17. Losing Faith
CHAPTER 17
Losing Faith
A ddy stiffened. Heath reached out to stop her from answering the phone. “Put it on speaker.”
She nodded, and he pulled out his own phone. Texting Marcus or recording the conversation?
Addy answered her phone. “Hello.”
“Hello, Addison. It’s Jonas calling.”
“Hi, Jonas.”
“I’m calling about a couple of things. First, to let you know I’m heading out of town for a few days to visit some friends in New York.”
It shouldn’t have been relief that surged through her, but after Heath had aired his suspicions last night, that’s exactly what she felt. “Enjoy your time with your friends.”
“Thank you. I will. Now, the other thing is odd. After I finished plowing my driveway, I noticed you hadn’t had a chance to do yours, so I came over to do it. Are you inside?”
That was a weird question. When she hesitated to answer, Jonas continued.
“I know your car has been out of commission, but there weren’t any tracks or footsteps in the snow.” His laugh sounded self-deprecating. “And that sounds a little creepy. The reason I’m asking is that your utility room door is wide open. I know you had some trouble with your heater before. Do you want me to check it out for you?”
Addy whipped her head up to see Heath’s reaction. He shook his head at her and she nodded to show she understood. “That’s okay. We’re just around the corner, and we’ll be home in a minute. Thanks for calling, Jonas.”
She hung up with a sigh. “Should I call Marcus?”
Heath nodded as he turned the car around in the yard and headed toward her house. She put in the call, and Marcus asked them not to investigate. He would only be a few minutes behind them.
The hope and peace she’d been imagining only moments before bubbled away. On the plus side, if Jonas was calling them about a problem, he wasn’t behind it.
Unless it was like some of the Max Fortini thrillers she’d read. Not that Phail, Vermont, was going to have a plot like a thriller.
When they pulled up, they found Jonas standing beside his ATV. He used it and the plow attachment to do his driveway. Over the years, he’d often plowed her driveway along with his, especially after heavy snowfalls. The man had been a good neighbor.
Heath pulled into the plowed driveway. When he shut off the engine, he squeezed her hand. “Let’s be careful what we say.”
Which meant he still suspected Jonas. She nodded, but her heart was heavy as he brushed his gloved thumb over her lower lip, and then he tucked her scarf up over her mouth.
Feeling conflicted, Addy got out and moved over to where Jonas stood. “Thanks for doing the driveway, Jonas. I appreciate it.”
He smiled down at her. A friendly smile, nothing creepy at all. And she hated that she was analyzing his reactions. “You’re welcome. It’s no problem when I’m out doing mine, anyway.”
Which was why she’d always sent a fruit basket for him at Christmas time. Another thing she hadn’t organized yet. All of her private time had been spent on work or the surprise she and Nina were making for Heath. She needed more hours in the day. Or she needed to sleep properly so she could use those hours well.
When the cruiser pulled into the driveway as well, Jonas’s eyebrows shot up. “You called in Marcus for an open door?”
Heath nodded, but they didn’t answer, waiting for Marcus to take the lead on that. The deputy emerged from his car with a nod to everyone. “Thanks for calling me in. Jonas, can you tell us what you saw?”
Jonas frowned but nodded. “Sure, but I didn’t really see anything. I had finished plowing my own driveway and saw Addison hadn’t done hers, so I came over to help her out. I noticed her utility door was open but no prints were going in or out. None to the house door either. So I called her to see if everything was all right. Which it likely isn’t if she called you.”
Marcus nodded but didn’t answer the implied question. “Did you see anyone hanging around last night?”
Jonas shrugged. “My place is up the hill a bit. I didn’t notice anything.”
“If you do notice anyone hanging around, give me a call.”
Jonas frowned again. “I was heading out to see some friends in New York for a few days, but I can cancel that if you think an extra set of eyes would help.”
Heath stiffened beside Addy but didn’t respond. Addy smiled. “Thanks, Jonas, but it’s probably nothing. Don’t change your plans. Enjoy your trip and your friends.”
He nodded and after Marcus assured him there was nothing else he could do, he hopped onto his ATV and headed back to his place.
Marcus took pictures of the scene before he moved closer to the door. “There are definite scratches here.” He took a picture and then flipped through his phone. “I took photos afterward in case anyone tried to pick the locks. This is evidence they did.”
Addy closed her eyes and blew out a breath. “It had to be done before the snow started last night. Are the breakers flipped again?”
Marcus moved into the utility room. Heath once again put himself between her and the wind, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm. Unfortunately, the chill was from the inside.
When Marcus came out, his face was hard. “Breakers were flipped. I want to check out the inside before I flip them back again.”
She handed over her keys and tried to keep the shaking on the inside. Once Marcus checked the locks, he turned to her. “This one doesn’t look like it was picked.”
He kept his hand on his holster as he moved into the house, and she had to blink back tears. Her friend was putting himself in danger because of her. And Heath was wrapped around her to keep her safe out here. So much for her strong, independent woman routine.
It didn’t take long before Marcus reappeared and waved them inside. “Looks untouched to me. Why don’t you have a look around while I flip the breaker?”
She straightened her spine and moved inside. Her home looked like it always had, but the chill running inside her was new. This had been their sanctuary for years. She’d been so proud to have her own place, and they’d made it a good place. Full of love and strong memories.
Now, some idiot had taken that all away from them. “I think I’d like to have Nina stay with Ginny and Nimii for a few days. Then I can stay here, and maybe we can catch him.”
