AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 6
Saturday morning, Brulee woke Maggie up. She lay on her back, her arm over her face, and in seconds the memory of the previous night flooded over her. She’d worked cleaning up the cottage until well after midnight.
She’d kept looking for her cell phone, forgetting it had been taken. Knowing that the person who had done the damage might also be nuts enough to contact everyone on her phone, she waited for her mother, aunt, sister or friend Annie to call her on the landline to find out what the heck was going on, but they did not. And unless the person was a techy, they would be unable to access her computer without the password. Rarely did she ever turn her computer off, but that day, it had updated. Relief had flooded her body when she realized that. At least her personal banking and other information would be safe.
Letting Brulee out to pee, Maggie stood on the grass, looking around the cottage. The horses had left for the morning, but they were there last night, quiet, like sentries. Evidence of their visit lingered, flattened grass where they had lain, the smell of horse manure that she was amusingly growing to like. In spite of that, tears welled up thinking about the horses, their innocent neighing having alerted her to the snoop who had come up that first night.
The sun was rising behind the cottage like it did every morning, but there was a quality of light that day that reminded her of autumns past, that if she was lucky, she might smell leaves burning in the evening, and when she went into town in the skiff, there would be pumpkins for sale at the hardware store.
When Brulee was done, they went up onto the porch, and that was when Maggie saw the piece of paper. The sheriff had missed it the previous evening. Back in the cottage, she got a tissue to pick up the paper, just in case. The wordsnew dockwere written in a distinctive, feminine script. Maybe whoever had done the damage had come there by boat. She’d wondered about that, because surely if she’d ridden a horse, it would have made enough noise that Brulee would have been alerted. Someone could shut a boat motor off and paddle to her dock. So even the water had become a threat.
After feeding Brulee, she made coffee and sprayed herself with bug repellent so she could sit outside to drink it. Every impulse to fix up the cottage was gone. She felt so empty inside, just like she had when she’d found out that Russ and Claudia were together. The betrayal was awful, but the thoughtlessness was worse. Why didn’t her fiancé and best friend find someone else to fall in love with? Why each other? It made no sense when she said it out loud, but perfect sense when she thought of it. They should have known that was the worst thing they could do to her, another human being that they supposedly had loved at one time.
Why this old news would come up the morning after being robbed was a mystery, but when she thought about it, not really. It was another violation, another betrayal. Justin should have told her right away that there was someone who might want to harm her, and he should have taken the lead and never allowed that alfresco screw to take place. Angst flooded over her, a little sob even escaping her mouth, and Brulee looked up at her, cocking her head to the side to see if she was okay.
“You sweetheart,” she mumbled, picking her up.
The rumble of a diesel truck at the gate got her attention. It was Justin. He was unlocking the gate, which ticked her off a little bit, but at least it had saved her from having to run down to do it for him.
She didn’t stand up to greet him, smoothing her uncombed hair back. He had a lot of nerve coming without calling her on the landline.
Parking in front of the porch where he always parked, she waited in the chair. He held up her computer. The relief was unexplainable, and she was afraid it would lead to tears if she wasn’t careful. When he got out, she finally stood to retrieve it and then saw her phone.
“Oh, thank god. I guess they got the search warrant.”
Then giving up, she started crying.
“Honey, I’m so sorry. They did get the warrant. Dave didn’t want to disturb you at four in the morning. I hope you’re okay with me bringing them to you. Normally, Dave or one of the deputies would do it.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said, taking them, wiping her face with the sleeve of her T-shirt.
He took a risk and squeezed her shoulder. “I have your shotgun, too. Did you think there was anything else missing?”
“Not that I can tell,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not really sure what was here. My jewelry and checkbook, that sort of thing, are all here.”
“Were you able to get everything back in order?”
“Yes. Oh, let me give you the pan from the jambalaya. One second.”
She went inside and placed her computer and phone on the kitchen table and grabbed the washed pan.
Waiting at the steps, Justin looked so pitiful, but she didn’t care. Not yet. He was at fault. He should have dealt with whoever the woman was right then, called her or called his brother, something. Not wait, not subject her to the humiliation. She knew she was overreacting but seemed unable to control it.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the pan.
“What’s going to happen to your friend?”
“She’s in jail,” he said. “Bail is being arranged, so she’ll be out later this morning. They’re issuing a restraining order so she can’t come back without getting into trouble.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel safer? So is she out for revenge? I don’t get how a one-night stand led to this.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Maggie. I wish I could change things, make it up to you.”
There was nothing left to say. A wave of sadness swept over her. Short and sweet. What if he’d had the same kind of thing with the thief?
“You’re just such a lothario,” she said, swinging her arm across her body. “You come in and sweep women off their feet, so we strip naked, have sex with you, then go nuts and start fighting each other.”
He couldn’t help himself, her delivery and gestures got to him, and when he tried to suppress his amusement, he sputtered, laughing.
