Buch lesen: «Stalked In Conard County»

Chapter 1

The full moon glowed almost as bright as an icy sun. It poured through the window in Haley McKinsey’s bedroom, reaching through her eyelids and gently prompting her to wake.

As her eyes fluttered open, she stared with amazement at the brilliance of the silvery orb. A small smile curved her lips as she drank in the rare beauty. She’d never seen this from her apartment in Baltimore. Just another thing to make her think more seriously about moving to Wyoming. Inheriting her grandmother’s house in Conard City had initially seemed like a generous gift. She could sell it and use the money for a great many things. Nurses weren’t exactly overpaid.

But since arriving two days ago, she’d begun to remember the occasional summer visits here, and as the memories came back to her, the house began to feel like it might be her new home.

Seeing the moon now, enjoying the magic of being awakened by its silvery light, she found another reason to want to remain. There hadn’t been very many vacations here, but there had been enough to give her a stack of good memories.

Such a beautiful place!

Lying there in a drowsy, pleasant place, the worries of the world and the past seemed far away.

Until the face appeared at the lower ledge of her window. She couldn’t see it clearly because of the moon’s brightness behind it, but her heart slammed into high gear and she sat up immediately, trying to think of what she could use for a weapon.

Even as she had the thought, the face dropped from view. Had someone really been there? Had she imagined it in the hinterland between waking and sleeping?

With her heart in her throat, her mouth as dry as sand, she wondered if she should even move. Should she go out and look? Should she call the police?

A Peeping Tom. Maybe only a nuisance and not a threat.

It didn’t matter. She jumped up like a child scared of the monster under the bed or in the closet. The window was open a crack to let in the cool night air, and she slammed it and locked it. Then she pulled the heavy insulated curtains closed, shutting out the moonlight.

Resentment filled her. Hard on its heels came anger and fear. Resentment because she so much enjoyed sleeping in her grandmother’s room. As a child, when she’d visited, she had often shared the bed with her grandmother. It was a sacred place.

Anger because her privacy had been invaded. Lying in the moonlight, she must have been easily visible to the voyeur.

Fear because as a five-year-old child she had been kidnapped through her bedroom window by a faceless man who had just two days later deposited her on a deserted road outside Gillette, where she had eventually been discovered by a roughneck on the way to work.

She hurried through the house, checking every window and door to ensure it was locked. Even on the second floor, she drew the curtains against the moon’s beauty. Feeling chilled, she pulled on her red velour robe. Then she sat curled up on the living room sofa, trying to deal with the emotional storm that had been unleashed within her.

With her knees tucked under her chin, she practiced the breathing exercises her childhood therapist had taught her, at least as well as she could when curled up. Her mind bounced around between calling the sheriff, who wouldn’t be able to do anything because the guy was gone, an urgent but unsuccessful desire to believe it had been a trick of her sleepy mind, and waiting for morning to release her from her dark cave.

Because, suddenly, this beloved house felt like a cave and she felt trapped in it.

Don’t be silly, she argued with herself. Just because something bad happened to you over twenty years ago doesn’t mean it will happen again.

But memories she had buried long ago bubbled up like a hot tar pit, black and ugly. She’d been lucky, she reminded herself. Lucky that her kidnapper had released her unharmed after only two days. Lucky that she had grown up with a protective father and mother, and a grandmother who had given her magical experiences.

Reminded herself of how the therapist had insisted that she had done nothing wrong, that she had nothing to feel guilty about.

That she wasn’t a bad girl.

She thought she’d moved past that. Believed she had moved past that. Then in one split second some jerk had brought it all back.

She couldn’t allow this. But she still sat in the dark with all the curtains drawn, straining to hear any untoward sound. The prized clock, a genuine Regulator, kept ticking as normal from the dining room wall, a familiar sound from happy times. The scent of her grandmother’s beloved lavender sachets filled the house. No unfamiliar odors, no unusual sounds, crept through the darkened house. It was so quiet, in fact, that her heartbeat sounded loud in her ears.

She supposed someone else would have the nerve to go outside to see if the guy was still there. She couldn’t bring herself to do that. It wasn’t that she was a coward; it was that his appearance at her bedroom window had cast her back to her abduction as a child.

Somewhere inside her, that little girl still resided.

But as her fear began to ease, her ire began to rise. She’d been enjoying a beautiful gift from nature, the biggest, brightest full moon she’d ever seen. That invader had ruined it.

Hell, he’d ruined more than that, she thought grimly. Would she ever again feel comfortable with sleeping in this house when a window was cracked open as she had tonight? Would she feel she needed to keep the heavy curtains drawn all the time now? That she had to sell this house or live in a cave as long as she stayed?

