I intended to do just that. Once we were both settled in, I prepared a little snack for Jessica and me. After we were done eating, my daughter and I kayaked on the lake for a few hours.
When we came back ashore, we spent a few minutes just staring at the water. It was such a peaceful sight. If I sat there long enough, I probably could have taken a nap in that exact spot. My stomach had something to say about that, however.
While the snack I had prepared a few hours ago was delicious, the kayaking had really worked up my appetite. And I wasn’t alone. Jessica was also hungry for an early dinner.
Even though it was difficult for me to stop staring at the beautiful lake, I went inside with my daughter. As I began getting things ready for dinner, Jessica opened up a book. It was then that my phone rang.
When I saw my husband’s name on the caller identification screen, I picked up the call. For a second, I wondered if David had made some progress with the Claire Blakely investigation. That didn’t prove to be the case. In fact, he had no update to speak of. If anything, David sounded more discouraged than ever.
Instead of dwelling on his lack of leads, David changed the subject. He asked how Jessica and I were doing. I knew he just wanted to hear about lighter fare, like kayaking and sitting by the lake.
I couldn’t help but bring up Bobby, though. Especially after the chills I had gotten when I saw him staring at me.
In order to satisfy my own curiosity, I asked David to look up Bobby’s name in the police database. Sure, there was a chance that I had let paranoia get the better of me. Conversely, maybe my instincts were right about him.
Surprisingly, David’s search did not pull up any results. According to the database, Bobby didn’t have any felonies or misdemeanors. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even have a parking ticket to his name.
That information should have made me feel better. Yet, I still had the same sinking feeling in my stomach when I thought about him. I just couldn’t place where that dread was coming from.
One thing was certain. I wouldn’t get an answer that evening. When I got off the phone, I finished preparing dinner. Jessica and I then made quick work of our food.
After that, we spent the rest of the night just hanging out and relaxing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The following morning, Jessica and I slept in. What a glorious way to start out a day. When we did finally get out of bed, we spent a number of hours hanging around the cabin. I then packed a picnic lunch, which we ate by the water. Once we were done eating, my daughter and I went out on the water again.
Talk about a relaxing day. It was also just what the doctor ordered. By the time nightfall came, I was completely in vacation mode. And loving every minute of it.
That evening, I wasn’t in the mood to cook, so Jessica and I headed over to Acorn Road to grab a meal from the local diner. I grabbed the first parking spot that I saw and then got out of the car with my daughter. As we approached the entrance of the diner, however, I spotted Bobby’s pickup truck on the other side of the parking lot.
The moment I saw the vehicle, I got a queasy feeling in my stomach. Suddenly, I wanted to go somewhere else for dinner. Unfortunately, in a town as small as Ashford, there wasn’t a ton of options. That said, there were two or three alternatives. As I stood in the parking lot, I tried to decide on a new place to go for dinner.
Just as I made a choice, the front door of the diner opened up. Bobby then exited the restaurant and stared directly at me.
Much to my chagrin, he had fire in his eyes.
“You again?” Bobby snapped. “What are you doing here?”
“Calm down,” I said. “You don’t have to raise your voice.”
Bobby didn’t listen to me. Instead, he remained just as angry as ever. “Are you following me?”
I shook my head. “No—”
He threw out his arms. “Why should I believe you? After all, you were definitely following me yesterday afternoon.”
“That isn’t true,” I said.
He scoffed. “Really? Do you honestly expect me to believe that you randomly stopped in front of my house yesterday? Or that you just happened to come to this diner at exactly the same time that I did?”
“Look. You have the wrong idea about me,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes. “Do I? Or maybe you’re sticking your head where it doesn’t belong.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time to calm down,” I said. “If you keep talking like that, you’re going to scare my daughter.”
“I don’t care,” he snapped. “Now, listen to me. Leave me alone. Got it?”
I instinctively reached into my purse, where I kept my can of pepper spray. Even though I preferred not to use it, I wouldn’t hesitate to spray him if he got any more out of hand.
That said, I was going to try to talk some sense into him. The question became, would he listen to reason?
“No. You listen to me. Back off,” I said.
Just as Bobby was about to reply to my statement, Garrett Walker approached us and intervened.
“What’s going on here?” Garrett asked.
At first, I was kind of startled by Garrett’s presence. After all, I was so caught up in the conversation with Bobby that Garrett had just come out of nowhere. In all honesty, I couldn’t tell if Garrett had been sitting inside the diner all this time or if his car had just pulled into the parking lot a few seconds ago. Either way, I was relieved that Garrett was there to step in.
Bobby, meanwhile, wasn’t happy to see Garrett at all.
“It’s none of your concern,” Bobby said.
Garrett shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. Why do you think you can just make a scene like this?”
Bobby pointed at me. “If you want to give anyone a talking to, it should be her.”
“The woman with a little kid? Have you lost your mind?” Garrett asked.
