15. Losing Ground
CHAPTER 15
Losing Ground
H eath gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he gripped his temper. Someone was targeting Addy. There’d been too many incidents that he knew of in the short time they’d been together.
And he’d bet there’d been more. She’d been worrying her lip while he drove out to Midnight Lake, where apparently Graham Buchanan worked on engines out of an old sawmill. This area of Vermont was certainly unique.
He’d bet this was the only place in the world where an old fishing lodge and sawmill had been turned into a security business and a center for an eclectic bunch of scientists and artists.
They slowed down at a gate, where a tall man waved them inside and pointed to the sawmill. The bare trees swayed with the wind, and snow battered against the windshield. He was glad his Atlas had four-wheel drive if it became necessary. He’d bet that Phail got a lot more snow than Boston.
He parked in front of the mill beside Marcus’s police cruiser. The man from the gate jogged up to them and opened Addy’s door. Heath climbed out and tucked Addy into his side as they made their way through the whipping wind into the sawmill. The building was huge. The front half looked like a regular barn, while two large wings spread to the sides at the back of the building.
Once they were inside, the man offered his hand. “Hi. We haven’t met yet. I’m Graham Buchanan. Mechanic, electrician, and whatever else we need here at Midnight Security.”
Heath shook his hand and introduced himself.
Graham waved them over to where Addy’s car sat alongside a prime little red Challenger. A mechanic’s shop with three bays occupied the entire front of the sawmill. Workbenches and toolboxes lined the wall, and there was even a pair of hoists.
Heath nodded, satisfied this guy would know what he was talking about. “Nice place.”
Graham grinned. “Thanks. Aisling uses the back half as a woodworking shop, but this area is all mine. I called Marcus in after I opened Addison’s hood because it was obvious the sabotage was deliberate. He dusted for fingerprints, but it’s been wiped clean.” He pulled out his phone and showed them pictures of the engine and what had been done.
Graham scowled. “It wouldn’t have taken long. Maybe ten seconds total, but it was incredibly ballsy to do that in the parking lot in full view of anyone who walked by.”
Marcus frowned. “It couldn’t have been done earlier?”
Graham shook his head. “No, the car wouldn’t have been drivable. To me, it looks like someone searched how to sabotage a car quickly on the internet. They pulled a few wires that wouldn’t come apart on their own.”
Addy shuddered and leaned into Heath’s side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
Her voice was shaky. “Why would someone sabotage my car? I’m not a threat to anyone. I live an incredibly quiet life that revolves around Nina and my books.”
But she was a gorgeous woman, and Heath figured she’d picked up someone who wanted her attention.
Marcus turned to her. “Have there been any other incidents that have seemed out of place?”
She huffed out a laugh. “A tree fell through my bedroom window a couple of hours ago.”
Marcus frowned. “Anything else.”
Addy shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
Heath squeezed her arm. “Anything that seems out of place might help. Like the fuse the other day.”
The attention of the other two men sharpened. “What happened?”
Addy sighed. “When we came back to the house after spending the afternoon touring Phail, the heat wasn’t working again. The breakers had popped for the heat pumps.”
“Again?” Marcus prompted.
She nodded. “It’s happened a few times. I’ve been saving up to call in someone to check it out.”
Graham blew out a dramatic sigh. “Addison. You know better than that. You call me, and I’ll check it out. It’s what friends do.”
“I didn’t want to bother you. You’re busy.”
Graham rolled his eyes. “Not too busy for a friend. I don’t want to be responsible for a Nina Popsicle. I’ll come back with you and see what I can see.”
“Anything else?” Marcus prompted.
At her hesitation, Heath’s stomach coiled into a knot.
She shrugged. “I misplaced a set of keys a few weeks ago. Haven’t found them yet.”
Heath squeezed her shoulder. “What else?”
“My snowblower wouldn’t start up on that first big snowfall a few weeks back. The hot water heater had a puncture in it and needed to be replaced.”
