A Cry in the Dark (Carly Moore #1) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,1
closed the first week of November, and I didn’t have the right shoes or clothes to hike in the Smoky Mountains National Park. So in the end, I’d mostly just lain in bed for four days and watched TV, with a splurge on The Pancake House for breakfast a couple of mornings, and rode the Smoky Mountain Wheel, getting a view of the mountains in one of the all-glass gondolas. My mother hadn’t mentioned the gondola trip, but I’d felt the need to do something. When I finally felt ready to move on, having spent several hundred dollars I couldn’t afford on a pity party that had somehow made me feel worse, the clerk had suggested I take the back roads to enjoy the last of the fall foliage.
Which had brought me here.
The sun would be setting in a few hours and I had some decisions to make. Did I continue to wait for someone to stop? Or did I start walking? I had no idea how far I’d have to hoof it, not to mention it would be suicidal to walk on the winding, narrow two-lane road at night.
I wished I’d taken that paper map the desk clerk had offered.
Leaving the car, I perched on a boulder at the edge of the lookout, tucking my knees under my chin and staring out into the scenery. Cold seeped into my butt through my jeans, but the view truly was beautiful. The bright shades of yellow, orange, and red that the mountain trees were known for had begun to fade and fall, but it was still breathtaking, making me feel a little less sorry I’d stopped to take it in.
Lost in thought, I didn’t hear a vehicle approach, so I startled when a man said, “Having car trouble?”
Heart racing, I turned to face him. How could I have been so careless?
I jumped to my feet, taking a defensive stance, which was utterly ridiculous. I was on a ledge. All he had to do was give me a hard shove, and I’d tumble right over. He definitely looked strong enough to do it.
I scrambled over the rock onto the sidewalk, sizing him up as I prepared to face him.
I guessed he was in his early to mid-thirties, and he looked like he was used to manual labor. The beat-up red tow truck behind him helped confirm my presumption. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way, with overgrown brown hair and eyes to match, and had on a brown work jacket, dark T-shirt, dirty jeans, and work boots. Something about the way he carried himself—full of confidence and self-assurance—made me apprehensive. Yet it also stirred something inside me, a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.
Not now, Carly.
It took me a second to realize I still hadn’t answered him. “Yeah.”
“Do you know what’s wrong with it?” he asked, glancing down at the still-exposed engine.
“It won’t start,” I said, walking toward the car and trying to avoid eye contact. Hoping my previously dormant feelings would go back into hiding. “It makes a grinding noise when I turn the key.”
“You got someone comin’ for you?”
My breath caught. I didn’t know anything about this man. For all I knew, he was seeking confirmation that there wouldn’t be any witnesses to my abduction. Or perhaps he was a garden-variety psychopath, someone who preyed on women out on their own. Why had I left my gun in the car?
Careless. I wouldn’t be making that mistake again. I needed to be even more guarded since I was apparently attracted to him. Just because a guy was good-looking didn’t mean he was trustworthy. Indeed, the opposite was often true.
Sensing my apprehension, he held up his hands in surrender. “I only want to know if you need my help. If not, I’ll be on my way.” When I still didn’t answer him, he said, “Would you like me to turn it over and see what I think? Maybe it’s an easy fix.” He gestured to his truck. “I know what I’m doing, and I won’t charge you just to look.”
“Yeah…okay.” My heartbeat picked up again. My purse was on the passenger seat, and my gun was inside. What if he found my gun and used it against me?
He followed my gaze to the front seat, then took a step back. “All I want to do is check the engine, but if you’d prefer for me to call someone, I understand.”