Chapter 25
“This is one disturbed person,” Charlie said, distress coloring his expression.
“Alba?” Maia closed her eyes, but the vision of a white puppy lying on her sheets remained seared to her retinas.
“It’s not Alba,” Henry said. “This puppy has a patch of brown on its right front leg.”
“Call Gavin. The puppy is still alive,” Laura said.
Charlie hit a button on his phone and spoke in a low, urgent voice before hanging up. “Ten minutes.”
“Maia. Maia!” Laura spoke sharply, dragging Maia’s attention from the poor puppy.
“Y-yes?”
“Is anything missing or out of place?” Laura said.
Charlie busied himself, documenting the scene.
“Is that perfume I can smell?” Laura asked, looking at Henry while Maia carefully surveyed her bedroom.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t smell like anything Maia wears.”
“Maia, do you recognize it?” Laura asked.
“Yes, I do,” Maia said slowly, her mind desperately trying to refuse this clue. “I’ve smelled that perfume in the changing room.”
“Which team members?” Henry asked, his gaze intent.
Maia swallowed, betrayal an unbearable weight on her shoulders. “Two of the girls I’m friendly with—Jan and Rebecca.”
“That sounds like Gavin,” Charlie said. “I’ll let him in.”
Laura whisked a blue notebook and a pencil from her pocket. “Give me their full names.”
“No, I can’t believe either would do this.” Maia wiped clammy hands on her track pants. “No, they wouldn’t. I don’t believe it. Torturing a p-puppy.”
Henry took her hands. His expression was somber, brown eyes shining with sympathy. “If they’re innocent, they have nothing to worry about. Laura needs to eliminate the possibilities. This person won’t stop, Maia.”
“Henry is right,” Laura said.
Charlie rushed into the bedroom, with Gavin a few steps behind him. Maia watched the vet carefully handling the puppy and listened to his gentle voice.
“I have a team sheet in my office containing each player’s full name and phone number. It was on my desk.”
“We’ll give Gavin room and try to find it. Do you have a team manager?” Laura asked.
“Yes,” Maia said. “Seth Davies. I have his number in my phone.”
“All right. I’ll note that number, too.”
A sick sensation churned in Maia’s belly, and her legs trembled so much she had to clap one hand out to the wall. Ugh! She jerked her hand away and stared at the red, sticky paint. Tears blurred her vision as she puzzled over why someone would do this. That poor puppy.
Jan and Rebecca?
No, she couldn’t believe they’d hurt her and the puppies.
The vandalism. Numbly, she thought back.
No, they hadn’t been in the changing room when she arrived because her gear bag had been next to theirs.
She frowned. Rebecca and Jan had friends and family watching them, so she’d assumed that had been why they’d collected their gear and left so quickly.
“Maia, we need to find that list for Laura.” Henry’s voice was gentle and full of sympathy. He understood her inner turmoil.
“Yes, okay.”
When she entered her office, her gaze darted to her smashed computer, and anger combined with woe-is-me.
She used her T-shirt to mop up her tears.
“Um, it was on my desk.” She bit her lip at the heap of books, the broken spines and loose pages—research items she’d collected over the years. Some were irreplaceable.
“Maia.” Henry tugged on her hand to get her to face him. “This is bad, but it’s only possessions. You can replace them.”
“I know, but I have a deadline looming, and I have to fix this before I attempt to write.”
“Contact your editor. Tell them someone vandalized your office. Say you need more time.”
Maia snorted. “It sounds like a dog-ate-my-homework excuse.”
Henry snapped a photo with his phone. “Send him a copy of the police report. You can email photos along with the report.”
“I… Okay.” Then, she nodded more decisively. “Yes, good idea.”
“What does this list look like?” Henry asked, his brusque manner helping her to regain her emotional balance.
“It’s a single sheet of white paper with a spreadsheet of info.”
Henry stepped over a pile of books and papers. “We’ll stack your books and see what is salvageable while searching.”
Maia crouched beside another haphazard pile, anger zapping when she plucked a damaged book off the floor.
She’d liked Jan and Rebecca. They’d offered friendship from the start, but the idea they’d turn around and try to destroy her…
No, even though the perfume scent was uniquely theirs, it didn’t mean they were the culprits.
She racked her brain but couldn’t think of anything she’d done that might cause accusations of theft.
She sighed and flattened a piece of paper then set it aside.
Worrying wouldn’t help Laura get the information.
