BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure (11 page)

He cut a glance at her, the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes deepening. “Dimmed enthusiasm. That makes your future prospects sound sort of grim.”

“Think about it. You date someone for what—six months, a year, maybe two? And you think you know them. Or worse, some people even live together, thinking it’s a true test. But it isn’t, because everyone is still on their best behavior, knowing they could lose out if they aren’t careful.” She took a deep breath. “But then you get married and the masks come off. And what then?”

“Happily-ever-after wedded bliss?” Jack winked at her. “My mother assures me that it’s so.”

“She sounds like a sweet lady.”

“And one who wants to see me married off so Max will have a stable home…and she’ll have the prospect of more grandkids. But I’m afraid she’s out of luck.”

Erin laughed. “We are quite the jaded pair.”

“Realistic.”

“And that, too.” They were approaching the turnoff for Millie’s, and Erin motioned him to turn in right in front of the store. “You can just drop me off here. I’ll walk around back and let Charlie out for a while, and then I’ll come over.”

He frowned. “It’s awfully dark back there. I’ll go with you.”

“And leave Max alone in the car? No need.” She opened up the door and hopped out. “See you in an hour or so.”

Still, he backed up a few yards and made a three-point turn so his headlights flooded the front of the
cottage out back, and waited until she got inside. Only when she’d flipped on a number of interior lights did she see his headlights swing away.

Charlie whined anxiously from his wire kennel in the laundry room, so she took him out first and let him loose in the fenced yard. He raced around the perimeter, barking furiously, as if determined to chase any interlopers away, then he disappeared and fell silent—probably after finding one of his giant rawhide chew toys.

She waited for a minute, then shrugged and went inside to draw a hot bath laced with her favorite lavender-and-lily bath oil.

As she sank into the fragrant water, she leaned back and closed her eyes, feeling her cold muscles relax in the delicious heat until she felt as boneless as a rag doll.

What a lovely day. What a perfectly lovely day…

Drifting and dreaming, she floated on powdery snow in a sunlit field…then a discordant note jarred her thoughts. Something was whining. Clawing at a door. Charlie?

Startled, she jerked awake and shivered in the now cool bathwater. She grabbed the watch she’d laid at the edge of the tub.
Seven?
It couldn’t be seven.

Launching herself out of the tub, she quickly dried off and hunted through her closet, then settled on a pair of black slacks and a bulky-knit crimson sweater
before going to the back door. Sure enough, Charlie was sorrowfully staring through the glass, his paws planted halfway up the door.

“I am so, so sorry,” she said as she let him inside and relocked the dead bolt.

Instead of giving her his usual, exuberant welcome, or going to his dog bowls to demand food and water, he hung his head and went back inside his kennel, where he plopped down with his head facing out and resting it on his paws.

“Are you sulking?”

He didn’t stir.

“I suppose you would’ve liked sledding today.”

His tail thumped once against the side of the kennel.

“And…I suppose you think I forgot you outside. Which I did.”

Again, a single, halfhearted thump.

“Maybe you could come with me tonight. Max would like that, and you’ve been alone a lot today. I just need to get my camera and laptop, and we can pick up a few groceries in the store. Okay?”

She went into the bedroom and crouched to reach under the bed, then rocked back on her heels. Where was it? Swiveling, she glanced around the room. It was always under the bed, out of sight, unless she was using it here or at the shop.
Always.

After a thorough search of every possible place, she picked up her camera, whistled to Charlie and
went to the store. There she hunted through the store with him close at her heels, while grabbing the ingredients for supper along the way.

The laptop wasn’t in the store, either.

She stared at her reflection in the front windows of the store, suddenly uneasy. She couldn’t see out, but anyone could see in, as clearly as if she was on TV. What if someone was out there watching her every move?

She’d had that odd feeling when pulling her jacket from the closet. A sense that things weren’t exactly right. The same sensation in the bedroom. Yet nothing had appeared to be missing until now. If someone had broken in to rob the place, why hadn’t he snagged her jewelry box?

Her grandmother’s pearls were inside. A considerable collection of Black Hills Gold she’d bought one piece at a time. The box, less than a foot long, would have been easy to carry, or its contents dumped into a pillowcase. And yet nothing inside was missing.

