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CHAPTER22
Audrey
“Stay here.”
Leaving the keys in the ignition, Josiah got out and shut his truck door behind him. My heart raced as I watched him cautiously approach the house and the sight of that word scrawled across my door made my stomach churn with fear.
Who would do something like that? And what had I ever done to them?
Max seemed to sense the tenseness of the situation. He hopped onto Josiah’s seat and whined a few times.
“We need to wait here for a few minutes. I don’t know what’s out there.”
As if he understood me, he sat.
Josiah inspected the front door and surrounding area. He held up a hand for me to stay where I was, then made a circuit around the house. I didn’t like waiting while he was out of sight, so I locked the doors until he came around the other side.
Finally, he came to my side of the truck. I rolled down the window.
“There’s another squirrel. Let me get rid of it before you let Max out.”
“A squirrel?” I stared in horror at the door. “Does that mean –”
“Looks like it.”
Someone had killed a squirrel and written on my door in its blood?
This could not be happening.
“Actually, I probably shouldn’t move it,” he said. “I need to call Garrett. Do you have a leash so you can take Max inside?”
“Yeah, I brought one in my bag.” I pulled out Max’s leash. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
He looked around. His jaw was set in a hard line. “Seems to be and I didn’t see any sign of forced entry. You locked your door when we left, right?”
“Yes. I’m sure I did.”
“It’s still locked and so is the back door. I don’t see anyone around. Looks like they did this and took off.”
“In broad daylight? The sun isn’t even all the way down.”
“It’s ballsy, I’ll give them that.”
“Ballsy and horrible.”
I didn’t ask the question. I knew we were both thinking it. Who did this?
Was it Colin?
“Let’s just get inside,” Josiah said. “I’ll walk you in and we can call my brother.”
I clipped on Max’s leash and with my stomach jumping, got out. Josiah took my hand and led me to the front door. I kept Max close so he wouldn’t have a chance to even sniff the poor little squirrel that had been left behind.
With the front door safely shut behind us, I let Max off his leash. He didn’t tear through the house, sniffing, which seemed like a good sign. If someone had been inside, he would have caught their scent. He wasn’t much of a guard dog, but he was curious. He’d have at least followed where the scent led.
Josiah still did a sweep of the whole house, checking every room. Probably not necessary, but it made me feel better.
He came back and pulled out his phone. I sat on the couch while Max curled up next to me.
