The Keeping (13 page)

She could feel the
coiled tension unwinding from her shoulders and her jaw. Why had
she allowed herself to get so upset over Taylor? It didn’t really
matter if he took his time making his decision. As long as he
eventually agreed, that was all that counted.

Mel gave a little
chuckle. As a matter of fact, the longer he took the better. It
meant more down time for her. She could do some writing; put some
polish on articles she wanted to submit for publishing. Maybe she’d
even get a repeat of last night’s dream—now
that
was
something to look forward to.

Pushing off from
the wall, she glanced down and noticed a few bits of green poking
out of the ground. She frowned, not being a gardening expert, and
wondered what might be growing this early in the spring. Crocus
maybe? She bent down to take a closer look and then nearly fell
back in surprise. Large paw prints were evident in the mud right
under her bedroom window. Even more surprising were two sets of
large human foot prints—just two. One set was facing towards the
cabin, and the other was facing away. Mel stood and studied the
surrounding ground carefully. There were no human prints leading to
her cabin, nor away. How could that be? The ground was soft and
even her slight weight was leaving indentations in the soil.

Stepping back, she
studied the roof line, the location of the porch, and the walls of
the cabin. Could someone have come down off the roof? Possibly, but
how did they get up there? It was quite high and she saw no sign of
a ladder. Technically, she supposed a very determined person could
even have stood on the porch and then scrambled to the window
without touching the ground. The cracks and crevices between the
logs would provide toe and finger holds, but why would anyone go to
all that trouble? It made no sense. And why were they outside her
bedroom window?

A frisson of fear
jolted through her as several unpalatable possibilities popped into
her head. Regardless of how they got there, someone had been
peering in her bedroom window. Had they watched her sleeping?
Changing her clothes? Mel shivered and wondered how much screening
the thin curtains on the window provided. She hadn’t even checked
if they were closed properly, thinking that it didn’t matter, out
here in the middle of nowhere. What if the person had come back and
broken in while she was gone today? What if they were still inside?
Looking at the cabin with something akin to horror, she backed away
until she was halfway across the yard, then turned and ran to the
Kennedys’, intent on calling the police, just in case.

*****

Mel pounded on the
Kennedys’ door and almost immediately Beth appeared, a paint brush
in her hand. She’d been repainting the bedroom when Mel had stopped
by earlier and was still engaged in the task from the looks of
things.

“Melody? I’m
surprised to see you again. Is something wrong?”

“Well, sort of. I
think... I mean, there’s a possibility... You see, there were these
footprints...” She was having trouble catching her breath and
organizing her thoughts after her headlong flight.

“Slow down; you’re
not making any sense. Come on in and sit down and we’ll talk about
whatever has you so upset.”

Mel gratefully
collapsed onto the kitchen chair and pushed her tangled locks back
from her face. Running definitely had a detrimental effect on her
hair, which was why she avoided the activity whenever possible, she
thought inanely. A bubble of hysterical laughter threatened to
escape and she squelched it back down. Why was she worrying about
her hair at a time like this, yet alone laughing about it? Beth was
already looking at her like she was half crazy. No need to add to
her suspicions by giggling away like some school girl.

Composing herself,
she took a deep breath and explained what she had discovered in a
relatively calm and collected manner. Beth frowned and called Josh
into the room—he’d been watching TV in the den and staying out of
Beth’s way while she painted; this was one of the secrets to their
long and successful marriage, the woman had informed Mel
earlier.

After hearing the
details, Josh frowned and decided to take a look around himself.
“No point in calling the police just yet. This is a small town and
we don’t have our own police force. The OPP—the Ontario Provincial
Police—are in charge, but it’s a large area and it could take up to
an hour for a patrol to get here depending where the nearest
cruiser is. I’ll check the cabin out and if someone really has
broken in, then we’ll call.”

“But what if
someone’s in there?” Mel twisted her hands in agitation. She didn’t
want Josh to face an intruder. What if the criminal was armed?

“Honey, did you
have anything valuable in there?”

