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“I—I don’t think he knew I was here. I hid in the back of my closet and pulled some clothes down around me. He went through every room—I heard him! It was like he was looking for something. Or someone.” Her eyes widened. “Your SUV was here, Jolie. Maybe he was looking foryou.”
A rush of fear flooded through Jolie’s veins. The thought of someone seeking her out in the darkness was nothing less than horrifying. But the thought of someone harming Mandy was far worse.
His jaw clenched, Matt strode into the great room. “Both phones are dead. He must have cut the lines. The bedrooms and loft have been trashed, but I have no idea whether or not things were taken. How is Mandy?”
Jolie tried to suppress the trembling of her hands by clasping them behind her back. “Shaken. Scared. With good reason.”
“I’ve got to get to my cell phone in the truck and call Irene to check on my kids. Then I’ll call the deputy as well.” He grimly scanned the room. “I want you two to pack a few things and come home with me tonight.Now.”
“But—”
“No arguments. This cabin is isolated, you’ve already got a broken window. The guy could return. And,” he added, his voice laced with worry, “I need to get home.”
Well, that made sense.
“You sit here, honey,” Jolie soothed. “I’ll grab some of your things.”
Jolie tossed a change of clothes into an overnight bag, then packed some things for Mandy. She did a swift survey of her possessions. The intruder hadn’t touched the flat-screen TV or the DVD player.
Her lingerie drawer had been dumped on the floor, most of its contents kicked across the room. Someone looking for hidden jewelry? Then she saw a black lace bra draped precisely over a lamp shade. Panties laid carefully on her pillow.
Not someone just searching, then...and the alternative made her skin crawl. Not even after a dozen washings would she be able to use clothing that someone had...handled.
She crossed the room to her closet and lifted a battered cardboard box from the shelf. Untied the twine surrounding it with trembling fingers.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked down at the contents.Untouched.
Small boxes of her few good pieces of jewelry lay inside, along with a larger box containing treasures from her mother—her portion of the jewelry that the three sisters had divided.
Most of it was costume jewelry, but each piece held poignant memories. Beneath the boxes lay old report cards from school, papers she’d written in grade school, and every birthday card her mother had ever given her.
“Jolie? Are you ready?”
Matt’s voice jarred her back to the present. She tied the twine around the box once more, and carried it with the clothes she’d packed. “Coming.”
She was nearly out the door when she noticed a piece of ruled notebook paper lying on the floor. She stopped, gingerly lifted the paper by one corner.
The words on it were written hastily, in awkward block letters:NEXT I’LL COME FOR YOU.
MATT HAD HER CABINwindow fixed by six o’clock the next morning. He was still adamant, however, about having Mandy and Jolie stay at his house. Rafe agreed.
“I can’t just run like a scared rabbit,” Jolie insisted, staring at the two men standing in her clinic office two hours later. “I’ve got a rifle and I’ve got a cell phone. I’m responsible for Dolly and Sadie. What would poor old Mr. Walters do if something happened to them?”
“This guy wrote a threatening note,” Rafe said patiently. “You don’t have a security system or a noisy dog. You’re a mile from your nearest neighbor.”
“I could borrow Jed.”
Rafe rolled his eyes heavenward. “He’s the most passive dog on the planet.”
“But last fall he came through for you, when you had to deal with that poacher.”
“Thatwas an aberration. There’s no guarantee he’d wake up if the roof fell in, much less that he would defend you.” Rafe hesitated. “You and Mandy could stay at our place, if you’d like. I’m sure Mandy would be more comfortable with us than with Robert and Bobby.”
“That’s sweet of you, but until you build your new place, you hardly have room for two extra people. And I think,” she added with a smile, “having us there might cramp your style, you being newlyweds and all.”
“Think about Mandy’s safety, then,” Matt growled.
Jolie nodded. “You’re absolutely right. You do have extra bedrooms, and she’d be better off at your place.”
