The Acadia Killer

Chapter 7

The harsh instructive tone of his voice sent a shiver up my spine. I tried to ignore the tantalizing feeling and told him yes.

A couple minutes of awkward silence passed by, and I tried to tell myself that everything was going to be okay. There was no way the killer knew that I was the person who had taken his picture. The police didn't and wouldn't publish that information, so the news didn't know either and wouldn't be able to leak it. If it was in fact him creeping around outside, it had to be because he was looking for his next victim. Maybe he'd seen Michelle or me drive up to the beach house and he was interested in one of us. I sincerely hoped that was just my brain running wild and not a legitimate possibility, but if it was what was going on, I was going to get the hell out of Maine as soon as possible. Forget the trip!

"Mackenzie, I'm headed up your driveway right now," Blake's voice interrupted my thoughts and a sudden rush of relief washed over my body. "Don't go outside. Don't do anything. Just stay where you are and keep quiet, okay? Don't turn on any lights either. I'm going to park a few yards back in the trees, so nobody sees me approaching if there's anyone out there. I'll call you or I'll knock on the door and tell you it's me when it's safe."

"Okay," I gulped, and he hung up, leaving me alone in the terrifying silence.

I couldn't hear anything going on outside for the next several minutes. No hollering. No gunshots. No indication of a struggle. It was as if Blake and the creeper had vanished and left me with nothing but total silence. Only the loud, obnoxious tick of the grandfather clock was there to break the deafening quiet.

But then another light turned on. It was toward the back of the house, to the left of one of the kitchen windows. I could see the glow through the curtain that cloaked the window over the sink. A shadow moved by in a hurry. I couldn't tell if it was Blake or the person he was searching for, but it was definitely a figure of a man moving quickly.

I wanted to call Blake to find out if it was him or someone else. I wanted to ask if everything was okay. Hell, I wanted to run outside to my truck and speed away to another county. But I knew Blake's instructions had to be followed. I couldn't jeopardize any of us by doing something stupid. I just had to wait, no matter how frustrating that would be.

The sound of boots clunking against the deck startled me, but then I heard a knock at the door and Blake's familiar voice.

"Mackenzie, it's okay," he said outside the door. "You can open the door."

I hesitated a moment but forced my shaky legs to move. I'd been sitting on my left foot, and it had gone to sleep while I'd waited for something to happen.

Stumbling to the door, I peeked behind the curtain and made sure Blake was the only person there. Then I hurriedly opened the door, grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him inside before slamming the door shut and relocking it.

Blake looked surprised by my behavior, and I felt my face flush with embarrassment when I realized what I'd just done.

I shook my head, breathing out the air that seemed to have been lodged in my lungs since before I'd called him.

"I'm sorry," I said, continuing to shake my head. "That was not appropriate. I'm just – I'm-"

Blake breathed a gentle laugh and placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to explain. I understand."

His words brought me a slight relief, though I was still totally embarrassed that I'd quite literally dragged him into the house like I was going to jump him or something. Although, I had to admit to myself, pulling him toward me was a little hot. And the half-buttoned shirt and sweatpants he was clad in did look very good on him.

Blake's hand still on my shoulder sent a chill through my body and I knew he noticed me shiver. He looked around the dark living room for a blanket and quickly wrapped it around me, draping the fabric over my shoulders.

Despite the darkness, I could see the concern in his eyes as he stared into mine, his brows furrowed and his lips pursed like he was thinking hard about something.

"Are you okay, Mackenzie?" he asked quietly, probably trying not to wake Michelle, who, surprisingly, had not come down yet.

I realized how close he was to me, his hands still holding the blanket around my body, and I could feel the air shift. I wondered if he noticed it, too.

Stop it, Mackenzie. He's just doing his job. You can't feel this way.

Ugh. Michelle had gotten into my head about that one-night stand crap!

I cleared my throat and shook my head, looking down at the floor. I had to look away from his eyes or I was liable to bury my face in his chest and cry.

"I don't know. I don't know if I'm okay. I don't know what I am. I've never been through anything this insane," I explained between gasps of air that felt like razors racing through my lungs. "I'm sorry. This is so overwhelming. I'm so-"

"Hey. Hey. I need you to breathe for me, okay?" Blake said, placing his finger under my chin and tilting my head up so we could look into each other's eyes. "Everything's going to be alright, Mackenzie, but I need you to try to relax. I know that's a massive request for someone going through all this, but I'm here for you and I promise you, it's going to be alright. I just need you to calm down so we can talk, okay?"

I swallowed hard and nodded, pulling away from him. Despite my body's desperate desire to stay so close, I flopped down on the couch and bundled the blanket around my legs. Blake followed suit and sat down in the chair beside me, crossing his legs with an ankle over a knee. He leaned back into the cushion with a huff and turned the end table lamp on, temporarily blinding both of us.

"Did you find anything?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger until they adjusted to the light.

Blake glanced in the direction of the front door and then back to me, raking a hand through his messy hair. He definitely looked like he'd just rolled out of bed and gotten into his truck. There were only two buttons done on his shirt and they weren't even buttoned in the right holes. He looked hot, like he'd just had great sex. I inadvertently licked my lips.

"I couldn't find anybody," he finally said with a look of disappointment, like he was mad at himself. "I did, however, find shoeprints in the mud. You weren't wrong. Someone was snooping around out there. Luckily, the rain stopped in time to not wash the tracks away. I took photos of them on my phone, and I'll let local P.D. know about it. Since we don't know who it was or what they wanted, we can't necessarily say it's connected to the homicide case, but it's certainly unusual. I wouldn't say it's not connected."

I could feel my blood running cold at each word that left his mouth.

"Do you think it was him? Do you think he knows I took the picture?" My words sounded panicky, no matter how calm I tried to keep my voice.

Blake was about to answer, but a squeak in the stairs signaled Michelle's drowsy arrival.

"Good morning," Blake and I said at the same time, and she raised an eyebrow at us, yawning as she made her way down.

"Morning..." she responded, looking at me with questioning eyes. "What's going on here?"

"Mackenzie called me because someone was snooping around outside," Blake explained. "I checked it out and I didn't find the person or any damage done, but I will be making a report of it, given how odd the timing is."

I knew he meant the timing in relation to the homicides, but he didn't say it, probably knowing the word alone would stress me out more.

"There was someone outside?!" Michelle shrieked and rushed to the door to peek behind the curtain. She turned back toward us with wide eyes. "That's never happened before. Why would someone be wandering around the property?"

Blake and I looked at each other with the same depressing expression.

"I wonder if the killer saw one of us enter the house and maybe he's looking for his next victim," I said solemnly to Michelle.

"Oh my god."