Chapter Five
There was, in fact, no salvation to be found in the arms of her white, marble-tiled shower. Lianna’s mood officially sank to the bottom of the ocean she adored so much. Her arm stung like hell when she cleaned it and still throbbed despite the medicine. She was anxious from the interaction she had with Gabe earlier, at war with herself for caring about his feelings, or lack thereof. On top of that, there were a million chores to do. As usual, laundry had piled up during the week, the garbage was begging to be taken out, and groceries weren’t going to buy themselves.
Every other weekend, Scott’s parents Charles and Barb took the kids to stay at their place. This was one of their weekends. It was a godsend for Lianna. They only lived five minutes away and it gave her the only parenting break she received other than when they were in school. Most importantly, her children adored their grandparents.
Lianna dressed hastily, pulling on her favorite black leggings and a soft gray tunic. Slathering on tinted BB cream and some mascara, she winced as the simple task tweaked her arm. Setting off to conquer her to-do list, she decided on taking the garbage out first.
Dreading the task that lay ahead, Lianna shuffled her feet through the garage. She stopped to throw on sandals before grabbing the trash bag in one hand and the recycling in the other. She exited the side door and immediately dropped both bags when she walked through a spider web.
Lianna was swatting around like a madwoman when she first smelled it. Recoiling at the obnoxious scent, she stopped swinging her arms long enough to look for the cause of the nasal onslaught. As her gaze passed over the garbage cans, she froze.
There, lying on top of the bin, was an animal resembling a raccoon. She could make out some of its signature fur markings but otherwise it was covered in crimson. Only a few flies buzzed around, signifying that the animal hadn’t been there long. Based on the smell, though, Lianna found that very hard to believe.
Before she could turn back into the house, the animal’s midsection caught her attention. The stomach was sliced open, and its insides had spilled out of the cavity. How the poor creature made it all the way on top of that bin with such a gruesome injury was beyond her. Lianna had a strong stomach, handling baby poop and puke like a pro, but this had her bile churning.
Fleeing into her garage, the trash bags were left spewed on the ground. She stood just inside the door to escape the odor. Trying to clear her head, she considered how to get rid of a dead animal. While she had never cleaned up roadkill in the past, how hard could it be? She needed some gloves, a mask, and a garbage bag. Running inside to grab her materials, she re-emerged a few minutes later, resolved to get the job done.
Lianna cautiously crept toward the animal, part of her waiting for it to jump up and lunge at her. Shaking the garbage bag open, she reached out one gloved hand to grab the tail. The rancid smell seeped through the sides of the mask. Scrunching up her face, she quickly slid the creature towards her.
Trying to get the task over with, she underestimated its weight and it landed half in the bag, half on her flip flops. She jumped back with a yelp. That’s when she noticed the piece of cardboard underneath the animal. It was hard to overlook.
“YOU’RE NEXT,” written in bright red.
A jolt of fear surged through her, as warning bells went off in her head. She stood there paralyzed with indecision. She needed to tell someone about this. One person in particular came to mind. She darted back inside the house to call him before she lost her nerve.
****
Gabe considered not answering the annoying buzz of his cell phone. This afternoon he promised to take Jacob to a movie and didn’t want to delay because of work again. Gabe loved his job—he excelled and had advanced quickly up the ranks. He craved the challenge and the rush his career provided, but it could be strenuous when balancing raising a child.
Sauntering over to the dresser, he glanced down to where his cell was charging while he was in the shower. Gabe held the towel up to roughly rake over his wet hair, his stomach dropping when he saw the name on the call display. He narrowed his eyes as if the name would change if he looked hard enough. A million thoughts flew through his head in the three seconds it took him to drop the towel and reach for the phone.
“Lianna?”
“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s a really gross dead animal in my garbage that I was hoping you could help me with.”
“What?”
Gabe had expected any number of things to come out of Lianna’s mouth but needing help with a dead animal wasn’t one of them.
“In your garbage, outside?” he clarified.
“Yes, it was lying across the lid. I tried to clean it up, but then I found this message… Listen, it’s easier if you have a chance to come look. But I understand if you’re busy. Of course, you’re busy. Sorry, it’s the weekend. You probably have pla—”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Okay, don’t rush.”
Gabe cut the connection. Throwing on whatever was on top in each dresser drawer, he sped down the stairs. Apologetically, he knocked on Dolores’s door, explained his absence, and promised to be back as soon as possible. Dolores was the reason Gabe could pull off this whole single parenting thing and he made sure she knew as much. The nanny/housekeeper/superhero lived in the carriage home above his garage. While she had weekends off, if she wasn’t visiting her own grandchildren, she was usually at home.