Heath wanted to kick himself for not being in her life earlier. Even if these things were accidents or normal wear and tear on appliances and equipment, he wanted to help her. But his gut was screaming they weren’t all accidents. Looked like Marcus and Graham felt the same.
Graham frowned. “Your utility room is on the outside of the house?”
She nodded, but her frown hadn’t disappeared. Heath squeezed her gently. “What else? There’s something you’re thinking about.”
“It seems silly, and it was probably just me.”
Marcus tapped his notebook. “Tell us anyway.”
She sighed. “Okay. Today, when I sat down to work at my desk, my notebook and pen were in the wrong drawer.”
“Do you always put them in the same place?”
She nodded. “Yes. It’s routine.”
“Have you ever found them in the wrong drawer before?”
“No, but I was packing up to go to Boston with Heath, and I wonder if I just wasn’t paying attention.” She sighed. “And the other day, Heath found the cereal box tipped over in the pantry. There was cereal everywhere.”
Marcus frowned. “Could it have been Nina?”
Addy shook her head. “No, she doesn’t eat cereal, and there’s nothing on that shelf that she’d been using. I figured I just didn’t replace it properly.”
Heath shook his head. “I didn’t think of it earlier, but that doesn’t sound like you. And you probably would have noticed it if it tipped over when you put it back.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
Marcus sighed. “Addison, your keys are missing, and things have been tampered with in your house.”
Her face paled. “Do you think someone’s been inside?”
Marcus shrugged. “Maybe. Why don’t we head out to your place and see if we can find any evidence or anything else moved?”
Or hidden cameras. Heath didn’t say that out loud, but he was sure the other two were thinking it as well. If someone was watching his girls with hidden cameras, Heath was going to tear him limb from limb.
A ddison was freaking herself out. Or the men were freaking her out. No one would be deliberately doing these things to her. She and Nina didn’t have enemies. That was the realm of her books, not her life.
Heath opened the car door for her and tucked her inside before heading to the driver’s seat. He and the other two men were on hyper-alert. She was very glad Nina was at school for another couple of hours.
Unless someone was following her daughter. “I think I should call the school.”
Heath’s knuckles whitened where he gripped the wheel. “We’re only a couple of minutes away from your house. Do you want to talk to Marcus first?”
Again, she appreciated he didn’t try to overrule her. “I don’t know. I don’t want to scare her if this is nothing.” If someone was tampering with their house and their things, the person wouldn’t know they’d figured it out. Nina would be safe inside the school.
“I can get her from the school. Bring her here.”
She blew out a breath. “I think you’re right. Let’s hear what Marcus thinks first.”
They pulled into her driveway and she had the inane thought she was going to have to widen the space to make room for all the extra vehicles that were showing up these days.
“Do you really think someone is doing things to us?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Heath reached over and squeezed her hands, then waited until she looked at him. “I do, but I could be overreacting. I do know that if there’s any possibility that someone is targeting you, there’s no way you’re staying here alone. Either I’ll stay here, or you two can come back to the farmhouse with me. I don’t want to take any chances with either of you. You’re so damn important to me, and I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
Addy had to blink back the tears, and then she leaned over the console to kiss him. “Thanks.”
She pulled up her scarf and tugged down her hat, then climbed out of the car. Heath immediately moved to her side and took her mittened hand in his.
Marcus and Graham moved to the small utility room at the back of the house. She’d always been annoyed when she’d had to trudge outside in the winter for maintenance, but she’d never worried about anyone tampering with her property.
Wearing gloves, Marcus squatted down and shone a flashlight into the lock and then around the edges of the door and the hinges. “There are a few scratches on the lock, but nothing definitive. Do you have the key with you?”
Addy pulled it out of her pocket and passed it to Marcus. He nodded his thanks and then turned it in the lock. He and Graham moved inside. It was a tiny room, so she stayed on the outside where she could see. Heath moved behind her to block the wind and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him and tried to imagine who might want to scare or inconvenience her.
