eyebrows lifted and her jaw dropped as the color drained from her face.
“Andi?” He rose to put a hand on her shoulder.
“Living with my mother wasn’t easy, but he always seemed to not let her criticism bother him. For the past few months, though, things were different.”
“Different how?”
“Something had been weighing him down. He seemed preoccupied, even depressed. I tried to talk to him, but he kept denying anything was wrong.” She crossed her arms over her stomach. “The signs were there, and I didn’t recognize them.”
“What signs? What are you talking about?”
“Depression, withdrawal. Losing interest in activities he’d always enjoyed, like coming up here.” She lifted her head, and her gaze locked with his. “The comment he made to you—that everything was going to be okay soon. It’s all clear now. I should have seen it.”
Now he knew where her thoughts had gone. And how much sense they made. Maybe Dennis had called him to talk about his struggles, guy-to-guy, not wanting to unload on Andi, then hadn’t been able to hold out any longer. Or maybe he’d gotten involved in something he regretted and wanted to clear his conscience but hadn’t had what it took to face the consequences.
No, not Dennis. He had too much integrity. And he loved life too much.
Andi’s brows drew together, and her eyes filled with pain. “When I add it all together, I’m afraid my dad drove off that mountain intentionally. And he took my mother with him.”
Andrea tipped back her head and stared into the endless expanse. Stars were strewn across the sky from horizon to horizon, like rhinestones against black velvet. She tightened her hands around the steaming mug of herbal tea, soaking in the heat.
She’d gotten enough accomplished today to feel good about sitting on the back deck and doing nothing. She’d given the place a deep cleaning and put everything back in its proper place. Then she’d made a list of repairs to be done, whether she sold the house or kept it. Most important, she’d had a handyman replace the broken pane in the living room window. It was how the assailants had gained access. Though the missing piece of glass was obvious in the daylight, she hadn’t noticed it last night.
She’d hoped her cleaning would uncover some clue about what had been going on in her dad’s life. The only thing she’d found raised more questions than it answered. It was a simple two-line poem, scrawled on a sheet of yellow paper torn from a legal pad—“When a secret is too heavy to keep, it’s always best to bury it deep.”
What was that supposed to mean? Was the secret what he’d wanted to talk to Bryce about? Was the weight of what he’d carried so heavy he’d felt he had no way out?
She sipped the tea, relishing the heat as it traveled down her throat. The temperature had dipped as soon as the sun went down. But there was something soothing about sitting under the stars, holding the hot cup, with peaceful silence all around her.
There was a party going on right next door. Bryce and his two best friends had had a cookout and were now watching a movie. He’d invited her, even assured her she wouldn’t be the only woman. One of his friends was married, the other engaged. She’d passed.
When he’d told the dispatcher his name last night, she’d almost fallen off the couch. She’d known if she spent much time at the Murphy place, she’d eventually run into him. But she hadn’t thought it would be so soon. And she hadn’t planned to greet him in a fog, on her hands and knees.
And she hadn’t expected him to look like he did, all buff and mature. Though common sense told her he would’ve changed, she’d somehow held on to the image of the smiling teenager she’d fallen in love with at age fourteen.
Last night, he hadn’t been smiling. And he wasn’t a teenager anymore. He’d radiated confidence, maturity and a sense of power that was mesmerizing, standing above her, a pistol at his hip.
What was it about a man in uniform that women found so irresistible? Whatever it was, Bryce definitely did the Cherokee County garb justice.
Andrea swallowed the last of her tea and held the empty cup, drawing the heat from the porcelain. A wind gust swept along the back of the house, and a shiver shook her shoulders.
She stood to go back inside, then hesitated. Had she seen a glow deep in her woods? She waited for several more moments.
There, near the left-hand edge of her property. Or maybe it was coming from the Langman place and wasn’t even in her woods.
The glow moved rightward in an erratic path, as if someone was walking with a flashlight. Whoever was prowling the woods was definitely on her property now. Was it the men who’d been in the house last night, coming back to finish their search?
She pulled her phone from her rear pocket and stared at the screen. If she called the police, it would take a unit twenty minutes to arrive. If the prowler was still there, he’d take off as soon as he heard sirens.
There was another option. Bryce had said to call if she needed anything. He was right next door. And he was law enforcement. Based on what he’d told her, so was one of his friends. They could be there in less than a minute, both armed.
She went back in to retrieve the business card Bryce had left on the rolltop desk and punched the number into her phone. The decision was a no-brainer. Looked like she was going to meet Bryce’s friend after all. If she had cell service.
Though the phone showed one bar, the call wouldn’t connect. She returned to the deck and squinted into the woods. The light was still there. When she checked the phone, the screen showed “dialing.”
“Come on, connect already.”
She moved across the back of the house toward Bryce’s property. If the signal didn’t get strong enough soon, she might as well go knock on his door.
She’d just reached the corner of her house when she heard the first ring. Bryce answered two rings later. There was no background noise on his end of the line. He’d either paused the movie or left the room. She told him the reason for her call. His next words were obviously not for her.
“Grab your weapon. The neighbor I told you about has another prowler.”
The neighbor I told you about? What did he tell them?
Probably that someone had broken into the house next door. Even if he’d said more, what did it matter? Tomorrow she was heading back to Atlanta to be ready for Saturday’s funeral. She had no intention of hanging out with Bryce and his friends, even if she kept the place and used it as an occasional retreat.
She disconnected the call, then made her way to the back door. She’d stay locked inside until Bryce and his friend arrived.
When she swung the screen door open, the outer edge dropped a half inch. The hinges needed longer screws. Something else that would have to be done.
The property wasn’t in total disrepair, but since her dad had inherited the place, he’d done the bare minimum
