Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (23 page)

“Eat all you want, guys,” he
called over his shoulder. “I ate at the house while Bess and Mariah were
filling the containers.”

“Hey, Burt. Thanks for coming
by.”

“No problem. I’m glad your horses
are all safe and sound.”

He led Officer Bedford to the
barn door that had been broken into, and he wrote out his report. “No one saw
anything?” he asked.

“No. Art phoned me at two fifteen
this morning and told me he heard the sound of horses. When he looked out the
window, he saw them bolt down the driveway. They took off in every direction,
most of them headed west across the prairie. We were able to round them all up,
but they were very frightened. I don’t know if it was from the wild storm, or
whoever let them loose; probably both.”

The officer nodded. They walked
around and looked for any sign of disturbance other than the door. They found
nothing except hoof marks left by a stampede of terrified horses. Nick
accompanied Burt back to his car.

“Is Carl Larson by any chance out
of jail yet?” Nick asked.

Burt looked up and slowly nodded.
“Why? You think it may have been him? We had to let him go last night. There
wasn’t enough info to keep him. He was told not to leave town, in case we have
any more questions. I doubt if he’d do something like this, right after his
release. I’ll drive by there on my way out.”

“Thanks Burt. We’ll be checking
every square foot of the ranch to be sure nothing else had been disturbed.”

“Sounds good. Let us know if you
find anything. We’ll contact you if any information leads up to this,” he said,
and climbed into his car.

Nick shook his head while he
watched him drive away, then turned around and walked briskly back to the
stable. He wanted to update the men and have them check the entire ranch
grounds for evidence of any more disturbances.

* * *

Nick was in his office with Art
when the call came in.

“Nick, this is Burt. For your
information, this call is off the record. As your friend, I thought you’d like
to know, before you hear it on television.”

Nick frowned and glanced up at
Art, then listened as Officer Bedford continued.

“Carl is dead, Nick. He left a
suicide note.”

“What did it say?”

“He said he loved his wife, and
he’s going to join her. He put a gun to his head.”

Nick stood and ran his free hand
through his hair.

“That wasn’t all. He suggested we
ask you what happened to Natalie. I only wanted to prepare you, my friend.
Officer Hutchinson is on his way out to your place to ask a few questions.”

Nick slowly replaced the receiver
and lowered himself back into his chair. With a look of anger, he slammed his
fist on his desk. His coffee sloshed over the edge of his cup and pens rolled
across and fell to the floor.

Art bent down to pick them up,
placed them next to Nick’s note pad, and looked him in the eye. “What happened,
Nick?”

No answer came. He sat very still
and stared at the door.

Chapter
Thirty-six

Hutchinson completed his
questioning and left, satisfied with Nick’s explanation as to where he was when
Natalie had disappeared. Nick released a long sigh of relief. Art sat and
watched him. The question hung between them, unasked, unanswered. What in the
hell happened to Natalie…

“I really do think Carl ran her
off the road and over the cliff,” Nick said quietly. The other men were just
finishing up for the day, and Nick didn’t want questions or comments from them.
The officer advised them to say nothing to anyone until they looked further
into the case.

“I wouldn’t doubt it, and I don’t
think the police do either. By what Mariah told you, it sounded like he hated
her with a passion. Didn’t Mariah say she looked as though she was trying to
get away? Maybe he’d suspected that and decided to follow her.”

“We’ll probably never know; it
could also have been Carl who released the horses and now we have no way to
find out. Well, let’s call it a day, Art. It’s been a long one.”

* * *

When he entered the house, he
noticed Mariah sitting in front of the television, listening to another special
news alert, with a worried expression across her face. She looked up when he
walked into the living room, stood behind the sofa, and listened to the
newscast.

“Have you heard about this?”
Mariah asked.    

He nodded, too drained to explain
anything further than what she’d learned on the news. “Sure smells good in
here.”

Mariah stood quickly and placed a
kiss on his cheek. “You’re exhausted. Come out to the kitchen. I left your
dinner in the oven set on warm. Hot beef sandwiches and corn on the cob.”

“Thanks, honey. Just give me a
minute to wash up,” he said, and hurried to the bathroom. When he returned, she
placed his meal on the table.

“Would you like a couple of
dinner rolls?”

“No thanks, this is fine. Now
what did you hear on the news?”

“Just that Carl shot himself and
left a note.”

“Unfortunately it isn’t quite as
easy as they’re reporting.” Nick continued to explain everything to Mariah that
Burt told him.

“Oh no. Do they really think Carl
was the one who ran her off the road? Please don’t tell me they actually
believe she’s dead.”

“They’ve continued to search the
area in Lake Superior, in hope of finding her, but it’s a large body of water;
if she drifted out, they may never locate her, unless she’s been able to stay
above the surface. They doubt that would be the case. They’ve had high winds
this past week.”

He wiped his mouth with a napkin.
“This was delicious. It really hit the spot.” He leaned back in his chair and
placed his hand on his stomach. I’d better get to bed though. Whoever broke
into the stable may have done more damage elsewhere. We’ll have to check every
square foot of the property. The men will all be here a bit earlier than their usual
hour.”

“Okay, I’ll be in soon.” She
stood from the table and lightly squeezed his shoulder. “I’m going to rinse off
the dishes and prepare the coffee pot to brew in the early morning.”

Nick gathered his plate and
utensils and handed them to her. “Where’s Bess been today? I haven’t seen her
around.”

