before exiting the vehicle.

She started walking toward the door, but immediately stopped when she heard the distinct sound of a shotgun being loaded.

“The sign said, No Trespassing,” a very angry, male voice boomed across the clearing. “Are you illiterate, or do you just have a death wish?”

Elle was sure the man had meant to sound intimidating, and he did to a certain extent, but he didn’t scare her. If anything, his voice bolstered her courage, which didn’t make any sense, but she didn’t try to analyze it.

She quickly scanned the area in front of her, looking for the source of the voice, but when she didn’t see anyone, she answered him anyway.

“Neither,” she called back into the seemingly empty space. “And I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for someone—a man named Liam Rivers—and I was given very specific directions to find him here.”

“Is that so?” He laughed, but the sound held more bitterness than mirth, and when he spoke again, the booming angry voice was back. “Nice try,