Finding that her strength had returned, she rose from the sofa and made her way to the kitchen. Grandma had believed in insulated curtains to save on heat, and she certainly hadn’t shorted the kitchen windows. As Haley turned on the light, she looked at a line of navy-blue curtains that skimmed the top of the backsplash over the sink and completely sealed out the night. She put the battered whistling teakettle on the stove and began to heat water. The ginger jar, a delightful blue-and-white copy of some original, still held Grandma’s favorite green tea. A cup of that ought to return the night to normal familiarity.

She decided against calling the police before the day completely dawned because the guy was gone, and a bunch of strobing blue, white and red lights on the street might disturb her neighbors. Morning was soon enough.

She was safe. Of course she was safe. She’d just arrived in this town and there was no reason for anyone to want to disturb her in any way. So what if some guy had looked in her window, probably out of curiosity. If he was interested in something else, he was in for a surprise. The self-defense classes she’d been taking for years, to deal with the sense of helplessness her abduction had given her, were at the ready.

Next time, if there was a next time, she wouldn’t allow fear to overwhelm her before she could react. She’d be ready.

The teakettle shrieked its tuneless note as steam poured out the spout. She rose, spooned some tea leaves into a china cup and filled it with hot water. That brought back memories, too, of how her grandmother would finish a cup of tea and turn the cup upside down on the saucer, spinning it three times. Then Grandma would enchant her by “reading” the leaves that adhered inside the bottom of the teacup. As Haley grew older, she understood it was just a game, but one she’d always enjoyed.

She wondered if she could read the leaves for herself. That might distract her until the sun replaced the moon in the sky.

She was beginning to feel foolish for the strength of her reaction to the Peeping Tom. She was safe and snug in a house full of good memories, and she shouldn’t allow anyone to ruin that.

Determination mostly replaced her instinctive fear, and the soothing ritual of making tea helped considerably. The fragrance of the green tea filled her with warm memories. Memories of her grandma telling her how all tea came from one kind of plant in Southeast China. Of how the difference in flavors was made by how the tea was cured. Of course, Grandma had told her scrupulously, all teas started from the same plant but over centuries the transplanting of those plants had resulted in a few different varietals. But still, she said firmly, tea all goes back to the same plant.

When they went to the store to buy more tea, young Haley had stared in fascination at all the boxes announcing different names and tried to imagine the old times when tea had to cross perilous mountain routes to reach the rest of the world.

She could understand, even at a young age, why tea had been so important to so many. Like spices, she thought. The harder it was to get them, the more valued they became.

The tea tasted a bit on the old side, and she promised herself she’d get a fresh box in the morning. Grandma must not have been drinking it often toward the end. But then, she’d never let anyone in the family know she was failing until the day before she died.

The trip down memory lane was relaxing her, as was the comforting tea and thoughts of her grandmother. Then, rising from the mists of childhood, she remembered Roger McLeod. He’d been a few years older than her, but it hadn’t seemed to trouble him. He spent some of his free time with her, playing games or regaling her with local history. “Even grandmothers need a break,” he’d joked once.

She wondered if he still lived down the street. When she’d met him, he’d been his father’s apprentice, making custom saddles for the horse owners hereabouts. Once she’d been allowed into the workshop and had been amazed how many layers of leather were used, each one treated and stretched and cut to fit some part of the saddle precisely.

“It has to be comfortable,” he’d explained once. “People who spend long hours riding can’t afford to get sore because the saddle just doesn’t fit right. And there’s the horse, of course. It needs customization as much as the rider.”

She smiled now, remembering that day so long ago. She’d been what, thirteen? And he’d been graduating from high school. Hadn’t Grandma mentioned him occasionally in her letters?

He must still be around here. Maybe still in his father’s house two doors down. She smiled at last and decided she’d overreacted to a Peeping Tom. She’d tell the cops in the morning, and they’d check it out. That alone would probably be enough to keep the guy from coming near here again.

She glanced at the clock on the wall over the freestanding stove and saw that it was shortly past four. She should try to get some more sleep, if she could.

She climbed back into her grandmother’s bed, feeling its familiarity surround her like a hug. She didn’t crack the window, though, or open the curtains.

That creep might still be out there.

Haley was making a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast when she heard the knock at the door. It wasn’t that early, but eight o’clock still seemed like an early hour to be knocking. She made the person wait while she scraped the eggs onto a plate so they wouldn’t burn. Then, grabbing a kitchen towel, she wiped her hands as she went to answer the door.

For an instant, just an instant, she didn’t recognize Roger McLeod. He’d filled out and grown quite a powerful set of shoulders in the intervening years.

