Chapter 6
Dan came early the next morning and installed the cameras. Jack said a quick hello before he headed off to the station. Dan then showed Melissa how she could monitor the cameras remotely on her iPad.
"It doesn't record unless it senses movement. Then you'll get a notification and you can watch the video online. It's pretty cool technology if I do say so myself. Oh, and if you forget to turn it on, you can do that remotely, too."
He tested it, turning it off and on using Melissa's iPad and when he was satisfied that it was all set, he said goodbye and handed her his card. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call."
Melissa tucked her iPad into her tote bag, said goodbye to Roger, and headed off to the bookshop to open up. She stopped by Sadie's Saloon for one of her gourmet coffees on her way in. Sadie made the best homemade ice cream and always had several flavored coffees to choose from. Today, toasted caramel caught her eye. Lily was on her way out as she walked in.
"How was Seattle? Did you have a blast?" Lily asked.
"It was really fun. It's a great city."
"Do you have plans Wednesday night? It's opening night for the county fair and a few of us are going to head out there after work. There's a blues band that I want to see."
"That sounds fun. I'll check with Jack, but I bet he'll be up for it if he doesn't have plans."
"Good. I think Bernie and David are going to come and Wade, Maddie and Vivian might, too."
"Violet wants to go Wednesday night, too," Sadie said.
"Oh, that would be fun if we get a big group together," Lily said. "I'll check in with you both on Wednesday."
Melissa made her way to her shop and unlocked the door. There were a few boxes of books by the door that she brought in and opened while she sipped her coffee and listened to the radio. Once all the books were put away, she settled behind the counter and pulled out her iPad. Her heart jumped when she saw there was already a notification from the alarm company, indicating movement on her cameras.
She clicked on the app, hit play and then laughed. The movement was just a family of deer, two babies and their mom, sniffing flowers in the back yard. She put the iPad back in her bag and turned as the front door opened and her first customer came in. She smiled when she saw who it was—Jaclyn.
"Good morning!" Melissa went to hold the door as Jaclyn was carrying what looked to be a tray of something.
"Good morning, dear. I trust you like raspberry jam?"
"Who doesn't?"
Jaclyn set the tray on the counter by the register. "You know the county fair is this week?"
Melissa nodded. "Lily just mentioned it this morning, actually. We might go on Wednesday for opening night."
"Oh, good! You can cast a vote for my jam, then. Because you won't taste any finer than this. There will be a sampling tent there, for all kinds of things. I'm in the jam category, of course. Winner gets a nice gift certificate and a trophy. I'm almost out of room on the shelf but I can squeeze one more in. Will have to get Simon to build me another shelf for next year, I suppose."
"Is that the jam you're entering?" Melissa glanced at the covered tray.
"Sort of. I'm still fine-tuning, so it will be very close. That's why I'm here. I need your opinion before I decide on the final recipe."
Melissa's stomach growled. She realized she forgot to eat breakfast, she'd been so busy with Dan at the house.
"I'm happy to help."
"Good, good." Jaclyn carefully lifted the cover off the tray and handed Melissa a thick slab of homemade crusty bread slathered with raspberry jam. Melissa inhaled it.
"Oh, that is wonderful."
"Have another slice dear, I have plenty. I'm off to Sadie's from here. I'm making the rounds. Every vote counts you know."
Melissa smiled around a mouthful of sourdough bread and jam.
"Did you have a nice weekend?" Jaclyn asked, looking at Melissa closely.
"We did. Jack was a wonderful tour guide for Seattle. I can't wait to bring my sister there when she visits."
"That's nice, dear. You enjoyed each other's company, then?"
"Yes. He's a lot of fun. Very easy to be around."
"That's Jack. Life of the party." She smiled and then looked more serious. "There's more to him than that, though. He's a good person. You could do much worse."
She was so right. Cooper's image came to mind as Melissa thought of how much worse she could do.
"You're right. He's a special guy."
Jaclyn seemed satisfied with that and picked up her tray of bread and jam, covering it securely before stepping toward the front door.
"Be a dear and get the door, would you?"
Jack pulled into the driveway right after Melissa, while she was getting her tote bag out of the bag seat. He waved when he saw her and she waited for him to get out of his truck before going inside.
"Hey, there. I'm going to grab Roger and take him for a walk. Want to come?" he asked.
"Sure, I could use a little exercise. I keep meaning to get to another of Barbi's yoga classes."
A few minutes later, they were walking down the street with Roger racing ahead and running in circles on the grass.
"How old is he? He has so much energy."
"I think he's eight and a half maybe. I got him from a shelter, so I can't be totally sure. I think he sleeps all day and saves up his energy for when I get home." He laughed.
"So, the camera app works well," Melissa said.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "How well? Did you see something already?"
"Yes. I got all nervous when the notification flashed on my iPad, but it was just a mother deer and her two babies. They were cute."
"Good." He looked relieved.
They walked along quietly for a few minutes before Jack said, "I talked to Bernie today. I asked her to check the reservations database to make sure Cooper wasn't staying at the ranch. He's not. So, that's a relief at least."
