Brink of Danger by Christy Barritt

Author:Christy Barritt [Barritt, Christy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Heights
Published: 2019-10-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ansley waited for Ryan to explain himself.

“Mr. Anderson—or Thickie, as he likes to be called—had a hand-carved gnome on his desk. It looked a lot like you.”

“Should I be insulted?”

“That’s not where this is going.” Ryan gave her a look. “I found a similar one at Dustin’s place and one was left on my truck.”

Ansley sucked in a breath as she processed that information. She wasn’t sure what was more disturbing, the gnomes themselves or the fact that she shared their likeness. That was just . . . creepy.

She swallowed hard. “So you think these hand-carved gnomes connect the crimes?”

“I have no idea. I’m just asking questions.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of them or seen them.”

“Is there any history between you and Thickie?”

Ansley glanced at the door to the cabin as Luke disappeared inside with Thickie. She licked her lips before saying, “Thickie asked me out once.”

Ryan gave her a pointed look. “And you said?”

“No. I wasn’t interested.” Ansley swallowed hard. Maybe Dustin had been right. Maybe this was a bigger deal for Thickie than it had been for her. Maybe he had stronger feelings than Ansley suspected.

But she still wasn’t sure how this was relevant to what was happening.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Ansley said. “Maybe he had a crush on me. Maybe he whittled a weird little gnome that looks like me. So what?”

Ryan stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Have you ever heard what rejection can do to some people?”

Her throat felt dry at his nearness, his tone, his words. “It can . . . turn their lives upside down?”

“How do you know that Thickie didn’t send you out on that zipline first on purpose?”

Ansley sucked in a breath. “Wait . . . you think he sabotaged it and then wanted to watch me fall to my death?”

Ryan remained unblinking. “It’s something to consider.”

Ansley could understand where he was coming from, but all the pieces didn’t fit. Sure, he could have thrown that stupid staring contest—but it had been Ansley’s idea. He could have set the cable to break—though the very idea seemed extreme and unbelievable to Ansley.

“What about his deck?” Ansley asked. “Did he do this to himself? What sense would that make?”

“He just happened to dive back into his house at the right time, avoiding imminent injury or even death?” Ryan shrugged, a skeptical look in his gaze. “Maybe he did this to take any potential attention off himself.”

“I think that’s a little far-reaching.”

“I’m sure your brother will be looking to see if Thickie has an alibi for the evening before the zipline accident,” Ryan said. “This is a long way from being over.”

She shivered, wondering how everything had snowballed into this nightmare. She should be working the zipline. Talking to tourists. Bantering with her coworkers. Instead, disaster was following her around like a little lost puppy dog.

“You don’t have to tell me that twice.” Her throat squeezed as she said the words. “Every time I feel the ache in my entire body, I realize this is going to be a long process.

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