“Remember me? Roger McLeod? Sorry to bother you, Haley, but I got concerned when I saw all the curtains drawn. Your grandmother never did that.”

“I know she didn’t.” She stepped back, tacitly inviting him inside. “And I do remember you. How’s life treating you, Roger?”

He smiled, a warm expression that she remembered from years ago. She liked the way his smile reached his green eyes, crinkling them a bit in the corners. “It’s going well. I’m busy, which I guess is the thing. I’m really sorry about Flora, though. She never mentioned she was getting sick.”

“She never mentioned it to the family, either, until the day before she died. Come on, I just made fresh coffee if you’d like some.”

Again that smile that seemed to send warmth running all the way to her toes. Was she losing her mind? He hadn’t affected her that way years ago.

“I never say no to a morning cup of joe,” he answered. Once in the kitchen, he sat at the table as if he had a regular place there.

She poured his coffee. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Straight, thanks. We haven’t seen much of you over the last few years.”

“No.” She brought her plate of eggs and toast to the table. “Want me to make you some?”

“I’m fine.” His eyes smiled at her over the rim of the cup.

“I feel bad that I couldn’t come visit more often, but I’m a nurse. Grandma must have mentioned it.”

“She did.” He nodded.

“Well, my hours stink and my vacations are short and scattered. Instead of me coming out here, she used to fly back East to visit.”

“That’s right. I remember. It’s been a while, though.”

A while. Sorrow shadowed Haley’s heart. Grandma had been in the habit of flying out to visit every year, staying with Haley for a week or so. A comfortable pattern. Then Grandma had missed a summer, made some excuse Haley couldn’t even remember now, and she felt guilty for not having realized that something was wrong.

Well, she could kick herself over that later, she decided as she forked some scrambled egg into her mouth then followed it with a bite of rye toast. The voyeur seemed like a more immediate issue and she wondered if she should even bring it up to Roger. He’d stopped in to offer a friendly greeting, not necessarily to get dragged into any part of her life.

“Listen,” he said. “This is an old house and I used to do some work on it from time to time when Flora needed it. I was in the middle of a project to fix the ductwork in the basement when she…took ill.”

She looked up from her plate. Man, she’d forgotten this guy was so attractive. Maybe he hadn’t been years ago, when still a stripling. “What’s wrong with the ducts?”

He put his mug down. “A little of everything. Rust, age, shrinkage, loose joints. Anyway, it was rattling enough when the heat came on that Flora finally got irritated. I can’t say I blame her. She asked me to come over and listen to it. Clang, bang, rattle. And, of course, it came amplified right through the registers. Anyway, I was replacing it a bit at a time and, unless you have an objection, I’d like to finish the job. I hate to leave work undone.”

“I have no objection,” she answered promptly. It would be nice to have a chance to get to know him again. “They really make a racket, huh?”

He laughed briefly. “Let me put it this way. If it hadn’t happened slowly over time, I think Flora would have blown a gasket. I can’t believe how much she got used to before she decided she needed to do something.”

“Isn’t it funny how we can do that?”

“Oh, yeah. We adapt to an awful lot. Except saddle sores, heel blisters and…well, no need to make a whole list.”

It was her turn to laugh. “It’s so good to see you again, Roger. It’s been an age.”

“Yeah, and somewhere along the way we both grew up. I’m sorry you missed Flora’s memorial at the church.”

“Dad didn’t leave me much opportunity to get here. It’s okay. Flora didn’t want all that for herself.”

“That sounds like Flora, all right. Go on, finish your breakfast. I don’t know about you, but I hate cold eggs. Come to think of it, cold toast isn’t much better.”

Part of her wanted to journey down memory lane with him. Thinking back, she realized the two of them really hadn’t spent that much time together those few summers she had visited. He’d been apprenticing with his father and only occasionally had time off. As for her grandmother…well, it seemed likely he’d spent more time with her than Haley ever had. They’d been neighbors, after all.

But then he asked the question that directed her to more urgent matters.

“Why do you have all the curtains closed?” he asked. “Flora only did that during the winter.”

She laid her fork down on her empty plate. Had she imagined last night? It seemed so distant now, but she was still wrapped in her robe against a chill that didn’t exist except inside herself and she had turned the house into a cave.

“Last night…” She hesitated, hoping she didn’t sound fanciful or hysterical. “The moon was awfully bright. It woke me up and I was staring at it, thinking how beautiful it was when…” She sighed and pushed the words out. “Someone was looking in my window, Roger. It unnerved me.” Understatement.

He was already rising from his chair. “Flora’s room?”

“Yes.”

Before she could say any more, he’d gone out the front door.

