Stalked In Conard County

“Last night…” She hesitated, hoping she didn’t sound fanciful or hysterical. “The moon was awfully bright. It woke me up and I was staring at it, thinking how beautiful it was when…” She sighed and pushed the words out. “Someone was looking in my window, Roger. It unnerved me.” Understatement.

He was already rising from his chair. “Flora’s room?”

“Yes.”

Before she could say any more, he’d gone out the front door.

She rose to her feet, wondering why her legs felt wobbly. Because she’d addressed what had happened last night, hadn’t just shoved it into the background to be forgotten with a million other bad things? She’d learned to do that in early childhood—a lesson she had believed was well-learned, a lesson she used often in her work.

She rinsed her dishes and put them in the dishwasher that her father had installed many years ago during one of her summer visits here. Darn thing was still working.

Then she leaned against the counter, resting her weight on the palms of her hands, and closed her eyes.

The image floated up in her mind, as clear as it had been last night. Her heart pounded once, hard, then settled again. A Peeping Tom. Probably no threat at all, just a guy who got his kicks by sneaking looks at sleeping women.

Nothing, she told herself. Nothing to fear.

When Roger returned, he entered the kitchen talking on his cell phone. “Yeah, Flora McKinsey’s house on Poplar—901. Her granddaughter’s staying here at the moment and last night she had a Peeping Tom. There are footprints under her bedroom window.” He paused. “Geez, Gage, how would I know? Probably scared the bejesus out of her. We don’t have any known peepers making the rounds, do we?”

He fell silent. Then, “Yeah, I think she’d be glad to see Kelly. Someone has to come, right?”

When he disconnected, Haley let go of the counter and faced him. “I didn’t want to make a federal case out of it.”

He gave her a half smile. “I did it for you. It matters, it upset you, and there’s not a whole lot I can do, not being a cop. Just get yourself another cup of coffee and relax. You’ll like Kelly.”

“Kelly?” She looked down at herself. “I should get dressed.”

“You’re decent. Relax. Kelly’s one of our K-9 officers. She’ll probably talk to you for a few minutes then try to follow the guy’s trail. Her dog, by the way, is called Bugle.”

“Bugle?” That surprised a small laugh out of her. This was happening too fast. She’d spent most of the night trying to regain her equilibrium, to push childhood memories back into the tar pit, and, with just one phone call, everything was awake and alive again. It didn’t matter there was no kidnapper involved. It only mattered that someone at her bedroom window had shaken her life until past ugliness tumbled into the present.

She took Roger’s advice and poured herself some fresh coffee before returning to her seat. “It was always odd to me how Grandma would start every day with coffee and switch to tea by midmorning.”

“Yeah.” He pulled out the chair he’d been sitting in earlier and sat facing her once again. “She never could persuade me about the tea. And, Lord knows, she tried.” Then he eyed her straight-on. “Haley? Why didn’t you call the police last night?”

The underlying truth burst out of her, shocking her as she faced it. “Because I didn’t want to make it real!”

Those vehement words told Roger he’d tripped into a minefield, one he wasn’t equipped to handle. Damn, he was just a guy who made saddles. He knew horses better than he knew people. Well, with the possible exception of their riders.

But the very honest anguish Haley had just displayed left him feeling helpless and as if he needed hip waders so he wouldn’t get in dangerously deep. The last thing he wanted was to make some stupid comment that would exacerbate whatever Haley was experiencing.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. Her gaze was now focused on the coffee mug she held in two hands before her.

“No need.” Really there wasn’t. His brain was on a rapid search down the halls of memory, trying to pull out some sliver that could give him a clue to this moment. Peering down those hallways, however, told him how little he truly knew about Haley, how little time they’d really spent together. Flora provided more recollections.

But then, somewhere in his mental search, he ran up hard against a nearly forgotten memory. Of course it was nearly forgotten. He’d been what? Twelve or so? At that point he wasn’t sure he’d ever met Haley at all, but he’d heard her mentioned. And he suddenly remembered, although it hadn’t seemed important at the time, not to a kid, something about her having been kidnapped and returned unharmed. In fact, by the time any adult had mentioned it around him, she was safely at home.

