Was that because Nate kissed me?
I couldn't just change my entire life for a man!
Except I wasn’t the catalyst that changed my life. I lost my job, broke up with my pseudo-boyfriend, got evicted from my apartment and inherited a Victorian mansion. None of that had anything to do with Nate.
The ringing of my cellphone startled me out of my reverie. I fished it out of my pocket, smiling when I saw the caller ID. "Hi, Mallory!"
"Hey, babe! How's life in Snoozeville?" she trilled.
"Stranger than I thought it would be." The sound of her voice was a welcome relief from all the self-introspection I'd been absorbed in lately. I kicked off my sneakers and walked into the living room, dropping onto the couch and putting my feet up.
"I want to know everything that happened since we last spoke. The house. The small-town drama. Did you run into that guy again? The one that you were madly in love with back in high school?" I closed my eyes. Of course, Mallory knew all about Nate.
"Yes, I have."
"Tell me! Tell me now!" squealed Mallory. "Then I'll tell you my news!"
I took a deep breath and began, starting with the revelation that the dead man’s body belonged to none other than my no-good second cousin. I embellished the mystery about the house and the possibility it concealed something very valuable that someone was more than eager to find. Then I told her about all the treasures Danielle and I found in the attic.
"This all sounds very suspicious," said Mallory when I finished. "So it's a very good thing that tomorrow, your BFF is coming to visit. Both your BFFs!"
"What?! You're coming here to visit me?" I sat up straighter, a huge smile spreading across my face.
"Unless you’ve gotten a new BFF since you left?"
"No!"
"Then, yes! Jill and I decided to come visit you. We can only stay for the weekend but after everything that's happened, we want to be there for you. We both took a couple of vacation days to travel and we hoped you have enough room to put us up in your crazy, big house."
"Of course I do! I am so thrilled you're both coming." I couldn't conceal the excitement in my voice. "This will be so perfect. I'll invite some of my old friends over so you can all meet and we can order some pizzas. Aunt Edie had an amazing margarita recipe that I will have to whip up for everyone."
"Sounds amazing," giggled Mallory. "I'll call you when we're nearly there and you can hang out the welcome banner. See you soon, bestie!"
I hung up, feeling better than overjoyed. Finally, something was about to happen that I didn't have to think through three million times. I got up and headed into the kitchen to pour myself a very much deserved glass of wine and check on the kittens.
The kittens were both curled up on a pile of clothes, asleep, their little, furry bellies rising and falling. I checked their water bowl and the litter box before I tiptoed out, afraid I would wake them. I shut the door behind me and headed to the refrigerator, eager for my glass of wine.
I pulled a glass from the overhead cabinet and set it on the counter, then pulled open the refrigerator door and screamed.
"Vanessa?" someone yelled.
"Nate? I'm in here! In the kitchen." I slammed the door shut, gasping at what I'd just seen. I stumbled back as Nate ran into the kitchen.
"What happened?" he asked, reaching for me with panic written across his face.
"That!" I pointed to the refrigerator.
"What? A spider?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes and continued to point, jabbing my finger. As Nate pulled the door open, I turned away. "Oh, geez," he muttered before slamming the door shut. "Someone put a dead cat in your fridge."
"I seriously hoped you wouldn't say that."
"Sorry." He wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled against him, tightening my arms around him.
"Someone really must hate me," I said.
"No. Someone really wants to scare you," replied Nate. He dropped a kiss on top of my head and squeezed tighter. "However, we are not going to let them succeed."
"I need to call Detective Logan. He should know about this."
"I agree." Neither of us moved.
"Nate?"
"Yeah."
"I can't reach my cellphone."
"Oh!" Nate released me and I regretted it instantly, despite having a dead cat in my refrigerator. I really did need to call the police.
"Nate, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I brought over some kitten food," he said, pointing to a grocery bag in the doorway. "And I wanted to check up on you. I don't like the idea of you sleeping here alone."
I glanced at the refrigerator. "Neither do I."
"I have a sleeping bag in my truck. I can crash on the couch. Unless you have a better idea? Do you want me to drive you over to your parents’ place? Or you could check into a hotel."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Please sleep on the couch although it's not a permanent arrangement, okay?"
"Sure hope not," laughed Nate. "I have a comfortable bed at home. I'm not offering to sleep there out of my undying love for your couch."
I hesitated as I opened my mouth to ask if he was offering his services out of his undying love for me, but decided not to. We already felt awkward about the kiss. There was no need to make it any more uncomfortable right now. "I better call the police," I said and hurried out of the room to grab my cellphone. I called Detective Logan's number and he answered.
"There's a dead cat in my refrigerator," I told him. "And I didn't put it there."
"It would be strange if you did," he replied. "I'll be right over."
"Should I remove it?" I asked. I really didn't want to touch it but I also didn't want the poor animal lying dead in my refrigerator either. I would have to scrub the whole appliance now and throw out everything I had inside it. I decided to start chugging the wine until I drained the bottle.
"No, leave it where it is. I'll take it with me."
"Detective Logan says to leave it where it is," I told Nate. I grabbed his hand and hurried with him out of the kitchen, eager to put some distance between us and the dead animal.
