Chapter Seventeen
“Someone was creeping around my house last night,” Guadalupe announced, seating herself at the table in the back of the Sunrise Café where Harlow and her friends were already seated.
Harlow felt her face drain of color. Had she put Guadalupe in danger with all of her disclosures?
“Did you call the cops?” Raine asked.
“Bale Landry dropped by to see his uncle and found Paul Rafferty dead yesterday,” Guadalupe said, seemingly ignoring the question. “Did you hear?”
They all nodded. “Speculation has it he died from whatever is killing so many people here in Knightly,” Zahra said. “Since he’s dead, I can’t even say good riddance.” She sighed. “Once more, my quick wit is silenced by death.”
“What does that mean?” Guadalupe asked.
Stella waved her hand. “Pay her no attention. She’s going to have to take an acting class to satisfy her need for drama.”
Zahra burst out laughing. “Stella, I’m already a great actress.
” The smile faded from her face as she turned her attention to Guadalupe.
“Having someone creeping around your house is scary. You should have called the sheriff’s office and reported it, which you clearly didn’t since you didn’t answer that question. ”
“Did you get footage on your security cameras?” Raine asked.
“Yes,” Guadalupe confirmed. “But he was dressed in all black with a hoodie and a mask. He wore gloves. He was completely covered up. I tried enhancing the footage, but I didn’t get anywhere.”
“What was he doing?” Harlow asked.
“He didn’t try my doors, but he did attempt to open several of the windows. I keep them locked. He didn’t try to break in, but after he’d tested the windows, he walked around my house in my flower bed, every now and then crouching down as if he were examining the soil. His actions were strange.”
“Sometimes,” Raine said, “you can get an impression of someone just by the way they walk. Did you think, even for a moment, that you knew the man?”
Guadalupe shook her head. “To be honest, I was scared. I live alone in my house. I don’t have a dog. It was the first time I’ve ever been afraid here in Knightly.”
Harlow heard the single note of fear in her voice. She wasn’t acting. If anything, she was trying to appear calm and matter-of-fact.
“He went to my mailbox and kept circling it. I watched him on the surveillance video over and over, trying to make out what he was doing, but I just couldn’t see.”
“Would you give me access to that footage?” Raine asked. “I have ways to enhance video. I might be able to run a recognition program if I get a partial on his face.”
“It was so dark,” Guadalupe said. “But yes, I’ll make certain you get it.
It would be a relief to know why he was in my yard.
It isn’t as if I have really close neighbors.
I don’t share a fence with anyone. My house sits in the middle of an acre, so to actually get to my home, you have to come up a private drive. He was there deliberately.”
“Did he put anything in your mailbox?” Stella asked. “Letters? Threats?”
Guadalupe shook her head. “I honestly was a little afraid to look after viewing the video from the surveillance cameras.”
“I should be able to figure out his height and weight,” Raine assured her. She sounded totally confident. “If you don’t want to stay alone, you’re welcome to come to my home. I have a spare bedroom. Just know that grumpy Rush is there, and he’s very bossy.”
“I have cabins,” Stella told her. “I’m an hour away, but it might do you good to have a little vacation.”
“Stella has a luxury spa,” Zahra added.
Before Harlow could volunteer her home, Guadalupe was already shaking her head. She squared her shoulders. “I’ve never allowed myself to back down from a fight. If this person is threatening me, he’s got a surprise coming. In my life I’ve dealt with far worse than an intruder.”
“Guadalupe.” Harlow was as gentle as possible.
She cared about her friend, even if Guadalupe didn’t reciprocate her feelings.
“Do you know how many people have actually died in Knightly in the past couple of months? We suspect someone is behind the deaths. It’s just us thinking that, but if some stranger is creeping around your home, trying to open your windows and trampling through your flower beds, you have to take it seriously. ”
“I own a gun,” Guadalupe confessed.
“So did Paul Rafferty,” Raine pointed out. “You can’t count on that. You probably know this man. He acts like a friend. It wouldn’t be the first time we were all deceived.”
“I have spare rooms,” Harlow said. “You know my house inside and out. We could make you comfortable there.”