Promising Jacob the movie date was still on, just delayed, he took off, doing his best not to run the block that divided their homes. Gabe wasn’t sure why he was in such a hurry to get to Lianna, just a feeling. One he didn’t like, imagining Lianna in trouble.
****
When Gabe was halfway up her driveway, Lianna opened the door, not caring that he would know she was watching for him. As he drew closer, she noticed two things. First, he looked angry. That was unfortunate but hardly surprising. Second, he looked tasty enough to eat, also not shocking. He wore dark gray sweatpants the way Giselle wore couture. Lianna would certainly pay to watch him strut down a catwalk, with those perfect fitting sweats and that snug white t-shirt.
As his long strides narrowed the distance between them, she stepped back to let him inside the house. But instead of continuing up the stairs and inside, he stopped, hesitating. He was taking this whole avoidance thing seriously. Gabe hadn’t entered her home in weeks. She tried inviting him in, it had worked for Sookie.
He ignored her, asking instead, “Where is it?”
Sighing, Lianna moved outside and down the three steps of the porch. As Gabe followed close behind her, she second guessed the decision to call him over. It was probably a prank and here she was interrupting his weekend.
She slowed as they rounded the side of her garage and Gabe came to stand flush beside her. He smelled better than Grandma’s house on Thanksgiving Day, all fresh and clean with a hint of musk. She looked up at him, her stomach doing a three- sixty when she found him staring down at her. Not many people made Lianna feel small, but Gabe at six-feet-four inches made her feel dainty and minuscule. She surmised it had more to do with his presence and not just his height.
She looked away, in the direction of the dead animal and quickly remembered why she was standing out here with him in the first place. He did that to her, so thoroughly distracted her, consumed her attention. But now the reality of her situation sank back in.
“It’s down there,” lifting her finger to point.
Without a word, Gabe stalked off in that direction.
“I’m just going to stay here,” she called behind him.
When Gabe was a few feet from the animal he slowed his pace significantly, raising the collar of his t-shirt to cover his nose. She thought she heard him mutter a four-letter word. He crouched down beside the poor creature and considered it for longer than Lianna thought was necessary.
“There are more garbage bags and cleaning gloves in the garage,” she yelled after him. “But I can do that part. I called because of the message.”
Just as she was about to offer a disposable face mask that her mother-in-law dropped off in bulk every flu season, he straightened and saw the cardboard. He studied it for only a moment before stomping back towards her. Worry lined his handsome face.
“Jesus, Lianna,” he said in disbelief.
“I know, I told you it was gross.”
“It’s not just that…”
Gabe rubbed his beard. It was a subconscious gesture he did when he was thinking, and it made her blood run hot.
“I figured it was something that an eagle or coyote got to.”
He shook his head and leveled Lianna with a stare. “Someone butchered that raccoon to send a message … to you.”
The statement was enough to pull her thoughts away from how his biceps bulged when he had his arms crossed like that and on to the matter at hand.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Did you look at it?” Gabe asked incredulously. “That raccoon is cleanly sliced open from his neck to…”
He stopped, seeming to struggle with what to say next. He continued more gently.
“That animal didn’t get there itself, it was placed there. It stinks bad enough that I’m guessing it didn’t die today, but there are not enough bugs to support it being left out here long. Someone intentionally killed it, waited for the right time and put it on your garbage can.”
“I figured that someone found it like that, then thought it would be funny to scare me, based on the nice note they left. But it just doesn’t make any sense,” Lianna argued. “Maybe teenagers last night?”
Gabe considered her question. “Possibly, but that thing would have been devoured by wildlife if it was left overnight. And why the nice note? Is there someone bothering you?”
“I can’t think of anyone who would do this.” Lianna muttered. “Who goes around prank calling people and leaving dead raccoons outside their homes?”
****
Gabe watched Lianna as she racked her brain. She was chewing on her plump bottom lip like she always did when she was over thinking. He had to agree the situation was weird, but in his time with the VPD he’d seen much weirder. Then the first part of her statement hit him.
“What do you mean prank calls?”
Waving a hand through the air, Lianna ignored him. “I guess I can ask Tim. I saw him over on that side of the house this morning right before I showered.”
“Who is Tim?”
“You know, Tim and Diana next door, the older couple? It’s just odd that he didn’t say anything if he noticed it.”
Lianna was still chewing her lip and Gabe was on the verge of begging her to stop.
“Why is your neighbor walking around your property while you’re showering?”
“Honestly, who knows? Tim always has an excuse to be over here, he finds menial tasks to do. I think he’s bored. He stares a lot.” She said nonchalantly. “One morning he scared me silly when I opened the door to get the paper and caught him sweeping off our front porch.”
That didn’t sit right, so Gabe pressed further. “That’s not odd to you?”
“Of course, it’s odd.”
“Have you ever asked him to come over, or help?” He was quickly growing suspicious of this Tim character.
