Chapter 3
MITCH
The gravel crunched under the tires as Mitch pulled into his driveway. Lori sat in the passenger seat, quiet after the drive back from Emma’s house, where they’d dropped Piper off for her sleepover. The afternoon sun slanted across Pelican Bay, turning the ocean into a sheet of hammered silver.
Then Mitch saw it, the familiar dark blue pickup truck that was parked in front of Sunrise House. He smiled. Ryan was home.
“Whose pickup is that in your drive?” Lori asked, leaning forward to see better.
“Ryan, my son,” Mitch said, already calculating. Ryan wasn’t due home for another few weeks. Something had changed. He pulled to a stop and glanced around, frowning as he looked for Ryan. “I wonder where he is?”
“Maybe around the back?” Lori asked, looking pointedly to the side of the house.
“I don’t think so.” Mitch’s brows tightened. “The gate to the back is locked.”
“Does he know Tessa?” Lori’s eyes met his.
“Yes,” Mitch said, nodding. “He could be there.”
They slipped out of the vehicle. Mitch got Misty out of the back and handed the leash to Lori.
They walked toward Seabird Cottage together, Mitch’s eyes automatically scanning the property for anything out of the ordinary.
Everything looked normal. There was no sign of the sedan that had been parked on the road.
There was no figure lurking in the shadows, and there were no signs of disturbance.
Lori unlocked the front door, and they walked in. As she unclipped Misty’s leash, she called, “Tessa? Are you awake?”
Misty sniffed the air and then took off toward the kitchen.
Mitch and Lori followed her and found the back door open.
They walked through into the backyard, where they caught sight of Tessa and Ryan standing near the edge of the property, where the lawn gave way to the rocky beach path.
Both of them were tense and alert, looking down at something on the ground.
Tessa looked up first and saw them approaching. Her face was flushed, her hair disheveled like she’d been running.
“Mitch, Lori,” she said, relief evident in her voice. “You’re back.”
Ryan turned, and Mitch felt the familiar punch of love and pride that always came when he saw his younger son.
Ryan had inherited Julia’s dark coloring and sharp features, combined with Mitch’s build and bearing.
He looked good, healthy, though there was something in the way he stood that made Mitch think he was favoring his right side.
“Dad,” Ryan said, crossing the yard to grip Mitch’s hand and pull him into a brief, fierce hug. “Good to see you.”
Mitch felt Ryan flinch as he hugged his son a little too hard. “You too, son. I thought you were only coming in two weeks.”
“Yeah, I got off early.” Ryan’s eyes shifted to Lori, polite interest replacing the tension that had been there moments before.
Mitch turned to Lori, who took a step forward to meet Ryan.
“Ryan, this is Lori Carlton,” Mitch said. “Carrie’s friend who’s staying here for the summer. Lori, this is my son Ryan.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Lori said, extending her hand.
Ryan shook her hand with a warm smile. “Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Carlton. I hope you’re enjoying Nantucket.”
“Please, call me Lori. And yes, it’s been lovely. Your father and Piper have been very welcoming.” Lori smiled, her eyes moving curiously toward Tessa. “Why are you two out here?”
Tessa had joined them, and Mitch could see she was agitated about something.
“Has something happened?” Mitch asked her directly. “Why were you both looking at the ground like that?”
“There was a man,” Tessa said, the words tumbling out quickly.
“In a tan windbreaker. Right there at the edge of the property. Ryan and I were in the kitchen having coffee when we saw him through the window. He was just standing there, looking at something on the ground. Then he saw us watching him, and he ran. We chased him, but by the time we got out here, he was gone.”
Mitch felt ice settle in his chest. The man in the tan windbreaker was getting bolder observing the house in broad daylight.
“Which direction did he go?” Mitch asked.
“Down toward the beach,” Ryan said. “But he vanished. We looked, but there’s no sign of him. He knew the terrain, knew where to go.”
“Why don’t we all go inside?” Lori said, her voice steady despite the fear Mitch could see on her face. “I’ll make coffee.”
Mitch could see the invitation was genuine, but he could also see that Lori was as exhausted as Tessa looked. There were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. He glanced at Ryan, who had also arrived sometime during the time he and Lori had been gone and had probably driven for hours.
“That’s kind of you,” Mitch said, giving Lori a warm smile. “But I’m sure Ryan wants to get unpacked and that you and Lori could use some quiet time after everything that’s happened recently.”
