The trip to the lake took a less than an hour. When they pulled up to Josh’s cabin, Elizabeth noted the similarity to the house Josh was building for her. The lake house had three dormered peaks just like Elizabeth’s, but the exterior was slate and stained cedar. An oversized three-car garage stood on the left side of the house. Tall bushes stood on either side of the doorway with a variety of flowering plants decorating the base of the trees and lining the sidewalk to the house.
Josh noticed the surprised look on her face and said, “It appears you, and I have similar tastes. We reviewed over ten possible floor plans. The one you chose was just slightly different from this. My cabin has six bedrooms and a walkout basement that leads to a large patio with an in ground pool.”
Elizabeth opened the truck door to climb out saying, “Why would you need a pool when the house is twenty yards from a huge lake?”
Josh grinned and walked around to the back of the truck. “Actually, it was easier to teach the kids to swim in the pool and Molly has a thing about fish nibbling on her toes.”
Elizabeth met him at the back of the truck and stood back as he opened the hatch. Kilo jumped quickly out. Charlie lifted her head up and gazed at Elizabeth. Her tail twitched slightly. Elizabeth reached out and patted her head as Josh leaned in and scooped Charlie up in his arms. He sat Charlie gently on her feet on the gravel driveway and stepped back so Elizabeth could kneel beside her. Kilo came up and licked Elizabeth’s face. Charlie gingerly turned to face her. The fur was gone around Charlie’s neck and chest. A large scar ran down the right side of her neck down to her breastplate.
Josh lightly smacked his thigh and Kilo moved quickly to his side. Randy and Amy appeared behind him. Josh said, “Let’s get Charlie inside. Randy and I can unload the truck while you two girls take a look around.”
The view from the deck was breathtaking. Waves of crystal blue water moved slowly across the lake. It was speckled with the sails of small boats and lines of white water that flowed in the wake of fast moving brightly colored boats. The orange and pink hues of the sunset flowed across the horizon as the boats below began to scatter and disappear into the approaching darkness. Elizabeth and Amy went back into the large kitchen. The dark brown speckled granite countertop ran the length of the kitchen. A large island breakfast bar sat in the center of the room. Elizabeth recognized the luxury Viking Appliances and designer cabinets. Josh clearly chose the very best for this lake house.
She gazed past the kitchen into the living room. The vaulted ceilings held dark beams running across the room toward the fireplace. The rustic design and decorations were perfect for a lake house setting. Elizabeth smiled at Charlie who was relaxing on Kilo’s dog pillow in the living area by a large fireplace. Randy and Josh immediately brought in the supplies, and Amy opened a bottle of wine and filled four glasses.
Josh led them out onto the deck. The sky began to blend from pink shades into blue and purple hues. They sat on a wicker bistro set overlooking the pool and the lake beyond. Kilo dashed down the steps and ran down the path that led to the shoreline. Randy quickly rose and began to pace. Josh knew it was time to tell the girls what they had found.
Josh leaned forward, set his wine glass on the small bistro table, and said, “Ladies we need to talk about the two break-ins at the cabin.
“Two break-ins?” Elizabeth said, frowning at Josh.
“Yes,” Josh met her gaze and added, “Randy believes the first break in resulted in your iPad theft. He thinks both thefts are related to the bear attack.”
Elizabeth leaned up to sit on the edge of her seat and glanced at Amy, then said, “That makes no sense.”
Randy moved back to his seat and sat down. He explained, “Elizabeth, I need you to think about anything that’s happened recently out of the ordinary. Something that you may have thought was odd, but you dismissed it immediately.”
Elizabeth’s questioning gaze moved from Josh to Randy. She said, “I don’t understand. What sort of things are you talking about?”
Randy nodded and said, “Phone calls where no one was there, a misplaced item that never turned up, an unusual car you keep passing on the way to the store? Someone you may know casually that you keep running into on a regular basis. Strange posts on your Twitter account, Charlie barking in the middle of the night for no apparent reason?”
Elizabeth sat back in her chair and asked, “What are you saying? Are you telling me I have a stalker?”
Josh rose and kneeled beside her, “We found a blood trail leading to the bay window. Someone stuffed a fresh fox carcass under the deck. We think someone killed the fox in the woods and dragged it to your cabin. They smeared blood across the foot of the bay window. Someone lured the bear to the cabin. The scent of blood, the chicken on the grill, and Charlie running in the yard was the perfect combination to work that bear into a frenzy.”
Elizabeth stared at him, stunned at his words. Amy rose and went to Randy, who rose to meet her. She asked, “Who is it?”
Randy reached out and pulled her close saying, “Honey, I don’t know yet. But I promise you I will figure it out quickly.”
Elizabeth rose and headed into the house, saying, “I haven’t noticed anything unusual other than what you know. I’m going to check on Charlie.”
Josh shot Randy a knowing glance, then followed her.
Randy sat down, pulling Amy onto his lap. She snuggled against him and said, “This makes no sense. Beth hardly ever leaves the house, she’s always writing.
“If someone is stalking her. . .” She sat up suddenly adding, “If this person stalked Beth in New York or St Louis, they’d be out of their element here. It would be almost impossible to stalk someone here. There aren’t any skyscrapers out here to peer out from or crowds to hide behind.”
Randy nodded, “I made some calls this morning. We are looking into it. It’s also possible that she has a fan that lives in this area. They could have been cyber stalking her for months, even years, and now that she’s close it’s escalated.”
Amy glanced at the house, then met Randy’s gaze, asking, “Are they trying to kill her?”
Randy looked at her. Her big blue eyes were moist with tears. He brushed away a tear from her cheek. She was beautiful. Her golden hair looked like spun silk. Randy sighed and said softly, “I don’t think they intended to kill Elizabeth. It looks like they were after Charlie.”
Amy burst into tears and sobbed, “Charlie is the sweetest, non-threatening dog I’ve ever known. Why would a stalker try to kill her?”
Randy wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head in his chest. He whispered, “A dog is a huge barrier to a stalker. Charlie’s mere presence probably kept the stalker at a distance for quite a while. Charlie was an obstacle that kept them from coming into the house while you and Elizabeth were home. If the stalker has not made contact with Elizabeth, then she has not jilted them yet, so the chances are they do not want to kill her. I guess they just wanted to make sure the bear was deep in the yard when Charlie came out the back door. I don’t think they meant for the bear to crash through the window. Josh had his man, Mike drop the carcass off at the Vet for an examination. The bear was injured and thin. It’s a safe bet it was starving. That made it desperate.”
Amy snuggled closer and said, “What are we going to do?”
Randy smiled and cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her face toward his. “Josh and I discussed it, and we think that you should avoid the cabin for a while. I thought perhaps you could stay with me for a few days, unless you’d like to stay longer.”
Amy’s moist eyes opened in surprise. She smiled up at him and asked, “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Yes ma’am, I am. I just can’t get enough of you, Amy.” Randy’s smile broadened, disappearing as their lips met.