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“You guys have made my day. I need to make a couple of calls, then I’ll take off.”
“We’ll keep an eye on you through the cameras, but I doubt she’ll come back,” Devlin remarked with a grin.
“I doubt it too,” she replied smiling back.
Watching the two cowboys striding back to the store, she imagined Bethany over Devlin’s knee getting her naked backside slapped.
But the amusing picture quickly faded.
Bethany had just gone from infuriating to truly terrifying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tom Mitchell had received the photographs from David Graham showing the padlocked electrical panel and the small, wooden blocks at the top and bottom of the cellar door. David had also sent Ellie’s recording of the bizarre thumping sounds.
Listening to them, a chill had rippled through Tom’s body.
She hadn’t been dreaming.
What did it all mean?
There was only one thing of which Tom was certain. He didn’t want her staying in the house. But he’d called her several times and he hadn’t heard back from her. He was about to try her again when his phone rang. Seeing her name on the screen, he snatched it up.
“Ellie, where have you been?” he asked urgently. “Why has it taken so long to get back to me?”
“Sorry, dad, I need special clothes for riding. I was shopping at Kincaid Western Wear and I turned my phone off. What’s wrong?”
“You need to move into the hotel across the river for a week or so.”
“Dad! No! Why?”
“David Graham is still going through the house. He hasn’t found the source of those noises—which I’ve heard myself thanks to that recording you made—but he’s come across some other things I find worrying. I’m also concerned about the tension between you and Bethany. I heard you cleared out the pantry. Why did you throw away all the food she bought?”
“Dad, it was crap. I’m trying to watch out for you. You shouldn’t be eating that stuff.”
“Ellie, it was still an extreme thing to do. Maybe some time apart will allow you both to cool off.”
“Then let her move to the hotel. She’ll have a blast in the bar and ordering room service.”
“Ellie—“
“I’m not staying in a hotel for a week because of that woman. She just accosted me in my car!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I was about to leave when she came up, opened the door, and started yelling at me.”
“You two are impossible,” David muttered. “Why can’t you get along?”
“It’s not me, it’s her. She’s crazy. In fact, I can get you the video from the security cameras and you can see for yourself. Clint Kincaid and Devlin Pike came to my rescue.”
“She was probably furious because you threw away all the food she’d bought.”
“Is that any reason for her to tell me I’d be leaving our house in a pine box?”
“She said that?”
“Yes, she basically threatened to kill me.”
