* * *
Ring! Ring!
The sound of the phone ringing woke him. He glanced at the clock. 5:00 a.m. Who would be calling at this time of the morning? He reached to over to the nightstand and picked up the receiver.
“Warrick,” he said, groggy from too few hours of sleep.
“I’m so sorry to wake you, James,” Helen’s voice said on the other end. “I have a family matter to deal with this morning, so I’m running a bit late. I’ll be there within a couple of hours, but Pops will need his meds in about fifteen minutes.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh yes, everything is fine.”
“Okay, Helen, don’t worry. I’ll make sure Pops gets his meds. See you soon.”
He hung up the receiver and laid his head back on the pillow. Sleep hadn’t done anything to get Elyse out of his head.
He went downstairs, where Pops was sitting in one of his chairs, working on a crossword puzzle.
“Well, good morning, sunshine. I’m surprised to see you up.” He smiled and winked, glancing at the grandfather clock in the corner. “You have at least another hour before you usually drag yourself out of bed.”
James rubbed his head. “Yeah, but Helen is running late, so I need to get your meds ready.”
Pops’ eyes turned down, and he rubbed his chin. “Helen…yes, last night, after the storm, she told me she had to leave.”
James pulse quickened. “You mean Elyse?”
“Oh, yes, Elyse.”
James ran upstairs and threw open Elyse’s door. The bed was already made, and she was gone.
“No, no, no!”
He had to find her. He grabbed his keys and ran down the stairs, stopping when he saw Pops. The meds. He couldn’t leave without giving Pops his meds.
He hurried to the kitchen to grab the pills. His heart stopped as he entered and saw Elyse sitting at the kitchen table.
“Elyse. I…” Thought you ran? He didn’t want to give her any ideas, and he didn’t want her to think he didn’t trust her. “I thought you’d still be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down about an hour ago.” She looked at him, her gaze pulling him in, begging him to come closer, begging him to stay away. “You’re up early, too. Going somewhere?” She nodded at the keys in his hand.
“Yeah. No. Helen called to tell me she’d be late, so I needed to make sure Pops got his meds, and I thought I might have to run to the pharmacy, but…they’re all here.” Hopefully she bought that. He barely bought it himself.
“That’s a lot of bottles. How do you know which ones he gets and when?”
“I used to go to all of his appointments with him. Before I got promoted, it was just the two of us most of the time. The promotion only added a few hours a week, but it was enough that I wasn’t comfortable leaving him alone. That’s when I hired Helen. That way he’s never alone, and she can go to any appointments I have to miss.”
To him they were mundane things, but Elyse looked at him like he had just slayed some kind of monster. He couldn’t be here today, so close to the person he wanted more than anything.
She stood and walked to him, his thoughts and feelings harder to control with each step she took.
“We need to talk about what happ—”
He pressed his lips to hers. They did need to talk, but it would be awful, and he wasn’t ready yet. He needed some time away from her to clear his head, to get some perspective, and figure out how to tell her what her mother had done to his dad and Matthew.
“Actually, I do have to run some errands today,” he said, then turned back to the counter. Not a total lie. He did need to check out the address of the yard care company.
“But we—” She wasn’t going to let this go.
“I’m sorry, but it’ll have to wait. I have to get these to Pops.” He grabbed the pills and water and made his way back to the living room.
“Here you go, Pops.” He exhaled heavily and handed his grandfather the pills and water.
Pops smiled and took the pills from James’ hand. “She’s getting to you, isn’t she?”
James blinked and sighed. Pops had always been able to read him like a book, so there was no point trying to deny it. “Yeah, she is. Listen, as soon as Helen gets here, I’m going to go out for a bit, run some errands. I need to get away for a while.”
Pops smiled. “It won’t help, you know. She’s not just in this house.”
He did know. She was in his head, in his heart. He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded, then went upstairs to his office and closed the door.
The box of Maggie’s belongings sat on his desk. He took the lid off and started going through the papers. There had to be a reason Maggie kept the things she had. He just needed to figure out what that reason was.
He heard the front door close, so he put the lid back on the box and sighed, then went downstairs.
“Hey, Helen, everything okay?”
“Oh yes,” she waved her hand and pursed her lips. “Someday that child of mine will get her act together. Not today, though,” she laughed.
“I need to run a few errands. I should be back this afternoon.”
“Take your time. We’ve got plenty to do.”
James backed out of the driveway, pulled the business card from his pocket, and glanced at the address. It was in the next town over, so he’d have a nice, long drive.
He drove through town, then continued through the countryside. He didn’t have the radio on, he just drove, windows down, hoping the rush of cool air would clear his head.
The drive was supposed to get Elyse off his mind, but she was all he thought about. The way her hair blew when the truck window was down. The way her skin glowed in the sunlight, the way she smelled, the way her fingers trembled against his back, the way she collapsed beside him after…
Stop. Think about something else. The alarm.
He pulled the business card from his pocket and glanced at it again.
