Chapter Three #2
“Oh, sorry. I don’t know how many. I didn’t see anything, not even the car or truck. Something, I don’t know what, woke me up. I heard a vehicle coming and I got a bad feeling, so I got out of bed and went into the hallway. I was there when the window was smashed.”
The constable nodded and spoke into a radio that she wore attached to a bullet proof vest.
“The intruder is escaping via the road. Ms. Donnelly was not able to see how many or what type of vehicle.”
Hearing her own nightmare repeated in that clipped, official tone made Jenna’s stomach twist.
“Copy that,” came a man’s reply.
“Ma’am, would you mind showing me where this happened?” she asked politely.
“Yes,” Jenna replied.
Jenna heard the roar of the chopper as it took off, and with ultra shaky fingers she began flicking on the lights as she showed the constable to her bedroom. She stood in the bedroom doorway as the constable entered the room.
She winced as glass fragments crunched under the police officer’s boots. The sharp crackle made her flinch. It was a reminder of how violently her safe space had been breached tonight.
A moment later the officer was retrieving latex gloves from a ultra-small duffel bag Jenna hadn’t even noticed she was carrying. It was followed by a plastic bag. She bent over and picked up a giant fist sized rock. Attached to it, tied with twine, was a white paper.
Jenna’s gut hollowed out as the constable silently read the note. Her brows pinched and a small frown tugged at her mouth.
Shit. Someone had thrown a rock through the window, along with a message.
“The rock and note could have fingerprints. So I will be taking these as evidence,” she said as she gently placed the items in the plastic bag.
“What does the note say?” Jenna asked.
“Just two words. It says, ‘expect more’. Looks like someone is interested in giving you a hard time.”
Expect more.
The phrase thudded through her like a punch, knocking the air from her lungs. Oh lovely. That meant whoever had done this was coming back. Stress was all she needed for her baby.
The thought of immediately selling her little ranch and moving to the city zapped through her. It would be the easiest way out of this situation. Her gaze drifted toward the window, toward the land she loved, and the idea of leaving it sliced through her with unexpected grief.
Jenna’s breaths were coming way too fast now as the constable continued walking around the room, inspecting the shattered window and the surrounding floor.
When she found nothing else, she asked if she could investigate outside around the house and check out the vehicles in her parking lot to make sure no one had tampered with them.
Just lovely. Maybe her truck and Tim’s truck had had bomb’s planted on them.
Jenna gave permission and she stayed inside, taking the opportunity to get dressed. The constable was gone a long time and when Jenna finally peeked outside, she spied the constable making a plaster of the dirt in an area of her parking lot.
She must have found some tire tracks.
Another time when Jenna looked out her window, the constable was on her hands and knees shining a flashlight beneath Tim’s truck and a few moments later she’d been inspecting beneath the horse trailer.
Checking for bombs?
Wow, this was getting way too complicated. Maybe she really should just move and get herself the security of a condo. Maybe she was being na?ve in wanting to stay out here in the peace and solitude of the North Ontario wilderness?
When the constable knocked at her door, Jenna was nursing her third cup of coffee. She offered the constable one, but the woman declined, asking Jenna if she had something around that could be used to board up her window.
As Jenna flicked on the floodlights to the barn and they headed over there, the policewoman explained she hadn’t seen any issues with the two trucks or the other vehicles in the parking lot, but she’d taken a plaster of the tire tracks that the wind hadn’t gotten to.
She believed the tracks belonged to the suspect car, as those tracks didn’t fit any of her vehicles in the parking lot and were the only ones that seemed rushed on the way out.
Once inside the barn, the constable asked if she could take a look around, just to make sure everything was in order. Jenna accompanied her, soothing the horses, as they checked the stalls, the feed room, the tack room, the workshop and then the hayloft on the second floor.
They didn’t see anything unusual.
Then they grabbed nails, a couple of hammers, plywood about the size of the window and a tarp. Within minutes the bedroom window was sealed with wood and the tarp covered it.
It wasn’t too long after when the pilot of the helicopter radioed back. He let the constable know he hadn’t been able to find anyone out on the road with the thermal technology or searchlights, and he was on his way back.
He said it was possible the perp or perps had gone down one of numerous logging roads and were now hiding somewhere off his search grid.
The woman constable offered to stay with Jenna until daybreak, but Jenna declined, not wanting to take away resources in case someone else needed them.
Besides, she had her gun, and a rifle, which made her feel a bit better. Okay, much better.
After the chopper returned and picked up the constable, Jenna took steps to secure her home. She decided to leave the outdoor lights on and checked on the rest of the doors and window locks.
She knew she should invest in a security alarm system, but with the intermittent power outages, and there were quite a few, the cost of the system seemed hard to justify when compared to the ongoing needs of her horses and the buildings.
For now, she would make do with what she had, which was trusting her instincts and focusing her resources where she felt they were needed most.
Her gun was a comfort against the lingering uncertainty that something might happen again tonight, so she retrieved it, made sure the safety catch was in place, and keeping it within reach, she swept up the shards of glass from the broken window.
Afterward she shut the bedroom door and went to lay down in her guest bedroom. This small room, which she planned to transform into a nursery in the coming months, offered a sense of hope and purpose amidst tonight’s chaos.
As she lay down, she tried to quiet her mind and focus on the calm she hoped would return with the morning light.
She smiled, despite a pounding headache and placed her hand over her tummy, soothing herself and the baby. All she needed to do was rest. All would be well in the daylight which would be within the hour.
Maybe she would reach out for help and put in a call to one of her brothers. She didn’t know how long she could put up this brutal pace of caring for two places. Her brothers, Brady and Mitch, were the closest, only a few hours away, and they had said to call if she needed them.
Yeah, maybe she would call one of them.
