Secrets at Cedar Cabin

by Colleen Coble

  Though he knew the orders were the right thing to do, Lance chafed at being left out. What if one of the girls was his sister? The likelihood was slim though, so he ended the call with Daniel and headed to unload the truck.

  Chapter 11

  Even from the road, Bailey noticed the derelict appearance of the large cabin. She parked in the drive at Lily’s house. It was a cedar-log home, too, larger than Bailey’s, and hidden in the woods down a nearly impenetrable dirt drive. She pushed inside to find the house in total disarray. Dust lay thick on the wood floors and tables, and heaps of quilting supplies lay in several different areas. The dirty windows blocked most of the light struggling to get in. Lily’s bedsheets were grimy, and the whole place smelled bad.

  She’d tackle the house once she got Lily clean.

  Lily didn’t fight Bailey as she disrobed her and got her in the shower. She washed the elderly woman’s dirty white hair, then wrapped her in a big towel and helped her dress. She combed out Lily’s hair, then braided it so it would stay neat.

  With a quilt on her lap, Lily curled up on the decrepit brown sofa and looked at her with bright, aware eyes. “I like you. Could I have some tea? I’m a little hungry.”

  “I like you, too, Lily.” Trying not to notice the bits of food, dirt, and mud on the chair opposite Lily, Bailey perched on the edge of the cushion. Maybe she could get some information out of the woman now. “Do you have your daughter’s phone number? I’d like to contact her, then I’ll fix you some tea and lunch.”

  “Liv’s number should be in my phone book in the kitchen.”

  Bailey left Lily in the living room and went through a doorway into the kitchen. Did Bailey dare to rummage through things? The stacks of dishes on the counter looked like they could topple over and kill her at any moment. A mouse squeaked and ran past her hand as she moved a tower of plates. She dropped the plates and stepped back with a shriek. Her heart pounded and her mouth was dry. This was so much worse than she thought.

  “Are you okay, dear?” Lily called.

  “Yes, I’m fine. A mouse startled me.” She’d have to get some traps.

  After taking a deep breath, she began to rummage through the kitchen again, but nothing looked like a phone book or address book. Shuddering, she moved things out of the sink, then ran hot water and dumped in a lot of dish soap. She loaded the filled sink with dishes and cutlery until she could find a space on the old Formica counter. She washed it and glanced in the refrigerator. Nothing but sour milk, a partial stick of hard butter, and various small containers of moldy leftovers.

  No wonder Lily was so skinny. When did she last have a good meal? Probably when Michelle and Jermaine brought something over. This was a seriously bad situation. Bailey managed to find a box of macaroni and cheese mix in the cupboard and put water on the stove to boil. While it heated, she washed dishes and cleared away the trash on the counter.

  By the time the macaroni and tea were ready, the kitchen surfaces could at least be seen. She ladled macaroni into a bowl and poured a cup of tea for both of them, then carried Lily’s lunch to her and returned for her own tea. By the time she came back into the living room, Lily had inhaled several bites of food.

  “You were hungry.”

  Lily nodded. “Did you find the number?” she mumbled around a full mouth.

  “Not yet.” Bailey glanced around the living room. Built-ins appeared on both sides of the fireplace, and she spied picture albums and other books on the right side. She set down her tea, knelt in front of the shelves, and pulled out a stack of picture albums and books.

  When she didn’t find an address book, she flipped through the first album. The early ones were in black and white, and she recognized Lily only after she reached her teens in the family photos. The landscape looked like this area with the dock at the water, but it could have been a large lake also.

  She flipped open the second album. These pictures were of Lily with a man, presumably her husband. Bailey carried it to the sofa and showed the elderly woman, who had practically licked clean the bowl of macaroni and cheese. “Is this your husband?”

  Lily smiled. “That’s Roger. He was a wonderful husband.”

  Bailey didn’t want to ask how long Roger had been dead, so she moved to the next picture, one of the Normans with a little girl. “Is this your daughter?”

  “Yes, that’s Liv.”

