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“Yes, also caribous and occasionally a bear. That’s why I keep the garbage cans in the garage except on pickup day.”
“Have you had any trouble with them?” He could do a generic conversation with Lydia. Nothing too personal.
“Kate’s an animal lover and takes photos of all our visitors. Once she was at the window in her bedroom, snapping a picture when the bear came over and tried to get inside. He tore the screen, and we had to replace it. The way she screamed, I thought the bear was inside. I ran and got my dad’s gun, then went to rescue her.” She appeared behind him.
Jesse pivoted from the window, and the familiar scent of apple floated to him. She held out the glass of water, and he took it.
But she remained where she was—too close. When she looked up at him, for a few seconds the years apart fell away, and he was a teenager again and in love for the first time.
Then she smiled, and no one else existed for that moment. It was as if fifteen years vanished along with all the hurts and words exchanged between them.
The shrill whistle of the kettle pierced the air. Lydia gasped as though she’d been transfixed as much as he had.
When she crossed to the stove to make her tea, he sat in a chair and took deep sips of his iced water, relishing the cold liquid. “What happened with the bear?”
“I closed the blackout curtains and hoped he would forget that we were inside. He hit the screen a couple more times, then left. We both collapsed on the bed, laughing.”
“Laughing?”
“In relief that we were still alive. I’d been checking out the bedroom door and wondering if that would stop a bear if he did get into the house through the window. I’d decided no.”
Chuckling, Jesse relaxed, surprised by both actions.
When Lydia returned to the kitchen table and sat across from him, she blew on her tea and took a sip, a habit she’d had since he’d first known her. What else did she still do? She used to chew on her thumbnail when she was nervous. He looked at her hand and saw each fingernail was cut short.
“I’m glad you’re having a good laugh over my bear encounter. There is a downside to living a little ways out from the main part of the city. More wildlife.”
“To me that’s what’s appealing about this place. I live in town with a fenced yard. Brutus needs to have a place to exercise when he isn’t working. I can’t risk him encountering a bear.”
Lydia shifted in her chair and cringed. “I’m trying to ignore my bruised ribs, but they love reminding me they’ve been mistreated.”
“Being in that hallway protected you some from the main blast.”
She stared at her tea, tracing her finger around the rim. “I know. I...” She shook her head. “Can we not talk about the bombing?”
“You need to remember, and talking sometimes helps.”
Her mouth tightened. “Not right now. When I start trying to think about that day, my mind shuts down.”
“That’s not an unusual reaction for a traumatic experience. So what do you want to talk about, if not the case?”
“The way things ended for us. I never wanted to hurt you. If I could have done that over—”
He held up his hand. “Don’t. We can’t change what happened and discussing it to death won’t help. What was done is done.”
“I understand, but ignoring something doesn’t make it disappear.”
“Maybe I want to be reminded to be cautious.”
“With me?” Her eyes darkened. “I made a couple of big mistakes as a teenager and have learned a lot from them. I hope we can be friends at least.”
Friends. That was how things started originally. “Listen, I’m sorry it didn’t work out with you and Aaron, but when you eloped it changed everything.”
A noise from the foyer charged the air between them.
“Lydia, I’m home. Where are you?”
“I’m in the kitchen.”
He stood, the sound of his chair scraping across the floor echoing through the kitchen. “I need to check in with Thomas before I call it a day. I’d better leave. I’ll lock the door on my way out.” He passed Kate in the dining room, nodding at her but not slowing his step.
Always in the back of his mind, he wondered why she’d married Aaron so fast after going out with him again. He’d thought they really had a chance to make it work that second time. He was a foster kid while Aaron came from a good family with some influence in Anchorage. Had money in the end meant something to Lydia? Or was it something else that changed her mind? They had started to make up after their breakup at Christmas, but in a snap of his finger, everything had fallen apart. And Jesse had only himself to rely on, again.
* * *
Lydia forced a smile when Kate came into the kitchen. The sound of the front door slamming came just as Lydia realized she’d have to tell Jesse the whole sordid incident of her becoming pregnant and having to marry Aaron. One foolish night and her whole life had changed. She lost so much then. Although she’d communicated with Kate on a regular basis over the years, they weren’t close. And her father had made it clear she wasn’t welcome in Anchorage.
“How was school?”
Kate shrugged. “Nothing earth-shattering. Everyone is still talking about the bombing. They’re scared.”
