Renee walked down to the kitchen, nervous after the episode the night before but wanting to see what was up with Molly. The dog was standing in the kitchen, growling—but at what? The moon provided some light for Renee to see: her dog was fixated on the spot where they found the dead squirrel. Renee flipped the light on and the sudden glow from the overhead fixture abruptly cut off Molly’s growl. She rushed over to Renee’s side and rubbed against her leg as if nothing were wrong. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe the dog had heard an animal outside, or could still smell the squirrel even after all that pine-scented cleaner. Renee closed all the curtains on the main level before heading back up. She also made sure the front porch light glowed so the girls wouldn’t come home to a dark house.
Now she couldn’t sleep. Trying to keep her mind off things that go bump in the night, Renee took out her iPad and worked on her Pinterest boards. She had a growing collection of grandiose ideas for the resort. Molly stayed close, letting out a few sporadic growls. She couldn’t, or wouldn’t, settle down.
Renee heard a car drive up right at curfew. Gravel crunched in the parking lot. She held her breath, hoping they wouldn’t make a racket and wake the other guests. If it had been a rowdy night, they might not be ready to settle down yet, might forget their surroundings as teenagers sometimes do. She hoped she wouldn’t have to go all preachy on them.
There were some giggles and muffled conversations but nothing crazy. The boys walked the girls back to the duplex and they all loitered out on the front lawn. Renee wondered if any of them had paired off into couples. It was pretty convenient to have three girls and three boys in their group this whole last week. Almost like Julie, our Whispering Pines booking agent, planned it, she thought, grinning.
Since everyone was home, Renee relaxed enough to fall back asleep.
Sometime later, a shrilling sound filled her room, yanking her back awake. She fumbled around on her end table for her cell phone. A call at this hour was never good news. Ten different scenarios ran through her head before she was able to find her phone.
“Hello.” Her voice cracked from disuse and she cleared her throat. “This is Renee.”
“Mrs. C, this is Ben. Sorry to call so late, but there’s something you need to see. I don’t think you want to wait till morning.”
Julie was standing in the bedroom doorway, having heard Renee’s cell, her eyebrows raised in curiosity about the late call.
“What is it, Ben?” Renee asked, scooting to the edge of the bed.
“Craig is walking over now to get you. Can you come down and meet him on the front porch?”
Ben sounded stressed, worried about something. He was a level-headed kid, so his tone concerned her.
“Is everyone OK?” she asked, afraid someone might have gotten hurt.
“It isn’t that, but you need to come over, OK? I have to go.” Ben clicked off.
Renee pulled on sweatpants and a hoodie. She dropped her cell in her pocket, grabbed the flashlight next to her bed, and filled Julie in with what little she knew. Julie rushed back to her room to pull clothes on over her T-shirt and panties. She wanted to go with her mom, and Renee wasn’t going to talk her out of it. Something was seriously wrong. She’d heard it in Ben’s voice.
“Anna and Emma,” Renee spoke softly as she stuck her head in Julie’s room. “Are you girls awake? Ben needs me to come over to their cabin quick. I don’t know why. Julie’s coming with me. I need you two to stay here. I’ll lock the door behind us. If Robbie wakes up, keep him here, too. I don’t need everyone out wandering around in the dark. I’m going to go see what happened.”
“Got it, Renee,” one of them answered from the depths of a mess of pillows and blankets on the floor. “Be careful!”
An urgent knocking downstairs signaled Craig’s arrival. Renee grabbed Molly’s leash and snapped it on the dog. She’d bark like crazy if they left her behind.
“Mrs. C? It’s me, Craig. Open up.”
Renee flung the door open. She saw the same look of concern on Craig’s face as she’d heard in Ben’s voice. “What’s going on, Craig? Is anyone hurt?” she asked again.
“No, but we have a big problem back at the cabin. Come on, follow me.”