Not a single person came to mind. She’d spent a lot of her lifetime in the shadows. She’d mostly kept her head down and done the next thing. The only ones she knew of who actively disliked her were Heath’s parents, and they wouldn’t do anything like this. If the men were right, these incidents had started before she and Heath had met in the parking lot. That ruled them out completely.
When the men came out, Graham spoke. “There’s nothing wrong with your breaker panel. Your heat pumps shouldn’t be flipping the breakers, but I’m going to have a look at that, too.”
When they got to the door, she remembered. “The door started sticking a few weeks ago. I think it’s just a loose hinge plate, but I don’t think of it until I open it, so I haven’t actually checked it out.”
Marcus nodded and studied this door as well, shrugging to show it was difficult to tell. He opened it and did the same on the inside.
He pointed at a hinge plate. “Marks on here, but no way to tell how old they are. Let’s check inside.”
Once inside, Addy moved to the stove to put on the kettle. The chill probably wasn’t from the cold, but tea would help.
Heath stayed where he could see her and the others as well. She knew he was worried, and that helped warm her as well. Her breathing wanted to escalate, but she concentrated on keeping it level. They would figure this out. No one was getting anywhere near Nina.
When the water boiled, Addy made four cups of tea, not sure anyone other than her would drink it. But it gave her something useful to do. She brought them to the table, then sat and held her mug between her hands.
When Marcus used his cellphone to look at the walls, she frowned. “What are you looking for?”
“It’s precautionary, but if someone is stalking you, I want to make sure there are no hidden cameras installed.”
She shot to her feet. “You think someone would do that?”
He shrugged. “I hope not, but it’s been known to happen.”
How was she supposed to feel safe here ever again? Heath appeared beside her. “How about I see if Troy has locks in stock? We can get new ones installed today if he has any.”
She nodded numbly, and Heath made the call. It shouldn’t have surprised her when Troy and Piper showed up minutes later with new locks and their dog Oreo in hand.
Piper immediately walked to Addison and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you.” Piper had been through her own version of hell not that long ago, and knowing she understood the feeling of violation helped enormously.
Soon, she and Piper were in her bedroom, cleaning up the mess from the tree while Oreo supervised from the bed. It wasn’t as weird with her female friend helping her as it had been when the men had been in there earlier. They used the broom and the mop and cleared all the surfaces.
Piper picked up the bag of garbage they’d collected. “I can’t believe how tidy your room was before the window blew in. I’m never quite that good with my stuff.”
Addy laughed. “When it’s a small space, you learn not to collect too much. Makes it easier to keep it organized.”
“Is Nina the same?”
“Pretty much. Although she’s usually got a few interests competing for her attention at the same time, so there’s always stuff scattered around.”
When they left her room, Marcus smiled at her. “Do you mind if I do the scans in there as well? We haven’t found anything in any of the other rooms, so I doubt we’ll find anything. I’ll feel better if I check.”
She hadn’t thought of the possibility of cameras while they’d been cleaning. It was unnerving to think of someone watching her, so she let Marcus check the room.
Her phone timer buzzed, and Addy shut it off. It was the first timer for her to get ready to pick up Nina. If she left soon, she could drive to the school and pick her up from there. Except they hadn’t picked up her car from Midnight Lake.
Heath appeared and tilted up her chin with his knuckle. “Do we need to leave now for Nina? Or was that warning timer number one?”
She managed a laugh. He already knew her so well. “That was the first timer. We’ve got a few minutes if we pick her up in Phail.”
“Would you feel better if we drove to the school?”
She nodded, forcing down the emotion clogging her throat.
Troy came over and handed her two keys. “Here you go. You’re the only one with the copies. Bring them in soon, and I’ll make extras for you.”
She nodded. These would work for her and Nina, but Heath needed one. That gave her a bit more warmth. She would have this man in her life no matter what.
Once they were in the car, she texted Nina and the school to let them know they were picking her up. The school was vigilant about ensuring only people on the lists picked up kids from school and she’d already added Heath to Nina’s pickup and contact lists at the school. No one could get to her daughter.
So many things had been going right. Except now, she had to tell Nina they had a potential stalker in their lives.