Melissa looked at him in horror. "It never even occurred to me that he might stay there. Thank you for checking." She shuddered at the thought of walking into Cooper somewhere on the ranch.
"So, if he's here, he must be at one of the bed and breakfasts in town. Which is a good thing. The further away, the better."
"I'm still hoping that he's not here, or if he was that he gave up and went home."
Jack stopped walking and looked at her seriously. "If he's here, I can't imagine he's going to go home until he confronts you. Unless you think just hearing that you're married might be deterrent enough?" He looked hopeful at the thought.
But Melissa shook her head. "No, you're right. Even if he does hear that somehow, he'll likely want to confirm it directly with me. He's also enough of a narcissist that it might not deter him much. He'll think he can just tell me to dump you and take him back, convince me that it's the smart thing to do," she sighed.
"Well, all the guys in the office are on the lookout for him," Jack added.
"Thanks. Oh, I ran into Lily today and she said a bunch of people are going to opening night Wednesday at the county fair. It sounds kind of fun. Do you think you might want to go?"
Jack grinned. "I love the fair. They usually have a lineup of great bands playing, too, and all kinds of junk food. Fried bread dough is my favorite."
"I love that, too. We have to go and vote for Jaclyn's jam while we're there. She said there's a tasting contest."
"She wins that just about every year. Well deserved, too. Which night is it again?"
"Wednesday."
"Okay, I'm in. I've got men's hockey tomorrow night and maybe we'll do trivia on Thursday?"
"I'd love that."
"Roger can keep an eye on you tomorrow night. Plus you've got the alarm and cameras. I could stay home, though, if you'd feel more comfortable." Jack still seemed concerned.
"I'll be fine. Really. Like you said, Roger will be there and I can see everything on my iPad. Go and have fun."
Later that even
ing after a supper of leftover pasta and meatballs, they watched a romantic comedy together on Netflix and laughed for nearly two hours. Once they were both in bed, before she drifted off to sleep, Melissa realized that even with the threat of Cooper swirling around her, she was more content than she'd been in a long time. She wasn't the least bit nervous as long as Jack was around. She also realized that she'd been looking forward to coming home after work to a house that wasn't empty. She enjoyed his company that much. It was going to be strange to go back to having it all to herself again once Cooper went back to Boston and they went on with their lives.
The next day flew by as the store was steady with customers until around three when they finally had a slow spell.
"I'm going to run and grab a coffee. Can I get you one?" Melissa asked Anna.
"No, thanks. I'm still sipping a Diet Coke. That's enough caffeine for me."
"I'll be right back, then." Melissa walked quickly to Sadie's and selected a small, double-chocolate coffee.
"It looks like we are in for the fair tomorrow," Melissa told Sadie as she rang her up.
"Oh, good. We are too. Violet's all excited about it, especially because her best friend Vivian is going."
Melissa walked back to the shop a little more slowly, so she could sip her coffee and not worry about it spilling all over her. The air was a bit cooler, and crisp, though still warm. It was the kind of summer day that was a reminder that fall was just around the corner.
As she turned the corner and saw the shop straight ahead, she suddenly felt the hair on the back of her neck bristle. There wasn't a soul around, but she had the oddest sense that she was being watched. It was unnerving. She stopped and looked all around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Must just be her imagination running away with her. Worrying about nothing.
"Has anyone been in since I left?" she asked as she came behind the counter and settled on her favorite stool.
Anna nodded. "A few people. They came in all at once right after you left. That's always the way."
Melissa laughed. "So true. Anyone we know?"
"No. I think they were all guests at the ranch. I didn't recognize any of them."
Melissa relaxed. She'd shown Anna Cooper's picture, so it was a relief to know she was worrying about nothing. For the moment, at least. Her cell phone rang and when she saw it was her sister, she walked into her back office to take the call.
"How was Seattle? Did you love it?" It was good to hear Melanie's voice. They usually talked every other day or so and she hadn't talked to her since Friday.
"I'll take you there when you come to visit. It's not far at all, and we'll go to the Herb Farm. You'll love it." She told her about all the places they'd gone and the recipe she was going to send her.
"Okay, now tell me the most important thing. How did it go with Jack? Was it strange spending the weekend with a husband that you barely know?"
"I worried that it might be. You know, lots of awkward silences and scrambling to find something to talk about. But we just had fun. You'll like him a lot."
"What about you? Do you like him a lot? Could this turn into something?" Melanie sounded excited for her.
Melissa sighed. "It's not like that. At all."
"Why not? I still say the guy’s interested if he's willing to do this. Would it be such a bad thing? To fall in love with someone you're already married to? All the hard work is done."
"You're crazy. I have to go." Melissa heard the front door open and multiple voices. "It's starting to get busy out there. You should start thinking about planning a trip here soon, though. Once Jack moves out, your guest room will be waiting for you."
"We'll see about that," Melanie said.