The three of them and the dog navigated the dark path, around the back side of the lodge, and made their way to the cabins. Cabin #3, where the boys were staying, was brightly lit, and the door was standing wide open. There were also lights on in one of the other cabins.
Ben stepped into the doorway as they ran across the lawn toward him. He jumped down the steps and blocked Renee’s path. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye, taking a deep breath.
“It looks like we had a visitor when we were at the dance. After we left your place, we walked back over here. The fire was still going a little so the three of us sat around it and bullshitted for a while. We were still jacked up, and, since we go home tomorrow, we weren’t in a hurry to call it a night. But we got hungry, so Denny went in to grab chips.”
Ben paused, reluctant to continue.
“It’s a real mess in there, Renee. I want you to be prepared. When Denny saw it, he freaked a little. OK, a lot. He started yelling for us to get in there and was running from room to room, trying to figure out what the hell happened. I . . . think he woke up the neighbors, too. Sorry,” Ben apologized, motioning over his right shoulder to the light in one of the other cabins. He took his hands off Renee’s shoulders and moved to her side. “Whoever was in there is gone now. Come on, we’ll go in with you.”
Ben ushered Renee toward the cabin with a light hand on her shoulder. He discreetly clasped Julie’s fingers with his other hand, pulling her in close as well. Craig took Molly’s leash and stayed outside with her. She was growling again, sniffing around on the ground she could reach from the short length of her leash. Denny followed Ben and the women up the stairs.
“Oh . . . God,” Renee exclaimed, her hand covering her mouth in horror.
Destruction was everywhere.
One of the kitchen chairs lay busted on its side. Drawers were pulled out and dumped in the kitchen. A deep slash ran down the length of the old sofa, stuffing yanked out and spilling onto the floor. Pillows were torn. Bedding was ripped off both beds and dressers were overturned. Big black slashes of paint marred walls they had recently worked so hard to paint.
Scribbled across the bathroom mirror in bright red were the words: Go to HELL!
“Oh my God, oh my God,” was all Renee could manage as she picked her way through the ransacked cabin, hardly believing what she was seeing.
A thought occurred to her and she turned back to the boys. “Is any of your stuff missing?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Denny said. “We haven’t even looked yet. We called you as soon as we were sure the asshole that did this wasn’t still in here.”
Julie stared around with wide eyes. “Mom, whoever did this must be sick in the head. I’m scared. I think you need to call the police.”
“Right, honey, we need help here. We probably shouldn’t wait until morning,” Renee said, pulling out her phone and dialing 911.
She explained the situation to the dispatcher and asked him to send someone out as soon as possible, preferably without lights or a siren. It was late and she didn’t want to bring negative attention to Whispering Pines.
Renee stepped outside to wait for the sheriff. Dan, Sam’s dad from next door, was in hushed conversation with Craig. She stepped up to talk to him.
“I called the sheriff, he’s on his way. Dan, I am so sorry. I can’t imagine who would do something like this. I hope your family didn’t all wake up, too. I would hate for something like this to ruin your vacation.”
Dan gave her a sympathetic smile. “Renee, don’t be silly. This isn’t your fault. Angela woke up, too, but I convinced her to stay inside with the kids and not wake them. With any luck, they won’t even know anything happened. I’d be happy to talk to the sheriff, but I’m afraid I w
on’t be much help. The kids fell asleep on our laps when we were out talking around the pit, so we didn’t go in till about midnight. I can’t believe I didn’t hear anything until these guys started hollering. Looks like Tim and Jenny slept through it all.” Ben motioned to the dark cabin of her other renters.
Renee’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Robbie, wondering what was going on. Knowing it would be quicker, she called him instead of texting back. Now that she knew why Ben had called, she was a little nervous about Robbie, Emma, and Anna back at the duplex by themselves. She told Robbie she would come over and get them, but Craig heard her and insisted he would go instead. She needed to stay where she was until the sheriff arrived.
Dan offered to go with Craig. No one was likely to mess with those two big guys, even on the dark path between here and there. They headed off, with Molly trotting along between them.