Which left the laptop as a specific target. But it was several years old and hardly a gem in today’s rapidly changing technology market.

So who would want it…and why?

“I hope you don’t mind Charlie coming along,” Erin said as Jack ushered her into his kitchen. “He’s been alone all day, and he seems depressed.”

Jack reached down to ruffle the fur behind the dog’s ears. “No problem. Max loves him.”

“Lie down, Charlie.” She watched the pup obediently go to the corner by the kitchen table and plop down, then look around. “It’s so quiet here. Where’s Max?”

“Still sleeping, but last time I looked he was starting to stir.” He unpacked the grocery sack while she slipped out of her jacket.

“Sorry I’m late.” She blew at her bangs. “I fell asleep in the bathtub, had to take Charlie outside, needed to pick these groceries and—unfortunately—spent a lot of time searching for my laptop.”

“Where’d you find it?”

“I didn’t. I usually stow it in a computer bag under the bed when I leave, so it isn’t too tempting to someone breaking in.” She sighed in frustration. “I searched the cottage, top to bottom. Then I looked around the store, just in case.”

“Did someone take it?”

“I think so, but that’s what’s strange. I had jewelry in plain sight on the bureau, along with some cash, and those things weren’t touched. Why would someone want an old laptop and not nab the twenty dollars?”

“I lost my laptop in my house once. It was lying on the carpet and got nudged under a sofa. Another time, I found it on an end table under a pile of newspapers.”

“Well, I looked everywhere twice, and mine is
gone. But when I call this in, the sheriff is going to think I’m just imagining things again. What proof do I have that it was ever here?” She bit her lower lip. “Even Isabelle thinks I’m worrying over nothing, yet more and more things keep happening. If only I’d had a recording of the phone call, it would be
something
to go on.”

Jack turned sharply to look at her. “You got a phone call?”

“A heavy breather at first…then he mocked my inability to prove I’d had any trouble whatsoever.” She opened the cupboard and pulled out a frying pan, turned on the stove and the oven, then dumped a package of ground beef into the pan. “I know he was trying to scare me, but he was right. No proof. And of course, the caller ID said the number was unavailable.”

“You need a security system.”

“And
a security light or two behind the store. I’ve already called the power company, but they can’t get at the light for another week or two.” She opened several drawers until she found a plastic spatula, then started breaking up the browning ground beef. “Want to stir up that box of brownies?”

He nodded, checked the box and retrieved three eggs from the fridge, then washed his hands at the sink. “What about the security system?”

“A guy is coming up from Red Lodge on Wednes
day.” She watched him neatly crack each egg one-handed and grinned. “Hey, you’re pretty good.”

“College job at an all-night diner. Just the basics.” He tossed the shells in the trash. “Frankly I’m worried about you staying alone at that cottage, if Ollie really saw someone lurking by your windows at night. You’ve had a threatening phone call and now your laptop is missing. Whoever this guy is, he’s escalating.”

“But if he’s actually broken into the cottage, surely he saw that I have nothing of great value to steal. Don’t those people usually go after fancy electronics and such?”

Jack pulled a bottle of canola oil from the cupboard and measured some into the bowl. “Maybe it’s something else. Maybe…your grandfather was known for something. Coin collections. Or his aversion to banks, so he hid his cash in odd places.”

She laughed at that. “Not Gramps. He’s a firm believer in CDs and T-bills.”

Max shuffled into the kitchen sleepy-eyed, but his face brightened when he saw Erin and the puppy. “You came!” he exclaimed, running over to the corner. He dropped to his knees and hugged Charlie’s neck.

But instead of joyously licking the child’s face and bounding into dizzying circles, the pup cringed and drew back.

“Look at that.” She studied the cowering puppy,
and a sudden realization made her feel sick to her stomach. “He was in the cottage when we went to the church potluck dinner, and I left him loose when I got back because he’s been doing well with his housetraining. Ever since, he’s been different—terrified, reclusive. I’ll bet my intruder came while we were gone.”