"I am so relieved it's not one of the kittens," said Nate.
"Me too. I checked on them a few minutes ago. They're fast asleep unless I woke them up with my scream. Someone is going to be terribly upset if that's their favorite pet." I sniffled, holding back my tears.
"I think you should worry more about why some creep would put a dead animal in your refrigerator. There is no way the cat opened the door and climbed inside."
"Do you think it's a warning?"
Nate nodded sternly. "Of course it is! Yes, without a doubt."
"I was afraid of that. Oh, no!" I clapped a hand to my mouth as I realized something else.
"What is it?"
"I changed all the locks and I made sure the house was locked up when I left. Someone still managed to get inside! But how?"
Nate's jaw squared and his lips pressed into an angry line. "I'd like to find out."
We were quiet while we waited for Detective Logan to arrive, which he did a few minutes later. He pulled up at the curb and hurried towards the house. I threw the door open before he had a chance to knock. "This way," I told him, inclining my head to the kitchen.
"Stay here," instructed the detective. He walked into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, carrying a large bag in his hand. He walked out to his car, deposited the bag in the trunk, and then returned.
"What's going on?" I asked him as the three of us moved into the living room.
"I think someone's trying to scare you but you probably already figured that out. I can't tell you if that cat was deliberately killed by the person who left it there, but my guess is it's been deceased longer than one day. There isn't a collar on it so it could have been a stray cat that was hit by a car, but there're no signs of obvious injury. I'll take it over to the vet to check for a microchip before it’s destroyed. I could be wrong but I think it's someone’s clumsy
attempt to scare you."
"We thought that too," I said as Nate nodded.
"It's a horrible thing to do," added Nate.
"I agree. When did you find it?"
"Just before I called you. I just walked in the door and I went there to get a drink. That's when I found it."
"Where were you returning from?" asked Detective Logan.
"My sister, Tammy's house. My parents were there too, along with my brother-in-law, Grant, and my niece and nephew. Grant is a vet."
"Grant Henderson? I was planning to take the dead cat to him. Anyone else know you were going to be gone?" asked Detective Logan.
"I did," said Nate. "Vanessa's parents asked me to pass the message along."
"Did you tell anyone else?"
"No. Everyone else had already finished for the day and after I delivered the message, I went home too. I had dinner and came back to check up on the kittens."
"Kittens?"
"We found two strays and they've temporarily moved into the rear sitting room," I explained. "Before you ask, they are both accounted for."
"Who else has keys to the house since you changed the locks?"
"Just me and Nate."
Detective Logan cut a glance to Nate. "Can anyone substantiate your whereabouts?" he asked.
I started to open my mouth to protest but Nate caught my hand in his. "My neighbor saw me come home. We spoke for a few minutes. Then I went inside and called one of my guys on the phone about our workload. Oh, and a package was delivered, one that I had to sign for. After that, I went to the grocery store to get kitten food and drove over here," he explained. "My time is all accounted for."
"Nate did not do this," I added.
"I have to check," said Detective Logan but he nodded and seemed happy with Nate's explanation.
"Did you find any fingerprints?" asked Nate.
"I doubt there will be any. Someone went to a lot of trouble to gain access and plant the dead cat in order to scare you. It's a safe bet they wore gloves. I saw a home alarm panel when I came in. Was it set?"
"It's not operational yet," explained Nate. "I will have it all finished tomorrow, not that it does Vanessa any good right now."
"You still don't have any clue as to what your cousin and his accomplice were looking for?" asked Detective Logan.
"None. I found a few things in the attic that I'll probably donate to the Calendar Museum and there was an old car in the garage that I gave to my dad but nothing worth all of this trouble."
"Someone still thinks there's something valuable enough that it’s worth scaring you away. I'll take the dead animal with me and have forensics analyze it. I'm going to post a squad car outside your house too."
I thought about arguing until I realized Detective Logan was right. A visible police presence would hopefully scare off Terry's accomplice and prevent them from harassing me any longer.
"Is there anything that happened recently, say in the last few hours? Or the last couple of days that could have made the accomplice step up their game?" asked Detective Logan.
"No, I haven't found anything valuable if that's what you mean. There is one thing..." I broke off, suddenly uncertain.
"What is it?"
"A realtor approached me with a very strange offer to buy the house." I paused as I caught Nate's rapidly rising eyebrows. I knew exactly what he thought: he was wondering why I hadn't mentioned it to him.
"What's strange about that?" asked Detective Logan. "It's not exactly a secret that you planned to sell the house."
"The strange thing was I got a cash offer for the house, including all the furnishings and everything inside it. It was time sensitive and I'm supposed to give the realtor my decision tomorrow. If I accept the offer, I have to be out within a couple of days and all work on it must stop immediately."
Detective Logan matched Nate's raised eyebrows with the same expression. "That is highly unusual. Who's the buyer?"
I lifted my shoulders and let them fall again. "I don't know. The realtor refused to say."
"Give me the realtor's name and I'll look deeper into it."
"Gwendolyn Cooper."
