from her neighbors’. “I think he parked at the Moonies’ place, watched from the cover of the woods until he knew Lou was sleeping, and then did the honey thing.”
Making a face, Lou added, “And the creepy peeping thing.”
Without looking at her, he gave an affirmative grunt. Although Callum’s face was carefully blank, she could tell he was pissed. Deeply pissed.
“The Moonies have visited their cabin only twice since I’ve lived here,” she said, deciding to focus on her stalker and worry about Callum’s mood some other time. “It’s been empty for the past two months. Do you think this person might be staying there?”
Callum shook his head. “The boot prints end at their driveway, and there are fresh tire tracks. The snow covering their front and back porches is undisturbed.”
“Tire tracks?” Chris asked with interest. “This is my lucky day, forensically speaking—boot prints and tire tracks. I’ll go check it out.”
As the two watched the deputy plow through the snow—a safe distance from the boot prints so as not to disturb the evidence—Lou shot a sideways glance at Callum.
“What?” he snapped. Since he was still watching Chris, she wasn’t sure how he saw her look.
“Why are you so angry?” she asked. “Is it that I’m wasting your morning with my stalker drama?”
That made him focus on her. “What? No, of course not.”
“Then…?” She let her voice trail away, hoping he would fill in the blank.
“You really don’t know?” he asked. When she shook her head, he looked away again, readjusting his baseball cap. “I’m angry because some asshole is harassing you. He was fucking watching you while you were sleeping.”
“Oh.” It was her turn to look away from him. She shifted her weight, uncomfortable and pretty sure she would’ve preferred dealing with his anger rather than his concern. At least she would’ve known how to respond to his irritation—she’d had plenty of experience with that . “Yeah…hmm.” Giving up on her search for something fitting to say, she settled for the always-appropriate hum.
“You can’t stay out here alone.” Callum obviously didn’t have a problem finding words. “You’ll stay at my house until they catch this son of a bitch.”
Startled, she turned to face him again. “Um…no. My woodstove needs to be fed. And I’m not going to let him drive me out of here.” Plus, the idea of staying with Callum was much too appealing for her peace of mind.
“Fine.” The small muscles at the corner of his jaw were twitching. “I’ll stay here then. I have propane heat as a backup for my woodstove, so my house will be fine.” When she just stared at him, his face reddened, and he looked away. “I’ll stay on your couch.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said slowly, imagining him living in the midst of her mess. “It’s almost a twenty-minute drive to Station One from my place, compared to three minutes from yours. Won’t that cause an issue for dive-team calls?”
“I’ll work it out.”
She opened her mouth, frantically trying to think of another logical reason he couldn’t stay with her that had nothing to do with the tumbling mix of nerves and excitement the idea produced, when the sight of the returning deputy had her closing her mouth. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Nothing to discuss,” he said, and she glared at him—which he ignored.
“I’m going to head down the road to the end of the Moonies’ driveway, see if I can tell which direction this guy turned once he got on the county road,” Chris said once he got close enough for them to hear him. “Call me if anything else happens, even little things.”
“Will do. Thanks, Deputy Chris.”
“No problem, Lou.” He gave her a wink along with his usual grin. “You might think about installing one of those wild-game cameras outside of your cabin. They’re motion-activated, so you could get lucky and get a shot of your
Making a face, Lou added, “And the creepy peeping thing.”
Without looking at her, he gave an affirmative grunt. Although Callum’s face was carefully blank, she could tell he was pissed. Deeply pissed.
“The Moonies have visited their cabin only twice since I’ve lived here,” she said, deciding to focus on her stalker and worry about Callum’s mood some other time. “It’s been empty for the past two months. Do you think this person might be staying there?”
Callum shook his head. “The boot prints end at their driveway, and there are fresh tire tracks. The snow covering their front and back porches is undisturbed.”
“Tire tracks?” Chris asked with interest. “This is my lucky day, forensically speaking—boot prints and tire tracks. I’ll go check it out.”
As the two watched the deputy plow through the snow—a safe distance from the boot prints so as not to disturb the evidence—Lou shot a sideways glance at Callum.
“What?” he snapped. Since he was still watching Chris, she wasn’t sure how he saw her look.
“Why are you so angry?” she asked. “Is it that I’m wasting your morning with my stalker drama?”
That made him focus on her. “What? No, of course not.”
“Then…?” She let her voice trail away, hoping he would fill in the blank.
“You really don’t know?” he asked. When she shook her head, he looked away again, readjusting his baseball cap. “I’m angry because some asshole is harassing you. He was fucking watching you while you were sleeping.”
“Oh.” It was her turn to look away from him. She shifted her weight, uncomfortable and pretty sure she would’ve preferred dealing with his anger rather than his concern. At least she would’ve known how to respond to his irritation—she’d had plenty of experience with that . “Yeah…hmm.” Giving up on her search for something fitting to say, she settled for the always-appropriate hum.
“You can’t stay out here alone.” Callum obviously didn’t have a problem finding words. “You’ll stay at my house until they catch this son of a bitch.”
Startled, she turned to face him again. “Um…no. My woodstove needs to be fed. And I’m not going to let him drive me out of here.” Plus, the idea of staying with Callum was much too appealing for her peace of mind.
“Fine.” The small muscles at the corner of his jaw were twitching. “I’ll stay here then. I have propane heat as a backup for my woodstove, so my house will be fine.” When she just stared at him, his face reddened, and he looked away. “I’ll stay on your couch.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said slowly, imagining him living in the midst of her mess. “It’s almost a twenty-minute drive to Station One from my place, compared to three minutes from yours. Won’t that cause an issue for dive-team calls?”
“I’ll work it out.”
She opened her mouth, frantically trying to think of another logical reason he couldn’t stay with her that had nothing to do with the tumbling mix of nerves and excitement the idea produced, when the sight of the returning deputy had her closing her mouth. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Nothing to discuss,” he said, and she glared at him—which he ignored.
“I’m going to head down the road to the end of the Moonies’ driveway, see if I can tell which direction this guy turned once he got on the county road,” Chris said once he got close enough for them to hear him. “Call me if anything else happens, even little things.”
“Will do. Thanks, Deputy Chris.”
“No problem, Lou.” He gave her a wink along with his usual grin. “You might think about installing one of those wild-game cameras outside of your cabin. They’re motion-activated, so you could get lucky and get a shot of your
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