Heath frowned at her. “You mean we’ll stay here.”
She smiled at him. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Marcus frowned. “The incidents do seem to be escalating. I’d like to borrow some security cameras and things from Midnight Security to set up here with you.”
She liked that idea. “But I don’t want whoever it is to see a whole group of people setting things up. Are there simple things we could put in place temporarily that will work?” Because she didn’t think she’d be able to live in this house comfortably again.
H eath paced the small house like a tiger in a petting zoo. All he needed was some prey to take down.
He and Addy had driven out to Midnight Lake to pick up some security systems that would alert them to someone on the property without requiring installation. They’d also dropped off a bag for Nina at Ginny’s diner.
Back at the house, they’d carried the boxes inside, trying to look happy and inconspicuous at the same time.
Sam Young, the head of Midnight Security, had provided them with several gadgets. Some put beams across the doors and windows. Heath had gone into the utility room and set up a small camera that operated like a motion detector and worked in the dark. They had another camera set up in the kitchen window that looked out on the driveway. This one looked like a plant pot and had come with basil growing inside it. They even had a listening device they could turn on if anyone was outside.
The house was less than a mile from Sean’s farmhouse, and his friends were on alert. Marcus and Troy were going to stay the night there as backup.
He’d always hated the waiting parts of missions. But today was worse than all of those missions combined because Addy was the target.
She currently sat at her desk, working. Or pretending to work.
He flopped on the couch and pulled out his own laptop. He forced himself to focus on a few emails, and then he opened the research he’d been doing on breweries and the sketches he’d made using some design programs.
The team wanted to make six kinds of beer, symbolic for each of the six of them, including Garrett, who wasn’t answering emails or texts. That meant they needed room within the brewery to diversify the products. It also meant they needed a really good system.
The barn on the farmhouse property was large, but with Sean’s construction business and Levi’s equipment for growing hops, it wasn’t large enough for the system he wanted.
He knew how much square footage they’d need, and the floor space of a small barn wouldn’t do it. If they had a larger barn, they could subdivide for other purposes. Extra equipment. Storage. They’d need to decide if they were going to stick with kegs and draft or if they wanted to can or bottle some of it. That would require more storage and more packing space.
He didn’t register that Addy had moved until she dropped onto the couch beside him. Some protector.
She rested her head against his arm. “What are you working on?”
He turned the laptop so she could see. “Thinking about the brewery. Different layouts. Trying to optimize space and efficiency. Making lists of all the equipment we need and figuring out costs.”
“It sounds like a lot.”
He nodded. “Almost all businesses require a significant investment up front. Some people don’t consider all the small pieces and details. Then they’re in even worse shape than they expected the first year.”
“So you’re making sure that doesn’t happen?”
He grinned and kissed her hair. “Exactly. I didn’t expect to be excited about the entire project, but I am. I want to help put it together and I signed up for an online course to become a brewmaster.”
She grinned up at him. “That’s awesome. You’re going to have fun with that.”
“I think so too. I have the financial education to ensure the business doesn’t flop, but I want to be more involved than that. I want to make beer.” Just saying it out loud made him laugh.
“You’re going to be amazing at it.”
Her confidence in him had always been absolute. Another reason he should have realized his parents had interfered in their relationship. He’d made no attempt to talk to them since leaving Boston and he hadn’t heard a word from them either, probably for the best.
Addy reached over and flipped through his various tabs on brewery setups. “I’m glad I didn’t have an interest in a career that required all this equipment. All I needed was a computer.”
He laughed again. “Right. Just a computer. And a creative brain. And an organized mind. The guts to put yourself out there and be vulnerable. And the determination to create your own career out of nothing but love and grit.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at him. “Wow. Thank you.”
Her shock at his words reminded him that she’d had no one to turn to for far too long. “Have I mentioned I’m so happy you found Nimii and Ginny?”
She smiled. “Me too. They’re amazing.”
“They are. And so are you.”
A soft beep interrupted the moment, and they both stilled. He put his laptop on the table and moved to the kitchen. “It’s the outdoor camera.”
Instead of disturbing the curtains and alerting whoever was out there to the fact they’d been spotted, Heath pulled up the app Sam had installed on his phone.
The beep sounded again before he had it pulled up. There. Movement in the snow just past the pile Jonas had plowed to the side of the driveway.
Heath still didn’t trust the man, although his actions today had dulled those suspicions. Maybe he’d snuck back for another go at Addy’s house. It should be obvious to anyone that they were there. Two vehicles in the driveway usually meant someone was home.
He hadn’t expected the guy to make a move tonight, not after messing with the heater again the night before.
All he needed was a glimpse of a human, and he’d call in his friends.
Addy had her phone out as well, and they studied the app in silence. The camera beeped again and then Addy laughed softly.
He glanced at her, and she pointed to a corner of the screen. The shadows made it difficult to make out, but eventually, the shape moved again and a deer stepped into the yard.
Addy smiled. “She’s beautiful, but I don’t think she’s going to cause us any trouble.”
Heath grinned and tucked himself around Addy to watch the deer on her phone. The animal looked at the house and the cars, then wandered across the camera view and back into the woods. Probably looking for food.
Addy sighed and put her phone on the table and then turned to wrap her arms around him. “I hate this. I hate being scared in my own house. I hate thinking someone hates me enough to do these things. Is it because I was too happy? Things were going too well?”
Heath held her close. The defeat in her voice was something he’d never heard before. She was fierce and strong and so protective of Nina and everyone else she loved.
This bastard was going to pay.