by Kelly Utt
“The rifle is up at the house,” Ellen whispered to Cate. “We keep it in case predators come around and try to harm our animals. We don’t even keep the clip in the same place as the gun for safety reasons. But both pieces are up there. I know exactly where they are. I think I should go get them.”
“Grandma, no!” Jilly said. “No guns.”
Cate knew it was time to be decisive. Her mom was thinking clearly and using good judgment. Cate knew she had to do so as well.
“Jilly,” Cate said to her daughter. “This is the time to take action. Your grandpa is out there running after someone who is sneaking around on the farm. No one should be out here at all. We don’t know if that person is trying to hurt us or not. We need to do everything we can to protect ourselves.”
“I agree, Mom,” Aaron said. “Do it.”
Cate could hardly bear the thought of leaving her kids, but she also didn’t want to send her mother out to retrieve the weapon. Cate was younger and in better physical condition. As a result, she was more likely to get the gun and return unharmed. She decided to go up to the house herself.
“I’ll go,” Cate said.
“Oh, honey,” Ellen said to her daughter. “Let me go.”
Cate’s kids were silent. They could tell by the tone in her voice that she was serious and that her mind was made up. The kids also wanted Cate to go because they wanted her to protect them. They might not have been able to consciously understand the feelings and what each one meant, but something in each of the three of them responded to the strength their mom was exhibiting.
“I’ll be better able to get back unharmed,” Cate said to her mom. “It’s decided. I’m going. Tell me where the rifle and the clip are.”
Ellen told her daughter where to find the weapon, as requested. With the location of the rifle and the clip known, Cate hugged her children briefly and pushed them towards their grandmother. Then she walked calmly over to her father's toolbox and picked up a wrench and a crowbar to carry with her. She turned, and without hesitation, walked out of the barn and into the dark, raging storm, determined to do whatever was necessary to face her fears and her stalker head-on.
She moved quickly as she scrambled up the path and up the hill to the house. Her legs wobbled, but she carried on as if they didn’t. She tried not to think too long or too hard about what might be happening with her dad right now. Instead, she became hyper-focused on getting into the house and finding the weapon. The power to the house had been knocked out, too. Everything was dark.
As she opened the back door, she wished Joey was here with her to sniff out and bark at any intruders who might be inside. Although she was glad that Joey had torn off after the intruder with her dad. She really wished Mick was there with her to take care of all of this. He was tall and strong and had looked like a formidable threat. She was certain that whoever was on the property and following her would back off if Mick was around to intervene. Cate took a deep breath, wiped a tear that had trickled down her cheek, and moved on.
Quickly, Cate felt her way through the dark house and located what she had come for. She placed the clip into the rifle then cocked it, ready to fire. She burst out the back door into the heavy rain again and ran towards the barn. But she didn’t stop when she reached the others, except to ask if they were still okay. When they said they were, she took off in the direction her dad had gone, ready to do her part.
Joey barked in the distance and Cate assumed he was barking at the intruder. She followed the sound down the gravel road that ran alongside the Tatum’s vineyard. Gravel gave her better footing on which to run, so she did so faster and harder. She panted as she ran, her lungs suffering under the level of exertion she was subjecting them to.
“Dad!” Cate called out as she neared the sound of Joey’s barking. Lightning continued to strike and thunder barreled in the sky. Mother Nature showed no sign of letting up on the onslaught. “Dad!” she tried again. “I have the rifle.”
Just as Cate got close enough to see her father’s silhouette standing in front of her lightning lit up the sky and she spotted a pair of red tail lights glimmering in the distance.
“I couldn’t keep up with him,” Ron said, leaning over with his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. “I tried, but he had too much of a head start on me. He got away.”
Cate leaned the rifle on the ground with one hand and used her other arm to wrap around her father's shoulders. Joey sat obediently by Ron’s side, weathering the storm with his master.
“Don’t feel bad,” Cate told her dad. “It was very brave of you to run out after the guy. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”
“Yeah,” Ron said, disappointed that he wasn’t able to catch him. “And look at my Cate Bear, out here in the rain with a rifle. That was very brave of you.”
Cate leaned over and used both arms to hug her dad, letting the rifle drop all the way to the ground with a thud. Ron straightened up and wrapped his arms around his daughter. The two of them remained in an embrace for a long while as the rain fell, the thunder crackled, and the lightning periodically illuminated the sky. It had been years since Cate had hugged her father so tightly. It reminded her of being a little girl when she had been small enough to be carried. She remembered being held by her father as she leaned her head on his strong shoulders without a care in the world. She had been a Daddy‘s girl. The two of them had been very close. They were still close, but the physical distance between them during the years the Brady family lived away had caused more of an emotional distance then Cate would have liked. She cried softly as her dad held her.
“What can I do, Cate Bear?” Ron asked.
“I think I’m in danger,” Cate said as she raised her head to look at her dad’s face. “Me and the kids.”
“Because of this?” Ron asked. “For all we know, this was random. This guy didn’t seem to be aggressive. Maybe he was lost. Maybe he was not in his right mind because alcohol or drugs. Who knows?”
