He pointed to his daughter standing with a gaggle of little girls. “Right there.”
“Ah, I see her now.” Torie waved when Hailey looked their way, and the little girl left her friends and ran to join them.
Hailey nestled in for a hug with Torie. “I wondered if you were here somewhere. Some people don’t like fireworks.”
“This is the first time I’ve watched them in a long time,” Torie said. “I’m glad I ran into you, but I’d better get back to the cottage.”
There was a touch of pathos in her voice that caught Joe’s attention. He knew so little about her. He couldn’t begin to guess how she usually spent the Fourth, but he’d like to learn. It was the first time a woman had intrigued him since Julie had died.
Chapter 6
Home to an empty house. Again.
The sweet aromas of jasmine and roses wafted to Torie’s nose when she inserted her key into the door of her cottage, but the door opened before she could turn the lock. The door stood slightly ajar, but she distinctly remembered locking it.
Her pulse surged. “Hello? Anyone here?”
Her chest compressed at the thought someone might be inside, but maybe she was overreacting. It was possible maintenance had come by to tend to something and hadn’t locked up properly.
Maintenance. Who was she kidding? They wouldn’t come in without informing her. Her dad’s rules were very specific. She stood on the stoop and peered into the cottage, but it was too dark to see more than a few inches inside the door with the way lighting in the area was low and dim.
She reached inside and felt along the wall, then flipped on the light. The sudden illumination made her blink, and she stood in the open doorway for a minute until her eyes adjusted. She slid her gaze to a giant bouquet on the coffee table.
Someone had been here. A song played on the Apple TV, and she recognized the tune as “Games People Play.”
Backing out of the open doorway, she pulled out her phone, but her hands trembled so much she found it hard to call up the number for security.
“Everything okay?”
She nearly dropped the phone when a male voice spoke behind her. She whirled to see Joe standing with Hailey in the faint glow of an overhead security light.
“I was about to call security. Someone broke into my cottage.”
His smile vanished, and he flagged down an employee Torie had seen before. “Can you take Hailey to Genevieve for a bit while I handle this?”
“Sure.” The woman set her hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “We can get ice cream on the way, Hailey.”
The little girl nodded and tramped down the sidewalk with her toward the lights of the hotel lobby with the American flag in her hand waving in the wind.
Torie’s heart thudded against her ribs as she stared at the entry. “Someone left flowers. And there’s music playing. The door was ajar when I got here.”
It wasn’t until his hand grazed the pistol grip in a holster at his waist that she realized he was armed. He worked security at the hotel so that made sense. A bit of her anxiety lifted, and she hung behind him as he pushed the door open wider.
Joe entered the cottage, but she stayed on the stoop. The enormous bouquet inside drew her attention. It had to have cost quite a lot of money with the masses of exotic flowers mingling with the roses and jasmine. The thing nearly took up the entire coffee table, and the sickeningly sweet aroma made her want to throw up.
The music jangled her nerves, but she couldn’t make herself move into the house to end the song. The title might mean something so she listened to the familiar words. The lyrics to “Games People Play” made her shudder, and she had to fight a wave of nausea. She clenched her hands so tightly her nails bit into her palms.
The sharp taste of bile hit her throat, and she stepped back to draw several deep breaths of the night air. Once she felt strong enough, she sidled a few feet closer to the doorjamb.
Joe leaned over and peered at the card on the flowers. “Don’t come in. I want to check out the house. In fact, why don’t you go get some ice cream with Hailey? I can come find you once it’s clean.”
She shook her head. “This is not some casual break-in. I need to try to figure out what the intruder is trying to tell me.”
“What makes you think he’s trying to tell you anything? Maybe you just have a secret admirer.”
“One who breaks in to leave flowers and turn on ominous music? You know better than that, and I’m not a child. I can handle the truth.”
The bold words had an immediate effect on her courage, and she stepped into the living room. She verbally ordered the music to stop, but the immediate silence felt worse somehow. As if something or someone in the house waited. And laughed.
Joe moved through the small space flipping on lights and opening doors. It didn’t take long for him to peer under the beds and into the closets before he rejoined her in the living room. “No one’s here now. How long were you gone?”
“A couple of hours. Long enough to see the fireworks.”
Joe had appeared right when she found the break-in. Coincidence? She didn’t want to be the suspicious sort who saw danger behind every bush, but it was odd he’d appeared the moment she needed help.
If Lisbeth had shown more caution, she might not be dead right now, and Torie had to stay alert. Joe seemed the dependable sort, but a handsome face and a cute daughter could hide all kinds of darkness. She didn’t intend to be a victim. Lisbeth’s killer had to be brought to justice.
Joe moved toward the door. “I’ll report this to the state police. You could stay at the hotel if you’re afraid to sleep here tonight.”
She forced a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. You checked out everything, and I’ll lock up behind you. Maybe it was a prank. Someone trying to rattle me.”
His green eyes narrowed. “You just got here, Torie. Why would someone want to rattle you?”
She gave a casual shrug. “I have no idea, but what else could it be? Like you said, I’m a stranger here.”
The skeptical twist to his lips didn’t change, but he didn’t argue. “Well, I’ll go get my daughter then.”
“Ah, you must know the hotel manager well if you sent Hailey to her.”
“She’s my godmother. I’ve known her all my life.” He pulled a card from his pocket. “Here’s my number. If you hear anything, my place is just down the walkway.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said again and turned toward the door. Everything in her wanted to beg him to stay, but he was as much of a stranger as everyone else here.
This was her task to accomplish, and she could only pray she was up to the challenge.
* * *
The dark pressed in on her, and Torie went from room to room closing the blinds and curtains, but she still felt eyes on her.
Silly, she knew. No one was here. She stared at the vase of flowers and wrinkled her nose. The cloying scent overpowered her, and she couldn’t stand it. Carrying the heavy vase, she opened the trash drawer and dumped the flowers inside, then washed the water down the kitchen sink. But even with the flowers in the garbage bin, she could still smell them.
She eyed the back door, but the thought of stepping out into the dark made her quail. This was why she was here. Suck it up.