“No. Well … he did kill a big spider that I couldn’t reach over the fireplace once. But that’s because I had already seen him outside and knew he was close by.”
“Do you want him coming onto your property?”
“No, he makes me uncomfortable, but how awkward would it be to ask him to stop being neighborly and helping out.”
Tim’s services were no longer required. Someone needed to renege on the Tim’s open invitation and Gabe was happy to oblige.
“That one?”
Gabe hooked a finger over his shoulder towards the older log cabin home to his right. While the back of Lianna’s property was fully fenced in, the two houses were only separated by about fifty feet and a line of tall evergreens in the front. Most of the houses on this side of the street were newer, the log cabin was a few decades senior to them. It seemed to be almost hiding among the old forest that surrounded it.
“Yes, but…” She didn’t get to finish her statement as Gabe strode toward the wooden structure.
“Wait.” Lianna ambled after him. Gabe stopped and turned to her. “Are you just going to ask him if he butchered a raccoon and left it on my garbage?”
“Yes,” he said, starting toward the old man’s home again.
He felt Lianna hot on his heels but was too annoyed to slow down.
“Tim wouldn’t leave that message,” she called after him.
Gabe didn’t agree. He had learned to trust his instincts—they had seldom failed him. Something felt off about the way Lianna described her neighbor and Gabe needed to see for himself if he posed a threat. If he failed Gabe’s test, then he intended to let this geezer know he had worn out his welcome.
When they reached the older but well-maintained cabin, Gabe pounded firmly on the door. While he waited for an answer, he chanced glancing at Lianna. She was wringing her hands together, gaze focused on the ground. The fact that confronting this man caused her stress made his temper flare. Before he could ask if she wanted to go back and let him handle this alone the door pulled open.
A man, only a few years older than Gabe, stood before him. The neighbor was smaller than him, but most men were. Tim held his own at about six feet tall, but where Gabe was built like the thick tree trunks surrounding the property, this man was as lean as the branches. To Gabe’s dismay, Tim wasn’t hard to look at. The neighbor had a nerd vibe to him, but no unfortunate features. His fair skin was freshly shaven, with ash blond hair combed harshly back.
Tim looked at Gabe, then over to Lianna where his gaze held, seemingly confused. Gabe watched as Lianna looked up at the man, and, yes, she was definitely nervous.
“Hey, Tim, this is going to sound weird, but did you notice a dead raccoon on my garbage can this morning?” Gabe saw the man’s Adam’s apple working as Lianna went on. “I, uh, noticed you over in that general direction earlier and thought maybe you saw something?”
Tim, never taking his eyes off her, stepped out of the house. He quietly closed the door behind him and stepped directly into Gabe’s personal space. Gabe’s body tensed, his hands involuntarily balling into fists. Every grown man had an invisible circle of personal space, about a foot in either direction. Unless you had boobs or were a buddy, you better not step into it without consequences.
But Tim seemed to be completely oblivious to Gabe’s presence, taking a small step towards Lianna. Gabe mimicked Tim’s movement. That got the neighbor’s attention, as he turned to level an icy stare at Gabe. Tim’s blue eyes narrowed, sizing him up. In response, Gabe’s heart revved, his body preparing for a fight.
“Who are you?” Tim asked, his nasally voice like the kid in class who hadn’t finished puberty yet.
Lianna quickly responded, “This is my friend Gabe. I asked him to help me clean up the mess.”
Tim’s head whipped back in Lianna’s direction. “Why didn’t you get me? I’m always happy to help you.” When Lianna didn’t respond right away Tim went on. “That’s what I was doing earlier, I was tidying up the tree line and throwing some loose branches away. I noticed the animal on your garbage and was going to clean it up. Then my, um… Diane, needed assistance, so I had to leave the raccoon.”
“Oh,” was all Lianna muttered as she looked at Gabe. He hoped she wasn’t buying the neighbor’s story because it was riddled with holes.
Tim took another step towards her and started to reach out but stopped as his hand was in mid-air. Smart man Gabe thought, trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.
“Darn it, I’m so sorry, Lianna. I meant to come back and finish cleaning it up, but I got sidetracked.” The man’s face grew red, and Gabe couldn’t decide if it was in anger or embarrassment.
Lianna consoled him, obviously believing it was embarrassment. “It’s fine, Tim, really, it was just quite the surprise. It wasn’t your job to clean it up.”
Tim turned redder. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said quietly.
Gabe had a thousand questions concerning the dynamic unfolding before him, but decided to go with, “Why didn’t you throw the branches out in your own garbage can?”
Now it was Tim’s turn to ball his hands into fists before deflecting the question. “Lianna, I’ll be right over to finish cleaning that up.” Just as Gabe was about to tell him he shouldn’t plan on ever coming over again, Lianna piped up.
