It took several seconds before she realized it was her own voice screaming. She stumbled to the front of the cabin on numb feet and dropped the lamp on the sofa, exchanging porcelain for the cold steel of the shotgun’s barrel. A bolt of courage rippled down her spine, and she raced to the window and slammed it shut.
“What the hell is going on?” Darla rushed into the room and flipped on the light switch, revealing her baby doll nightie with its feathered neckline. Her mouth was devoid of the usual red lipstick, but pink sponge curlers dangled loosely in her brown hair. Oddly enough, the scanty attire only made her appear like an adolescent. A vulnerable, confused teenager.
“Somebody broke in. Did you open the window in here before you went to bed?”
“No. Is that how they got in? Did you get a good look at him?”
“He wore a mask.”
“Oh, my God. I’m calling Ed to get out here.”
“No sense rousing him and your kids out of bed. The man’s gone.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not staying here.”
“We could drive into town and stay at a motel. But I don’t relish the thought of going outside to get in the car.”
“Call your Harlan. Tell him to get here ASAP.”
Her Harlan. She wished he was. Not the mean, stupid Harlan who’d dumped her but the old Harlan who couldn’t keep his hands off her and whose kisses had made her feel wild and cherished. She lifted her chin. “No. I won’t bother him.”
“Bother him? Isn’t responding to break-ins, like, his job?”
She could call someone else in the sheriff’s office, but Harlan would get word and come immediately. Lilah thought fast. “We could call Uncle Thad.”
Darla grumbled. “Okay. But the only reason I’m not calling Ed is ’cause I don’t wanna put my kids in danger.”
“I’ll make the call while you get dressed.”
Darla sped to the bedroom, mumbling under her breath—something about the crazy gene in their family, Lilah thought.
Lilah grabbed the cell phone and punched in her uncle’s number with her left hand, still clutching the gun in her right. She turned off the overhead light and stood by the window. Was he out there in the darkness, waiting for another night, another opportunity?
She would never feel safe here again. Maybe Harlan was right. Maybe Dad had gotten mixed up in some new dangerous scheme. A new gamble, a new adventure—one that had cost him his life. Who knew what desperate secrets lived in another’s heart? She had to think about her own future, her own sad secret.
As soon as she’d settled her dad’s affairs, she would leave Lavender Mountain.
This was going to kill Darla.
She’d put off bringing up the matter of the missing money, imagining Darla’s furious reaction at the news. For the past couple of days, she’d stayed tied up with all the paperwork concerning the robbery and fixing up Dad’s old place. Darla was much too busy to be bothered. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true or fair—she’d been avoiding this scene with her sister.
Tired as she was from the drama and all her duties, Lilah couldn’t up and leave the mountain without letting her sister know the money was gone. She sped down Dark Corners Road to the homestead where Darla, Ed and their three children lived. Her sister would be devastated about the stolen money. If only she’d just let her have it that morning like Darla had begged. And she could kiss goodbye that sisterly chat she’d planned on. After the news, Darla would be in no mood to offer advice and comfort over the matter that had weighed on Lilah for weeks. It wasn’t like there’d been much chance of Darla being supportive, anyway, if she was being honest with herself.
At the last sharp bend before hitting town, she pulled into Darla and Ed’s gravel driveway. An unfamiliar red pickup truck was parked near the side porch. Maybe Ed had traded in his old clunker. She picked her way through a barrage of mangy dogs and mewling cats that barked or hissed their displeasure at the invasion of their territory.
Old toys and broken furniture almost barricaded the doorway, and she impatiently scooted a rusted table out of her path. Through the screen door she heard Darla talking on the phone.
“Yes, I’ll hold. But only for a minute. Longer than that and I’ll take my business elsewhere,” Darla huffed.
Lilah pushed open the door and entered the kitchen where her sister held a tape measure stretched across the lower cabinets. “You back, sir? I want mahogany,” Darla said. “Only the best. And I want it pronto.”
Lilah blinked. Wow. This was a change. Ed must have been working overtime.
Darla retracted the tape and scribbled on a scrap sheet of paper, her face puckered in concentration.
“New cabinets, huh? Nice.”
Her sister snapped her head up, pencil poised. “What are you doing here?”
Not the welcome she’d expected. But then, she and Darla had never been particularly close. The ten-year age difference was large enough so that shortly after their parents’ divorce, a pregnant Darla had married Ed while Lilah had moved over a hundred miles away with their mother.
“Well, I’m leaving, and I thought I’d say goodbye first.”
Darla colored slightly. “Right. Sorry I couldn’t help out more with the estate stuff. Ed Junior’s been down with a tummy ache.”
“No problem.” Lilah shrugged and waited awkwardly.
“I’ll just, uh, get off the phone. Want something to drink?”
“Water, thanks.” Lilah plopped down on a chair in the den.
The TV blared, although no one was watching it. Where were her nephews?
Darla returned from the kitchen and tossed her a water bottle. “Where are the kids?” Lilah asked.
“I started them in daycare yesterday. I needed more peace and quiet ’round here.” She shuddered. “I’m still recovering from that intruder scare.”
“Me, too,” Lilah admitted. “I meant it when I said I’m not staying. I’ll come back when there’s papers that need to be signed when the cabin sells, and for the meeting next week in the probate office.”
Darla tossed back her hair. “Both stupid formalities. That cabin’s not worth much, and I doubt Dad had more than a few hundred dollars in the bank. A complete waste of time.”
“But he had thirty thousand dollars lying around the house,” she pointed out.
“Dad didn’t trust banks. Besides, I bet he was just holding that money for someone.”
Lilah suppressed a shudder. If that was true, was that why the intruder had been
