“I’ll poke around and ask questions. Maybe we’ll get lucky. I need to go. We’re finalizing plans to close the bridge during the conference.” Craig headed for his vehicle.
The whole evening felt surreal. Joe walked around the yard in the darkness and checked the windows. They all appeared locked and secure, and he couldn’t see in any window except the living room. He spent a moment gazing at Torie. She’d picked up the mermaid again and stared at it as if it held the answer to what had happened tonight.
If only the mermaid could tell the tale. He shook his head and went back inside, pausing long enough to lock both the doorknob and the dead bolt.
“I thought you’d be in bed by now,” he said.
“I’m so tired, but I’m not sure I can sleep.”
He held out his hand, and she let him help her up. “I’ll make sure we’re all safe tonight. You sleep. If you get scared, just call my name and I’ll come running.”
She gave his hand a light squeeze before she pulled away. “You’re a good man, Joe Abbott.”
He dropped his gaze to her lips, then took a step back. Too soon for anything like that. He was here to protect her, not hit on her. “Good night.”
“Good night,” she echoed before going to her bedroom and shutting the door.
He sighed and stared at the closed door.
* * *
Joe held a spatula aloft as Torie entered her kitchen, and the aroma of bacon and eggs filled the room. “Sleep okay?”
She yawned and went to perch on a bar stool beside Hailey. “Like a baby. You look tired though. Did you get any rest?”
“I catnapped.”
Hailey yanked on her arm. “Torie, can I sleep over again? I love that room! It was so fun to stay here.”
Torie glanced at Joe. “If it’s okay with your dad, you can stay anytime. Well, at least when I’m not working.”
“We’ll see.” Joe stirred the scrambled eggs. “I hope this is how you like them.”
“I like them any way I can get them when someone else is cooking. What a treat. I usually opt for cereal or toast in the morning because it’s easy. Or yogurt and granola.”
“Daddy says I have to eat protein in the morning.”
“I’m sure it’s a very good idea.” She smiled at Joe. “Are you going to be late for work?”
“A little, but I’m the boss. Hailey is late for her camp too. Pack up what you need today. I already called the hotel shuttle, and it will drop you at the hotel before delivering me and Hailey where we need to go.”
“I already have a suitcase packed. Enough for about a week. Maybe by then we’ll figure out who is behind this.”
She wasn’t sure she believed her own assurances. While the intruder seemed bold, he hadn’t slipped up enough yet to figure out his identity. “What about putting some cameras in here? We might be able to catch him in the act.”
Joe nodded. “I thought about that too. I’ll pick up some and install them. We should have them by the doors and one in the living room. Did you call Anton?”
She shook her head. “Not yet, but I will.”
Telling her dad would be hard. He’d be apt to ask her to leave, and she couldn’t do that. The intruder felt threatened or he wouldn’t be terrorizing her like this. He was trying to drive her out, and she refused to let him. She might be closer than she realized.
Joe prayed over the food, then handed her a plate piled high with eggs and bacon.
“I can’t eat all that,” she protested.
“Give it a try.”
She wrinkled her nose, then dug in. “I want to talk to Bella today about her claim that Lisbeth was depressed. I don’t believe it.”
“And if she lied, maybe there’s a reason.”
She picked up a piece of crispy bacon. “Do you know her?”
“I know who she is—that’s it though. She came to the beach minutes after I discovered Lisbeth.”
“I hadn’t heard that. Did she say why she was out by the water right then? It was very early, right?”
“Six in the morning. She said she was supposed to go for a morning hike with Lisbeth, but she’d overslept.”
“A hike? But why meet on the beach?”
Joe frowned. “I didn’t think to ask her that. It was a chaotic scene, and she was clearly distraught.”
Torie couldn’t wait to talk to her. She stuffed a final piece of bacon in her mouth as she went to grab her suitcase. By the time she came out, Joe had loaded the dishwasher and turned it on. The kitchen was as neat as if she’d cleaned it herself, which was saying a lot. She didn’t think any guy cared about that kind of thing.
It was only a two-minute ride to the hotel. Joe tried to take her suitcase, but she had the porter grab it. “Put it in storage for now,” she told him. “Thanks, Joe, for everything.”
“Um, you want to have dinner with us tonight, get away from the hotel awhile?”
Her pulse kicked at the hopeful tone in his voice. “I’ll text you and let you know later, okay? I’m not sure what the day will bring.” She’d already spent more time with him than was wise.
“Sounds good.” He waved to her as the shuttle drove off to deliver Hailey to camp.
Torie made a beeline for the check-in desk, but Bella wasn’t on duty, so she asked one of the bellhops about her and discovered she was in the break room. As Torie hurried back to find Bella, she rehearsed how she planned to start the conversation. She didn’t want to be accusatory and back Bella into a corner where she refused to answer questions.
Bella was the only one in the break room when Torie entered. “Good morning,” Torie said.
The large room held tables and chairs as well as an array of sweet-smelling pastries and breakfast items for the staff. The aroma from the coffee bar made her mouth water, and she spied small tubs of half-and-half on the table. It would do.
Bella tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Hi. Coffee’s fresh.”
Was she watching Torie warily, or was it her imagination? Torie poured a cup of java and added plenty of half-and-half. Bella sat at a table and ate fresh fruit, and she barely looked up when Torie joined her.
“Um, I met Craig Hall this week.” Torie took a sip of coffee and grimaced at the weak brew.
“Our state trooper? Nice guy.” Bella twirled her engagement ring on her finger.
“He is. He said something I hadn’t heard before—that you mentioned Lisbeth was on antidepressants.”
Bella’s eyes widened, and she choked on her fruit. “I’m late. We’ll have to talk another time. Sorry.”
She practically ran from the room, and Torie leaned back in her chair with her heart still pounding. What on earth had just happened?
Chapter 14
Today was a perfect day for being out on the open water—or at least it would have been if Joe weren’t so exhausted. He’d downplayed his fatigue to Torie this morning, but as the day wore on, his movements were getting slower, his reflexes turning almost nonexistent.
The sea lion had alerted them to a possible target, and Simon had been gone about five minutes. There was a tug on the line at the bow of the boat. Adrenaline washed away Joe’s exhaustion. He moved to the line and touched it. Taut and strained. “I think Simon has deployed the cuff.”