Hers to Take(47)

But she couldn't think about that right now. Someone was sabotaging the campground and she was going to find out who it was. She steered the ATV past the campers, to where she knew the fish would be. Next to site 25. She'd been keeping the site free from campers just in case, but when she got there, there were no signs of rotting fish. But there was sign of Conner.

What was he doing here?

Conner was supposed to be with Sasha, checking the vacant campsites. Kira scanned the trees and spotted Sasha's dark curls just past a stand of pines. Sasha? Something was definitely not right.

Kira pulled up alongside Conner's ATV and cut the engine. They hadn't seen her yet, so she stayed on her ATV and watched for a minute. Conner had a shovel over his shoulder, and when Sasha got closer, Kira could make out a bucket in her hand. Whatever they were doing, Kira couldn't imagine any scenario that had to do with campsite maintenance. Her instincts fired as she left her ATV and walked toward them.

"Conner? Sasha?"

The man froze at the sound of her voice. Sasha turned and smiled. "Hey, Kira. What are you doing here? I thought you were in the office for the day? You don't need to be out here-we have this under control."

Kira tilted her head and assessed her friend, who was acting much stranger than usual. "What are you guys doing?"

It was then that Conner turned around. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, his eyes narrowed into their usual glare. She didn't care what Sasha said about the man; he was weird and grouchy. There was just something that wasn't right about him and she'd be happy when she didn't have to deal with him anymore. 

"We're doing site maintenance, boss." He sneered. "Just like you told us to."

Sasha stepped forward. She glanced at Conner and her smile faded before she perked up again. "Kira, I know we said we were going to do the campsite grooming, but we got done early and we thought we should-"

"Stop." Conner held up a hand to silence her. "Can you take the bucket back to the-"

"Conner," Sasha interrupted. "I really think we should tell her-"

"Shut up. We're not telling her anything," he snarled at Sasha.

Kira's bear roared to the surface. It took all her self-control to keep her bear under wraps.

"What do you need to tell me?" She already knew the answer to the question. She'd had her suspicions early on that Conner was behind the mysterious dead fish, and in the last few minutes, everything else had fallen into place.

"Kira, it's not what it seems." Sasha stepped forward, but Conner quickly blocked her with his arm. She shot him a dirty look, but Kira didn't take her eyes off the man. She didn't trust him-she never had-and now her instincts were firing out of control.

"Oh, I'm sure everything is exactly how it looks." Conner took a few steps to Kira and while her initial instincts were to step up to him and confront him, she knew that would only bring out her bear. She couldn't risk losing control and she definitely couldn't risk shifting. Not in front of them. She had to hold it together. Kira held her ground.

"It looks to me like you're trying to hide something, Conner." She tried to keep her voice low and neutral. "And you don't need to do that. There's a chance for honesty here. Nobody needs to get in trouble."

"See, Conner?" Sasha ran to his side. If Kira hadn't been so focused on how Conner was going to react, she might have commented on how it was that her friend knew anything about the dead fish, or what exactly it was that she did know. As it was, Kira stayed focused on Conner because whatever it was, her instincts told her it wasn't going to be good.

Her instincts were dead-on. Without taking his eyes off Kira, Conner's hand shot out. "I told you to shut up." His punch connected and Sasha crumbled to the ground.

Kira glanced down. Her friend was unconscious but she couldn't go to her. Not with Conner looming. Kira's attention went back to the man, who had started to approach. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth set in a tight grimace.

"Conner." She held her hands up in what she hoped he'd feel was a non-threatening move. "I'm not sure what's happening here, but it doesn't have to get violent. No one needs to get hurt."

He continued walking.

"Are you listening to me? Conner? You're just picking up some fish you found, right? That's all that's going on here."

Confusion lined his face and it took him a moment or two to figure out that she was giving him an out. Or trying to, anyway. As soon as it registered, a grin crawled across his face and he laughed.

"You might be a bitch." He spat the words. "But you're not a stupid bitch."

So, he wasn't going to take the out.

"What are you doing, Conner? It doesn't have to be a big thing."