  The child’s sweet expression reminded her of dozens of other photos of other children. Bailey flipped to the next page and saw the little girl getting older. Then there were just ones of Lily and Roger.

  “Why are there no pictures of your daughter any longer?”

  Lily’s smile faded. “Roger insisted she go off to finishing school after high school for six months. He wanted me to travel with him. I argued with him, of course, but once he had his mind set, there was no changing it.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “She was seeing someone most unsuitable, and Roger hoped some time away would squelch the romance.”

  “Did it?”

  Lily shook her head. “She was quite infatuated with him.”

  Bailey closed the book and went to fetch the last. “When did she come home from finishing school?”

  “She was twenty, such a beautiful girl. You’d have thought all that money we spent would have made her wiser, but she never had a good head on her shoulders. The man she took up with . . .” Lily snapped her mouth shut and stared down at her bowl. “Never mind.”

  Bailey opened the burgundy cover and glanced at the first picture. She blinked as she struggled to take in the reality of that photo, but she’d seen it before. Her mother holding a tiny baby who was maybe two weeks old.

  She sank to her knees in front of Lily. “Is this Liv? Her name is Olivia?”

  Lily smiled. “Yes, it’s Olivia and baby Bailey. Isn’t she beautiful? I wish Olivia would bring the baby to see me. I’ll bet she’s six months old by now.”

  Bailey closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. This dear lady was her grandmother. How did she go about discovering all the secrets she knew?

  When Shauna got home from her errands, she found the house clean and neat as always. The scent of garlic and cheese hung in the air. They had pizza for lunch. Taylor was a good babysitter.

  She and Alex were playing Go Fish in the living room. “Hey, sport.” Shauna ruffled his hair.

  Her five-year-old son was the spitting image of his dead father, Jack, right down to his auburn hair and turquoise eyes. Alex’s bear, Blueberry, was tucked into the chair with him. “Hey, Mommy, I beat Taylor two different times.”

  “Good for you! How about you go get a snack? I need to talk to Taylor a minute.”

  “She told me she’s going to learn to fly. That’s cool.” Alex got up and trotted off to the kitchen.

  Moments later the door to the microwave slammed and Shauna knew he was making popcorn. It was his favorite snack, and she and Zach could hardly keep it in the house.

  “I’ve got some books for you to start reading.” Shauna went to the bookcase and removed new flight primers, ones she’d used herself.

  When she turned, she noticed Taylor was much more subdued than she’d been this morning. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  Taylor’s troubled eyes flooded with tears. “I read that article you gave me. It scared me, and I called Dad. He’s coming over here to pick me up. He’s really mad, and he wants to find out more about Ryan, so now I’m not sure if I did the right thing.”

  Shauna clasped her shoulders. “You did the right thing.” She gave her a comforting shake. “No normal twentysomething cruises the web looking for fourteen-year-old girls. You don’t even use makeup, so no one would ever mistake you for even eighteen. There’s something fishy going on with that guy. I’m proud of you. I didn’t think you’d listen.”

  Taylor managed a watery smile. “I always listen to you, Shauna.” The doorbell rang, and she spun around with her hand to her mouth. “That’s got to be Dad.”

  �
�I’ll let him in and the two of you can talk.”

  Taylor reached for her. “No! I need you to stay with me.”

  “Okay, I’ll be here.” Shauna opened the door to face Harry Whitewell.

  In his fifties, he was handsome with blond hair that held only a little gray at the temples. He must have come from the golf course, because he wore khakis and a blue polo shirt. She had confidence he’d do something about that lowlife targeting his daughter.

  The judge’s mouth was set and strained, and his hazel eyes peered past her. “Taylor’s here, isn’t she?”

  “Come on in. She’s in the living room.” Shauna shut the door behind him and hoped she was never the target of that stern expression. The scent of tobacco followed him.

  He stopped in the entry. “Thanks for your wise counsel to Taylor, Shauna. You’re a good friend, and I appreciate how you talked to her about this. I’m just sorry she didn’t tell us about Ryan right from the start.”

