Free Darkest Dawn by Katlyn Duncan

realized it wasn’t Tucker; she was looking at her own hand on her shoulder.
    “Sloane?” Bri stared at her face on the strange girl.
    Her eyes narrowed and she took her hand off Bri, leaving that same warmth in its wake. Her expression tightened for a moment before she walked closer to the motel.
    This time Tucker did grab Bri’s arm. “Are we sure about this girl? A day in town and already the cops are after her?”
    Bri stepped forward and the motel parking lot came into view. “Not just the police.” Several police cars accompanied an ambulance in the otherwise sparse parking lot.
    Sloane stood between Tucker and Bri, staring him down. “Are you accusing me of something?” Sloane said as Bri came to her side. They peered through the trees as several officers stood in the parking lot. Some were filling out paperwork and others were loitering around the space. It was apparent there wasn’t an emergency. From their position in the woods, they couldn’t see the front of the motel, only the side. Crime scene tape wrapped around the columns holding up the awning.
    Bri caught movement next to the building and grabbed both Tucker and Sloane, forcing them to drop to the ground next to her. Someone in dark jeans and a leather jacket slinked around the back of the motel. He faced the other direction so Bri couldn’t get a good look. She grabbed her phone and pressed the screen for the camera. She stayed low and zoomed the camera to see if she could make out a face. Then she took several pictures. She doubted she got anything though she surprised herself that she thought to do that. Tucker couldn’t make fun of her for watching real crime shows if she got something. She scrolled through the blurry pictures without successfully identifying the guy.
    “Look.” Sloane pointed at the front of the building where two men in white shirts pushed a stretcher to the ambulance.
    By their calm demeanor, Bri knew whoever was under the sheet wasn’t alive. Bile rose in her throat. She looked to the back of the building where the guy had escaped from. He was gone. Her breath caught in her throat. What exactly had they witnessed?

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Sloane
    I couldn’t tear my eyes from the unmoving form on the stretcher. Instead, I focused on the way my clammy hands grasped each other.
    Tucker hopped to his feet. “Bri. We’re leaving.”
    I wasn’t going back to the motel. I couldn’t. Not when a dead body had come out of one of the rooms.
    Bri’s teeth chattered. “Did you see that person coming out of the window?”
    Tucker ducked down. “Do you think he saw us?”
    The terror in his voice kicked up the rate of my pulse. This trip was becoming more bizarre by the minute.
    “No,” Bri hissed. “I don’t think we should stick around to find out though.”
    I spoke through dry lips. “I can’t go back there. They’re probably going to question all the motel guests.”
    “I know.” Bri stood up and wiped dirt off her jeans. “Let’s go back to my place.”
    We quickly jogged to the condominium complex. The vision of the white-sheeted person rolled over and over in my mind. I imagined someone rolling Mom out of the car accident that way. I stifled the shivers that threatened to shake me to the ground. I looked at Bri. No one had ever opened their home to me before. My heart filled with gratitude.
    Bri walked up the steep driveway to the townhouse condo. “Home sweet home.”
    I followed them up the steps, glancing over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure how long it would take the motel front desk guy to identify that I was in the motel that morning. I hoped I’d be long gone by then. The idea widened a pit in my stomach.
    The second I entered the condo, I was wrapped in the warmth of Bri’s home. I hadn’t realized how cold it was outside.
    “You can hang everything up over there.” Bri pointed at a wooden coat rack with twisted circular ends as hangers. She grabbed a slip of paper from the table and crumpled it in her