by Patricia Fry
“Well, I’ll be there, you can be sure of that.”
“Where’s Damon tonight?” Michael asked.
“He’ll be by later. Said he had cats to feed.” She laughed.
“You’re going to turn him into a cat person, yet, girl,” Savannah said. “Or turn him completely against them…” Everyone laughed.
Michael spoke up. He glanced over at Savannah and said, “Colbi, Savannah and I have been thinking about taking a little overnighter before the baby comes and before Savannah gets too big and uncomfortable. We were wondering if you’d be okay here without us for a couple of nights. Margaret is right next door, you know, and she said she’d be around in case you needed anything.”
“Yeah,” Colbi said. “I can’t see any reason why not. I’m not exactly an invalid. And Lexie will be here with me.”
Upon hearing her name, the dog raised her head off her paws and looked around the room. When no one made a gesture toward her, she went back to sleep.
Savannah spoke up: “And members of the Cat Alliance are coming through with meals and anything else you need. I also thought Damon could stay with you. You might feel more secure. He can sleep across the hall from you in Adam’s room.”
Colbi smiled. “Yeah. I would like that. We can ask him. Where are you going?” she asked, looking from Savannah to Michael.
“Big Sur,” Michael said. “We try to make at least an annual trip to our favorite spot.”
“Cool. It is pretty up there.”
The room was silent for a moment, then Colbi asked, “By the way, what’s going on out in your orchard in the middle of the night?”
“What?” Savannah asked, her eyes wide.
“Well, I saw…something way out there last night.”
“Can you describe it?” Michael asked.
“It looked like the area was lit up, but not very bright, and someone or something was moving around out there…I think they were wearing all white.” She thought about it for a few seconds. “I don’t know exactly what I saw, but I can tell you, there’s something out there.” She looked at Savannah and then at Michael. “Have you seen it or am I hallucinating?”
“Yes, we’ve seen it,” Savannah said. “We can’t figure out what’s going on, either.”
***
The Iveys spent Sunday morning packing and preparing for their trip to Big Sur. They drove out of their driveway around twelve thirty.
That evening, as Colbi and Damon sat on the sofa in the Iveys’ living room, she reached over and patted his hand. “Thank you for agreeing to babysit me,” she said.
“Oh, I figure I can do my part for the project,” he said.
“Project?” She pulled back and looked inquisitively at him.
“You!” He laughed.
She pursed her lips in a pout and lowered her head. “You consider me a project?”
He reached out and poked her in the ribs. “Well sure, aren’t you? Huh? Aren’t you?”
Colbi shrank from his touch and sat silent for a few minutes, looking down at her lap. “I don’t mean to be any trouble,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Oh, come on, Colbi, I was just funnin’ you.” He reached around her and pulled her to him. “We’re all really happy to be helping you out.”
She sobbed quietly into his chest. Her words were muffled. “Doesn’t sound like it. Now I feel like a burden.”
He tightened his arms around her. “No way. I love being with you.” He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. “Don’t you know that?”
She gulped in air and shook her head.
“There’s no place else in this world I’d rather be right now, but with you,” he said tenderly. “Colbi, I’ve never felt like this about any other woman.”
The sobbing stopped. Colbi sat up straight. She stared over at him through eye slits. “Really?” she asked, her voice raspy and squeaky.
“Really,” he said, smiling.
Colbi couldn’t help it. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Damon’s neck and hugged him tightly. He held her and kissed her cheek.
Suddenly, he felt something nudge at his leg and the two of them heard a whimper. They looked down. “Oh, it’s the dog,” Damon said. “What’s her name?”
“Lexie,” she said. “What is it, Lexie?” she asked in the dog’s direction. And then she said, “Oh she probably wants to go out.”
Damon pulled away from Colbi, stood up and said, “You wait here, I’ll go with her.” He took a few steps toward the kitchen, then he turned back. “You know, you’ve been cooped up in this house for the last several days. It’s nice out, want to sit on the porch swing for a while?”
“Sure,” she said scooting off the sofa. “I’ll go get my jacket.”
“Here, let’s take this blanket,” he said removing an afghan from the back of a chair in a corner of the room.
“It is nice out here,” Colbi said, once they were settled on the porch swing, “especially with your arm around me like that.”
The couple sat silently for a few moments, Lexie lying at their feet. Finally Colbi said, “I sure enjoyed doing that research about the girl named Candy. Nice of Savannah to let me use her computer. You know, I was thinking I’d like to start working again. I feel so useless. I could work for a couple of hours a day, don’t you think?”
Damon shifted his position a little. “Well, doing what, like research? Writing?”
“Yes, definitely both. All I need is a computer. I hate using Savannah’s computer too much.” She paused and then said, “I never heard whether the investigators have mine or if those…people do. Do you know?”
“No.” He shook his head slowly.
“So what do you think?”
“About what?”
“About me starting back to work on a limited basis?”
“Heck, I guess it would be okay. Run it by the boss. He probably has a laptop you could use.”
Suddenly Colbi reached across Damon and grabbed the front of his jacket. “What’s that?” she whispered.
