She finally faced me with her eyes narrowing. “You’d do well to leave him alone. Mateo’s a good man. And he doesn’t need someone like you snooping around.”
“Someone like me?” I echoed as I raised an eyebrow. “I’m just trying to get to the bottom of what’s been happening here. If he’s got nothing to hide, then why all the secrecy?”
Her expression hardened. She lowered her voice to a growl. “You don’t know anything about this town or Mateo. If you were smart, you’d pack up and leave before you get yourself into something you can’t handle.”
I met her gaze. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m determined to find out what’s happening here.”
She stared at me for a long moment before she straightened and walked away.
I watched her leave, frustration bubbling inside me. The more I dug, the more resistance I faced. But I wasn’t giving up.
After finishing my coffee, I decided to try a different angle. If the townspeople wouldn’t talk, perhaps town records might offer some clues. A small library on the main street seemed worth investigating.
The library was quiet, filled with the scent of old books and dust. An elderly woman sat behind the counter.
“Can I help you, dear?” she asked.
“I’m looking for information on the recent animal attacks,” I stated. “I’m a journalist gathering background information.”
Her expression tightened slightly. But she directed me to a set of filing cabinets. “You’ll find old newspaper articles in those files. We don’t have much on recent incidents. The town doesn’t like to discuss it.”
I thanked her and moved to the cabinets. The articles I found were mostly about local events and small-town news. But as I delved deeper, I noticed a pattern, periodic spikes in animal attacks, always around the same time of year, and similar circumstances.
Then some people vanished without a trace. Their cases were unsolved and their names were forgotten. The details were sparse. But a thread connected these events. Though the pieces were starting to come together, something crucial was still missing.
Drowned in my research, I didn’t notice the man who entered until he was standing beside me. I looked up, startled, and found myself face-to-face with Mateo.
“Looking for something?” he asked.
My heart skipped a beat.
He was too close. I could feel the heat from his body.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.