Chapter 24 Ilsa
Ilsa
The cabin smelled like dust and winter.
It was almost as cold inside as it was outside.
One of the deputies, or maybe Cosi, had turned off the baseboard heaters in the bedrooms and bathroom after the house was vandalized, not wanting anything loose to catch fire.
I couldn’t even see the fireplace in the living room because too many things had been overturned or tossed in the way.
It probably wouldn’t take long to clear a path to the fireplace in the living room. But I couldn’t seem to move myself out of the kitchen. Every crunching step on broken glass and shattered ceramic felt like a crack through my bones.
Was it a mistake to come to the cabin? Maybe I should have stayed locked away in Cosi’s guest bedroom, hiding from him. From the world. But after I’d picked up Dad’s truck, it had practically steered itself to Cotters Lake.
As much as I wanted to avoid this mess, it was inescapable. And when Cosi eventually asked me to leave his home, I’d have nowhere to go unless I picked up the broken pieces beneath my boots.
I turned toward the entryway closet where I kept the dustpan and broom. The vandals had snapped the stick in half, but I used it to sweep a clean path from the door to the cabinet under the sink, where I found the roll of garbage bags intact.
One by one, I filled them up until the kitchen floor was clean. Then I hauled the bags to the back of Dad’s truck.
The chill I’d felt earlier was gone, and I took a few moments to let the air cool the sweat on my brow. The sky was clear today, blue and bright. Not a breath of wind stirred the treetops.
The fresh snow we’d gotten this week covered the charred remains of the shed. But beneath that blanket of white, there’d be another project for me to tackle. Another mess not of my making.
Maybe it was fortunate that I could stress over cleanup projects and ignore the mess that was my life.
Not wanting to go back inside quite yet, I trudged a path in the snow toward the lake, stepping onto the dock and walking to its edge.
The cold was starting to sink through my sweater, so I pulled the sleeves over my fingertips, wrapping my arms around my waist as I let my gaze sweep across the lake and forest.
I inhaled through my nose, filling my lungs to the point it burned. Then I held the air in my chest, one heartbeat, two, before I exhaled, releasing a bit of my worries into the Montana wilds. Five more of those deep breaths and the tension eased from my shoulders.
So much had changed in the past few months. These past weeks had been the hardest and saddest of my life. Yet as I stood here, in Dad’s place, it felt like this was where I was supposed to be. That a divine force had brought me here so I could finish whatever it was that Dad had started.
“What are you trying to tell me, Dad?” I closed my eyes, hoping for an answer if I listened hard enough.
The world went silent. No birds chirped. No trees creaked as they swayed. No pinecones clacked against limbs as they dropped to the ground.
It was the most peaceful moment I’d had in years.
A peace I wouldn’t have found in a city. A peace I’d known as a kid, sitting on this dock with my father.
A peace that came when you were home.
I opened my eyes, smiling at the sky. As much as I wanted to stay out here longer, the cold was too much. I turned, about to go inside, when movement across the lake caught my eye.
A plume of gray smoke snaked into the sky.
It was almost directly across the lake from where I was standing, past the closest end of the island, then over to the other shore. Almost exactly the way Jerry had gone the day he’d given me Dad’s note.
Was that where he lived? I didn’t think anyone lived on the other side of the lake, but maybe things had changed. Did he have a cabin on the lake too?
If I could just talk to Jerry for a little bit, someone who Dad had clearly trusted, maybe I could understand.
I spun around, running up the dock and through the yard, bursting into the cabin to grab my coat. Then I raced back outside, yanking the door closed behind me. As I ran for the lake, I fitted my arms into my coat and zipped it closed.
The first step onto the ice made my heart seize, and for a moment, I was sure it would break.
I froze, listening for any sign it was cracking.
But the surface held firm as I took another step, then another, my strides tentative at first. Then, once I was sure I wouldn’t plunge into the freezing water, I squared my shoulders and locked my eyes on that smoke, not wanting to lose sight of it as I moved toward the center of the lake.
Oh, God, what was I doing? My heart was beating so hard it was difficult to breathe. If it wasn’t Jerry across the shore, then this was going to be incredibly awkward.
In all my time out here, I’d never seen smoke on that side of the lake. If this was my only chance to find Jerry’s house, then so be it.
A shiver raced down my spine, from nerves and the cold.
My entire body vibrated with anxious energy.
The tips of my fingers were beginning to sting, so I tucked my trembling hands into my pockets and burrowed my chin into the collar of my coat.
Then I glanced over my shoulder to see how far I’d gone.
The cabin looked so dark and lonely from out here. So small.
My foot slipped and I nearly fell, only catching my balance at the last second.
“Shit,” I hissed, heart in my throat.
I stopped, giving myself a moment. This was a horrible decision. Jerry didn’t seem like the type who liked surprise visitors. But I kept moving forward, taking caution with every step. Beneath the snow, the ice was a sheet of translucent white, too thick to see the water beneath.
