“I ... .” Cooper felt put on the spot, but he barreled forward. “Hannah and I are together. I spend almost all my nights up here.”
“So, you live up here, too.”
“Not technically. I still have a place outside of Casper Creek.”
“Do you spend any time there?”
“Not really.”
“So, for all intents and purposes, you live with Hannah.”
“I ... we’re very close.” Cooper didn’t like the direction of the conversation so he decided to extricate himself from it. “I should actually check on Hannah and see how her morning is going. Then I have to see what Tyler is doing. If you want to touch base later, I’ll be around.”
Jacob waved off the suggestion. “I’ve got everything under control.”
“Really?” Cooper couldn’t help being dubious. “Do you know what happened?”
“Not yet, but soon.”
He was full of himself, Cooper realized. Basically, he was a law enforcement legend ... but only in his own mind. As far as Cooper was concerned, Jacob Hoffman couldn’t investigate his way out of a box. That didn’t mean he couldn’t create trouble for Hannah if he didn’t tread lightly.
“Well, then I’ll let you get to it.” Cooper forced a smile that he didn’t feel. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to track me down. I want to help you any way that I can.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. You have a good day now.”
“You, too.”
HANNAH KEPT ONE EYE ON COOPER and Jacob as they talked down the street and the other on the blacksmith shop as she gave Nikki and Ray their tour.
“Basically everything in the town works as it’s supposed to,” she explained. “That means that everything in here could be used if it ever came to it ... and some of the stuff is used for demonstrations. We try to be as authentic as possible.”
“This place would be great to hide out in if there was ever a zombie apocalypse,” Nikki enthused, her eyes sparkling as she glanced around. “I mean ... it’s not an easy location to access because of the mountain. Sure, zombies could come in through that side road, but they would be easy enough to cut off and I bet you have fences and stuff around to stop them from getting in.”
Hannah had no idea what to say. “Um ... I’ve never really considered that, but it makes sense ... kind of.”
Nikki beamed at her. “I watch a lot of horror movies. I’ve even given some thought to exactly how I would want to survive should it happen. I think this place would be great.”
“I ... guess.” Hannah rubbed her cheek. “Honestly, I can’t say as I’ve ever really thought about surviving the zombie apocalypse ... at least in any meaningful sense.”
“I would totally kill the apocalypse,” Nikki said on a laugh. “I’ve even drawn up plans and know where to go to grab food right away to wait through the initial bloodbath.”
Hannah’s laugh was hollow ... and she didn’t know what to say as a follow-up. The silence was heavy as it hung over them, and then Ray made a tsking sound and shook his head.
“You must be so proud, Nikki. You’ve thought through a scenario that is unlikely to ever happen. Bravo.”
Hannah froze at the word. It felt pointed, not an off-the-cuff remark. Slowly, she tracked her eyes to Ray and found him studying her with an intensity that she found off-putting.
“Oh, now you’ve done it, Ray,” Nikki intoned in a voice that made the hair on the back of Hannah’s neck hop to attention. “You just couldn’t leave it alone for another few minutes, could you? We almost had her isolated at the edge of town.”
Hannah’s heart gave a small heave and she briefly pressed her eyes shut. Then she collected herself and faced the duo. She was glad Jinx was with Tyler. She’d almost collected him for the tour to give the veterinarian a break. Given what she was certain was about to happen, she was relieved that the dog was safely away from her. Unfortunately, now that she surveyed her location, she was also safely away from almost everybody else. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing given the circumstances.
“Don’t you want to say something, Hannah?” Ray prodded.
Did she? It might be smart to attack and run, she told herself. She was edgy, though. Her nerves were on full display. She had to calm down before she could react. Otherwise ... well, otherwise things might take a wrong turn.
“What do you want me to say, Ray?” she asked finally, putting a brave face on as she regarded him. “Which one are you?”
“Which one would you like me to be?”
She rolled her eyes at his teasing tone. “You’re obviously pride,” she noted as she flicked her eyes to Nikki. “I honestly didn’t see that coming. You were relatively sweet during your interview. That’s why I landed on you.”
“Oh, let’s not play games,” Nikki drawled. She’d turned from pleasant to predatory in the blink of an eye. “The reason you picked me had nothing to do with me being sweet and everything to do with Lorna flirting with your man.”
Hannah’s mouth ran dry. “I ... what?”
“I told her not to be so overt if she wanted the job,” Nikki continued, as if Hannah hadn’t said a word. “She likes to do things her own way, though. She can’t turn it off. Of course, I don’t know that she’s ever really tried to turn it off. Honestly, though, it doesn’t matter now.”
“We turned it into a competition,” Ray volunteered. “We made sure that the bodies we took over were fit for the job openings you were advertising. We thought we would have a little more time before it became necessary to out ourselves, but your actions over the past two days have forced our hands.”
“We really did want to make a game out of it,” Nikki added. “You made it so that was impossible, though.”
Hannah swallowed hard, a bevy of information running through her head. “You take over bodies.” She