“What?” he asked, looking out over the expansive yard.
“There!” she said, the frog still in her throat.
He looked in the direction she was pointing. “I don’t see anything—what is it, Colbi?”
“Well, I don’t see it, either now. But I thought I saw someone out near the corral.” She recoiled, removing her grip on Damon’s jacket with an apology. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, smoothing her hand over his chest. “Didn’t mean to wrinkle you all up.” She was quiet for a moment and then she said, “I think I’m ready to go to bed now. Can we go in?”
“Sure,” Damon said, helping her to stand and then taking the leash and leading Lexie inside.
“Now be sure to lock all the doors,” Colbi instructed. “Michael locked the windows before they left. We have to make sure the front door and this kitchen door are double-locked.”
“I got it,” Damon said. “No problem-o.”
After he had double-locked and double-checked both of the doors, Damon walked back into the kitchen where Colbi stood drinking a glass of water. “Want me to walk you home?” he asked with a smile.
“Okay—that would be nice,” she said. “I really am tired. Just can’t seem to get my energy back.”
“You went through a lot,” he said. “And it’s only been a few days. Give yourself time. Come on, hold onto me. I’ll walk you right up to your front door.”
Once the couple arrived at The Healing Room, Colbi turned toward Damon, stood on her tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, gallant gentleman,” she said Damon bent down slightly, and kissed her on the lips.
“Oh my,” she said, rather breathlessly.
“Oh my?” he mimicked, with a smile.
“Yeah,” she said as she pulled him to her and kissed him back. She then turned and disappeared into her temporary bedroom at the top of the stairs, leaving Damon standing outside her door with a goofy smile on h
is lips. Before he could walk away, she returned and said, “Damon, could you leave your bedroom door open tonight in case I need to call for help?”
He took in a deep breath. “Yeah…yeah, I’ll do that.”
***
“Screeeeech!”
“What the…?” Damon whispered as he attempted to dig out from under the blankets. He listened, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Hearing nothing more, he turned on the bedside lamp and looked at his watch. It was 7:25 a.m.
“DAMON!!”
“It’s Colbi,” he said under his breath. He kicked at the covers, cursing the tight tuck. Finally, he fought his way out of the bed and bolted for the door at a dead run.
“Yeowllll!”
“Ooops, sorry cat.” He looked down and realized he had probably stepped on Rags’s tail. That’s when he noticed he was wearing only his shorts. He grabbed his jeans off Michael’s son’s activity table. “Coming Colbi,” he called, hopping on one leg toward the door as he tried to step into the jeans. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he burst through the door across the hall. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks.
Chapter Nine
There, he saw Colbi sitting straight up in bed, one hand over her mouth, her eyes wild in horror and looking down at something in her lap.
“What is it?” he practically shouted.
She couldn’t get the words out—she simply shook her head back and forth. Damon rushed to her side and picked up what seemed to have her so upset. He studied it for a moment and then frowned and growled, “Damn it. Where’d you find it, Colbi?”
“There—on the floor,” she said. “Damon, someone was in this room last night. Someone brought it right in here while I was sleeping.” She gasped. “Oh my God, I am so creeped out!”
Damon sat down on the bed next to Colbi, and wrapped one arm around her. “Now let’s don’t jump to conclusions. There could be another explanation. I can’t imagine that anyone came in here last night—how could they get in?”
“Maybe they broke in. Windows break, Damon!” she said, her eyes flashing with fear.
“Okay, okay. Let’s calm down. I’ll go downstairs and take a look around.”
“Don’t leave me,” she said, grabbing his arm.
“Okay, I won’t leave.”
“All right, but…” Colbi started.
“What?” he asked his brow creased.
“I need to go to the bathroom. Will you wait right here?”
Damon smiled weakly at her. “Sure, I’ll stay right here—you go ahead.” He watched her until she was out of sight behind the adjoining bathroom door and then he sprinted to the room across the hall, grabbed his cell phone, and rushed back into Colbi’s room. He sat on a chair and punched in some numbers. “Craig, Damon. Listen, we think someone may have broken in here at the Iveys’ last night. Colbi found…well, something pretty frightening in her bedroom when she woke up.”
“Do you see evidence of a break-in?”
“No. I haven’t been able to leave Colbi to look around. She’s pretty upset.”
“Well, what was it, Damon? What did she find?”
Damon glanced toward the bathroom door and then lowered his voice a little. “It’s one of her columns from the newspaper. Someone poured red ink or paint or something all over her photograph.” He whispered, “You know…I think it’s supposed to look like blood.” He looked over at the door again before saying, “It’s pretty gruesome, actually.”
“Well crap. I imagine she is frightened. Damon, just stay there with her, will you? I’m on my way over with a couple of units. We’ll check things out.”
“Okay, thanks.” Damon started to end the call, but said, “Oh, and Craig, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“She thought she saw something outside last night while we were sitting out on the porch. I didn’t see it, but she’s pretty sure that something or someone was out there.”
“Okay, buddy. We’ll check it out when we get there. You just keep her calm, will you?”