“No, please don’t worry about it. Thank you so much for trying to help in the first place. We can take it from here. But did you see the note that was with the animal?”
“What note?” Tim questioned.
Gabe grabbed Lianna’s elbow and steered her down the stairs, effectively ending the conversation. He was livid. The story wasn’t adding up, but he couldn’t stand to see the neighbor’s beady gaze on Lianna for one second longer.
Tim called out behind them, “I’m sorry again, Lianna.”
Gabe turned to glare back as she said, “No worries.”
Oddly, Tim’s gaze was on Lianna’s back and the look on his face looked very much like panic.
****
Lianna heard the alarm chirp, announcing Gabe was opening the door that led from the garage to the mud room.
“Lianna?”
“Come in.”
She offered permission again, hoping he would accept this time. Gabe had insisted that he finish the clean-up job and she was thankful. Lianna had used the time to change and start the laundry. She added two extra rinse cycles, just to make sure the raccoon bits would really be washed away.
“I wanted to let you know I’ve finished cleaning up the raccoon, but I need to talk to you before I take off,” Gabe said.
Damn it. She could tell he had barely taken a step inside the house based on the volume of his voice.
“Hold on.” She pushed up from the kitchen island where she had just taken a sip of the mint tea she brewed to calm her nerves.
When she reached the mud room, he was leaning over the sink drying his calloused hands. Looking up he said, “I wore the gloves, but after a job like that it takes days to feel clean again.”
“Gabe, thank you so much, I really appreciate this.” She needed him to know how grateful she really was for this intrusion.
“No problem,” he muttered, focusing on getting the wet towel into the garbage.
“I’m so sorry I had to bug you again.”
“Will you stop with that? You aren’t bugging me.”
She nodded and they both lapsed into silence.
“He wasn’t old.”
“Who?”
“Your neighbor. I thought you said they were older?”
“Well, older than me.” She shrugged.
Gabe’s eyes watched Lianna carefully as he asked the next question. “Are you friendly with Tim?”
“No, well, I guess yes, but not because I want to be.”
She went on when Gabe looked at her questioningly. “If I’m being completely honest with you, he seems to get annoyed when I reject his help. I pick my battles, and it’s just easier to appease him. Tim might be a little weird, but he usually is helpful.”
“Don’t let him in the house.”
“He doesn’t come in the house,” she countered defensively.
“Something is off with him. If I see him on your property again, I’ll make it clear he isn’t welcome.”
“That’s a little extreme.”
“Why are you so defensive when it comes to this guy?”
She was defensive, because a few weeks ago, the same morning she had found him on her porch, startling her, Tim had also gripped her arm to steady her. When she told him she was okay, merely caught off guard, he had drawn her closer. If she hadn’t pulled away his mouth appeared to be on a collision course with hers. Instead, she had leaned down to pick up the paper then muttered an excuse and fled into the house. Gabe didn’t need to know all of that. It made Lianna uncomfortable even remembering it. Made her wonder if she had done anything unknowingly to encourage his advances.
“I’m not defensive. I am a single woman living alone with two kids. Did it ever occur to you that I may need his help?”
“Just ask me!”
“Stop yelling at me! This is why I don’t ask you.” She tried to control her tone but could feel her cheeks ignite into flames.
Instead of continuing their debate, Gabe sighed, dragging a lazy hand over his beard. She annoyed him, she knew it, and she supposed she should be grateful that he was still willing to help her despite that. But in this moment, he annoyed her right back. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gabe opened his mouth to speak, but Lianna beat him to it.
“Look, I appreciate you coming over and if something else comes up I’ll ask for help … if it isn’t too inconvenient.”
Gabe gazed up to the heavens, as if he were searching for divine intervention to get him through this conversation. She interrupted his prayer.
“You should get going. Sorry again to steal your Saturday just because someone decided to pull a prank on me.”
“You know it’s more than that,” he said wearily.
“Here, go ahead out the garage.” She had already walked over to the mudroom door, reached out and raised the garage door bay. “I have to get groceries, might as well head out too.” Now who was bullying who around ?
Gabe stayed glued to his spot. Intense brown eyes stared into hers for several long seconds. He didn’t like being dismissed but that was just too bad. Lianna didn’t like being bossed around.
“Please promise to be careful around him.”
She nodded, mostly because when he looked at her like that, she couldn’t get her brain to function. Gabe stood there for a few more seconds, appearing torn for a reason she didn’t understand, then turned and left without a backward glance.
Well, at least he used please , she thought, leaning against the door jamb watching him walk down the driveway. The farther he got, the more the anxiety rose in her belly. Regardless of how unbothered she appeared to Gabe, Lianna couldn’t help but wonder what a person who so brutally slaughtered an innocent animal could do to her.