  “No harm done, Judge. She hasn’t met with the guy or anything.”

  His jaw flexed. “And she’s not going to.” He marched to the living room where Taylor stood with her hands behind her back and trepidation on her face. “I’d like to see this guy’s profile.”

  Taylor handed over her phone without a word. “After I read that article, I checked to see if he was on Facebook. I don’t use Facebook, so I had to create a profile. He’s on there, too, and he’s been talking with lots of other girls.”

  The judge’s face was thunderous. “Lowlife hood.” He took the phone and sat on the sofa, then scanned through the posts and the man’s profile. “He’s got to be at least twenty-five.”

  That had been Shauna’s guess too.

  The phone chimed, and the judge frowned. “You got a private message. I thought you said you weren’t on Facebook.”

  “I wasn’t.” Taylor went to sit by him and took her phone. She tapped the screen. “It’s him. I made a profile with a different name and then found him and friended him about an hour ago.”

  “What’s the message say?” her dad demanded.

  Color ran up her face, and she handed the phone back to her dad. “It’s all flirty. I think he’s what you said he was, Shauna.” Her voice quivered.

  “Does he know who you really are?”

  Taylor shook her head. “I never used my real name. He probably didn’t either. I was so stupid!”

  Shauna went to sit on her other side and put her arm around her shoulders. “It’s not your fault, Taylor. You didn’t know there were predators like that out there.”

  “I’m turning him in to the FBI,” the judge said. “His profile says he lives in Port Townsend, but it’s hard to say if he really does. Maybe law enforcement can track him down and see what he’s up to. I hope he hasn’t done any harm to anyone. I don’t like the smell of this at all.”

  Shauna shifted uneasily. The world suddenly seemed very unsafe, and she feared for Alex as well. It wasn’t just girls targeted by predators. She and Zach would need to watch Alex’s internet usage closely.

  Chapter 12

  If only her mother were still alive. Bailey’s thoughts were a jumble as she cleaned Lily’s house. While she didn’t have time to do a perfect job, at least there were clean sheets on the bed, a sparkling bathroom and kitchen, and a vacuumed floor and furniture cushions. She’d come back tomorrow and do a better job.

  But what would she do with this new knowledge? She wasn’t alone in the world after all—she had a grandmother. Maybe aunts and uncles and cousins too. A world of possibilities lay in that direction. The first thing she needed to do was get power of attorney. She couldn’t let her grandmother live in these conditions.

  Why had her mother lied to her all these years? She claimed her parents were dead, yet Lily still lived in the same house where Mom had grown up. Mom even made an occasional trip out here to check on her. She probably covered it up by claiming it was a training class. Bailey twisted her mouth and gritted her teeth. She hated lies more than anything.

  “Lily, I have to go home to check on the carpenter for a little while. I’ll bring you back some dinner, okay?” She touched her grandmother’s soft white hair.

  Lily didn’t respond. The clouds swirled in her eyes again, and her mouth hung slackly as she traveled some road in her past.

  Bailey left her and went out into the overcast day. This changed everything. No longer was this place a stopgap hidey-hole, but it held the hope of sanctuary, of home. She couldn’t leave Lily to fend for herself even if the killer tracked Bailey here. She longed for friends, someone to share what she was finding out. Some of Lily’s friends might be around who could help piece together what happened and why her mom left. Why she never even told her she had a grandmother.

  Her part-time job might not be enough. The only bills she had were utilities and food right now, but she would need to take care of Lily’s food as well. If Lily required a nursing home, the fifty thousand dollars her mother had left her wouldn’t go far. She should have searched for a bank account that told how her grandmother was doing financially. Was she not eating because she was destitute?

  Before she started her car, she checked her email. There was finally a reply from the private investigator she’d contacted. She sent off a reply and asked him to look into her mother’s past. At least now she had a real name. His retainer was a thousand dollars, and she sent him the payment via PayPal.