“So am I.”
“They’ve locked down the school tight. No one gets inside without a valid reason and everyone gets searched at the main entrance.”
“Good. I’m glad they’re taking precautions. I imagine other places will, too.”
Kate went to the refrigerator and looked inside. “We shouldn’t have to live in fear like this. Have you remembered anything?”
She already felt pressured. She hated that it was also coming from Kate. “I’m trying.” Lydia took her cup to the sink. “I’m going to lie down. Just doing this little has worn me out.”
“Can we order pizza tonight?”
“Sure. That way I don’t have to come up with something.” Lydia left the kitchen while Kate sliced cheese to put on crackers.
Emotionally and physically drained, Lydia moved slowly toward her bedroom at the end of the hallway. Luckily there were no steps to climb.
Crossing to the dresser, she decided to get comfortable and put on her pajamas, although it was only four thirty in the afternoon. In fact, she might sleep most of the evening and only get up to eat pizza, which she loved.
After she took a pair of pj’s out, she swung around, her gaze skimming over the items on her desk as she made her way to the bathroom connected to her bedroom. She stopped and stared at the wooden surface. Something was wrong. Her cup of pens seemed askew. Her desk didn’t look ransacked, but it didn’t look right. A shiver wracked her weakened body. Someone had gone through her desk.
FOUR (#ulink_5ccc9360-1193-556a-afb1-e7d9a4f53a6b)
Lydia racked her brain trying to figure out what felt so wrong. She hugged herself and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. Didn’t she close the top drawer all the way? She always did. Keeping everything neat and in order helped her get through her busy schedule.
“What’s wrong?” Kate lounged against the doorjamb, popping the last bite of her cheese and cracker into her mouth.
Lydia pointed a shaky forefinger at the drawer slightly ajar. “Did you get something from my desk?”
Kate frowned and straightened, squaring her shoulders. “I didn’t go through your desk. Bree and I came in here and got some clothing for you, but that was all. Why do you think I would?” Anger edged Kate’s words.
Lydia stepped closer and pulled the drawer open. She spied the notebook with a snow scene on the cover inside and sighed. It was still there. Every night she would write in it and then put it up, shutting the drawer. Not that there were any big secrets in her journal, but the idea someone else read her innermost thoughts made her blood go cold. It was one place where she would let everything out.
Lydia shut the drawer completely and looked toward Kate. “Sorry. I must have left it open. I’m such a creature of habit I thought someone had been in here going through the desk. Do you remember when you were getting the clothes if it was ajar?”
“I don’t even remember looking at the desk. I know you have a place for everything, but maybe you were upset and for once didn’t close it all the way.”
The last time she wrote in her journal, Lydia had poured her heart out about the fight she and her little sister had over a boy Kate was dating. Lydia shook her head. She’d said some things that she regretted. To say there was tension between them after their argument concerning Connor was an understatement.
Kate surveyed the room. “Is anything missing?”
Lydia didn’t get thrown off her game easily, but when she did she had trouble regaining focus. Her attention fixed on her laptop, sitting exactly as she would have left it sitting on the top of her desk. “Not that I can see. I guess with all that has happened lately, I’m jumpy. But still...” She stared at the drawer, not able to shake the thought she was right. No, it was only her overactive mind. Obviously she’d gone through a traumatic experience she hadn’t dealt with yet and was imaging problems when there weren’t any.
“Maybe you should call Sergeant Hunt. Let him know. He’s been working on your case.”
“And say what?” Lydia walked around the room, opening and closing other drawers. “Nothing seems to be gone. My most valuable possession in here is my laptop, and it’s on the desk.” When she looked into her walk-in closet, she stiffened. Clothes and hangers were tossed on the floor.
“Maybe I should call him. My closet is a mess,” Lydia murmured before she could stop herself.
Kate came up behind her and glanced over Lydia’s shoulder. She flinched at her little sister’s quiet approach and stepped back.
Kate pushed past her into the closet and began picking up the shirts and pants.
“Leave it. It could be evidence.”
Clenching a blouse in her hand still on its hanger, Kate glared at her. “I did this. I was upset and hurrying to get back to the hospital. I was looking for the green shirt you like to wear because it’s so comfortable. I thought you could wear it home.”