“Just stay out of this,” Bobby snapped.
Garrett folded his arms. “That’s not going to happen. Why don’t you just head on home before things get out of hand?”
Bobby stared Garrett down.
Garrett wasn’t intimidated, however. He stood his ground.
After a few seconds, Bobby let out a groan. He looked at me one last time and issued a warning.
“Stay away from me,” Bobby said.
Bobby then got into his pickup truck and drove away.
When his vehicle was out of sight, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“He shouldn’t give you any more trouble,” Garrett said.
“I hope not,” I said.
“Honestly, the guy talks a big game, but I’m pretty sure he’s all bark and no bite,” Garrett said.
“I’m not going to take my chances,” I said.
“That’s probably a good call. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Garrett said.
“It sure is,” I replied. “Anyway, thanks for intervening.”
I took a few steps back toward my car.
“Of course.” Garrett then squinted as he pointed at the diner. “Wait. Where are you going? Aren’t you going to grab some dinner?”
“Actually, I think we’re going to call it a night,” I said.
“Are you sure? I mean, you should at least get some dessert. They make some killer apple pie here,” Garrett said.
Jessica tugged at my sleeve. “Can we get some pie?”
“Honestly, right now, I just want a nice and quiet night back at the cabin,” I said.
“I understand,” Garrett said. “Well, be careful out there. There are some real crazies in this world.”
“You aren’t kidding,” I replied.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jessica and I got back into my sedan. I then fired up the ignition of my car, backed out of my parking spot, and headed straight for our cabin.
Understandably, that conversation with Bobby had rattled me. So, I took a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down.
Jus
t when I was starting to lower my heart rate, I saw something troubling in the rearview mirror. From what I could tell, I was being followed. At least, that’s what it seemed like.
What led me to that conclusion exactly?
To start, the route back to the cabin involved making a number of turns. Suspiciously, with each turn that I made, the vehicle behind me followed suit. Unfortunately, since the country roads that we were driving on were dark, I couldn’t tell the make or model of the vehicle that was tailing me.
Rather than heading directly back to the cabin, I decided to do a little experiment. There was a gas station coming up ahead. Even though I had over a half a tank of fuel, I decided to turn right into the gas station.
Would the vehicle behind me do the same? Or would they keep driving? If the driver did mirror my actions, I would know that I had serious cause for concern. At the same time, I would also be in a highly public place. I could either lock my doors and call the police or run into the mini-mart with my daughter and pray that the driver behind me wouldn’t do anything brazen with a gas station clerk watching.
Much to my surprise, when I pulled into the gas station, the vehicle behind me kept on driving down Cardinal Avenue. While I was glad that I was no longer being followed, I couldn’t exactly breathe a sigh of relief. Especially when I saw that the vehicle that had been tailing me all this time was Bobby’s red pickup truck.
At that moment, a sense of panic set in. I made a very important decision to cancel the rest of my trip. Given everything that had happened, there was no way that I could possibly relax. In fact, I was more stressed out than ever.
My new plan was to head back to the cabin and gather up our stuff as quickly as possible. Once I had loaded our luggage and belongings into my car, we would immediately drive back to Treasure Cove.
But first, Jessica and I had to make it back to the cabin. In an effort to be as cautious as could be, I pulled out my smart phone before driving away from the gas station. I wanted to be able to dial 9-1-1 as quickly as possible if I saw Bobby’s truck again.
Perhaps I would get lucky, though, and make it back to the cabin without any incidents. I certainly prayed for that to be the case. Either way, I would certainly find out soon enough.
Chapter Thirty
Thankfully, I didn’t see Bobby’s pickup truck again on the entire drive back to the cabin. Once I had safely pulled into the driveway of our vacation home, I rushed up to the front door of the cabin and unlocked it. I then instructed my daughter to pack up her things as quickly as possible. Ideally, we could be back on the road again in less than fifteen minutes.
Much to my delight, it only took five minutes to gather up all of our stuff. Once everything was packed, I started to bring things out to the car. Unfortunately, we had too many bags to load up my sedan in just one trip.
On my first jaunt to the car, I carried my suitcase in one hand and my purse in the other. As I loaded the suitcase into the trunk of my sedan, however, the terrible feeling in my gut returned.
I suddenly went on high-alert. And with good reason. It turned out I wasn’t alone in the front yard. That became clear to me when I heard a rustling coming from a nearby bush.
While it could have just been a harmless animal moving around, I wasn’t about to take my chances. I reached into my purse and pulled out the can of pepper spray that I always kept on me.
When I turned around, I saw something shocking. Of all people, Garrett Walker was approaching me with an evil look on his face. He was holding a damp cloth in his left hand. If I had to guess, there was probably chloroform on the cloth. I was in no hurry to find out.
Instead, I pointed the can of pepper spray directly at Garrett’s face and squirted him in the eyes.
