by Dani Pettrey
“Maybe they flew into Seattle. It’s a much larger airport with a ton more commercial flights and only an hour and a half from here. Given Mystery Man’s penchant for making his trail hard to track, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Or me. They could have easily taken a bus from Seattle to here and retrieved the truck.”
“You’d think Elizabeth would question why he wanted to go in such a roundabout fashion. It had to seem strange.”
“People will overlook a lot for love.”
She angled her head to face him better and smirked. “Spoken from experience?”
“Now, don’t you go worrying your pretty little head about my love life again.”
“That reminds me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about your little present. Expect some serious payback.”
He winked. “I’d be disappointed with anything less. Now let’s go check out the Seattle airport.”
After a day and evening spent in a frustrating search of Agnes’s file on the Kodiak Archipelago Legends, Bailey finally located it—in the bathroom of all places, tucked between copies of Better Homes and Gardens in the magazine rack. She could only assume Agnes had been reading the material during one of her nightly bubble baths and forgotten it in the pile.
Had she not been leafing through the magazines for her own bath, she never would have found it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only misplaced file. After painstakingly clearing, sorting, and refiling the stacks from the worktable, she’d noticed several files missing from the master ledger. It wasn’t like Agnes to misplace things or to leave files lying about in the bathroom.
While her aunt’s storeroom was bursting at the seams with items she simply couldn’t say no to, her bookkeeping and filing were meticulous.
Bailey stepped from the tub of tepid water, having read the file from cover to cover.
Pulling on a long-sleeve cotton T-shirt and a pair of flannel bottoms, she pulled her damp hair into a misshapen bun, flipped off the hall light, and headed down to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.
She picked up the phone as the water heated and dialed Cole. It was late, but she was anxious to share her find and decided there was a good chance he was still awake.
He answered on the third ring. “McKenna?”
“It’s Bailey.”
“This is a nice surprise.” His voice was warm and rich, like melting chocolate.
She poured steaming water into the mug. “How’s Gage?” Everyone had assured her he was fine and that she shouldn’t think twice about it, including Gage. He’d rejoined the party wearing dry clothes and his trademark exuberant smile, and the party had proceeded as planned. A day had passed, but she still felt awful.
“He’s fine. Now, stop worrying about it or I’ll sic Piper on you.”
She chuckled. “All right. I’ll stop.”
“Good.”
She moved to the kitchen table and lifted Butterscotch onto her lap. He nestled into the folds of her pants and purred contentedly.
“I finally found Agnes’s notes on the sunken island.”
“Great. Any help?”
She swallowed a sip of tea. “Actually, yes. Looks like she did an extensive amount of work on the subject in the days leading up to her death. She cites a series of letters from the Yancey Historical Society as her primary source.”
“Guess we should take a look at those letters.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.”
“I can meet you over there tomorrow when they open.”
“Sounds good.” She took another sip, debating whether to say more. She wanted to, but could she really trust Cole not to laugh at her?
“Bay?”
“Sorry.” She set the mug down. “I’ve just been thinking. . . .”
“About?”
She exhaled, praying she didn’t sound as paranoid as she felt. “How several of Agnes’s files are missing.”
“How can you tell?”
It was a fair question. The last time he’d been in, the place had been a disaster.
“I straightened up. There are definitely a handful missing off the master ledger, and several seriously misplaced.”
“Which ones?”
“The Kodiak Archipelago Legends for starters.”
Butterscotch’s body tensed. Fur rising, he hissed and leapt from her lap and bolted out of the kitchen.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Butterscotch is just being weird.” The cat certainly had his moments, though that didn’t explain the sudden chill washing over her. Now she really was being paranoid.
“You were saying?”
“Never mind.” She put her mug in the sink. “It’s nothing. Just . . .” She bit her bottom lip and leaned against the counter. “It’s just that it doesn’t feel like Agnes. She was so meticulous. Everything in its right place, you know?”
“It’s been a long time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” That she didn’t know Agnes?
“I’m just saying people change.”
She twirled the phone cord around her finger. So much for change. Agnes still used rotary phones. “I guess I just wish she hadn’t.”
Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so guilty about not visiting, about always making Agnes travel to her. If she hadn’t been such a coward, hiding from her past, she could have had more time with Agnes. Now it was too late.
Something clattered in the next room.
Butterscotch screeched.
“Hang on a sec. . . .”
“Anything wrong?”
“Probably just the cat getting into mischief.”
Carrying the receiver with her, she moved into the shop, turned on the light, and found a chair knocked over.
“What’s going on?”
“Butterscotch just tipped—” The words stalled in her throat as her gaze fell to the open front door.
Butterscotch perched just inside the threshold, hissing.
“Bailey?” Cole’s voice echoed her fear.
“The door’s open.”
“What?”
“I must have forgotten to lock up.” But she hadn’t.
“I’m coming over.”
“That’s not necessary.”