Renee went back into the ravaged cabin. She felt uncomfortable standing outside alone, the yellow light over the cabin door highlighting her almost like a target for the criminal: Her next.
Ben, Julie, and Denny were standing in the living room, talking quietly. No one wanted to touch anything. Renee looked around again, tears starting to course down her cheeks. Who could be so cruel? Who would do this . . . why?
It must have been a busy night for law enforcement. By the time a squad car pulled into the lot, it was already 3:00 a.m. Robbie, Anna, and Emma were sitting around the glowing embers of the pit, silently staring into the orange. They had already looked inside the cabin and were sick about it.
Two officers exited the patrol car, illuminated by the solitary streetlight. Both were in uniform, one looking fit and not much older than Julie, the other more grandfatherly. Renee approached them across the dark lawn. Shock was starting to wear off, replaced with anger.
“Thank you for coming out, Officers. My name is Renee Clements. I’m the owner here at Whispering Pines. Unfortunately, one of our cabins was vandalized tonight.”
“Aren’t you Celia’s niece?” asked the older of the two men. “Celia was one hell of a woman. Been a long time since she last came out here. We heard she left this place to her niece, and you were trying to get this old place going again.”
Renee was a bit unnerved by how much this stranger knew about her. Her surprise must have shown on her face.
“Sorry, ma’am, I’m the sheriff around here, name’s Thompson. This here is Deputy Winston.” He gestured to his partner and then extended his hand to Renee. “Been a busy night, what with the big dance in town and all. Folks get all wound up and crazy this time of year. Must be a combination of heat, a full moon, and the holiday coming up. Why don’t you show us what ya got?”
Renee escorted them over to the damaged cabin. Neither officer said anything initially. They gave slight nods to Dan and the teenagers, all of whom were standing outside, unsure what to do. As the officers entered the cabin, Sheriff Thompson gave a low whistle. Renee assured them whoever had done this was no longer in the cabin, but from their careful perusal through the rooms, it was obvious they wanted to make sure that was true.
Winston took pictures of the damage with his phone, and then the deputy had Denny, Craig, and Ben come back in and check through their personal items. Nothing seemed to be missing. The sheriff jotted notes in a little notebook he pulled from his shirt pocket. After surveying the cabin, he took everyone’s name down and asked if there was somewhere they could go to talk, away from the chaos of the cabin.
“Yes, why don’t we head over to the lodge,” Renee suggested, pulling keys out of her sweatshirt pocket.
“We need all of you to come with us so we can take your statements,” Winston informed the group, glancing around at everyone. “Any other renters out here? We should talk to everyone.”
“We have three full cabins tonight,” Renee said, ticking them off her fingers. “One is the messed-up one we were just in, Dan and his family are in the cabin next door—his wife is inside with their sleeping kids—and I don’t think the renters in the cabin to the left of the fire pit are awake. I was hoping not to bother them with this.”
“Better go knock on their door,” Sheriff Thompson advised. “I know you don’t want to inconvenience your customers, but I need to make sure everyone’s OK, too.”
“Oh lord, I didn’t even think about that,” Renee admitted. “I’ll be right back.”
Renee jogged over to the dark cabin. Winston followed her, just in case.
After a few moments of silence, there was some rustling from inside and the door opened. A confused man stepped out onto the front stoop in a tank top and boxers. “What’s going on, Renee?” Tim asked, spying the uniformed man behind her.
“I hate to wake you, Tim,” Renee apologized, “but one of our other cabins was vandalized tonight. The sheriff came out to check on things.”
“No shit?” Tim said, running a hand through his longish auburn hair. Renee hoped his wife and little boy were still asleep. “I’m sorry to hear that. What can we do?”
Winston stepped up to Renee’s side. “Would you mind coming over to the lodge with us, sir? We just want to check in with everybody, get an idea of anything you might have heard or saw that was out of the ordinary tonight, that type of thing.”