“It’s more than just this,” Cate said. Then she told her dad about the figure at the cemetery, the knocked over trash cans the night of the funeral, and the dark-colored sedan which had been following her earlier that day. She told him everything, standing right there in the rain. She told him about Nancy and her claim that Mick had borrowed a lot of money. She told him about her mother-in-law’s threat to call in the loan, which would mean that Cate and the kids would lose the house. She told him about Neil and his tense conversation with James right before he questioned her and told her that Mick’s death might not have been an accident. It felt good to get it all out and to see the concern in her dad’s eyes. Cate thought maybe the rain could somehow wash it all away. Maybe standing outside in the storm and telling her dad everything would convince fate to go easy on her. She was doing her best. She didn’t know if she had it in her to do anything more.
“Cate, I hope you know that you always have a place right here with your mom and me,” Ron said, wiping a strand of hair out of his daughter’s eyes. “You and the kids can stay with us for as long as you like. We don’t have a lot of money to offer you, but we have this land and this farm. What’s ours is yours if you need it.”
“Thank you, Dad,” Cate said. “That’s very kind of you to say. And I do know. I hope it doesn’t come to that because I don’t want to infringe on your quiet little farm here. But it means the world to know that you and Mom are here for us.”
“You’re going to get through this,” Ron answered. “I know you will.”
As quickly as it had begun hours earlier, the storm quieted down and started to dissipate. Realizing that the family members left in the barn were probably concerned about Cate and Ron’s safety, the pair walked back to let everyone know they were okay.
Cate had gotten used to the darkness by this point and didn’t mind it anymore. It was the least of her troubles. Her emotions had been all over the place in the span of a half-hour. She had experienced the highs of connecting with her parents d
uring moments she’d never forget. And she had experienced the lows of fear and helplessness which had been piling up relentlessly in recent days.
Ron and Ellen still had goats to track down and power to restore. Plus, they all needed dinner. Cate surprised herself by focusing on those easier to solve problems despite the fact that a man had just been standing and watching them from a short distance away. But such had become her life. For tonight, she wanted nothing more than to get something to eat and then get home and into bed.
Ellen and Ron insisted they would handle things at the farm and that Cate shouldn’t worry herself about it. They told her it wasn’t the first time they’d had animals get out of their pens. And since Ron worked as a lineman, he had contacts at the power company who could lend him a generator if the power stayed out for long. Believing the Tatums could handle things on their own, Cate and the kids said goodbye to her parents, then ordered burgers through a drive-through at a fast-food restaurant. Luckily, the restaurant had power and the drive-through was open for business. Cate, Aaron, Jilly, and Niko scarfed their food down hungrily while sitting in their SUV in the parking lot. They were all shaken by what had happened in Ron and Ellen’s barn, but their bodies insisted they must eat.
Cate kept a close watch for the dark-colored vehicle, which she knew would continue to follow her. There was no such vehicle in sight. But if someone was trying to hurt her, she would face them like she had tonight. Head on.
12
Detective Neil Fredericks was in the kitchen of his home on Sixth Street when the call came in. He had been digging through a junk drawer to find matches and candles. The power had gone out on his street and it looked like it would be some time before any lights came back on. As a bachelor who lived alone, Neil didn’t need to fuss about it. But he figured he’d get some candlelight going and re-read one of his favorite sci-fi novels for a while before getting to bed.
He recognized the incoming number right away. It was the police station.
“Hello. Detective Fredericks here,” he said, sounding official.
“Yes, sir,” the voice on the other end of the line said. Neil recognized it as Devonte Rucker from dispatch. “It’s Officer Rucker. I’m calling as a courtesy because I know you’re working the Brady case.”
“That’s right. I am,” Neil confirmed. “Has something happened?”
“It appears there has been a break-in at the Brady home on Flock Hollow Lane this evening. A neighbor called it in. Sean O’Brien. He said he knew something was wrong when he noticed the Brady family’s Labrador roaming outdoors. He claimed the dog always stays indoors or in the fenced backyard. Mr. O’Brien said he went to the Brady home to investigate and found the front door wide open, but no one home. He backed away and called us without stepping inside. Responding officers are on their way to the scene now. That’s all I know.”
“Thank you, Rucker,” Neil said. “I appreciate the heads up. Is the dog alright?”
“Yes,” Devonte answered. “Mr. O’Brien called her into his home and she’s secure.”
Neil thanked officer Rucker again and hung up the phone. Then he got into his car and headed for 19 Flock Hollow Lane.
13
As Cate drove home, ready to change into dry clothes and settle under her warm bed covers for the evening, her mobile phone suddenly began to ding and buzz with alerts.
That’s strange, she thought to herself.
Apparently, she had crossed back into an area where cellular service was up and running normally. She pulled over into an empty parking lot to look at the alerts more closely. The rain had died down to a drizzle.