A click sounded on the other end.
Her heart hammering in her throat, she scooped up Butterscotch and peered outside.
Nothing but shadows.
24
Bailey bolted the door and checked all the windows, twice.
She carried Butterscotch to the kitchen and poured him a saucer of milk.
Leaning against the counter, she watched him lap it up. Now she just needed to figure out a way to calm herself down. Landon was right about Thelma’s uncanny ability to stir a panic.
A knock rapped on the door, and she jumped, nearly kicking over Butterscotch’s bowl. Her heart skittering in her chest, she gulped down a calming breath.
Moving into the shop, she found Cole waiting anxiously on the other side of the door.
His face lit when he spotted her, though it did nothing to erase the worry etched across his brow.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” It was embarrassing. “Something spooked Butterscotch, and I’m afraid the effect was contagious. It was probably nothing more than the wind.”
Concern flickered in his eyes. “There isn’t any wind tonight.”
She swallowed, ignoring the fear pricking at her. “Then I must have forgotten to lock up.”
His expression said he wasn’t buying it.
Another knock sounded, and she jumped, her reaction not lost on Cole.
“It’s just Landon,” he said softly, striding to the door.
She frowned. “You called the sheriff’s department?” Great. Mortification set in. Now everyone would know she’d freaked out over nothing.
“I called Landon on his cell. He just got back from Washington. Said he was following a lead and had some news to share anyway. Besides, I wasn’t taking any
chances.” He opened the door.
Landon stepped in and tipped his hat in her direction. “Bailey.”
Piper followed, wearing an oversized UAF sweatshirt, and was that mud streaked through her hair?
Cole’s gaze narrowed on his sister. “What happened to you, and why are you wearing Landon’s sweatshirt?”
Piper brushed her mud-streaked hair back from her face and stifled a yawn.
Landon sighed. “It’s a long story. But first things first.” He turned to Bailey, his tired eyes filled with concern. “Cole said there was an intruder?”
“It was nothing. Butterscotch was just being skittish, and—”
“The front door was open,” Cole cut in, worry thick in his voice. It was sweet. Unnecessary, but sweet.
“Are you sure you locked up for the night?” Landon asked, checking the windows.
“Yes, but . . .” What could she say? She knew in her heart she’d locked the front door. It was the first thing she did every night. Besides, she’d already suggested that explanation to Cole and he wasn’t buying it. Something told her Landon wouldn’t either. “Gus has a key. Maybe he stopped by to drop something off.”
“And didn’t say anything to you?” Cole said.
“Maybe he didn’t realize I was home.” It sounded farfetched even to her, but she was running out of explanations, and there had to be a logical one. She wouldn’t stop grasping until she found one.
Piper wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“I’m afraid that doesn’t explain why the door was left ajar. Gus would have locked up after himself. Do you see anything new or different in the room, anything missing?” Landon asked.
Simply to appease him, she took a cursory glance around and was ready to shake her head when something silver caught her eye at the base of the worktable. It would have been easy to overlook—small and slender, the width of a toothpick, only longer.
Landon followed her gaze. He bent and retrieved it with a handkerchief. “You recognize this?” He examined the slender object and his jaw tightened.
The worry in Cole’s eyes deepened.
A chill crept up her arms, and she crossed them, refusing to give in to panic. “Who knows how long that’s been there. I’m sure it has nothing to do with tonight.”
Landon carefully slid it into his pocket. “Mind if I take a look around, just to be safe?”
“Sure. Help yourself.”
Piper’s gaze shifted between Bailey and Cole. “I think I’ll help Landon.”
For once Landon didn’t protest.
Bailey took a seat beside Cole on the couch as Landon and Piper made the rounds, inspecting first the interior and then the exterior of the building.
“This is silly. I’m sure it was nothing.” If she repeated it enough, maybe they’d all start to believe it.
“We just want to make sure you’re safe.” Cole squeezed her hand.
How could she argue with that?
Landon and Piper returned, and Cole scrambled to his feet. “Well?”
“Everything looks secure.”
Relief swept over her.
“What now?” Cole asked.
“Lock up tight. I’ll run Piper home and then drive back by and make sure everything looks okay.” He handed Bailey his card. “Anything else happens—you hear a sound, the cat gets spooked—you give me a call.”
She took the card, knowing she didn’t have a choice. “Thanks.”
“I mean it. Many crimes could have been forestalled if people listened to their instincts. God gave us an innate reaction to danger. Sometimes listening can make all the difference.”
“Thanks.”
Piper hugged her. “You want me to stay the night?”
“That’s really sweet of you, but I’m fine, really.” She couldn’t give in to fear.
“You sure?” Piper asked.
“Definitely.”
“All right, but if you change your mind, you give me a call. Doesn’t matter what time it is.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll walk them out and be right back,” Cole said.
She nodded and tucked Landon’s card in her pocket. It was nice being looked after for a change, even if it was overkill.