Mel mentally
searched her luggage. “Not really. Just my laptop.”

“Well, then. He’s
probably long gone, if robbery was his motive. It wouldn’t take
long to search a small cabin and steal a laptop”

Reluctantly, Mel
agreed, but told Josh she’d go back with him so that if there was
trouble, she could run for help. Beth had him take a baseball bat
along for protection, just in case. He’d scoffed at the idea, but
gave in to keep her happy.

Josh made small
talk on the way to the cabin, showing no signs of being worried
about what he would find. “So did you manage to find Ryne’s place
yesterday?”

“Um... Yes, I
found it. The map you drew was very helpful.” Mel didn’t mention
the little adventure she’d had afterwards. As it was, she was sure
Josh thought she was over-anxious and worrying about nothing. There
was no need to add to his dubious impression of her.

“I’ve been by his
place a couple of times, but never up to the house. He bought the
place from the Nelsons. They were an older couple who wanted to
retire to Timmins. Everyone in town figured the place would be on
the market for years—no one moves to Stump River, you know. So we
were all surprised when Ryne bought the place practically the day
it went on the market. Why he and his friends moved up here, none
of us can figure out. Mind you, we’re not complaining. It’s nice to
have some young blood in the town.”

Mel murmured
non-committally and filed that bit of information away for future
reference. It wasn’t much, but compared to what she already knew
about the man—which was next to nothing—well, she’d take what she
could get.

By this time,
they’d arrived at her cabin. While Mel stood some distance away,
Josh went inside and looked around then came back out, with an
I-told-you-so expression on his face. “There’s no one inside
Melody. And no sign that anyone but yourself has been in
there.”

Breathing a sigh
of relief that some pervert hadn’t been going through her underwear
drawer, she led Josh to the side of the house, pointing out the
mysterious footprints.

“See? There’s one
set facing each direction, like someone entered and then exited,
but there are no other prints showing how the person came or
left.”

Josh rubbed his
chin. “Well, that is a bit puzzling. Let me think about it.” Just
as she had, he stared at the ground, the roof, the walls, and the
porch.” He got down and pressed his hand to the ground, observing
the imprint it made in the soft mud. “Huh... Only explanation I can
think of is that the ground was frozen when this fellow came
around. It still goes below freezing most nights, but the ground
nearer the house would have been softer from the heat seeping
out—these cabins aren’t very energy efficient, you know—so his
prints would show here, but not farther away.”

Mel nodded slowly.
It sort of made sense. “But why was someone here in the first
place?”

Shrugging, Josh
wiped his muddy hand on a handkerchief he pulled from his coat
pocket. “Most likely a transient. He was probably looking for a
place to spend the night or wondering if there was anything worth
stealing. You know, I’m not a skilled tracker or anything, but
these prints could be days old. See how the dog prints are on top
of the man’s? No telling exactly, when any of these were made.”

“Are you sure
they’re dog prints? Couldn’t they be from a wolf?” Mel was thinking
of the wolves she’d encountered on Ryne’s property. Had they
tracked her here?

“Wolves? I
suppose. But they don’t usually come near town unless the hunting
is really bad, and the winter wasn’t that harsh this year. Nope,
these are most likely from a stray dog.”

“Oh... Okay.” Mel
felt a bit deflated as well as relieved at the logical explanation
Josh had come up with. As usual, her imagination was getting the
best of her. She wasn’t exactly sure what she thought was going on,
but it hadn’t been anything as mundane as what Josh had come up
with. “Well, I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“No problem. I
know how skittish you ladies can get. Better to check it, like Beth
said. Then everyone can rest easy.” With a nod of his head, Josh
headed home.

Mel watched him
leave and then went inside. She walked into her bedroom and looked
around. Everything was as she’d left it. Approaching the window,
she pushed the curtain aside and stared at the casing. It was old,
but in good repair though there didn’t seem to be a locking
mechanism. Crime in Stump River probably wasn’t a major concern so
no one worried about locks on windows. She’d heard that rural areas
could be pretty lax when it came to home security.