“Craig’s on his way,” he told her when she emerged from the bathroom. Then he added, “Hey, you washed up, combed your hair and everything, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Feel better?” he asked
She hesitated. “A little. Just as long as I don’t have to look at that…picture again.”
“Mew! Mew!!”
“Oh Buffy, are you hungry? She’s hungry, Damon.” She reached down and petted the cat as she emerged from her canopy bed. “I loved having her sleep in here with me. She’s such a sweetie. Never did get on the bed, though.” She looked over and saw Rags squeeze into the room through the door opening. “I think he slept with me for a while. He takes up a lot of room.”
Damon laughed. “I can imagine.” He looked around briefly and said, “Hey, we’ll have to go down and let Craig in soon. Wanna come across the hall with me while I grab a shirt?”
“Uh, okay,” she said, slipping into a blue velour robe.
***
Knock-knock.
“It’s Craig,” Damon said, upon seeing him through the window at the side kitchen door. He walked over and unlocked the door. “Hi Craig. Come in.”
“Howdy,” the detective greeted. He stood on the porch looking around the expansive yard and then back at Damon. “Um, have you two been outside here this morning?”
“No, we just came downstairs to feed the animals and make the coffee. Why?”
Craig peered into the kitchen and spotted Colbi sitting at the kitchen table sipping a glass of juice. He smiled over at her and then said quietly to Damon, “Step out here, would you? There’s something I want you to see.”
“Holy shit!” Damon said once he walked out onto the porch and started looking around.
“There must be three dozen or more of these things strewn all over the yard,” Craig said. “All of them as you have described—Colbi’s picture with red ink.” He rubbed his chin, thinned his lips. “Strange! Were there others inside the house?”
“Not that we know of. Just that one.”
Craig shook his head. “From what we can see so far, there’s no sign of a break-in. But we’ll look around from the inside as well.” He thought for a moment and then said, “Show me where she found that picture, would you?”
“Sure,” Damon said.
Craig turned to the sheriffs who were just arriving and said, “Pick those things up, will ya? Just use markers. I don’t think we need to leave them scattered around like that.” He started to step inside, stopped and added, “Treat them as evidence.”
Craig nodded in Colbi’s direction as he entered the kitchen. “Good morning, Ms. Stanton…ah…Colbi. Wanna show me where you found the…newspaper article?”
“I can show you, Craig. She shouldn’t be going up and down the stairs too much.” He turned to her and said, “Just relax and drink your juice. We’ll be right back, okay? There are cops right outside there.”
She nodded.
Craig looked around Colbi’s temporary bedroom. “Well how in the heck did this get inside the house? No broken windows, both doors locked up tight. I don’t get it.”
He took a pair of tweezers out of his pocket and picked up the newspaper clipping, turning it over a few times. “Could you have brought this in on your shoes?”
Damon shook his head. “I doubt it. We were out on the porch swing for a while last night, but sure didn’t see any of these. No, I don’t think so.”
Craig rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He cocked his head and looked at Damon. “Did you have the front of the house locked up then? Could someone have snuck in the front door?”
“Naw,” Damon said, “we keep that door locked all the time just like Michael and Savannah do, unless they’re expecting someone.” He shook his head. “We weren’t expecting anyone and that door was locked. I know it was—I double checked it before we turned in last night.” Damon glanced around the room and then turned quickly toward Craig. “That…t
hing or person Colbi saw last night was out near the tack room. You might want to check for footprints.”
“What time was that?” he asked,
“About eight thirty, I’d guess.”
“Exactly where did she see it and what did she see?”
Damon ran his hand over his hair. “Why don’t we ask her? I really don’t know. All I know is it sure scared her.”
A little while later, Craig walked out the kitchen door onto the porch and said, “I want the best tracker over here, now!”
“That would be Timms,” Ramon Gonzalez responded.
“Where is he?”
“Around the front, picking up those papers,” he said.
“Can you get him for me?”
“Sure—oh, here he comes.”
Once the animals were fed and all the papers had been picked up, Damon and Colbi stepped out onto the porch with Lexie on her leash. Damon walked the dog over to the side of the house where there was no activity, while Colbi sat bundled up on the porch swing sipping coffee from a mug. Soon Damon and Lexie returned. “Job well done,” he said as he joined Colbi on the swing.
“What job?”
“Lexie’s job,” he said with a chuckle.
She smirked at his attempt at humor, then said, “Your coffee’s there on the table—you drink it black, right?”
“Yup. Thanks,” he said as he retrieved the coffee cup.
The couple watched as a handful of uniformed and plain-clothed men and one woman ambled around the property. Several were concentrating on the area near the corral.
Suddenly they heard a voice. “What’s going on?” Margaret asked breathlessly as she rushed to where Colbi and Damon sat on the porch. “I saw all the cops from over at our place. Are you two okay?” she asked, her eyes scanning the property.
“Oh Maggie, it’s awful,” Colbi said, shaking her head. “Someone was prowling around out here last night and they may have come in the house.”
Margaret gasped. “What?” One hand went up to her mouth. “Oh my God!” She looked at Damon and Colbi, her brow creased. “Do they know who it was?”
Both of them shook their heads in silence.