  She started her car and drove toward home. As she passed the driveway into the Diskin place, she made a split-second decision to turn in. Maybe they would know something.

  Jermaine was in the yard blowing leaves when she pulled in and parked. He shaded his eyes with his hand, then waved. He walked over to her as she got out. “Hello, neighbor, everything okay?”

  “Yes, I just gave Lily a bath and cleaned up her place a little.”

  “She let you inside? She usually stops us at the door when we come by with dinner.”

  “It was pretty bad inside. I made some progress but there’s more to do. How well do you know her?”

  “Well, she’s not easy to get to know with her dementia. We’ve just been here a couple of years, and she was already foggy when we moved in. I met her daughter once, but she wasn’t very talkative either.”

  Bailey longed to confess what she’d discovered to this nice young man, but she bit back the words and smiled. “Does she have any friends, anyone I could ask about family?”

  His forehead wrinkled as he thought for a moment. “Some of the church ladies stop by to check on her. One in particular is pretty agitated about her situation. Clara DeWitt. She lives in town in the assisted-living place, but she has her own car and comes over a couple of times a month. She’s tried to get Lily to move into the same home, but Lily won’t do it. Of course, most of the time she probably doesn’t even know what Clara wants her to do.”

  Bailey wrote down the name of the home. “Anyone else?”

  “The mayor’s wife comes by once in a while. She’s quite a bit younger, but I think she’s friends with Lily’s daughter. She might be able to tell you how to reach the daughter. I think her name’s Olivia.”

  There was no reaching Olivia, not now. The sudden surprise of tears flooded Bailey’s eyes, and she turned away before Jermaine could see them and wonder. “I guess I’d better get home and find out if my cabin is still standing. Have a nice vacation.”

  She got back in her car and headed for home. Home. She was already thinking of it with fondness.

  A car door slammed and Grayson looked through the big floor-to-ceiling windows to see his girlfriend exiting the old pickup she called Jaws. He threw open the door and embraced her as she stepped across the threshold. A stray lock of light-brown hair caressed a high cheekbone.

  Ellie threw her arms around his neck. “Gosh, I missed you!”

  He kissed her and she nestled close. Her slim, petite body fitted into his arms as if she’d been made for him—which he was beginning to think was the case. Th
eir feelings had grown quickly in the danger swirling around them from a terrorist plot that had nearly taken her life.

  He released her far enough to rest his hands on her shoulders and look her over. Her hair was down on her shoulders, and she wasn’t wearing her glasses, probably just for him. She’d finally admitted they’d been a shield against the world getting too close, and since they’d started dating, she’d been more willing to embrace relationship.

  Her eyes always mesmerized him—light brown with so many yellow flecks they looked golden. He planted another kiss on her mouth before steering her to the kitchen. “I’ve got spaghetti about done. You hungry?”

  Her small hand curved trustingly into his. “Starved. Lunch should have been two hours ago. Is that coffee I smell? What about Bailey? Did you get any leads on her?”

  His smile faded, and he shook his head. “Not a hint of where she went. I’m not giving up though. How’s the house coming?”

  “I’ve worked my tail off for hours. The house is done though.”

  He grinned at the triumph in her voice. She and Jason flipped houses, and they were good at what they did. She’d been working on the House at Saltwater Point for weeks, and its completion would mean a lot to her since she planned to keep it.

  He released her hand and went to pour them coffee. “Congratulations! When are you moving in?”

  “Right away, maybe this weekend.”

  “It’s okay with Jason?”

  Her smile dropped away. “He doesn’t seem to care about anything. I sorely miss bouncing projects off him and his help with the work. If his sight doesn’t come back, I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

  “Is there anything he can do if he stays blind? Any job he could do for the business?

  She took a sip of the coffee he handed her. “I did some research. There are some computer programs that will help the blind do accounting and that kind of thing. If he’s willing to learn, I think I could come up with something. We’ve been talking about hiring some office help anyway. It would go a long way toward bolstering his self-respect too. Mac says he’s depressed and angry.”