“She hasn’t been feeling well. I
told her to stay in bed. She didn’t think it wise to be around the kids, so I
served her lunch and dinner in her room. The last time I checked on her, she
was reading and said she felt much better. She’s sure it was something she ate,
and she’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Good. Well I’m going to take a
hot shower, and get some sleep. I love you babe.” He gave her a gentle hug, a
kiss on her forehead, and then disappeared down the dark hallway.

When she finished washing the
dishes, Mariah looked at the clock. It read nine-fifty, and Sarah always stayed
up late. She dried her hands and hung the dishcloth on the towel bar. Grabbing
her cell phone, she went into the living room, sat on the sofa and dialed
Sarah’s number.

“You still up?” she asked when
Sarah answered.

“You know I’m always up until
midnight.”

“Have you seen the evening news?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry to say this
Mariah, but I’m glad he’s gone. He was such a horrible man.”

“That still doesn’t give us any
indication of what happened to Natalie.”

“Well, you know as much as I do
about Carl. I’m beginning to believe he really did run her off the road.
Eventually time will tell. If she’s still alive, once she discovers Carl is gone,
she’ll most likely come home.”

“Sarah, didn’t you hear the
complete report? She won’t be able to return. You saw how horrible it was. They
not only condemned the house, but the property too. Three acres of land; he
didn’t want to pay for the Pinewood Hills Waste Management, so he buried their
garbage in the backyard.”

“I guess that explains the
horrible stench.”

“The inside looked as if Carl was
a hoarder, although I doubt that Natalie was. I think he forced her to live his
way. She probably had no say about it. He was very strange indeed. If she’s
still alive, she may not know it was condemned. She could possibly show up.
We’ll just have to wait and see. I believe everything's pointing to him. He had
such a satanic look in his eyes. He’s gone and I feel a lot better now.”

“I do too. If you hear any more,
let me know.”

“I will. I have to get up early
for my riding class. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Mariah turned off the lights then
stopped at Nicky’s room. She pulled his blanket up to his chin and kissed him lightly
on his forehead. She walked out and left the door ajar. When she entered the
twins’ bedroom, she leaned her arm over the top bar of the crib and ran the
back of her fingers across their delicate cheeks. She loved them so much. They
were such good, happy babies. Having Nick, their children, and this large,
newly built home, she thanked the Lord for giving her everything she’d ever
dreamed of having.

Chapter
Thirty-seven

Nick had completed the payroll
and wrapped a rubber band around the stack of envelopes. He looked up as the
office door opened.

“Hi Nick.” Jake entered carrying
two cups of coffee from Starbucks. He set one of them in front of Nick.

“Mornin’ Jake.” He removed his
paycheck from the bundle and handed it to him. “You’re here a bit early this
morning. Thanks for the coffee,” he added.

Jake nodded his head, “No
problem.” He folded his check and placed it in his billfold, then sat in a
chair in front of the desk. “I wanted to talk to you. All of the fencing has
been checked and repaired where needed. The rescue horses have been doing quite
well now and there haven’t been any newcomers in a while. I was wondering if I
could take two weeks off next month. I’d like to go deer hunting. Something
I’ve had no time for in the past couple of years. Actually, not since the year
before I married Anya.”

“I think that can be arranged; we
should be able handle everything. Where are you going?”

“My cousins want to head up to
either Grand Rapids or Ely this year. I’d prefer the outskirts of Ely, myself.
It’s beautiful on Minnesota’s northern border at this time of the year.
Actually, it’s been nice year round up there. I heard of a great location for
hunters outside of Ely called Hidden Pine Resort. They rent ten log cabins in a
deep forest about nine miles west of Ely. It’s secluded and said to be very
quiet and peaceful.”

“So…you’d actually go to hunt, or
simply escape for some relaxation?”

“It all depends on whether the
guys are able to get time off on such short notice. If not, I’ll go by myself.
It might even be nice to be alone, sit around and unwind. Maybe catch a few
walleye.”

“You do need a vacation. You’ve
been through quite a bit. If you end up going on your own, you won’t be
hunting, will you?”

“No, not without a partner; I
have a lot of thinking to do, and though it’d be great for us to get together,
I’d also enjoy time to myself.”

“Well you certainly deserve it.
Just let me know the days you’ll want, as soon as possible.”

“I will, and thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, and
watched as Jake left the office and closed the door behind him.

Nick sat back in his chair and
tapped his pencil on the desktop. If only he knew of a nice, sweet girl to
introduce him to. Too bad Mariah doesn’t have a sister. Perhaps she and Sarah
might have someone in mind, he thought.

* * *

“Nick, my cousins won’t be able
to get away. If possible, I’d prefer to begin my vacation on Monday.
Mid-September would still be a good time for fishing, especially since the
weather’s been extremely warm this year.”

“Sounds like a good idea. One of
the best ways to relax is on a nice quiet lake with a pole in your hand.”

“I need the time alone, and I
think the next two weeks would be ideal.”

Nick knew Jake was feeling a bit
of remorse because of the fact that he’d already filed for divorce before
Anya’s death.

“Sounds good; you’ll be back in
time, if winter should happen to arrive early. As we all well know, there have
been snowstorms in October.”

“That’s exactly what I was
thinking.”

“Okay, we’ll have your job
covered. Today is already Thursday. Go ahead and take tomorrow off and we’ll
see you back here on the first of October.”

“Thanks a lot, Nick.” He nodded
with a grin and placed his Stetson on his head.

“Relax and enjoy yourself, my
friend.” He stood and walked out with him. He needed a breath of fresh air.

Jake waved as he drove away, and
Nick went into the barn, saddled his horse, and rode out to check on the rescue
team.

* * *