The Man in The Shadows

Paul kept a hand on the small of Jessica’s back as they stepped away from the hotel window. She could still see the man—just barely. His silhouette was ghostlike in the moonlight, watching them from across the street. He seemed as though time meant nothing. It was like he had all the time in the world. Jessica's shoulders slumped. She was tired.

The journal felt heavier than ever under Jessica’s jacket.

Paul led her down a back hallway toward the hotel’s service exit. “We’re not waiting for backup,” he whispered. “I’m not risking him slipping away again.”

Jessica barely nodded, her legs still shaky. “Where are we going?”

"First I have to get you to safety." He said matter-of-factly. Jessica was too tired to argue. She was too tired for the fear, the anger, and too tired to worry about the man in the shadows.

“There’s a cabin,” Paul said. “Sheriff uses it during hunting season. Remote, no one knows it’s department-owned but a handful of us. You’ll be safe there. Long enough for us to finish going through that journal.”

As they stepped into the dark alley behind the hotel, Jessica’s breath caught. Paul froze, his hand instinctively moving to his sidearm. Jessica felt like a scared mouse. She did not like the feeling one bit. She was a strong woman. She had made her life far from the safety of the farm, and now here she was in the middle of God knows what, and it was scaring her.

They eased further down the alley, always looking side to side and front and back. But the alley was empty.

They got in the truck and drove off without headlights. Jessica didn’t exhale until the hotel was a shrinking speck in the rearview mirror. She wanted to cry. To yell. To SCREAM! This was all too much and it was taking a toll on her mentally and emotionally.

Paul could feel her anxiety. Gently he touched her hand. She smiled meekly.

“You okay?” he asked with sincerity.

She wasn’t. But she nodded anyway. Jessica never thought she would be involved in something so sinister that she had to be kept in a safe house. She shook her head in dismay.

Thirty minutes later, they pulled up to a rustic cabin buried in the woods. Paul killed the engine and turned to her. He looked worried, but said calmly, "I am not leaving you here alone tonight." She nodded again.

Inside the cabin, Paul built a fire and motioned for her to sit. Jessica slipped the journal out from under her jacket, setting it between them on the table.

“Let’s see what your father was hiding,” he said.

They opened it to the next page—and froze.

It wasn’t more writing. It was a photograph. A young woman, bruised and frightened. Bound to a chair in a basement. And standing behind her a tall lanky man. He looked somehow satisfied. Like he had just been given a prize. It was an ugly picture that depicted abuse on a level Jessica had never seen before. Her lip trembled.

Jessica’s breath caught. "I am not going to break down." she thought to herself. She inhaled deeply.

“That’s him,” she whispered. “That’s the man in the shadows.”

Paul’s face turned to stone. “He was part of this.”

Jessica flipped to the next page—handwriting, this time more frantic.

Jessica’s heart splintered. “My mom… She knew. She warned him. She was killed for it.”

“And now they want you,” Paul said grimly. “Because you have this.”

They sat in silence for a moment, the flames casting long shadows across the cabin walls. Jessica stared into the flames dancing in the fireplace. How could her mother have known and not told her? She was more confused than ever. Even though Jessica had moved to the city and left the farm behind, she and her mother had remained close. This was devastating to Jessica.

Paul took the journal from Jessica's hands. "Let's get some rest. God knows we both need it. Tomorrow we can start digging deeper into the journal and the secrets it holds."

Jessica nodded and stood up. Paul escorted her to a bedroom and waited until she was settled inside to step away. She felt comforted. Safe. As long as Paul was there, she would be ok.

At least that is what she believed......