In the meantime, she would just lay here and wait for the sunrise. She wouldn’t fall asleep. How could she? She’d had three coffees, and she hoped she hadn’t just turned her unborn baby into a caffeine junkie.
The wind continued to rattle at the cabin walls, push against the old windows, and she heard weird banging noises up on the roof making her wonder if the old shingles weren’t holding.
But after everything that had happened, she just didn’t care about what the weather was doing to her home, and she simply couldn’t gather the strength to go outside to see.
Besides, any damage done by the wind, she would deal with in the daylight.
She was surprised that she fell asleep because when she awoke bright light streamed past the drawn curtains into the room, splashing heat over her face, making her feel incredibly hot.
It appeared despite all that coffee she’d consumed; she’d fallen asleep again.
A glance at the clock on the night table had her gasping.
It was just after eight o’clock! And way too muggy inside without any open windows, but she did feel rested compared to other days.
Thankfully though, she heard no wind. All was quiet. The windstorm had passed.
She could smell the tiniest tinge of coffee too as it wafted through the hot air and she remembered she’d left the coffee maker on the warm setting after last night’s fiasco.
Oh boy, she needed to get her butt in gear. She was way behind schedule. Her horses and Sam’s horses would be so pissed at her at being let out so late. The eggs needed to be collected from the henhouse too.
But first she needed a quick shower to get herself nicely refreshed and then a coffee.
She kept her gun on the nearby bathroom counter as she quickly showered.
Not too long afterwards, she turned off the faucets, stepped out of the shower and hurriedly towel dried herself. She wouldn’t blow dry her hair. Once she got outside the sunshine would dry it quickly.
Just as she finished drying herself, a squeak that oddly sounded like that of her kitchen door being opened stopped her cold. Instincts warned her that she was now not alone.
Oh, come on! Not again!
Jenna's heart cracked against her chest as she quickly knotted the towel above her breasts. She would have preferred to be dressed, but time was precious. The bathroom window was way too small to climb out of so she couldn’t make a run for it that way.
She cursed herself for leaving her cell phone in her purse in the kitchen cupboard.
And where had she left her keychain with the keys to her truck?
Anger snapped through Jenna, momentarily chasing away her fear.
She grabbed her weapon off the bathroom counter, feeling the welcome weight of the gun in her hand.
Her movements were quick and controlled as she carefully undid the gun’s safety catch, then unlocked her bathroom door and steeled herself into the hallway.
Damn! Why had she left her cell phone in her purse in the kitchen? Why had she done such a foolish thing? And where were her keys? She’d had them in her hand after getting her gun out of the lockbox. Being pregnant was really screwing with her brains.
She heard another sound. This one different than the one just moments earlier. Was someone turning on the water tap in the kitchen?
Had her sister come back? She had a key. She might have let herself in.
Adrenaline zipped through her.
If it wasn't Ginny, then Jenna might have to shoot the intruder, or intruders. It wouldn't be the first time she’d shot someone.
Despite every instinct yelling at her to get out the back door this instant, she pushed her urgency to escape aside and tiptoed down the hallway toward her kitchen. She needed to know who was here.
She could barely breathe as she held the gun with both hands and pointed it straight in front of her as she slowly moved.
Despite having her gun, she’d lost her anger, and fear was creeping back. At the end of the hall, she peeked around the corner into the kitchen.
Two big men stood there at the kitchen sink, their backs to her as they gazed out the window. Were they looking for her outside? Hiding in here ready to jump her?
Oh crap! Two against one.
Okay, she would just have to get out of here before they spotted her. She was not in the mood for a two against one confrontation.
Besides, who knew how many more were out there. Or in here?
She took one step backward.
A floorboard creaked beneath her foot.
Oh no!
The sound sliced through the quiet kitchen like a gunshot.
Both men turned, alerted by the noise.
Jenna froze.
One man was a complete stranger, and his surprised gaze was fixated on her gun.
The taller man smiled at her. His familiar brown eyes twinkled with excitement. His dark brown hair was short, but not as short as the last time she’d seen him in the courtroom when he’d been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
It had been a long time since she’d seen him and shock flooded through her.
All the air flew out of her lungs, and his face swam in front of her. Her knees wobbled and the world tilted as if someone had yanked the floor out from under her. Her ears rang, muting everything except the thunder of her heartbeat.
Was she dreaming?
“Hey, baby doll. Long time no see,” he said in that growly voice that she had once loved so much. The sound of it. Rough, familiar, impossibly real, punched straight through her and her fingers involuntarily tightened around the gun.
Axel.
He couldn’t be here. He was in prison with years left on his sentence. Her mind scrambled for logic, but her body knew him instantly. The stance, the dark brown eyes, the quiet intensity.
He looked much older, yet so much more handsome. His shoulders were wider, his waist narrower. That big bulge between his thighs was still…big.
Heat rushed to her face, an involuntary echo of the young woman she’d once been.
He looked at her with that same love in his expression that he had all those years ago.
Jenna hesitated, caught between disbelief and recognition. Her breath stuttered. Suddenly she was caught between running toward him and running away.
His gaze lingered on her face; his familiar affectionate gaze was unmistakable despite the years and the distance that had separated them. For a brief moment, time seemed to stand still as the memories of their past rushed back.
Her heart wrenched with love for him. Their dreams of a long happy life together. The horrific thing he’d done. And then he’d been locked away.
His gaze suddenly dropped, and she’d forgotten she was holding the gun on them.
“Not exactly the welcome I was expecting. How about you let me have the gun before it goes off, eh?” he said softly and took a step toward her.
Her pulse spiked.
Oh my God. He really is here.
“Axel,” she whispered.
Her vision tunneled, the edges of the room blurred.
Suddenly she was swallowed up in a black wave she couldn’t stop.