And his young mind had dismissed the event as unimportant.

After Haley’s reaction just now, he realized the memory was not in her distant past and that at this moment it was very much present.

Calling the police would make it more real? Uh, yeah. God, she’d probably spent much of the night wrestling with recollections that should have been buried beneath a tombstone nearly a quarter century ago.

All of a sudden, the Peeping Tom no longer seemed like a minor nuisance that needed to be looked into. Suddenly he seemed like a major threat to Haley’s peace of mind. Problem was, Roger didn’t know what to do about it. Nor, likely, would the police.

Conard City—in fact, the whole county—was by and large a peaceful place. Oh, yeah, they had their share of loonies and wackos, but overall it was still a place where people felt safe, let their children play outside and all the Norman Rockwell rest of it.

Of course, some of that was illusion. Everyone knew it but clung to it anyway. So far, he didn’t think many had paid a high price for believing everything was okay around here. People might be irritated by the idea of a Peeping Tom, but they’d be equally certain they’d figure out who it was and, between a misdemeanor charge and public disapproval, he’d get back in line or leave town.

But if the guy peeked in on kids…well, local ire might be explosive. It was something he’d seen early in life. The village would put up with the idiot because he was one of them. If the village idiot went beyond the pale, however, tolerance would evaporate.

He was just putting together careful words to ask Haley if her reaction had to do with her kidnapping when a heavy knock sounded on the front door. Police, he thought with mild amusement, were never timid about pounding for attention.

“That must be Kelly,” he said, rising. “Should I ask her in or just show her where the footprints are?”

She tilted her head a little and smiled. “I’m not a hermit. I’d like to meet her. I just hope she doesn’t think I’m overreacting.”

“There isn’t a soul around here who’d think anyone was overreacting to having someone peer into their bedroom window in the middle of the night. You can relax about that.”

The front door wasn’t far away. A small foyer divided the ground floor of the house, a foyer he’d helped to refinish a few years back when Flora had remarked the wood wainscoting was looking rough. Dryness had begun to crack it, so he applied sandpaper and oil and made it look as good as new. His reward had been Flora’s delight. All he’d ever wanted, although she’d often drowned his bachelor self with all kinds of tasty casseroles because, according to her, cooking for one was a pain.

It was a nice excuse.

He opened the door and found Kelly Noveno there with Bugle, a Belgian Malinois. Bugle sat politely beside her, looking attentive. Kelly herself was a pleasant eyeful with dark hair and snapping dark eyes, but she was already claimed by Al Carstairs, the animal control officer. A guy could still look.

Haley herself was a lovely woman. As a rule, he didn’t find blondes appealing, but Haley was different. And those blue eyes of hers looked like deep, still waters, even now. Under less stressful circumstances, she might have lit his fire.

“Come on in, Kelly. Haley’s at the kitchen table and I don’t think she got much sleep.”

“I heard that,” Haley called from the kitchen. “Caffeine helps. Want some, Deputy?”

“Kelly, please. And I’d love some.” Once in the kitchen, she put Bugle at ease and invited Haley to pet him. “He’s a friendly guy, but don’t touch him without permission.”

“I get that,” Haley answered with a smile. “I feel almost silly about this,” she remarked as she brought Kelly a mug of coffee and joined her and Roger at the table. Revealing more than she probably realized, she clutched her robe closer. Roger didn’t overlook it, though.

“Silly?” Kelly repeated. “Some guy peers in your bedroom window in the middle of the night and you feel silly for telling the police about it? Gimme a break.”

At that, Haley laughed, and Roger felt some relief. Whatever had been going on earlier, that remark about making this all real could wait for another time. A time when he felt he’d gleaned enough to know where it might be headed.

Flora, he knew, would want him to look out for her granddaughter, but he at least had to have some idea what she needed. That meant getting to know her better.

“Okay,” Kelly said, pulling out a notebook. “About what time did you see this guy?”

Haley furrowed her brow. “I hate to say this, but I’m not exactly sure. The moon woke me up, coming through my window. It was so bright!”