Garrett immediately stopped dead in his tracks and began yelling as he rubbed his eyes. While the pepper spray did a great job of stunning Garrett, it didn’t disable him completely. The fact was, the effects of the spray would wear off pretty soon.
While Garrett continued rubbing his eyes, I darted back into the cabin, slammed the door shut, and locked the deadbolt.
Jessica looked completely terrified. “Mommy, what’s going on?”
“Honey, go in the bedroom and lock the door. Once you’ve done that, hide under the bed. Got it?” I said.
Jessica began to tremble. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Please just do it. Now!” I yelled.
Jessica nodded. “Okay.”
My daughter ran into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
I then looked back outside.
At that point, it was clear that the effects of the pepper spray were wearing off. I had to think fast. After all, even though I had locked the cabin door, the door wasn’t exactly what I would call sturdy.
To keep Garrett from kicking the door down, I needed a little extra weight to act as reinforcement. As I scanned the cabin, the couch was clearly the best option.
I ran over to the sofa, bent my knees, and pushed the couch as hard as I could. Thankfully, I was just strong enough to slide the couch across the floor to block the front door.
And just in time too. The moment I stopped pushing the sofa, Garrett tried to break the door down. Much to my relief, his attempt was unsuccessful.
He started to yell at me from outside.
“This door isn’t going to hold forever,” Garrett said.
While he taunted me, I moved away from the door. I then grabbed my phone and dialed 9-1-1.
An operator answered. “9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”
“There is a crazed man trying to break down my door. I need police assistance right now,” I said.
“What’s your location?” the dispatcher asked.
“486 Pine Drive,” I said.
“I am dispatching units right now.”
“Good.”
I then turned my attention back to the front door and yelled at Garrett, who continued to kick the door.
“You really had me fooled with that nice guy act of yours,” I said.
“Being nice doesn’t get you anywhere in life,” he said.
“And where did you think chloroforming me would get you?” I asked. “Because let me tell you something. The only thing in your future is jail time.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. I’ve gotten away with chloroforming before—”
“When?” I asked. “Who have you chloroformed in the past?” A name then popped into my head. “Wait a minute. Did you abduct Claire Blakely?”
He smirked. “Yes. And I’m going to do the same to you and your daughter.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said.
“I don’t know why you’re so convinced that you’ll get away from me. You’re trapped in that cabin. And that sofa isn’t going to hold forever.”
“I know. But I don’t need it to. It just has to hold long enough for the police to arrive.”
Garrett’s eyes widened.
“Wait. You didn’t realize that the 9-1-1 operator has heard every word that you just told me?” I asked. “Well, guess what? The police should be here any moment. If I were you, I’d make a run for it.”
Garrett snarled and kicked the door again, but the sofa was just heavy enough to keep the door from opening.
Rather than continuing to kick, Garrett elected to dart back to his car. When I heard the front door of his car open, I switched my phone over to camera mode and headed over to a window in the living room of the cabin.
Before Garrett was able to speed off, I snapped a shot of his vehicle, making sure to include his license plate in the frame of the picture. Luckily, I was able to get a clear shot the first time, because Garrett darted away a second later.
As Garrett tried to make a getaway, I told the 9-1-1 operator Garrett’s license plate number over the phone. I also gave the operator the make, model, and color of the sedan that he was driving. In addition, I gave her a description of Garrett. Finally, I told her that Garrett’s sedan wa
s heading west on Pine Drive.
After I got off the phone with the operator, I called my husband. When I relayed the news to him about what had taken place, he told me he was getting in his car and bolting up here as quickly as possible.
Chapter Thirty-One
Now that Garrett was no longer an immediate threat to me, I switched my focus. I wanted to check up on my daughter. When I called out to Jessica from the living room of the cabin, she opened up her bedroom door and rushed over to me. I then threw my arms around her and tried to comfort her as much as I could. After all, she was a complete mess.
“Mommy, that was so scary,” Jessica said.
I pulled her in tighter. “I know.”
“What was wrong with that man?”
There were so many answers to that question. Most of them were too disturbing to share with my daughter. I certainly wasn’t about to delve into those murky waters with a five-year-old. Instead, I kept my reply as vague as possible.
“It’s complicated,” I said. “But the short version is that he’s a very bad man.”
“Why was he trying to hurt us?”
“Because he’s evil.”
“He’s not coming back here, is he?” Jessica asked.
I shook my head.
My daughter breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”
“Don’t worry, honey. You’re safe. It’s all over.”
She took a deep breath before replying, “I want to go home.”
“So do I.”
“Can we go now?” she asked.
“Not yet,” I said.
A look of disappointment came to her face.
“We need to wait for your father to arrive first,” I said.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Unfortunately, Jessica and I weren’t going anywhere at the moment. Instead, we continued to wait for a police officer to arrive. Thankfully, a deputy from the Ashford Police Department pulled up in front of the cabin a few minutes later.
Cookies with a Side of Danger Page 8
