and start his job.
And forget that he’d seen a dead body.
He sighed as he continued walking. There was no use getting shaken up when there wasn’t a thing he could do about any of it. That was what had him so ticked off. It was the fact that he couldn’t do anything about any of this that didn’t set well with him.
All because he’d lost his job and apartment, forcing him to move in with Charles and his phony wife. Now he was stuck living in a motel, working for peanuts, and god, someone just shoot him already.
Arlan stopped walking and looked around him, seeing nothing but a large pasture and woods. He loved country living and loved Maple Grove. Too bad he had to experience it in a motel.
He heard the truck before he saw it pull up next to him.
Arlan looked over at the red pickup idling next to him. He recognized the truck from the motel parking lot the night before. Lewis was driving it.
Lewis leaned out of his window, slapping the driver’s door with the palm of his hand. “Why don’t you hop in and I’ll give you a ride back?”
Arlan could feel a tick start in his jaw. His night had already been horrendous, and his morning hadn’t started out great. He didn’t need Lewis following him down the damn road. “I have two perfectly good working legs.”
Arlan considered getting into Lewis’s truck, eyed the sexy god for a second, and then continued his walk. He still wasn’t sure if Lewis was behind the killing. It had been awfully convenient that he’d been in the office when the murder happened and the fire was set.
He’d be a fool to get into Lewis’s truck, because he didn’t know the guy. His parents hadn’t raised a complete idiot.
“Why are you being so stubborn? I’m just trying to be nice, Arlan. You’ve had a rough night, and I’m sure you’re still tired. I can get you back to the motel in minutes.”
That’s it! Arlan felt the sleep deprivation, was on edge, and wasn’t in the mood to be harassed. He marched to the passenger’s door and pointed a finger at Lewis. “I don’t even know you, and I don’t know why you’re following me, but if you don’t stop it, I’ll report you to the sheriff. Now scram!”
Arlan normally wasn’t so short tempered, but his nerves were shot, he had a headache starting in the back of his head, and he just wanted to be left alone.
Even if Lewis was the hottest man Arlan had ever met. Looks weren’t everything. Especially if Lewis was a killer.
He breathed a sigh of relief when Lewis drove off, heading down the road toward the motel. Now that Arlan was alone, the sunrise still a good hour away, he was kind of spooked.
It felt eerie outside. He picked up his pace, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. When he could afford it, he’d buy a car, but that wasn’t his first priority.
Getting his own place was, as well as staying off a killer’s radar. He was doing a crappy job of that by being all alone on some dark backroad.
Now he wished he hadn’t walked out and had let Charles give him a ride.
Arlan groaned when he saw headlights heading toward him. If Lewis was back, he was going to kick the man in the balls. What part of scram hadn’t he understood?
Only…it wasn’t Lewis.
It was a dark sedan that slowed when it reached Arlan. The driver rolled his window down and rested his arm on the open frame. “Need a lift?”
Was the guy insane? Not only was there someone in the passenger seat but Arlan was getting a funky vibe from the stranger. “No thanks.”
Arlan hadn’t stopped walking since he hadn’t recognized the driver. He’d grown up in Maple Grove and knew a lot of the residents, though there had been an influx of new people lately.
He still couldn’t ignore his gut instinct that said this person was bad news.
“It’s awfully early for a human to be out wandering around.”
Wait, did the guy say human? Arlan turned his head slowly, glancing over his shoulder at the stranger as the guy smirked at him.
Just great. A weirdo. Had there been a full moon last night that had brought all the freaks out? First some guy gets killed in the room right next to him and now this jackass.
Could this guy be the killer? The thought sent a chill down