Several of them were weather alerts and storm warnings which had now expired. One was a text from Sasha asking if she and the kids had made it through the storm alright. Three were missed calls from a local number Cate didn’t recognize. And then, there were two voicemails from Sean O’Brien. Sensing that something was wrong, Cate put the phone up to her ear so her children couldn’t hear the playback, then pushed play on voicemail number one.
“Cate, this is Sean,” the first voicemail message began. “I saw Meesha roaming around out in front of my house. She came to me when I called her and I have her inside my house now. I’m calling to see if you’re up and would like me to bring her home. Call me back when you get this. Bye.”
Cate was alarmed to hear that Meesha had gotten out and had been loose in the neighborhood, especially with the potential for downed power lines and other storm-related hazards. She thought Aaron and Jilly might have left her in the backyard by accident. There was no way Meesha could have gotten out of the house on her own.
“Aaron, Jilly, dears,” Cate began, holding her mobile phone against her chest. “Do you remember if Meesha was inside when you left the house this evening and came out to the SUV? To ride to Grandma and Grandpa’s with me and Niko.”
“Yeah, Mom,” Aaron replied with certainty. “She was inside and the doors were locked. You can ask Mr. O’Brien and Mitchell. They were there and saw us lock up when we all walked out together.”
“Meesha was definitely inside, Mom,” Jilly echoed.
“Interesting,” Cate said, mostly to herself.
“Why?” Aaron asked. “Is something wrong with Meesha?”
“No, she’s fine,” Cate said. “Mr. O’Brien called and left me a message that said Meesha was loose in the neighborhood. He got her into his house safely, so she’s not in harm’s way. I just don’t know how she would have gotten out.”
The kids talked amongst themselves as Cate raised the phone back to her ear and pushed play on the second voicemail message from Sean O’Brien.
“Cate, it’s Sean again. Listen, I went to your house when I didn’t get you by phone last time, thinking I’d deliver Meesha back to you. But when I got there, things weren’t right. I saw that you weren’t home yet. Don’t be alarmed, but I’ve called the police to check things out. Your front door was wide open. I think someone had been in the house. Police are on their way. Call me when you get this.”
Cate’s entire body flushed hot with rage as she listened to Sean’s message. She was angry and wondered how someone dare go into her home. This escalated things to an entirely new level. Her pulse quickened as she thought about what to do next. She couldn’t take the kids home when she didn’t even know what she would find when she got there. She needed to know they be safe somewhere. She needed to get them settled for the night, and fast so she could get home and handle things.
She considered taking the kids to Sasha’s since she knew the power was still out at Ron and Ellen’s, but she decided they wouldn’t be very comfortable there. Sasha was Cate’s friend. The kids didn’t know her all that well. Next, she thought about taking the kids to her brother’s house. They’d be comfortable with him and Rebecca, that’s for sure, but she hadn’t told James any of what had been going on lately and she didn’t have time to fill him in now. She thought again about taking them back to her parents’ house as she weighed her options. Whether or not the power had come back on, Ron and Ellen had already proven this evening that they would protect the kids at any cost. But the power was most certainly still out and Cate doubted her parents would have been able to get the goats back in yet. Besides, the damage to their barn would be a lot to deal with, and for all they knew, they were missing more than just Fred and Ginger. Cate figured it would be a night with very little sleep and she knew she probably shouldn’t lean on her parents any more. She would have to ask James and Rebecca. It was the only reasonable option.
Cate texted her brother rather than call him, so her kids wouldn’t know the details of what was going on. She didn’t want them to be afraid. She told James there had been a possible break-in at her house while she and the kids were away for the evening and that she needed to get them situated somewhere for the night while she handled it. He replied immediately to bring them on over. He didn’t ask any questions, for which she was grateful. Cate told the kids simply that she would take them to t
heir Uncle James and Aunt Rebecca’s house to spend the night because there was something she had to take care of at home. They asked a few questions, but she convinced them to wait for more details, saying she’d let them know as soon as she got there and checked it out. She drove the short distance to her brother’s house and took her kids inside. Rebecca was warm and inviting and promised the kids they could make some popcorn and watch a movie together in the den. Cate hurried away, kissing the cheeks of each of her children and hoping that the next conversation she had with them would not disrupt their delicate lives any further.
As she pulled up to her house on Flock Hollow Lane, Cate wasn’t prepared for how much the sight of police cars and their blue flashing lights would unnerve her. She had experienced too much trauma in a short time and the damned blue light made it all feel worse. Cate’s fear took over. She imagined several scenarios in which the blue lights had arrived to devastate her life.
First, Cate imagined that a police car had arrived to inform her of another loved one’s death. It didn’t make any logical sense, because she knew her remaining loved ones were all safe and accounted for tonight. But the fear of another horrible loss lingered.
Next, Cate imagined police officers had come to arrest her for her husband’s murder and to take her away from her kids when they needed her most. She wasn’t sure how likely that scenario was. And she knew that if she were to be arrested, she would be entitled to a trial. Though she worried about having enough money to pay for a good attorney, she hoped she’d have a decent chance in front of a jury of her peers. But regardless of how likely or unlikely either of those scenarios was, Cate’s fears were very real. She had reason to think they were a possibility.