Sudden Second Chance

by Carol Ericson

  The cabin arose from a clearing. A walkway paved with natural stone cut a path through a neat garden.

  “It looks inhabited.” He squeezed her hand. “Still getting the feeling?”

  The door burst open and a man stepped out onto the porch with a shotgun.

  Beth stumbled and Duke caught her.

  “You lost?”

  “Can you put the gun down?” Duke curled his arm around Beth’s body and felt a tremble roll through her frame.

  “Oh, this?” He lowered the shotgun. “Just came out here to clean it. Didn’t know anyone was here. Got myself a turkey this morning.”

  Beth found her voice. “Do you own this cabin?”

  “No, ma’am. My name’s Doug Johnson, if you want to check it out. I rent the cabin once a year to do some hunting—turkey mostly. The wife likes it if I can bring one home for the Thanksgiving dinner.” He tugged on his hat. “Are you looking for the owner?”

  “Who is it?” Duke asked.

  “I rent it from some management company—Raney Realty.”

  Beth pinched his side. “Bill Raney?”

  “Might be, but I deal with a woman.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I think I have a card, if you want me to get it.”

  Duke waved. “That’s okay. We can look them up in town. There another cabin out this way?”

  “About a mile up the road.”

  “Is that one for rent, too?”

  “I think it is, but there’s nobody there now. It’s not as nice as this one.”

  “Raney Realty have that one?”

  “I think so. I keep coming back to this place, so I’m not sure.”

  “Thanks. Sorry to disturb you.” Beth dug her crutch into the ground. “Four down, one to go.”

  When they got back in the car, Duke touched her icy cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Do you find it coincidental that the cabin giving me the heebie-jeebies is managed by Bill Raney?”

  “Yep.” Beth had regained her focus and he didn’t even bother asking if she wanted to check out the last cabin. She was like a dog with a bone at this point.

  He drove almost a mile up the road until he spied another path with a mailbox at its entrance.

  He pulled off the road as far as he could and met Beth at the passenger door. Her pale face and shallow breathing indicated another panic attack was on the horizon.

  “Can I get you something, Beth? We don’t have to do this now, or you can wait in the car and I’ll take the camera.”

  “It’s so strong, Duke. I wish I had Scarlett with me.”

  “I’m with you.” He handed her the crutch. “Let’s go face this thing head-on.”

  He adjusted his gait to hers, his head swiveling from side to side, his body tense.

  Beth fell against him with a cry as she pointed to the mailbox. “Look, two birds. Just like Scarlett said—two birds. This is the place.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Beth swayed, but Duke kept her steady. The uneasy feelings had been building in her gut as soon as Duke had turned down the access road. Now, standing in front of the mailbox, they overwhelmed her.

  Breaking away from Duke, she staggered toward the mailbox and grabbed it. She traced her finger along the edges of the two birds that had been carved at the top of the mailbox. “This is what Scarlett saw.”

  He placed a hand against her back. “Are you ready to have a look?”

  “You’re not going to try to talk me out of it again?”

  “You’ve come this far. There’s no turning back.”

  Dragging in a breath, she leaned on her crutch. “Let’s go.”

  A path wended its way toward the cabin, which was a duplicate of the one down the road. The hunter had been right. His rental was in better shape, but this one hadn’t been abandoned.

  They approached the front door, which was no longer red, and Duke took the two steps in one long stride. He banged on the solid wood door. “Hello? Anyone here?”

  “I suppose we won’t find any broken windows in this cabin.” Beth hobbled around to the side.

  The brush had been cleared away from the structure, creating a neat perimeter. Beth followed the outer wall of the cabin, the adrenaline pumping through her body. She pressed her forehead against one of the windows, but someone had tugged a pair of neat curtains across the glass.

  She jumped as Duke put a hand on her shoulder. “Can’t see inside this one, but this is it—the cabin of my nightmares. I’m sure of it, and the formerly red door and the two birds on the mailbox line up with Scarlett’s vision.”

  “I doubt the owner of the cabin, especially if it’s managed by Bill Raney, is going to allow us to just walk in and search around.”

  “Probably not. What if we rent the place?”

  “Wouldn’t that seem strange since you’ve been staying in the hotel all this time? And if Raney doesn’t want you snooping around, I’m sure he could come up with a million reasons for the owner not to rent to you.”

  She traced a finger across the smooth glass. “I wonder who owns it. I really want to get inside.”

  “Can you get any reception out here? If you text Rebecca, she’ll have the answer for you in a matter of minutes.”

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped it. “No reception. That info is going to have to wait.”

  “But the rest doesn’t have to wait.” He brushed aside her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. “I’ll be right back.”

  He headed to the back of the cabin and disappeared around the corner.

  A wave of panic engulfed her again and she closed her eyes and pressed her hand against the rough wood of the cabin wall. “Duke?”

  “Right here.”

  Her lids flew open to find him beside her. “What did you find?”