She rose to her feet, wondering why her legs felt wobbly. Because she’d addressed what had happened last night, hadn’t just shoved it into the background to be forgotten with a million other bad things? She’d learned to do that in early childhood—a lesson she had believed was well-learned, a lesson she used often in her work.

She rinsed her dishes and put them in the dishwasher that her father had installed many years ago during one of her summer visits here. Darn thing was still working.

Then she leaned against the counter, resting her weight on the palms of her hands, and closed her eyes.

The image floated up in her mind, as clear as it had been last night. Her heart pounded once, hard, then settled again. A Peeping Tom. Probably no threat at all, just a guy who got his kicks by sneaking looks at sleeping women.

Nothing, she told herself. Nothing to fear.

When Roger returned, he entered the kitchen talking on his cell phone. “Yeah, Flora McKinsey’s house on Poplar—901. Her granddaughter’s staying here at the moment and last night she had a Peeping Tom. There are footprints under her bedroom window.” He paused. “Geez, Gage, how would I know? Probably scared the bejesus out of her. We don’t have any known peepers making the rounds, do we?”

He fell silent. Then, “Yeah, I think she’d be glad to see Kelly. Someone has to come, right?”

When he disconnected, Haley let go of the counter and faced him. “I didn’t want to make a federal case out of it.”

He gave her a half smile. “I did it for you. It matters, it upset you, and there’s not a whole lot I can do, not being a cop. Just get yourself another cup of coffee and relax. You’ll like Kelly.”

“Kelly?” She looked down at herself. “I should get dressed.”

“You’re decent. Relax. Kelly’s one of our K-9 officers. She’ll probably talk to you for a few minutes then try to follow the guy’s trail. Her dog, by the way, is called Bugle.”

“Bugle?” That surprised a small laugh out of her. This was happening too fast. She’d spent most of the night trying to regain her equilibrium, to push childhood memories back into the tar pit, and, with just one phone call, everything was awake and alive again. It didn’t matter there was no kidnapper involved. It only mattered that someone at her bedroom window had shaken her life until past ugliness tumbled into the present.

She took Roger’s advice and poured herself some fresh coffee before returning to her seat. “It was always odd to me how Grandma would start every day with coffee and switch to tea by midmorning.”

“Yeah.” He pulled out the chair he’d been sitting in earlier and sat facing her once again. “She never could persuade me about the tea. And, Lord knows, she tried.” Then he eyed her straight-on. “Haley? Why didn’t you call the police last night?”

The underlying truth burst out of her, shocking her as she faced it. “Because I didn’t want to make it real!”

Those vehement words told Roger he’d tripped into a minefield, one he wasn’t equipped to handle. Damn, he was just a guy who made saddles. He knew horses better than he knew people. Well, with the possible exception of their riders.

But the very honest anguish Haley had just displayed left him feeling helpless and as if he needed hip waders so he wouldn’t get in dangerously deep. The last thing he wanted was to make some stupid comment that would exacerbate whatever Haley was experiencing.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. Her gaze was now focused on the coffee mug she held in two hands before her.

“No need.” Really there wasn’t. His brain was on a rapid search down the halls of memory, trying to pull out some sliver that could give him a clue to this moment. Peering down those hallways, however, told him how little he truly knew about Haley, how little time they’d really spent together. Flora provided more recollections.

But then, somewhere in his mental search, he ran up hard against a nearly forgotten memory. Of course it was nearly forgotten. He’d been what? Twelve or so? At that point he wasn’t sure he’d ever met Haley at all, but he’d heard her mentioned. And he suddenly remembered, although it hadn’t seemed important at the time, not to a kid, something about her having been kidnapped and returned unharmed. In fact, by the time any adult had mentioned it around him, she was safely at home.

And his young mind had dismissed the event as unimportant.

After Haley’s reaction just now, he realized the memory was not in her distant past and that at this moment it was very much present.

Calling the police would make it more real? Uh, yeah. God, she’d probably spent much of the night wrestling with recollections that should have been buried beneath a tombstone nearly a quarter century ago.

All of a sudden, the Peeping Tom no longer seemed like a minor nuisance that needed to be looked into. Suddenly he seemed like a major threat to Haley’s peace of mind. Problem was, Roger didn’t know what to do about it. Nor, likely, would the police.

Conard City—in fact, the whole county—was by and large a peaceful place. Oh, yeah, they had their share of loonies and wackos, but overall it was still a place where people felt safe, let their children play outside and all the Norman Rockwell rest of it.

Of course, some of that was illusion. Everyone knew it but clung to it anyway. So far, he didn’t think many had paid a high price for believing everything was okay around here. People might be irritated by the idea of a Peeping Tom, but they’d be equally certain they’d figure out who it was and, between a misdemeanor charge and public disapproval, he’d get back in line or leave town.