“Oh, OK, sure,” Tim agreed. “Let me throw some pants on quick. What about my family?”
Winston peered behind her renter, into the dark interior of his cabin. All seemed quiet. “If they’re sleeping, leave ’em be. No sense getting everyone riled up. If your wife can think of anything she might have noticed, you can give us a call in the morning.”
They all made their way over to the lodge. Renee was glad the girls had made so much progress cleaning it up. She asked Julie to make coffee; she feared this would take a while. Fortunately, Renee had already started stocking the kitchen for Val’s return; there was a bag of ground coffee and large jugs of bottled water on the counter.
Renee provided the officers a brief overview of the evening, introducing Ben, Craig, and Denny as the cabin renters along with her own kids and Julie’s friends. She explained Dan was renting the cabin right next to the one that had been vandalized.
Robbie pulled out two of the large, foldable tables, setting up one at one end of the large room and the other in a different corner. Taking a seat at the far end of the room, the officers started by taking statements from each of the college boys, one at a time. Then they talked to her other renters, Dan and Tim. Molly paced around the room, sniffing everything, all the people making her nervous. Finally, they talked to Robbie and the girls.
Once they had talked to everyone except Renee, Thompson suggested the rest could go get some sleep.
“Julie, why don’t you take Craig, Denny, and Ben over and get them settled in the other duplex? They have to be exhausted, and no one is going to spend any more time in that cabin tonight. Robbie, Anna, and Emma, please go with them. I want you all to stick together. Take Molly too,” Renee instructed, handing the dog’s leash to her daughter. She turned to the two men standing beside the deputy and sheriff, who were still sitting at their make-shift interrogation table. “Thank you, Dan and Tim, for your support. Again, I am so sorry you had to deal with this.”
“Don’t worry, Renee. Like I said, it isn’t your fault.”
Deputy Winston stood, offering to escort everyone back. “I’ll take a quick look around over at your duplex, too,” he discreetly told Renee. “Make sure everything looks to be in order.”
The lodge emptied except for Renee and Sheriff Thompson. She handed him a fresh cup of coffee and both sat back down at the table.
“I gotta tell you, Ms. Clements, this is unusual. Been a long time since I’ve run across something like this. I don’t think your renters did it. They seem like a decent group of young men. This obviously has all three of them shook up. My gut tells me they weren’t involved. If they’ve only been here this week, I’m not sure why anyone would specifically target them, either. All three of them, al
ong with your daughter and her friends, gave me the same story as to how their night went tonight.”
“I agree with you, Sheriff,” said Renee. “I’ve gotten to know those boys a bit this week, and I like all three of them. They’ve even helped out around here, and they’ve been nice to the other renters and have always been respectful. I have no reason to think for a minute that they had anything to do with this.”
The sheriff nodded, consulting his notes. “Does anyone hold a grudge against you, Renee? Have you had any bad experiences with any of your renters yet? I know you haven’t been open long.”
“No . . . I can’t imagine why anyone would do something like this because they’re mad at me. I have to tell you, we have been busting our tails over here, getting things back in shape so we could open for business. I had one husband and wife complain the whole time they were here, but I think they’re probably difficult by nature. This attack gives me the creeps. It feels violent . . . intrusive.”
“I tend to agree with you, Renee. The slashed furniture and message on the mirror concern me. This wasn’t a simple B&E where they were looking to steal stuff. Doesn’t appear anything is missing. How about your kids? Anything going on with them lately that could be related to what happened here tonight?”
Renee thought back to the pills she found in Robbie’s pocket. She truly didn’t think it had anything to do with what happened here, though, so she didn’t mention it.
“I don’t think so. We haven’t been here long enough to meet people in the area. It’s only been a month, and my kids have been working hard alongside me most of the time. This is a long way from the city for someone they know to come all the way out here and do something like this. Julie was away for her first year at college and is home for the summer.”
Whispering Pines (Celia's Gifts Book 1) Page 26