  “Whaddya know? Someone left the back door open.”

  “You broke in?”

  “Shh. We’re not going to steal anything. We’re just looking around to see if it’s suitable for renting.”

  “I’m gonna end up getting you fired over this.”

  He took her hand. “If I’m going to get fired, we might as well get something out of it.”

  The forest edged up pretty closely to the back of the cabin, but the place did have a patio with a table, a couple of chairs and a barbecue pit.

  Duke pulled the sleeve of his jacket over his hand and pushed open the back door. She didn’t notice any broken glass or splintered wood, so he must’ve picked the lock. The less she knew, the better.

  She stepped through the door into a small room off the kitchen with a compact washer and dryer in the corner. Her breath coming in short spurts, she edged into the kitchen as Duke closed the door.

  She hesitated at the entrance to the living room where a large stone fireplace took up half the wall.

  “Maybe they don’t get many renters here because it’s not completely furnished or ready.” Duke hovered at her shoulder. “Do you want to have a look?”

  Beth had to peel her tongue from the roof of her mouth to talk. “I...I’m scared. This room... There’s something evil here. Do you feel it?”

  Duke stepped around her into the dark living room and ran a hand along the mantel of the fireplace. “It’s eerie, but I might be getting that vibe from you.”

  Beth took one shaky step after him. Curling her fingers around the gold locket at her throat, she closed her eyes. She could use some of Scarlett’s magical tea about now.

  She shuffled farther into the room, as if being drawn forward by some guiding force.

  “Beth?”

  Duke’s voice seemed far away. Beth battled to get through the fear and revulsion to make her way toward a softer, more benevolent place at the en
d of this tunnel. The greenery of the Washington peninsula that had always caused her such anxiety rushed past her in a whirlwind. The blood-drenched terror that she’d faced in her shared vision with Scarlett swirled around her, but she kept her focus. There was something more, something sweet and precious, and she had to stay this course to get to it.

  “Beth? Beth?”

  The wood floor creaked beneath her and she fell to her knees. “I’m here. I’m back. I’ll help you.”

  “Beth, my God.”

  Duke crouched beside her, his arm circling her waist. “Beth, are you okay? What’s wrong with you?”

  Twisting around to face him, she grabbed his jacket. “It’s here, Duke. There’s something here. Something led me here.”

  He stroked her hair. “I know, babe—the hypnosis, the visions, the red door and the birds have all led you here, but it’s not enough. Even if we find out who owns the cabin, it might not be enough.”

  She pounded the floor through the Native American rug that covered it. “No, I mean it’s here. There’s something right here.”

  He dropped his gaze to the floor and ran his hand along the blanket, his brows creating a V between his eyes.

  Just like that, he believed her.

  “I don’t see anything, Beth. It’s just a rug.” He flipped up one corner of the rug, exposing the original wood floor of the cabin, scarred and scratched. He pressed his hands against the slats of wood and one rocked beneath his hands.

  “It’s loose.” His eyes flew to her face.

  She breathed out the words. “It’s here. I heard the wood creak beneath my feet. There’s something here, Duke.”

  He reached into his pocket for his knife and flipped it open. He jimmied it between the loose slat and its neighbor. It lifted a half an inch.

  “There’s a cavity here.”

  Beth grabbed the knife, but Duke put his hand over hers. “Easy. We don’t want anyone to know we’ve been here.”

  He took over and worked the blade back and forth until the wood came up from the floor. When he could get under the slat, he angled the knife and pumped it higher.

  He eased up the slat and removed it. “Hand me your phone.”

  She knew what he wanted, and she turned her phone’s light on before dropping it into his hand.

  He aimed it into the space beneath the floor. “There’s a box in there. Looks like a small fisherman’s tackle box. It’s too big to fit through this opening. I’m going to have to remove a couple more pieces of flooring.”

  While Beth held the phone, Duke worked on two more slats until the opening was wide enough to accommodate the box.

  “You do the honors.”

  With trembling hands, Beth reached into the cavity and pulled out the tin box. She didn’t know what she expected—her real birth certificate? Adoption papers? A letter from her bio parents?

  When she flung open the lid, she gasped and fell back on her heels. Whatever she’d expected to find, it didn’t include this.

  Duke grabbed a handful of the photos in the box and held them to the light. “What the hell? Nudie pictures?”

  Beth studied the pictures fanned out in Duke’s hand and gasped.

  As she opened her mouth, an explosion rocked the cabin.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Duke’s ears were ringing with the sound of the explosion. He reached for Beth, whose mouth was hanging open in shock. “Are you okay?”

  She managed a nod.

  His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. A window in the front had shattered, but the cabin was intact, and he couldn’t smell fire.

  “The cabin’s fine. The explosion came from outside.”

  He gathered all the photos from the box and shoved them into the camera case. “We need to get out of here.”

  Beth reached for the wood slats and slid the first one into place. They put the floor back the way it was and Beth covered it with the rug.