Lori’s relief was visible. “If you’re sure, I really don’t mind making some coffee.”
“No, I’ve already had a cup with Tessa,” Ryan declined the offer this time. “My dad’s right, I’d like to get settled and have a shower. I drove through the night.”
“Why don’t we have a barbecue at my place tonight?” Mitch suggested.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Lori agreed, looking at Tessa. “What do you think, Tessa?”
“Sure,” Tessa said with a tight smile. “Sounds good.”
Mitch and Ryan said their goodbyes and headed back across the lawn toward Sunrise House. Neither of them spoke until they were out of earshot.
“So,” Ryan said quietly. “Want to tell me what’s really going on? Tessa mentioned something about a dead bird on the doorstep last night?”
“Let’s get you unpacked and settled first,” Mitch said.
“Okay.” Ryan nodded as they walked toward his pickup truck. “But you can talk while we unpack my truck.”
As they grabbed the three bags at the back of the truck, Mitch started telling Ryan what was going on, starting with Lori’s arrival three weeks ago and laying out the incidents chronologically: the man in the tan windbreaker that Lori had seen multiple times in town on her first day exploring.
The sedan with partially obscured plates that kept driving slowly past the houses.
The cigarette butts that were found under Lori’s bedroom window.
The figure Mitch himself had seen standing in the shadows between the properties.
He told Ryan about the dead seabird left on the doorstep last night, arranged too carefully to be accidental. About how someone had rung the doorbell and disappeared. About chasing the intruder and finding the boat on the beach, hearing the motor start in the distance.
Ryan listened without interrupting, his face growing more serious with each detail. When Mitch finished, they were standing in the kitchen, and Mitch was brewing a fresh pot of coffee.
“So this has pretty much been happening since Lori arrived?” Ryan asked for clarification, and Mitch nodded in confirmation. “Have you filed police reports?”
“No,” Mitch shook his head. “I’m not sure who they are watching, and until I know for sure...”
“You need to keep it quiet due to the sensitive nature of your previous employment,” Ryan finished for his father. “What did you do with the dead seabird?”
“It’s in a bag in the freezer in the shed,” Mitch told him.
“I hope in your bait freezer and not the other one!” Ryan looked at him in disgust.
“Yes,” Mitch said, rolling his eyes. “Of course it’s in the bait freezer. Piper keeps her ice popsicles in the other freezer. I wouldn’t risk her finding the dead bird.”
“I was just making sure,” Ryan stated. “Do you have any idea who is surveilling the houses or what they want?”
Mitch shook his head. “Not yet. I’ve been gathering information, documenting incidents. I have someone looking into the rental car.”
Ryan’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Someone from your old work?”
“Something like that,” Mitch said carefully.
The silence between them was comfortable, the kind that came from years of understanding each other.
Ryan had been twenty-six when Mitch retired from active operations eight years ago to look after Piper.
As they both worked in the same line of work, Ryan knew what not to ask or discuss, especially now, at the age of thirty-four, Ryan had his own classified deployments, his own secrets he couldn’t share.
“Well, at least now I know why you locked the house up so tight and took away the spare key,” Ryan said. “Speaking of which… Can I have it while I’m here?”
“Of course,” Mitch answered. “You also need to know that I’ve upgraded security on both properties with motion sensors and cameras. Although whoever this is knows what they’re doing. They’re professional.”
“I have four weeks’ leave,” Ryan said. “So I can help while I’m here.”
“I could use your type of help,” Mitch said, gratefully. “Thank you.”
They spent the next twenty minutes discussing logistics.
Ryan would stay at Sunrise House in his old room.
They’d establish patrol schedules and coordinate surveillance of both properties.
Mitch showed Ryan the camera feeds on his laptop, the locations of the motion sensors, and the security protocols he’d put in place.
“Does Piper know what’s happening?” Ryan asked.
The question brought Mitch back to what mattered most. His granddaughter. Keeping her safe and as innocent as possible for as long as possible.
“I told her a stranger had been seen in the lane,” Mitch said. “And I’ve asked her not to go to the beach without an adult with her. That’s all she needs to know right now.”
Ryan nodded in approval. “Good call. No need to scare her more than necessary.”
“Exactly,” Mitch said. “She’s a kid. Let her stay a kid for as long as she can. For the first time in forever, I’m glad she wants to stay over at her friend’s house.”