The house was quiet when Melissa got home a little before six in the evening. Roger was happy to see her and she took him out for a walk so he could do his business. She wasn't sure if Jack was planning to stop home first or go straight to the arena after his shift. The air changed as they walked, dropping temperature quickly as the sky darkened and the wind picked up. A storm was coming. She decided to turn back and fifteen minutes later, she and Roger returned to the house and went inside.
Five minutes later, she heard a loud crack and then the sky lit up with a flash of lightning. The rain came down hard and fast but it didn't last long. A half hour later, the storm had passed and it was calm again. Melissa had lit a candle just in case the power went out and she kept it going as she curled up on the sofa with her laptop. With Jack gone for the evening, it was a good time for her to dive into her nearly finished mystery.
She quickly got lost in her story, following the characters as they investigated a puzzling murder. Roger was curled up peacefully at her feet and she had her favorite Pandora station on, playing soft jazz music in the style of Norah Jones. A popup notification flashed across her screen a moment before Roger growled, softly at first and then more insistently as he pulled himself to his feet and went to stand in front of the door. He looked back at Melissa and started barking loudly and growling, wanting her to open the front door so he could race outside and confront whatever was there.
Melissa clicked the notification and the camera video began to play. It was dark and hard to make out anything in the backyard as there were no lights on, but she saw something move briefly. She got up and pulled the curtains back by the door and flicked on the lights, but didn't see anything. Roger continued to bark even louder. And then she heard the sound of a car starting and driving off. In the far distance, way at the end of her long driveway, she could just barely make out headlights. Going away from the house.
"It's okay, Roger. Whoever was here is gone." She walked over to the dog and gave him a hug, and he whimpered softly and nuzzled against her cheek. "Let's go get comfortable again." She settled back on the sofa and checked the time. It was past nine. Jack would be home any minute, and she had to admit, she'd be glad for it.
She closed her laptop and clicked on the TV. She couldn't focus on writing anymore. The mood was broken. Instead, she watched the news and the weather forecast for the next few days. Sunshine for the rest of the week, perfect for the fair. That was something anyway.
Even though she realized immediately that it was Jack when the key went in the lock, she still jumped at the sound of footsteps at the door. He walked in smiling and carrying his duffle bag with his equipment.
"Hey, there. Did you have a nice quiet night without me? Bet it was relaxing," he said as he walked in.
"Sort of." She filled him in on the camera picking up something and Roger going crazy at the door.
"You saw a car drive off?" Jack ran a hand through his hair as he set down his bag.
"Yeah, right at the end of the driveway. I'm pretty sure it was him." She thought of the funny feeling she'd had earlier that afternoon. A gut sense that someone was watching her. She told Jack about that, too.
"I could be totally wrong about that. It might be nothing, but I swear to you, it made my hair stand at attention and it came on so suddenly."
Jack looked at her for a silent moment before saying, "I don't doubt you at all. Do you know that most women who were attacked say they experienced a similar feeling right before the attack—and ignored it?"
Melissa shivered at the thought. "Well, I was thankful that Roger was here. He sounded ten times his size. Fierce as could be."
Jack reached down and scratched Roger behind his ears.
"Good job, buddy."
"How did you do tonight? Did you win?" Melissa asked.
"We killed them. It was fun."
Melissa yawned. "I'm glad to hear it. I think I'm going to head to bed and read for a bit. I'll see you in the morning. Don't forget tomorrow night we're all going to the fair."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Chapter 7
Jack and Melissa both got up early the next morning and left the house at the same time. Melissa wanted to reorganize some of the shelving before she opened the shop. Jack hit the gym and then met his
sister at Kelsey’s Kafe for breakfast before they both went to work. They met there just about every Wednesday morning. The practice had started several years ago as a way to make sure they checked in with each other weekly since they were both so busy otherwise.
Jack valued his sister's opinion more than anyone else and he knew that she was conflicted about his arrangement with Melissa. Bernie was already at the counter when he arrived.
"You're late!" Kelsi said as he slid onto the stool next to his sister. It was one minute past eight. She grinned as she poured hot coffee into a mug and slid it towards him.
"I'm sorry. I'll do better next time," he said.
"You went to the gym this morning? After playing hockey last night? Something's bothering you," Bernie stated as she added a little more sugar to her coffee.
"How do you know I went to the gym?" His sister knew him too well and at times it was disconcerting.
"Easy, your hair's still wet and there's no gel in it. You always forget your gel when you go to the gym."
Jack laughed. "You've got me there. Maybe I just needed to work off some of what I ate this past weekend."
"Since when have you ever worried about that? Nice try, though. What's going on?"
"I'm just worried about Melissa. I know you said her ex isn't staying at the ranch, but I think he may have been around there yesterday and someone set off the cameras last night. Roger heard it, too, and went crazy. I think he scared off whoever it was."
Bernie chewed her bottom lip, something she always did when she was worried.
"It sounds more serious than I realized. Poor Melissa, and now I have to worry about you being involved in this."
Jack gave her a look. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm a cop, I'm trained for this. You don't have to worry about me."
"I'll always worry about you. Can't be helped." They both looked up as Kelsi walked back over.
"Do you both want your usual or Bob's special? I'd go with the special if I were you."
Missing Melissa Page 5