  Duke slung the camera case across his body and hoisted Beth to her feet.

  With the crutch snug beneath her arm, Beth moved as fast as she could for the kitchen.

  Once outside, Duke could see black smoke rising from the front of the cabin. He turned and shut the door, clicking the lock back into place with his knife.

  “Let’s get in the car and call 9-1-1 when we can. We were just driving by when we heard an explosion, right?”

  She licked her lips. “Got it.”

  They got to the front of the cabin and started down the path to the road when Beth gasped. “It’s a tire.”

  With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Duke pushed through the gate to the road, stepping over twisted metal.

  He swore when he saw the shell of his rented SUV twisted, blackened and still on fire.

  Beth tried her phone. “Still no reception. I suppose we’re going to have to admit to being out here unless you can think of a way to move that burning hulk and all its pieces somewhere else.”

  “We were walking up to the cabin to do research for your show and heard the explosion.”

  “We’re going to have a chance to try out that story real soon.” She cocked her head. “Sirens.”

  “Doug must’ve called it in.”

  She hooked her fingers in his back pocket. “What do you think happened to your car, other than the obvious?”

  “Since dynamiting a rental car seems too suspect, even for Sheriff Musgrove, my guess is that it was an expertly placed shot to the gas tank.”

  “Easily explained away by an errant bullet or teenage prank.”

  “Or another rogue hunter, but now that Scarlett Easton has left town, who’s the target this time?”

  “Someone knew we were here, Duke.” She rested her forehead against his back. “Someone didn’t want us to find those pictures.”

  “That’s going a little far to protect a few naked photos, don’t you think. As far as I could tell, they were all grown women.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  A fire truck roared down the access road, followed by a squad car and an ambulance.

  “Hold that thought, Beth. We have some explaining to do.”

  * * *

  OVER TWO HOURS LATER, after being dropped off by a deputy, they collapsed in Beth’s hotel room.

  Duke downed half a bottle of water in one gulp. “That went smoother than I expected. We were the victims, so the deputies didn’t seem to care what we were doing at the cabin.”

  “At least they think it was a threat directed at me this time and not related to Scarlett’s feud with the hunters.”

  “Yeah, but their solution was to tell you to leave town.”

  “It wasn’t too long ago that your solution was the same.”

  He ran a hand down her back. “Because I wanted to protect you, not because I didn’t want to deal with solving a crime. Sheriff Musgrove is a piece of work.”

  “At least the explosion got him off the golf course.”

  “You realize it’s going to take about two minutes before the entire town of Timberline knows we were at that cabin.”

  “Who cares?” She patted the camera case. “We found the stash of pictures.”

  “I’m not sure what good they’re going to do us unless you want to start a girlie magazine.”

  “That’s because you didn’t look at the pictures.” She opened the camera case. “I did.”

  His pulse ticked up. “Something incriminating.”

  “Not exactly, but something very, very interesting.” She pulled a handful of the pictures from the case and dropped them on the credenza, fanning them out. “Look at this picture and tell me what you think.”

  “First time I’ve ever had a woman ask me to look at provocative photos.” He picked up
the photo of a woman posing in the nude, tame by today’s standards, and studied it. He dropped the picture as if it burned his fingers. “That looks like you.”

  “Exactly, and I can assure you I’ve never posed nude for anyone here in Timberline before.”

  He let that pass and picked up the picture again by the corner. He squinted at the pretty woman in the photo with the strawberry blond hair. Then he swallowed hard.

  “Beth?”

  She looked up from thumbing through the other photos. “Uh-huh?”

  “Did you notice what this woman has around her neck?”

  “No. An explosion interrupted my examination of the pictures.”

  He waved the photo in front of her face. “It looks like a necklace of some kind. I can’t make out whether or not it’s a locket, but I’m hazarding a guess it is.”

  Gasping, she snatched the photo from his hand. “You’re right. A woman with strawberry blond hair wearing a necklace like mine.”

  Her bottom lip wobbled. “D-do you think this could be my mother?”

  Duke plucked the photo from her hand and placed his thumb beneath the subject’s chin, studying her face. He couldn’t tell the color of her eyes, but the catlike shape matched Beth’s, along with her wide cheekbones.

  “You could be related, no doubt.” Feeling like a voyeur, he turned the picture over. “What does it mean? Someone took risqué pictures of your mother and other women and then hid them under the floorboards of that cabin.”

  Beth lunged for her phone. “We need to find out who owns that cabin. All the deputy knew was that Raney Realty had the rental listing.”

  Beth tapped in Rebecca’s number and left a message. “She’s probably still busy with her open house.”

  Duke threw himself across the bed and rubbed his eyes. “I’m exhausted.”

  Beth stretched out beside him, propping up her head with her hand. “The strangest thing happened to me in that cabin. I felt like I was channeling Scarlett. Maybe some of her sensitivity rubbed off on me.”

  Duke’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. “Mickey’s calling. Hey, Mickey, this is my day off.”