Maia picked up a book on Irish tales and legends and one on Māori myths.
Both had broken spines and bore tread marks on the covers as if someone had stomped on them with heavy boots.
She placed them into the toss-and-replace pile.
The next two books bore splotches of red paint. They went in a separate pile.
“Any luck?” Laura called.
“No.” Maia stood. “I’ll call my coach and ask her to email you a copy.”
Laura produced a business card from her wallet before replying to a shout from the direction of Maia’s bedroom.
Maia called her coach. She gave Rose a precis of her day and told her the police wanted contacts for her team.
“Is this connected to the attack?” Rose asked.
“The police think so.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’ll stay with friends tonight.”
“Sensible,” Rose said. “I’ll email the list now and mention the situation to Cameron and Seth. Let me know if we can help, but we’ll touch base after training on Tuesday.”
“Thanks.” Maia hung up and forced a smile in Henry’s direction. “I need fresh air. The stink of paint and perfume is giving me a headache.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Maia wanted to argue because she needed time to decompress and straighten her head. A stupid thought when someone wanted to destroy her physically and mentally. She hustled outside onto the verandah and inhaled deeply.
Country night sounds were quieter and more subtle than those of the city. Now that she’d been a resident for several weeks, she’d learned to appreciate the call of an owl, the cadence of insects blending with a cow’s moo.
But tonight, a discordant unbalance plucked at her nerves. She scanned the front of her house, most of the shadows chased away by lights blazing from her unshrouded windows. There was a prickling. A sense of awareness.
“Henry,” she murmured.
His gaze swept the darkness where her house lights didn’t penetrate. “Get Laura and Charlie. Inform them we suspect someone is monitoring the house.”
Maia darted inside, anger fueling her again. She wanted a piece of whoever had trashed her property. “Laura. Charlie. Henry and I believe someone is watching us. He instructed me to get you.”
The two cops burst into action. Instead of leaving via her front door, they exited the back.
“Go right, Charlie,” Laura ordered. “I’ll go left.”
“What about me?” Maia demanded.
“Stay inside.”
Before Maia could object, the two police officers disappeared, blending into the shadows. Maia shut the door and locked it. Best to keep up her security so no one could sneak in while everyone was busy.
Gavin was still with the puppy, murmuring while he tended its wound—a deep gash on its left hind leg.
Maia hurried to her front door, searching for Henry, but he wasn’t there.
He’d sent her to do a simple job while he placed himself in danger.
Just because he was a retired soldier, it didn’t make him invincible.
Maia hesitated before turning off the front lights. It would make her harder to see, and her night vision would kick in better.
“Maia,” Henry said as she flicked off the light. “They left two candy wrappers, but I was too slow. They parked in a different place and escaped before I spotted them.”
Laura jogged around the corner of the house in time to hear Henry. “How many people?”
Frustration filled his scowl. “The car was too far away.”
“Type of car? Color?” Laura barked.
“Black or dark gray. A sedan.”
A sick sensation punched Maia in the stomach. Betrayal. Despite their brief acquaintance, she’d believed they were forming a strong bond through their shared love for rugby. “Rebecca drives a gray car. It’s that graphite gray.”
“Do you know where she lives?”
“Dunedin, near our training ground. We don’t have home addresses. Only names, emails, and phone numbers. The coach might tell you, but the players have a right to privacy. I wouldn’t like anyone to publicize my address.”
“I intended to call your coach in an official capacity,” Laura said, “and will explain why I require the details. If she says no, there are other ways to find this woman.”
“How did this person find you?” Henry asked.
Maia frowned. “I wouldn’t have noticed anyone following me. The management and coaching staff have my contact details, and anyone who has asked knows I live in Middlemarch. It’s not a secret.”
“Leave this to us,” Laura said. “We’ll contact you once we have answers. Henry, take her home. Oh, one last question: these candy wrappers we’re finding everywhere. Have you noticed anyone from your team eating sweets?”
“No.” Maia didn’t need to think about it. “Whenever I’m with the other girls, we’re sprinting around or completing training drills. It’s not the time to eat sweets.”
Laura nodded, her gaze thoughtful. “I’ll call tomorrow. If I have questions, I’ll ask you then.”
“Maia, do you need to grab anything before we leave? Backup drives? Valuables?”
She thought about her laptop in pieces in her office, her clothes scattered across her bedroom, splattered with red paint and foreign substances, and shook her head. “My backups on the cloud will be enough. My notebook is at your place. Luckily.”