Excluded and Uninvited novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: The Person Who Owns the Gate

Katja's POV

By ten the first car was parked across my grandfather's gate.

By eleven there were nine.

I stood at the kitchen window with a mug of coffee going cold and counted them.

Two had camera lights mounted on the roof.

A man in a puffy vest was already walking up and down the fence line, narrating to his phone.

Caleb came up behind me.

He was dressed and shaved, and he held his truck keys in his hand.

I looked at the keys.

"I'll go out the back way," he said. "I'll drive to Reno and they'll follow me. You get the place back."

"No."

"Katja, they came for me."

"They came for my address." I set the mug down. "You're not leaving by the back door."

"I'm trying to protect you."

"I know you are. The last one said the same thing before he left on day four."

I had not meant to say it aloud.

Caleb went still.

"Who?"

"The man who left," I said. "He said he was protecting me from his trouble. He packed while I was in the shower."

I took the keys out of his hand and put them on the counter.

"I'm not asking you to leave a stranger's mess alone," I said. "I'm asking you to stay in it with me."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, I'm staying." His mouth moved. "Where do you want me?"

"On the porch, behind me. Don't say a word."

"You want me silent."

"I want you visible."

I went out in my boots and my grandfather's canvas coat.

The gate was chained, and I walked down the drive with the sun in my eyes.

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