As the island loomed ahead, I took another glance back.
The snow-covered dock was almost impossible to make out against all of the white.
The trees seemed to move in on the cabin, the branches hanging lower and lower, like they were warning me to stop.
That if I kept going, they’d hide it from me so I couldn’t find my way home.
Another chill zinged through my veins as I kept walking, eyes locked on that thin band of white smoke.
I gave the island a wide berth as I passed by, not wanting to get too close to where the ice might be thin. Then, before I was ready, I reached the other shore.
Stepping into the forest, into knee-deep snow and the shade of a thousand trees, felt like crossing a veil into another realm.
There were no trails or paths cut through the trees.
This side of the lake had a steeper incline than the other, meaning I had to hike up the slope.
Every step was an effort, and by the time I reached a flat spot where the trees thinned, my lungs and legs were on fire.
Sweat made my clothes sticky against my skin.
I stopped to catch my breath, searching the sky for any hint of that smoke. It would be impossible to see now that I was in the trees, but I could smell its faint bitter aroma. Every twenty feet, I stopped to scan past tree trunks, hoping to find the source.
Nothing. Farther and farther, the longer it took, the more and more I realized this was a mistake.
I wouldn’t get lost out here. All I had to do was walk downhill to the lake. But these woods were crawling with predators. The last thing I wanted was to cross paths with a mountain lion or wolf.
Another twenty steps and I was about to give up this asinine quest. To go home before I became an animal’s midday meal.
“Jerry,” I called. It was timid and raspy. I cleared my throat, cupping my hands around my mouth, and tried again. “Jerry!”
My voice ricocheted off the trees. A bird burst out of a nearby bush where it had been hiding, and I leapt back, nearly falling on my ass.
“Fuck.” It took a moment for the jolt of panic to fade. When my heart climbed down from my throat, I tilted my face to the sky.
If Dad was watching me from above, I doubted he’d like me out here alone. If Cosi found out, he’d be livid.
“Damn.” Time to go home.
Except before I could turn, a faint wisp of smoke wafted above, past the treetops.
I whirled, eyes wide as I stared in the direction from where it came. I started moving, a surge of energy pushing me through the snow.
A tiny log cabin with a snow-covered roof nearly blended into the evergreens. It was more of a hut than a home, no bigger than a single room. The square windows were dark, and the smoke from the chimney was shrinking.
“Jerry.” It was no more than a murmur. I couldn’t seem to speak any louder.
A chill raced down my spine, and I twisted to look behind me. The only tracks in the snow were mine, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t alone. It was the same feeling I’d had the day Jerry had given me the letter on the dock.
“Hello,” I called. “Is someone there?”
When no one answered, I moved closer to the shelter, and with every step, my pulse spiked.
This was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. “Hello?”
The cabin was a perfect square with a single wooden door. The snow in front was tamped down with footprints that led in the opposite direction, winding through the trees.
I knew no one would answer, but I knocked anyway. “Jerry?”
That uneasy feeling doubled as the silence of the forest wrapped around my shoulders like a blanket of ice.
Someone was out here. I couldn’t see them, but I felt it. I felt them watching me.
Was this Jerry’s cabin? Or someone else’s? Someone who did not want me at their doorstep.
I held up my hands in surrender, then backed away from the door, glancing left and right. Then I whirled and followed my tracks the way I’d come, through the trees and down the slope to the lake. Every few steps, I checked over my shoulder.
Still alone.
And not alone.
The eerie feeling stayed with me like it was my own shadow. Not just someone watching, but someone following. I walked faster and faster, adrenaline pumping through my veins until I was running.
The fear was a living, breathing monster on my heels, biting and snapping at my feet. When I reached the tree line, I leapt off the bank to the lake, my feet sweeping out beneath me and sending me onto my ass.
I landed with a hard jolt, and the ice beneath me creaked but didn’t break.
Scrambling to stand, I took a last look over my shoulder before I kept on running.
I slipped and skidded every other step. Twice, I fell to my hands and knees.
And by the time I was almost to the other side, tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
The shore was about fifty feet away when a loud crack echoed through the air. My entire body flinched, my hands flying to cover my head as I dropped to a crouch.
The echo of the gunshot was drowned out by my thundering pulse.
A tear dripped down my cheek as I stood, not bothering to search for the person shooting. When I made it to the shore, I jumped the last few feet into the yard.
Another gunshot rang out, a loud pop that split the air.
I looked back, toward where the smoke had been, expecting to see a person in a black mask over my shoulder. But the lake was empty.
If someone was out there, they’d have to follow me into town because I was getting the fuck away from Cotters Lake.
Except before I could make my escape, I whirled and collided with a body.
A strong body that belonged to the very handsome, very irate sheriff of Dalton County.