BooksBarbecue
Back Alone in the Woods
Chapters (63)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Chapter Forty-Five
  48. Chapter Forty-Six
  49. Chapter Forty-Seven
  50. Chapter Forty-Eight
  51. Chapter Forty-Nine
  52. Chapter Fifty
  53. Chapter Fifty-One
  54. Chapter Fifty-Two
  55. Chapter Fifty-Three
  56. Chapter Fifty-Four
  57. Chapter Fifty-Five
  58. Chapter Fifty-Six
  59. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  60. A letter from Charly
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. About the Author
  63. Also by Charly Cox

An ominous text dragged him back from the brink of insanity, making him suddenly aware of the destruction he’d caused. His eyes strayed from the pink insulation winking out at him from the exposed wooden beams that made up the inner frame of his house, to the message making his eyes burn.

Torn, indecisive, he ended up doing the only thing that made sense to him. He ran.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Wednesday, October 9

In a foul mood because they’d been forced to wait until morning to secure a search warrant for Adam Campbell’s residence, Alyssa had crawled into bed Tuesday night, but instead of getting some much-needed shuteye, she’d tossed and turned until her even-tempered husband had growled at her. She’d just dragged herself out of bed and plodded down to the kitchen when Nick called. At four-fifteen in the morning, it couldn’t be good news so, heart knocking against her ribs, she answered.

‘There’s another envelope that wasn’t here when I left last night just before ten-thirty. And in case you’re wondering why I’m here this early, it’s because I’ve been camping out since Holly got that last picture. But last night, I had to go home for a while, and I fell asleep.’ Guilt crept into his voice. ‘As soon as I woke, I raced back over here. That’s when I saw it, and I called you right away. Holly’s still asleep and doesn’t know yet.’

Alyssa was already in her bedroom, throwing on some clothes. A shower and brushing her teeth would have to wait. She ordered Nick to stay put, shook Brock until he jerked upright in the bed, told him what was going on, and then flew out the door. She briefly toyed with the idea of waiting until she saw Cord in a few hours to tell him, too, but bearing in mind their last chat, she quickly nixed the idea and called.

After getting the rundown, he agreed to meet her at Holly’s. When she pulled up, Nick was sitting on the porch cradling his head. ‘Where is it?’

He pointed to one of the two rocking chairs perched on either side of the window. A white envelope decorated with yellow smiling-face stickers spelling out HOLLY peeked beneath one of the legs. Whoever had placed it there could’ve done it without ever stepping foot on the porch. A car door slammed, and she twisted around to see Cord sprinting in her direction. His phone was already out, camera ready, and with the muscles in his clenched jaw ticcing furiously, he took several photos from different angles before snapping on a pair of gloves to retrieve the envelope and open it.