“Or mine,” Shabina chimed in. “You’ve been there; you know how large it is. Plenty of room. You could have your own private entrance.”
Harlow flashed Shabina a warning look. Rainier was not going to give access to their home to anyone, especially someone under suspicion for making death threats.
Truthfully, she wasn’t just under suspicion; they knew for a fact that she was the person putting the threats into Harlow’s mailbox. They’d caught her on camera.
Harlow didn’t want Guadalupe staying in Shabina’s home.
Or Raine’s. This was her mess, or at least the fallout from her parents’ devious lifestyle.
She had become certain Guadalupe was that young, frightened girl the senator had taken advantage of and then dumped over the border right into cartel country, alone, with no money and pregnant.
If that was so, it meant she was the mother of Harlow’s sibling.
Never once had she talked about having a child.
In her real estate office, she didn’t have a single photograph of any member of her family.
“You’re all so generous,” Guadalupe whispered. “I can’t thank you enough, but I’ve lived alone for so many years, I wouldn’t know how to share a house even for a few days.”
Raine nodded. “I understand completely. I’ve done the same, lived alone since I was eighteen, and you get used to doing everything exactly the way you want it.
No one is messing with your things, touching your devices, listening to phone calls.
I get it. But in the end, Guadalupe, despite my objections, I knew Rush was right when he said I couldn’t go home alone.
I hated that he was right, but the risk of losing my leg was too great to ignore him.
In this case, your safety is a huge concern.
If we all ignore the warning signs and something were to happen to you, we would be as guilty as the killer. ”
Harlow knew Raine had deliberately used the word killer to emphasize they believed a person was behind the deaths. They wanted Guadalupe to take the intruder very seriously.
Guadalupe stroked her throat, the first nervous gesture Harlow had ever observed her make. “It’s just that…” She broke off abruptly and then shook her head. “I really, really appreciate all of you being so kind and concerned, but I believe I can handle things by myself.”
Harlow realized it would be futile to continue. They weren’t going to get anywhere.
Raine leaned toward Guadalupe. “May I make one suggestion?”
“Of course,” Guadalupe said.
“Let me contact Rainier and have him go to your yard and look to see if he can track this man. He might find what he was doing.”
Harlow thought Raine was brilliant. Well…she was, but right then, even more so. She waited, holding her breath.
Guadalupe hesitated. “I think that would be all right. I can’t get there right away. I did some digging on that piece of property you’re interested in, and I’d like to fill you in.”
“Rainier wouldn’t go into your house, Guadalupe,” Shabina assured. “He’s good at tracking in the woods. He’ll be able to see prints in the dirt of the man’s shoes.”
“He should take Wilder with him,” Harlow suggested.
“He’s amazing when it comes to tracking.
It was kind of a survival training for him when he was a kid.
” She wasn’t giving away anything about Wilder’s childhood.
Many people taught their children survival skills early in the woods.
She had learned those skills from the women at the table.
To Harlow’s relief, Guadalupe nodded. “Yes. I think it would be good for someone to check it out. I should have thought of that.”
Raine immediately typed something on her laptop that they couldn’t see. She was always so fast, Harlow sometimes thought she had magic fingers.
“I’ve sent Rainier and Wilder a message, relayed what happened to you last night, and they will check out your property immediately. Rainier offered to send a couple of security guards to your house.”
Guadalupe gasped and shook her head. “No, no. I can’t have that. I really can’t.”
She was so adamant that Harlow feared they had struck some kind of trigger.
Guadalupe had gone through so much, and having a man creeping around her home had to be frightening.
It was clear she didn’t want any men around.
Now that she thought about it, she had never seen Guadalupe out to lunch or dinner with a man.
As a real estate agent, she showed properties to men, but otherwise Harlow couldn’t think of a single time she’d seen Guadalupe out dancing, eating or flirting. She was a beautiful, vibrant woman.
“Just thank Rainier and decline,” Guadalupe said.
Raine nodded her assent, but her small teeth bit down briefly on her lower lip.
She only did that when she was up to something.
Harlow wished she could see what Raine was typing.
Most likely, she advised Rainier to have someone looking out for Guadalupe.
The guard would have to stay out of sight if that happened because Guadalupe was adamant and meant every word she said.