Chapter 5
Caleb
“Any issues last night?” Jaxon asks as we unload the lumber and siding.
“Her security yard light didn’t come on. She said it’s been out a couple weeks. I want to check it out today. I also found what looked like tracks from the highway that ran through the woods around the back of the studio. Have there been any episodes of vandalism around here? Or around town?”
“No. Clay would have said something.” We both go silent as we work patching the studio wall.
“Caleb and Jaxon, you haven’t stopped for almost three hours. I have chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches. There’s coffee, tea or cold drinks. Please take a break and rest for a few minutes.”
Jaxon straightens and smiles. “Food. You’re speaking my language.”
She smiles back. “Porch or kitchen table?”
“Nice breeze today. I vote for porch,” I chime in and Jaxon nods.
Lunch is relaxed and companionable. Just chilling with a friend and a beautiful woman. Been a long time since I’ve had down time. And even longer since I’ve spent normal time with a woman. Hell, it’s been longer than I like to think since my last hook up.
Yeah, and that isn’t happening with Grace. She’s too damn good for you.
I study her as she laughs at the story Jaxon’s telling about one of the kids playing with their rubber ducky in the toilet. I embrace the peace she seems to bring me with just her smile. When was the last time I felt this normal?
“It should only take us a couple more hours to finish up,” Jaxon cuts into my thoughts. “None of the frame was damaged so that made our job a lot easier.
“Caleb tells me your yard light isn’t working. Do you have any idea how old it is?”
“Guy replaced it the summer...the summer before he died. So, almost two years.”
No way it should be burned out. They’re good for a minimum of five to ten years. He glances my way and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.
“You notice any other issues around here we could check out for you while we’re here?” he asks.
He’s good. Hiding his concerns with good-old-neighborly help.
“I have a couple things on my list. Nothing big. The porch lights keep burning out. Front and back. I hope I just got a bad batch of bulbs and it’s not the wiring. I may need a new lock for the studio. I’ve been having trouble getting the key in. Would some of that spray work? That ‘W’ stuff?”
“We’ll check both while we’re here. I think you should let Caleb stay a few more days until the sheriff gets back to us.”
“I—that would be-ah-nice. I want to run to the store and stop at the shop today. They told me to take the week off, but I’d like to check in. I could do that now—”
“I’d like to go with,” I cut in. “There’re a couple things I need, and I’d like to see the shop where you work. I’m still new around here.”
“Perfect,” Jaxon says to set the deal. “We’ll finish up what we have planned for today. And if we need more supplies, you can pick them up while the two of you are in town.”
He pushes to his feet. “If you’ll get us the key, we’ll check the lock on the studio while we’re back there.”
After replacing the damaged wood and siding. We head to the barnyard pole.
“No way it should be burned out,” I say.
He nods. There’s a box at the base of the light pole where the power connects from the studio to the wires running up the pole. Plastic tubing protecting the wire from both directions.
At the studio, the tube comes out of the ground to the electrical box. “This looks solid.”
Dropping to a knee, I start pulling at the weeds and dirt against the block base of the structure. It’s loose right under where the tubing runs up the outside wall. “Jaxon, take pictures of this.”
The grass pulls back like a piece of fresh sod. Underneath the plastic tube is cracked and shattered, the wire inside has a clean cut. I glance up. “What the fuck is going on here?”
He shakes his head as he takes pictures with his phone. “I don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t like it. Let’s look at the lock on the door to her studio.”
It’s a good quality padlock, bolt cutter proof and with a hard to pick reputation.
But on close inspection there are scrapes and scratches like someone has tried to pick or cut it.
“Somebody has tampered with this. You can see the scrapes around the keyhole. That could be the cause of the key sticking for her.”
Jaxon nods. “I don’t like any of this. I’m calling Clay.”
Hanging up he glances at me. “We’re supposed to take pictures and send them to him. It’s going to be a couple hours before he can come. He doesn’t want us to tell her till he gets here.”
“He doesn’t suspect...”
“No. But he wants her first reaction, the first words out of her mouth without thinking.”
“I’ll take her to town so she can talk to her boss and then to the store. I’m also picking up my gear and the rest of my clothes. I don’t want her staying alone until this is figured out.”
I see the questions in his eyes, but Jaxon just nods. “I’ll keep poking around.”
“Watch your six.”
I call out as I walk into the cabin. “Grace, you ready to go to the store?”
She’s standing in front of the bookcase that lines one of the walls, holding a picture frame, and staring at a photo. She lays it face down on the shelf and turns. I see a sheen in her eyes and sadness on her face.
The rough sound of her clearing her throat is loud in the quiet room. “Yes, let me grab my purse and list.”
Walking her outside, I lead her to my truck.
“Jaxon is still here?”
“He’s finishing up. I need to grab some stuff from where I’m staying. I’d like to do that first, then we’ll head to town.”
I’ve traveled light and lived out of duffel bags for so long it takes me about ten minutes to stuff everything in. My firefighting gear is already stored under the tonneau cover of my truck.
Climbing back in the cab, I smile at her. “Your shop first then the store?”
“Perfect. Do you know where Mugg’s Up is?”
“My favorite coffee spot.”
“The shop is two doors down.”