Landon pulled an evidence bag from the kit in his trunk and slid the pick in. “I’ll run it for prints as soon as I get back to the station.”
Cole leaned against the patrol car, adrenaline surging through his body. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you’re thinking it’s a lock pick, then you’re right.”
Piper rubbed her arms, looking up and down the dark street.
Fear gnawed at Cole’s gut. “I was afraid of that. So someone did try to break in. If I hadn’t been on the phone with her at the time, who knows what could have happened.”
“Can’t be positive.”
“How else can you explain the pick?” Piper asked.
“Like Bailey said, we don’t know how long it’s been there. Maybe Miss Agnes used it to open old jewelry boxes that were missing their key or something. We can’t jump to conclusions.”
Cole raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I, but there’s nothing else we can do at this point. She didn’t actually see anyone enter and as far as she can tell nothing’s missing. Other than this pick—which may or may not have had any other uses—there’s no sign of a break-in.”
“I heard the cat screech. He saw something or someone.”
“Probably made whoever was using this drop it.” Landon sealed the evidence bag. “Hopefully, we’ll be lucky and get some prints.”
“And if there are none?” Working emergency services, Cole had been privy to enough crime scenes to know that prints were a luxury.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I’ll let you get back to Bailey, and I’ll get this pick into evidence.”
“Wait, what did you want to talk to us about?”
Landon glanced at Bailey through the window. “It can wait till morning.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely. She needs your undivided attention right now.” Landon helped Piper into his car and then moved around to the driver’s side. “Make sure Bailey locks up tight, and I’ll drive back by after I take Piper home.”
Cole tapped the roof. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.”
The door creaked as Cole came back inside. He paused to lock it before sitting down on the couch beside her. “You doing all right?”
Bailey rubbed her arms, trying to chase the lingering chill away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Butterscotch lumbered in from the kitchen, licking his lips. Stretching, he flopped down contentedly at Bailey’s feet.
Cole chuckled. “That was a quick recovery.”
She smiled, rubbing Butterscotch’s full belly. “A saucer of milk works wonders.”
“What about you? Can I get you a cup of tea, a milkshake?”
Her brows knit together. “A milkshake? It’s almost midnight.” But it sounded good. She hadn’t had one in years.
Cole tilted his head at the street outside. “The diner lights are still on. I’m sure I could get Gus to rustle us up a couple of milkshakes.”
“I’d forgotten how good Gus’s shakes are.”
Cole got to his feet. “What’s your flavor?”
“You don’t have to go to any more trouble.”
“No trouble. All this talk about milkshakes, now I’m craving one.”
“If you’re sure . . .”
“Positive.”
“Okay, then, chocolate. But if Gus is leaving for the night, don’t keep him.”
“You got it. One chocolate, one moose tracks, coming right up.” He jiggled the doorknob. “Lock this behind me.”
“You’re going to be right back.”
“And I’ll knock like a gentleman.”
Now her heart was pounding for an entirely different reason. Different,
but no less frightening.
She needed to tread carefully. She was letting Cole slip past her radar, and for what? Nothing could happen between them. Nothing long-range, anyway. He knew her past. He was part of it. He’d never view her as wife material. How could he? To him, no matter what he may say otherwise, she’d always be that girl, never the girl.
25
Thirty minutes and one fantastic milkshake later, Cole watched the fright fade from Bailey’s eyes. Though she insisted it had been nothing, he wasn’t convinced. While he couldn’t outright dismiss Landon’s suggestion that the pick may have belonged to Agnes for some other purpose, that didn’t explain Butterscotch’s screech, or the open front door.
He closed his eyes, lifting a quick prayer of thanks to God that he’d been on the phone with Bailey when it happened.
The last breaking and entering had been done by Jesse Ryan and his old crowd that wandered down from Kodiak Island on the weekends. But they tended to be way less subtle, using a credit card to slip an easy lock or a rock to bust a window. He’d check with Jesse, see if he’d heard any news concerning his old crowd, if they were back to their old tricks, but the pick seemed a bit sophisticated for a bunch of troubled youth.
A few times over the years, the sheriff’s department had caught a tourist trying to make a heist and disappear back onto the cruise ship and into the sunset. More likely they were dealing with a drifter who assumed the shop was unoccupied. It was a natural assumption, as the majority of stores on Main Street were after nightfall, though the Post was the only one that housed items of substantial worth.
Hearing Bailey probably startled the perpetrator and he’d fled, dropping his pick in the process.
It was the most logical scenario, but it brought Cole little peace. What if the thief returned? Tried again while Bailey was sleeping? What if she interrupted him a second time? Would he still flee so easily?
“Thanks for the shake.” Bailey fiddled with her straw. “And thanks for coming over.”
Her shyness warmed him. She was not the bold girl he remembered, but she was a world stronger. “You’re welcome. I’m glad I could be here.”