Alone and Afraid (Rocky Mountain Home Series Book 1)

Copyright
©
2012 by Elizabeth Sherry

All rights reserved.  Except for the use in review, the reproduction or uti
lization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author. 

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to the actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Under the Aspens (The Aspen Series #1)
The Aspens Fall (The Aspen Series #2)
Remember the Aspens (The Aspen Series #3)
The Aspens End (The Aspen Series #4)
The Aspens Collection (The Aspen Series Box Set)
Crime at Cripple Creek (The Sisters Week Series #1)
Murder at Myrtle Beach (The Sisters Week Series #2)
Trapped In Tunica (The Sisters Week Series #3)
The Sister’s Week Series: Volumes 1-3 (Box Set)
Alone and Afraid (Rocky Mountain Series #1)
On The Run (Rocky Mountain series #2)
Not Her Baby (Rocky Mountain Series #3)
Deadly White Christmas (Angel Mountain Series #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Brooke had been driving for hours.  Her knuckles were white with tension from the last half hour on the dangerous, dark mountain highway.  She knew she’d have to stop soon before she ended up at the bottom of the cliffs.  Highway twenty-four ran through the White River National Forest.  This part of the drive was on narrow roads with little to no guardrails preventing cars from going over the side and landing hundreds of feet below.

Her nerves were shot
, and since she had very little sleep the past month, she knew she had to pull over soon.  She regretted not enjoying the beautiful scenery as she drove earlier on I-70, but her thoughts were on the events that brought her to this point.  She was not only fired from the job she loved at the bank, but she also lost the respect of her employers and other bank employees. 

Thanks to her conniving ex-boyfriend, she was also under suspicion of helping David siphon funds from the bank.  She was innocent, of course, and though the police
found no proof behind the allegations, she had a cloud of suspicion that followed her every day in her small community.  The turning point came when David hit her after she told him she was turning him in to the police, after she saw him pocket funds from a customer.  They were in her apartment and she thought she owed it to him to give him the chance to do the right thing and turn himself in.  She found out that she owed him nothing.  He showed his true colors and as he walked out the door, while she cowered on her living room floor, he told her he would kill her before he’d let her ruin his life.

As it turned out, she didn’t have to report David to the police.  An anonymous caller did that for her, or so the evening news reported.  The news also said David was picked up and was being held for embezzlement. 
She had been exonerated by the police of any involvement.  But that wouldn’t get Brooke her job back.  That was her cue to get on with her life and forget the old one.

She saw the sign for Lonely
Motel up ahead, and no matter what, she had to stop and rest.

The
motel was right off the exit and the sign read
Vacancies
.  Although the motel looked a little beaten up by the weather, it wasn’t that uninviting.  There were three other cars parked in front of various rooms, so she knew the motel wasn’t deserted.  She was checked in by a friendly motel clerk, and after the room key was placed in her hands, she got back into her car and parked it in front of her room.

Brooke carried her small suitcase inside and was glad she thought ahead when she packed for the trip.  She knew she would arrive at her destination very late and she didn’t want to have to unload her whole car immediately.  So she packed a small bag for the first night and then the next day she’d
planned to unload everything else.

After locking the room door, Brooke started her bath water
.  A quick bath and then sleep was what she needed.  Tomorrow morning she’d finish the thirty-five minute drive to Red Cliff in the daylight and start her new life.

She was not
sure how long she stayed in the bath as she dozed off and was abruptly awakened by loud voices from the room next door.  The water was cold and as she toweled off and dressed in her pajamas, she scrutinized herself in the bathroom mirror.   Gone was the mousy dark blond hair, and in it’s place was a rich auburn color.  She also had her hair cut, although it still came down to her shoulders, it was not the heavy weight she felt when it reached her waist, as it had before.  She also was glad that the color of her hair brought out her green eyes.  She didn’t look much like her old self, and that made her smile.

She had just finished drying her hair, when
she heard the screams.  Not knowing what happened next door, she made a quick decision and called the front desk.