She called softly to Charlie. He whined, but when she called again, he belly-crawled across the floor to her. When she ran a hand over his body, he yelped when she touched his side.

Max’s eyes widened. “Is he hurt?”

She gently examined his ribs. “There’s no heat or swelling, but I’ll bet he’s bruised, right here.” She looked up at Max. “Maybe a little, like when you fall down. I’ll take him to the vet if he’s still sore tomorrow.”

“We’ve got Band-Aids.”

“He’s not bleeding, so I think we’re okay.” She smiled to reassure him. “Just don’t pet his side, okay? Maybe it would be better if you just let him rest awhile.” She stood, turned to Jack and lowered her voice. “I think he got kicked or hit, and I can’t tell you how angry I feel. An old computer is one thing, but to hurt a sweet, trusting puppy is beyond comprehension.”

“And now we know the guy is probably capable of violence.” Jack nodded and briefly rested a hand at her cheek. “I’m worried about you, Erin.”

“I’m a big girl. I won’t do anything foolish.”

“You need to call that sheriff. And now, I
definitely
don’t think you should be staying alone in that cottage until this guy is caught, or you have that security system in place. There’s certainly room here—or maybe you could stay at the motel in town.”

The options sounded appealing. But drawing danger to the rental house could risk the safety of a small child, and the old strip motel, set off in the pines and away from the lights of town, sounded even less secure.

“I’ve got a gun, actually. My grandfather’s.” She hoped her voice sounded more confident than she really felt. “So don’t worry—I’ll be just fine.”

A
fter the supper dishes were done, Erin pulled her digital camera from the pocket of her coat. “If you have a computer handy, we can look at the sledding photos. Maybe I’ll see a few that I can delete, and then I can get a shot of those two right now.”

Max had finally lured Charlie from beneath the table, and the two of them were stretched out on the living-room floor. Max had one arm draped over the dog’s shoulders and with the other hand he was turning the pages of
Go, Dog. Go!

He was laboriously sounding out the words on each page, and if Erin didn’t know better, she’d think the dog was actually looking at the storybook, too.

Jack brought out his laptop and opened it on the kitchen table, then turned it on. Once the startup process brought up the desktop, she slipped the card in and launched the photo program. A flood of photos rapidly populated the screen.

“Oh, my,” she breathed. “I’d forgotten what a beautiful day it was for the wedding. It seems like a lifetime ago. I hadn’t even looked at these until now.”

Jack braced a hand on the table and leaned over her shoulder to peer at the tiny thumbnail views. “You should be a professional photographer.”

“Thanks. I’d be nervous about taking that kind of responsibility, but I love taking candids for friends and relatives, then giving them an album for their first anniversary.

“This one was held in a state park close to Denver. It was just gorgeous, with the start of the fall colors and all those trees.”

She clicked on the first photo and laughed when it filled the screen. “The bride, Linda, is one of my best friends, and the disgruntled flower girl is her niece. The ring bearer had just walloped her with his little satin pillow, so by the time I snapped the photo, both kids were in tears.”

Jack chuckled. “Since your laptop is missing, go ahead and look through all of them while you have a chance. Max is busy, and I can check through the last package of mail my secretary forwarded up here.”

She eagerly clicked on the next photo, then smiled up at him. “This is like opening birthday presents, getting to see how these all turned out.”

Jack disappeared into one of the main-floor bed
rooms, where he’d apparently set up an office, and she turned back to the photos.

A wave of nostalgia hit her as the wedding day unfolded before her eyes. Family. Friends. Joy and confidence shining in the couple’s eyes.
I once thought I’d have that, too, Lord…but I guess that isn’t what You have in store for me.

She scrolled through several hundred shots, deleting the ones with obvious flaws, until she got to the departure of the bride and groom. Jack wasn’t back yet and Max was still reading to the dog, so she continued into the several dozen or so that she’d taken of the surrounding park after Linda and her husband had left for their honeymoon.

“Breathtaking,” she murmured, studying a glittery waterfall tumbling over rugged boulders. Aspens formed brilliant yellow sentinels framing the photo, their skeletal white trunks in stark contrast to the charcoal-gray rock.