A Cut Above Landscaping
Glen Dallen, Owner
970-555-0129
2121 W Elm
Somerset, CO 81434
He’d already called the number and spoken to a man who identified himself as Glen, but his gut still told him something wasn’t right. He turned onto Elm and saw a small storefront with “A Cut Above” painted on the front door. Maybe his gut was wrong.
He parked across the street, then crossed and pulled the door open, which rung the bell hanging in its outdated frame.
“Help you?” An older man came from the back of the building, wiping his grease-covered hands on his grass-stained coveralls.
“Yes. I’m looking for Glen.”
The man pulled his chin back and wrinkled his forehead. “No Glen here. I’m Jim—owner, operator, and mechanic.” He laughed and held up his hands.
“You don’t have any employees named Glen?”
“No employees. Somerset doesn’t exactly have a boomin’ landscape need, you know? Oh, I have a couple older gals I mow for, but mostly do lawn mower repair, these days.”
James pulled the card from his pocket and held it out to Jim, who leaned in to examine it. “My address, alright, but not my phone number, and not my card. Don’t know who this Glen character is, and not sure why anyone’d want to pretend they owned this little hole in the wall,” he chuckled.
James smiled, even though he knew the reasons weren’t good. “You know, it’s probably just some college kid needing to pay for classes. Picked a random landscape business from the phone book and had some cards made so he’d look legit.”
“Kids these days.”
“Yeah, kids.”
Ring, ring.
The screen of his cell phone lit up in red. Pops’ emergency phone. His pulse skipped.
Pops’ emergency phone.
“Thanks for your time,” he said, then answered the phone as he hurried back to the truck.
“Pops? Are you okay?”
“James,�
�� Elyse sobbed into the other end of the line. “James, it’s Oden…he’s sick. Helen…he’s going to the pet emergency…” She was so hysterical he could hardly understand her. “You have…to go…hurry.”
He had already pulled onto the road and was heading back. “Elyse, calm down. I’m on my way now. Where are you? Where’s Pops?”
“Here…I’m here…Pops is with me…at the house.”
“You make sure everything is locked. You’re locked inside, right?”
“I—”
“Are you locked in, Elyse?”
“Yes! Just hurry. Oh, James…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
James drove as fast as he could to the pet clinic and rushed inside. Helen was at the counter, talking to the nurse.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here. Oden—”
“Is he okay? Is he…” It was the first time he’d really felt panic since Elyse had called. Oden was more than his partner. He was his constant companion, his friend. The thought of losing him took his breath away.
“I don’t know. I tried to get here just as fast as I could.”
James put his hand on Helen’s shoulder. “Thank you. Can you go back to the house—Elyse was really upset.”
“Of course.”
The vet came out, his expression serious, but not somber. “Sheriff Warrick,” he greeted with a nod. “Oden is pretty sick, but his prognosis is good, thanks to some quick acting people who got him here and thought to bring a vomit sample. His labs show a substantial amount of Ethylene Glycol in his system.”
“Ethylene Glycol…you mean anti-freeze?”
“Yeah, and not the amount he could have gotten into in, say, a garage.”
James cocked his head and furrowed his brow. “Are you saying he was poisoned?”
“It appears that way. He’d eaten some raw meat—probably soaked in it. I want to keep him at least overnight, possibly a day or two. It’s crucial we completely flush his kidneys and monitor his other organs. At this point everything looks as good as we could hope for. If he keeps improving at this pace, he may be able to go home tomorrow night. We’ll give you a call tomorrow morning and let you know how he’s doing.”
“Thanks, Doc. Can I see him before I go?”
“Of course. Through the double doors.”
James stomach turned when he saw his partner. One leg had been partially shaved, an IV and medical tape where his satin fur had once been. His head lay heavy on the bedding, his eyes drooping. His tail flopped once as James approached.
“Hey, buddy, what happened?” James rested his head against Oden’s side. “Whoever did this to you is going to pay, I promise. You rest up so you can come home.” He kissed Oden’s head and left the clinic.
His mind raced all the way home. When Elyse called, she kept saying she was sorry. What did she mean?
The moment he got to the house, he ran inside, anxious to find out what happened.
“Elyse?”
No one answered, not even Helen. What if whoever poisoned Oden had stuck around? What if—no, he couldn’t think about the what-ifs.
“Elyse!” He called out again, running up the stairs. “Elyse, where—”
“Here,” she answered from the bedroom. He ran in and found her sitting on the bed, her eyes blood-shot and puffy, her cheeks tear stained. “Is Oden—”
“He’s going to be okay.”
“Oh, thank God!”
James sat beside her and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to look her in the eye. “What happened?”
She turned away, her gaze downcast.
“I needed to clear my head. I just wanted to be out in the sun.”
“You went outside?” His voice raised.
“I thought if Oden was with me, I’d be safe. We were in back. I don’t know…I didn’t see anything. Oden charged the fence and started barking. I grabbed him by the collar and ran inside. Everything was fine, but twenty, maybe thirty minutes later…”
She put her face in her hands, sobbing. “He started falling over, drooling. Pops and Helen carried him to the car and she drove away. I thought…I thought he…oh, James, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was stupid to go outside.”