"Sticking a dead cat in your refrigerator is a threatening thing to do to coerce you into agreeing to the sale," pointed out Nate. "Plus, someone went to extreme effort to break in without getting caught."
"Someone got in even after you changed all the locks," said Detective Logan. "I'll see if there's anything unusual about this mystery buyer."
"If the mystery buyer left that nasty surprise, it worked. I've made up my mind."
"You're going to sell to them?" Nate snapped, his eyes widening in surprise and disappointment.
"No! I promised you right of first refusal just like we agreed," I told him. "Actually, I've decided I'm not selling the house to anyone. I won't sell it until I know exactly what's going on at The Blackberry Inn. This is my house now and I'm staying put."
Chapter Nineteen
"You really didn't have to stay another night," I said when Nate walked into the kitchen the next morning. A squad car remained outside just as Detective Logan said it would and I watched the cars changing shifts ten minutes ago.
"Worried the neighbors will talk?" he asked with a wink.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the sink full of hot, soapy water. I thoroughly scrubbed the refrigerator last night but this morning, I woke up with the urge to either clean it again entirely or get rid of it. The former option seemed the most practical. Now every surface was disinfected. If only I could do the same thing to my addled mind. It would be a long time before I could pull open the fridge door and not wince with dread and anticipation.
"Thank you," I said when I turned back, grabbing a cloth to dry my hands.
"What for?"
"For staying here in case Terry's crazy accomplice tries to break in again, and for staying up late to ensure the security system works."
"No thanks necessary. I feel partly responsible for the break-in."
"Why?"
"If I finished the security system before I left yesterday, it wouldn't have happened."
"You don't know that. Someone got into the house despite the locks being changed. Maybe they could have bypassed the security system too."
Nate nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sure your spare set of keys never left my pocket," he said. "Where do you keep yours?"
"In my jacket pocket or purse or sometimes on the reception desk in the entryway. I can't tell you exactly where they've been every time I entered the house because I haven't really thought about it." I stopped as I remembered something. "I leave the keys to the rear doors inside the kitchen drawer. Do you think someone could have lifted them while they were inside the house?"
"Maybe. Or maybe someone just chanced upon them."
"They would have had to come prepared with whatever you need to make an impression of the keys. How does a person even get hold of something like that?"
"Criminals are opportunists so they might already have gotten what they needed to make a cast or cut a new key. I don't like seeing how organized they were. Someone is very determined to get you out though so they can retrieve something hidden here."
"Like I said last night to Detective Logan, I'm not going anywhere."
"That's what worries me."
Guilt flooded me. "I know you wanted to buy the house and I'm sorry that won't be happening anytime soon. I know you're disappointed."
Nate looked up, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown. "No, it's not that," he said quickly as he stepped towards me, closing the gap in two swift strides. He placed his hands on the sides of my shoulders and looked down at me. "I'm worried someone is going to grow impatient and possibly attack you. I don't want to come here to work one day and find you lying in a pool of blood, or tied up in a closet with a bag over your head."
"Thanks for those happy thoughts," I muttered as I shivered. "Anyway, I'm not going to be alone tonight. My best friends, Mallory and Jill, are visiting from
out of town and staying here. I'm going to invite Tia, Danielle, and Melissa too. No one is going to risk trying to enter the house while it's full of so many people."
"I hope you're armed with something better than a feather pillow if they do intrude on you guys."
"Only my razor-sharp wit," I quipped. "And I don't know what you imagine we'll be doing tonight, but rest assured it won't involve hitting each other with feather pillows!"
Nate stuck his tongue out. "That spoiled it for me."
I looked up at him, suddenly realizing how close we were. We hadn't talked about our kiss. I told him I couldn't talk about it before I awkwardly left. Despite that, he still returned when I needed him. I caught a glimpse of the chain around his neck and knew that somewhere under his shirt lay the beautiful ring he once offered me when he asked me to marry him.
I was very tempted that day. Nate was right, the kiss was wonderful and I have never experienced another one that even came close to besting it. Except for our kiss yesterday. That was just as wonderful as I remembered the first one. It would have been so easy to say yes to him, and stay in Calendar. I could marry the man I'd been in love with for years, but we both waited too long to declare our feelings. I hurt him horribly in the intervening years by ignoring his attempts to contact me and pushing him away. I missed him terribly.
"Vanessa," he started, taking my hand.
I forced my eyes to meet his, and I saw the depth of feeling in them. The atmosphere was charged with all the things we left unsaid. Nate told me how he felt but could I tell him how I felt? I wanted to. I loved him too. It never really went away but I couldn't hurt him again. My stay in Calendar might be extended for a short time, but I hadn't fully decided about whether I would stay for good. I was ninety percent sure I could try living in Aunt Edie's beautiful house, and start a freelance business, and reconnect with my family and friends, but until the remaining ten percent was on board, I didn't want to risk hurting Nate all over again. But oh, how I wanted him. I wanted to kiss him, and hold him, and go for moonlight walks. I wanted to stare into his eyes and create a romance novel with him.
Alibi in April (Calendar Mysteries Book 4) Page 18