“Hello, I’m in room 106 and I hear someone screaming in the room next door.  Please, can you check to see if someone needs help?” Brooke told the motel clerk.

The motel clerk sounded half-asleep, but promised to check on the occupant of the room next to Brooke’s.

In a few minutes, all was quiet, so Brooke climbed into bed and thought she’d get a few hours of sleep.  She figured the clerk of the motel told the people next door to hold down the noise.  She got a surprise when she heard the loud knock on her room door.

She got out of bed and saw the flashing lights of a patrol car parked behind her car.  Her stomach rose up to her throat.  Were they here to arrest her? She was terrified, yet she opened the door to the police officer.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry to wake you, but we received a complaint regarding someone needing help.  The hotel clerk sa
id you reported hearing screams coming from next door.  Is this correct?”  The officer asked.

She was
confused since she had convinced herself before opening the door that she was under arrest, and so she hesitated before she answered, “Yes I did.  I heard loud yelling and then screaming coming from next door.  I thought maybe someone needed help, so I called the front desk,” Brooke answered.

“Can I get your name, please?  We’ll need
it for the report,” Officer McCoy asked.

She saw his name
tag and began to panic.  The last thing she needed was to have the police do a background check on her.

“Please, I’m just traveling to Red Cliff.  I stopped because I was tired and it was too dark to safely keep driving
, as I’m unfamiliar with the roads here.  All I want to do is get some sleep.  Can’t you just check next door and make sure everyone is alright?” she said in a shaky voice.

“We’ll do that, but first I do need your name,”
he impatiently replied.

“My name is Brooke.  Brooke Laine.  Is that all officer?”  Brooke asked, trying to sound
normal, although she felt the cheeseburger she ate five hours ago stuck in her throat.

“Thank you,
can you wait right here, please?” he said before he knocked on the door next to hers.  A woman answered the knock looking like she was awakened from a deep sleep.

“Sorry to bother you Ma’am, but we’ve had a complaint of loud yelling and screams coming from this room.  Do you mind if I look around?” Officer McCoy asked the
middle-aged woman.

“Officer, I’m sorry, I probably had the television up too loud.  I sometimes do that in order to sleep.  It helps when I have a crime show on.  That must be what they heard.  Feel free to look
, but I assure you I am the only person in this room,” the woman next door said.

After a quick scan through the room, the officer
apologized and wrote the woman’s name down, after she reluctantly gave it to him, and then told the woman to have a good night.

He then went
to the next room and knocked.  A very groggy middle-aged man answered the officer’s loud knock and said, “What the heck.  Can’t people be allowed some sleep?  My wife has a migraine, and after taking her medicine, finally was able to doze off.  You’ll probably wake her up with all this knocking.”

“I’m sorry sir, I’m just checking on a disturbance here.  Did you hear any loud yelling or screams coming from any of the other rooms?”  Officer McCoy asked.

The man impatiently answered, “No, I didn’t hear anything except my wife’s complaints until she fell asleep.  It’s been very quiet. Now can I please get back to sleep?  We have a long drive tomorrow.”

“If I can please have your name for my report,
and then I’ll let you get back to sleep,” the officer told the man since he saw inside the room and noticed everything looked normal.  He also saw the man’s wife in the bed.

“Thank you Mr. Martin
, and again, I apologize for the intrusion,” the officer said as he said goodnight.

Slowly, the officer walked back to where Brooke stood and told her, “Everything seems fine here.  What you probably heard was the television in the next room.
  I don’t see any reason for further investigation.  Get some rest and I hope you enjoy your stay in Red Cliff.”

Brooke closed the door and let out the breath she held inside.  She
told herself she had to stop acting so guilty.  She was not guilty of anything except choosing the wrong boyfriend and that was something she would never do again.  She was through with men for a long time.  Brooke crawled back into bed and tried to get some sleep.  She soon was oblivious to what went on in the other two motel rooms.  If she had known, Brooke would have run as far as she could go.