“Yes, you were,” he shouted. She shrank back. He dropped to his knees in front of her and put his hands on her thighs, staring into her tear-filled eyes. “Oden will be fine. But what if it had been you, Elyse? What if…”
So much for a drive to clear his head. The thought of anything happening to her only made his feelings stronger. He reached up and wiped her tears, then cupped her face in his hands, pressed his forehead to hers, and closed his eyes in an attempt to slow his racing heart.
“Promise me you’ll be more careful, please. Promise me.”
“I…promise,” she whispered the words, but he could read between the lines. He’d seen that look before, in the hospital. She was thinking of running.
Chapter 11
Elyse had been extra cautious walking to the bus terminal and hadn’t seen anyone following her. She’d be safe in her own home. She hoped. She didn’t have James here to rescue her.
Seeing the cabin in her mother’s photos had triggered memories of her life there, including the fact that she lived there in hiding. She didn’t remember from who, but she knew it only meant danger for anyone close to her. After nearly getting Oden killed, she decided she couldn’t wait any longer. It was time to leave.
She didn’t leave a note. She hadn’t even told James she’d remembered the cabin. A clean break would be easier for both of them. She needed to go home where she could put her life back together. He needed her gone so he could put his back together, too. He must be furious with her right about now, but eventually he’d see it was for the best.
Elyse walked along the forest road that led to the cabin, her steps heavy and slow. The air smelled of pine and soil wetted by mountain streams. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the smells she used to love so much, expecting to feel the peace they had always brought her. Instead, her mind flashed to the seat of a rolling car, being chased through the woods, slamming against James’ squad car, seeing him for the first time…
She walked on through the bright orange Alpine wildflowers, purple Lupine flowers, and deep pink Clover that created a landscape reminiscent of a Monet painting. The endless beauty of the forest had always been a source of security for her, but now she felt exposed, vulnerable. Birds chirped, but were they singing, or signaling danger? Her heart jumped at every sound, fearing what could be hiding around the next tree.
She finally reached the small clearing where her cabin stood, a lone marker of humanity in the vastness of nature. Her Great-Grandpa had built the cabin from Douglas Fir, and left the red and blonde wood its natural color so as to blend with the forest. He’d put the front door between two windows—the larger living room window to the right, and the smaller kitchen window to the left. That way, he said, whoever entered was “in the heart” of the cabin, immediately surrounded by family.
There was no television, no wi-fi, no cell tower nearby. “This is a cabin,” he said, “not a resort. You come here to connect with nature and each other.” And they did.
Elyse’s Grandpa had set up minimal wiring when he took over the cabin, mainly to run the 1950s behemoth fridge and one light in the kitchen. Thankfully, he’d also added a well and plumbing. Overall, the cabin retained its rustic feel, and each generation had dutifully maintained its original state and intent.
For a moment, pictures filled her mind like an old home movie. Her dad waved and smiled from the grill while she and her cousins set up a tent in front of the living room window on the front porch. Momma and her sister cooked on the wood stove in the kitchen, their laughter drifting into the back bedroom where the kids vied for who would get the top bunks. Elyse always claimed one of the bottom bunks, because Evie always ended up climbing in with her, and the bottom bunks were bigger. Everyone sat in front of the huge stone fireplace in their jammies while Grand
pa read bedtime stories, the cousins crammed together on the large, oval, multi-colored braided rug Grandma made. Even though Grandma passed before she was born, sitting on the rug made Elyse feel like she knew her.
Evie swinging on the tire swing in one of the trees to the left of the cabin. It had taken all summer to convince Grandpa they needed one, but he’d finally agreed. Evie loved that swing.
A pinecone fell to the ground off to Elyse’s right, snapping her out of her daydream. Or was it a breaking twig? She froze, glancing around and looking for reassurance. Ravens flew out of a nearby tree, their cackles ominous and foreboding. She hated ravens. She needed to get inside.
She ran toward the faded steps that led to the porch, spurred on by a feeling she couldn’t shake, sliding to a stop on the dusty ground as she noticed the cabin door was ajar. Terror sped her breathing and burned in her stomach.
She swallowed hard, frozen in place by the fear of the invisible presence behind her and the dread of what could be inside.
“Hello?” She called out, her voice shaking. Nothing. She walked up the steps, each one creaking with age and weathering. “Hello?” She called out again, still only answered by silence.
She stood on the porch, staring at the door. It had been her decision to leave the safety of James’ home, to prove she could take care of herself. Now she had no choice. She was here, without his protection, and she had to open the door. Her breathing skipped, her heart raced as she pushed it open.
“Who’s there?” She shouted and pushed the door, only to find a raccoon rummaging through trash. She heaved a sigh of relief. “Shoo. The diner is closed.” She laughed and waved the animal toward the door, pulling it closed and locking it as the racoon lumbered away. Even though it was just a raccoon, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that someone was watching.
She walked from window to window, gazing out as far as she could see. Nothing but trees and an occasional bird.
She just needed to get used to the quiet. Get used to being alone. Get used to being without James. Without his protection. Without his laugh, the way lines formed around his beautiful eyes when he frowned, the way his face lit up when he smiled; without him.
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