She chuckled. What
would they think if they ever saw her apartment in Chicago? She had
deadbolts, chains, a keypad, and a peep hole to check who was at
the door... At times, she felt like she was in a prison, but crime
rates were high. If you didn’t want to become another statistic,
you did what you had to.

Experimentally,
she tried to open the window and was surprised when it slid open
with hardly a sound. Josh obviously kept the cabins in good repair.
She pulled the glass down and studied it carefully. There were
fingerprints on the glass pane. The first set were obviously her
own, but who owned the others? Had Josh tested the window? He might
have, but she didn’t think he’d mentioned it, nor had she heard the
window sliding up and down. Of course, she hadn’t been listening
for it either and it was very quiet.

Biting her lip,
she stepped back and jerked the curtain into place. Had someone
been in her room last night? Watched her sleeping? Touched her?
Kissed her? Intimately caressed her? The very thought made her skin
crawl and bile rise in her throat. She rushed to the bathroom and
leaned against the sink, panting and sweating, willing the contents
of her stomach to stay down where they belonged.

After a moment,
she began to regain control of herself. She leaned over the sink
and splashed cool water on her face and then grabbed a towel to
absorb the droplets. Staring into the mirror, she patted her face
dry while noting her pale skin and dilated eyes.

This is
ridiculous, she scolded herself. No one was in your room. It’s like
Josh said; the footprints are probably old. No one was here—it’s
just your darned imagination working overtime. A bit of trivia
popped into her head and she stood up straight, the beginnings of a
smile forming. As a matter of fact, it couldn’t have been last
night. She remembered hearing the weather report on the radio while
driving back to the cabin. It said that the temperatures had been
above freezing the previous night. The ground would have been soft.
Anybody out there would have left lots of footprints, not just one
set. Feeling relieved, she stuck her tongue out at her reflection
and mentally chastised herself. See? It was nothing. No one was
there except your phantom lover.

With a much
lighter heart, she breezed into the sitting area and pulled out her
laptop. There was no phone so she couldn’t access the internet, but
she could work on a few articles that she had started awhile back.
As she plugged the machine in, Mel decided to ask the Kennedys
about getting the phone hooked up. At least she’d have access to
dial-up. It would cost a bit, but she could justify the expense to
Aldrich. He wouldn’t be pleased about having to wait for her
reports nor would he like having to leave messages for her with the
Kennedys. The man was way too uptight for that sort of
arrangement.

Mel happily
settled down and spent the rest of the day working, totally unaware
of the controversy she was creating in various locales across the
continent.

Chapter
10

Ryne glared at his
Beta then abruptly turned away to stare out the window. Bryan was
just teasing him, but his comments were hitting a little too close
to home.

“Aww, come on
Ryne. If she’s just a human female, then why are you letting her
get under your skin?” Even with his back turned, Ryne knew Bryan
was smirking.

“How many times do
I have to tell you? She isn’t getting under my skin.”

“Of course not. I
just imagined the fact that you kept Daniel and me away from her
yesterday.”

“The less she saw
of the pack, the better.” He answered in clipped tones.

“And naturally,
you had to drive her home.”

“She was dizzy. It
wasn’t safe for her to drive.”

“Well, what about
going to see her last night?” Ryne turned, ready to deny the
accusation, but Bryan just shook his head and kept talking. “You
said you were going to see Lucy, but it wasn’t her scent on you
when you came home. And I talked to Lucy today at the diner. She
didn’t see you last night.”

“All right.” Ryne
sighed gustily. “I went to see the girl, but only because she had a
head injury. I got to thinking that she was alone and could have a
concussion. Someone had to check on her, to make sure she didn’t
fall into a coma.”

“Yeah, right.” The
two men stared at each other for a moment. Ryne’s face darkening
while Bryan just kept grinning wider and wider. “Face it, boss.
She’s caught your fancy. Why fight it? The way I see it, she’s here
for a week or two. Use the time to your advantage. Bang her a few
times and get her out of your system.”