The Man in the Shadows

The rustling behind them sent Jessica’s heart racing. Someone was there.

Deputy Callahan’s posture shifted. He heard it too. He moved with quiet precision, his hand gripping the holstered gun at his hip as he turned toward the open barn door.

"Stay here," he said in a low, firm voice. "I mean it, Jessica." The look in his eyes told a different story than she expected. He was sincerely concerned for her well being. This was not just a cop doing his job. But Jessica had to know who this was and why they were following her.

She clenched her jaw, fingers tightening around the journal beneath her jacket. She moved without thinking and bumped into the officer in front of her.

Callahan looked over his shoulder at her, and held up his hand for her to stop. He stepped forward, his silhouette cutting against the moonlit entrance. His boots barely made a sound against the packed dirt as he moved out into the night.

Jessica eased out of the barn and ducked behind a stack of hay bales near the entrance, her breath shallow. The night was silent except for the faint chirping of crickets and the occasional whisper of wind through the trees. She strained hard to hear any movement. There it was! Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate.

Jessica peered around the edge of the hay, watching as Callahan moved toward the shadows near the edge of the barn.

"Step out of the shadows with your hands above your head!" he called, his voice steady but edged with authority.

Silence.

Jessica strained her eyes, but all she could make out were dark shapes shifting between the trees. A trick of the moonlight? Or something else?

Callahan took another step. "I said, step out where I can see you!"

A branch snapped.

Jessica’s pulse leapt. Someone was definitely there hiding in the shadows of the treeline.

Callahan drew his gun. "Come out. Now."

For a moment, there was nothing. No movement. No sound. Then a figure stepped forward.

Jessica barely bit back a gasp. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Face still masked in darkness.

Callahan didn’t lower his weapon. "Hands where I can see them."

The figure hesitated, then slowly lifted both hands in a way that was meant to seem non-threatening.

Jessica inched forward, trying to see more. Who was he? Why was he here? Was this the same man from outside her hotel room?

"Face down on the ground." Callahan demanded.

The shadowy figure stood still. Hands still in the air, but his head shifted from left and then right. What was he looking at? Did he have an accomplice?

Jessica’s heart pounded. Why wasn’t he responding to the Deputy?

Then, without warning the figure turned on his heels and bolted into the darkness.

"Hey!" Callahan shouted, lunging forward.

Jessica watched, frozen, as the shadowy man disappeared into the darkened woods. Callahan cursed, lowering his gun as he turned back toward the barn. His eyes landed on Jessica immediately.

"I told you to stay put," he snapped. Callahan knew it was not safe to go into the woods without back up. He could not leave Jessica alone in case the perpetrator circled back.

Jessica ignored the warning in his voice. "Did you see his face?"

Callahan hesitated frustration in his voice. "No. But I saw enough to know he was watching us."

Jessica swallowed hard. So it wasn’t her imagination. She was being followed.

She glanced down at the journal still tucked beneath her jacket, suddenly feeling its weight even more. The things she had already read in the first few pages of the journal were enough to know that someone didn’t want her to read it. She shifted nervously as Callahan looked at her mishapen jacket.

Callahan exhaled, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "Jessica, you need to tell me what you found in that loft."

Jessica hesitated.

Could she trust him? Or would she be better keeping the secrets of the past until she read the entire journal? She had to decide, and she had to do it now. She no longer felt safe keeping everything to herself. Slowly she unzipped her jacket and pulled out the journal. "I have not read the whole thing," she stated, "but there is enough in what I did read that I know I am not safe. Whoever that is in the shadows, wants this journal."

Callahan reached for the journal. Jessica withdrew it from his grasp.

"We will read it together." she said matter-of-factly, and slid the journal back inside her jacket. "Let's get out of here." Callahan escorted her to his car. "It's safer if we stay together" he explained. Jessica nodded and got into the car. As they drove down the country road headlights appeared behind them. They were being followed.