Her tension deflated, Lydia sagged against the door, holding herself upright. “I’ll take care of it later. Right now I just want to lie down.” She made her way to her bed and sank back against the pillows. “I’m sorry I accused you of going through my desk.”
“Yeah, right.” Kate huffed and stomped into the hallway.
I should get up and go after her. But exhaustion swamped Lydia. She closed her eyes and decided she would in a little while after Kate calmed down. After Lydia rested...
* * *
As Jesse drove toward the bistro bomb site after being at Lydia’s, he couldn’t shake from his mind the brief conversation about that last year before she eloped with Aaron and didn’t return to Anchorage. All he wanted to do was forget it. Why did women always want to discuss things to death? The past was just that.
And as far as he and Lydia being friends, he didn’t see that as an option. He didn’t want her to hurt him again. It was like when he was a young boy and touched the hot stove. He never did it again. Once was enough to teach him to stay away.
Thomas wanted Jesse to follow up with the appliance store’s owner today. The black Chevy with the partial license plate number Jesse had written down hadn’t been found yet.
Not long after the bombing, Thomas had sent two police officers to interview each store owner on the street. Yesterday Officer Williams hadn’t been able to get much from Mr. Pickens, the man who owned the appliance store. He’d been so shaken up that he could barely remember anything about that morning. This was the first day the police had allowed people back on the street after another thorough search for a follow-up bomb or any evidence. Besides Mr. Pickens, Jesse would also interview the manager at the clothing store and drugstore next door.
Jesse parked in front of Pickens Appliance, and after retrieving Brutus from the back, entered the shop. He immediately homed in on the tall, overweight man watching two men measure the area where the plate glass window used to be.
Jesse approached Mr. Pickens, recognizing him from his driver’s license photo. “Mr. Pickens, I’m Sergeant Hunt, and I need to have a few words with you about the day of the bombing.”
“I was in the back when the bomb went off. Shook the whole building. By the time I came out of the office, everyone was fleeing, screaming, scared.”
“When did you leave that day?” Jesse gave Brutus a short leash and signaled for him to sit next to him.
“When you guys asked us to evacuate the area. I wasn’t gonna wait for another bomb to go off.”
“I checked your store not long after noon and found someone in here. He fled out the back. Do you have any idea who it could have been? An employee? A customer who didn’t leave?”
“Everyone was gone when I locked up. Don’t know why I bothered because all any person had to do was climb through the window.” Mr. Pickens waved his hand toward the large gap at the front of the building. “We spent all morning picking up the glass. It shattered everywhere.”
“Do you have a surveillance camera in here?”
The man pointed to two mounted cameras. “They don’t work. It’s not like someone is going to shoplift a stove. What did the person look like that you saw?”
“I got a brief glimpse of a dark hoodie before the door shut. When I looked out back, all I saw was a black Chevy driving away. Couldn’t tell you the year. Do you remember seeing anyone park there that morning?”
“No, but it was here when I came to work at ten. I thought it belonged to an employee of the stores next to me. Like I said, I was in my office most of the time on the phone to the bank.”
“Who were the employees working the floor that day?”
“Bill Campbell and myself.”
“So Bill is here?”
Mr. Pickens nodded. “He’s the one with the broom.”
Jesse approached Bill Campbell, a medium-sized lanky guy, with a sour expression on his face. After introducing himself, Jesse asked, “I understand you were on the floor the morning the bomb went off across the street. Did you see anything strange? Someone hanging around watching the building?”
He stopped sweeping and leaned on the broom. “It wasn’t busy that morning. We usually get more customers in the afternoon or evening. There was a woman in here looking, but she wasn’t here when the bomb went off. Don’t know her name. Then there was a young man, maybe twenty-five in here. He wandered around looking at all kinds of appliances.” Campbell stared at the hole where the window used to be. “You know he kept looking out front as if he was waiting for someone.”
“Do you know his name?”
“Nope but he was here when the bomb went off.”
“Did he leave right away?”
“I don’t know. I was hiding behind the counter. When I finally stood up, all I focused on was the bistro.”
“Would you be able to describe the man to a police artist?”
Campbell’s eyes grew round. “You think he had something to do with the bombing?”
“I’m looking into everything.”
“I’ll do what I can. We’ve got to catch this guy before another bomb goes off. Business was slow before this last bomb. I don’t expect much now.”
“Will you be here tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll send the police artist then.” Jesse shook Campbell’s hand, then left with Brutus.