“Supermoon, at its closest point to earth.” Kelly nodded. “Okay, so the moon was still high enough to be visible over the rooftops of surrounding houses.” She tapped her pencil a few times. “Say sometime between two and three. At three, it would have been disappearing behind everything, including the mountains to the west. What exactly did you see?”

“Nothing,” Haley said, flushing faintly. “The moonlight was coming from behind him and I couldn’t make out his features, just his shape.”

“But he could probably see you,” Kelly said.

Haley nodded slowly. “I’m pretty sure of that.”

The image summoned to Roger’s mind made his stomach knot tightly. Some sleaze staring in the window with Haley sound asleep and fully illuminated by the moonlight.

The picture might have been magical except for the circumstances. Instead it was creepy.

“How long was he there?” Kelly asked.

“I’m not certain. I mean, to me, it was as if he popped up, looked in, and then when I started to sit up, he just vanished. If he was there earlier, I don’t know.”

Roger’s jaw tightened, his teeth clenched. “In other words, he might have been observing you for some time. No way to know.”

Haley frowned faintly. “But then why would he just suddenly pop up?”

Kelly spoke. “Good question. Let me go outside and survey the scene.” She looked at Roger. “Want to show me?”

She thanked Haley for the coffee and Roger followed Kelly and the dog out the front door. “Why,” Kelly asked quietly, “would she think it was silly to call us about a Peeping Tom?”

“I’m not sure,” Roger answered, although the truth felt as if it were sitting in his gut like a lead weight. He was convinced this had something to do with her kidnapping, but it wasn’t his place to speculate. He trusted Kelly, so that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that he didn’t know for sure. To figure it out, he’d need more than a few old memories. And it still wouldn’t be his place to say. “You’ll have to ask her.”

“Maybe I will.”

They reached the spot beneath the window and Kelly studied the scuffed dirt. It was easy to tell that someone had stood there, but no print was really clear, Roger thought now.

“Well, that’s not helpful,” Kelly remarked. “Okay, you go back inside with Haley. Bugle and I are about to take a walk and see what we can learn. Bugle, seek.”

That dog, Roger had thought more than once, understood a great deal. Without further direction, Bugle sniffed around the scuffed area then headed toward the alley behind the house. Kelly followed.

“I’ll let you both know if I find anything.”

“Thanks.”

Back inside, he found Haley still sitting at the table with cooling coffee in front of her. Except now she looked frozen, her gaze almost hollow, haunted.

He was a man who liked to fix things, but this was something that didn’t appear to be easily fixable. Whatever was going on inside that woman was clearly above his pay grade. He sat again so that he’d be at her eye level, even though his whole body wanted action right now.

“Kelly and Bugle are following a scent. She’ll let us know if she finds anything.”

Haley gave a brief, jerky nod.

“Haley? Are you feeling ill? Do you want to go see a doctor?”

In an instant her eyes lost the hollow look and began to spark blue fire. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m not sick. But some jerk woke me up last night and opened a box of memories I’d safely put away under lock and key for almost twenty-five years.”

He hesitated, waiting, giving her a chance to continue. Then, wondering if he was prying, he asked the question boldly. “Your kidnapping?”

“Yes.” She snapped the word.

He nodded and leaned back, half deciding to just shut his mouth. She doubtless didn’t want to be poked and pried at. Remembering was probably bad enough. But people didn’t really forget things, no matter how deeply they buried them. What if she needed an ear right now?

“I never heard much about it,” he said “I was too young, nobody said anything to me, and I just picked up that it had happened. But it was over quickly, right?”

Something in her posture eased. Her face and tone quieted a bit. “That didn’t make it much better.”

“I don’t imagine it would. I can’t conceive of anything more terrifying, no matter how long it lasted.”

“It wasn’t just the terror,” she said slowly. Then she seemed to shake herself. “It’s in the past,” she said as if reminding herself.

“Maybe not far enough in the past,” he remarked, keeping his tone pleasant. “You want more coffee? Are you ready to switch to Flora’s tea? Or how about a bottle of water?”

She smiled faintly. “Determined to take care of me, huh?”

“Not much I can do except play waiter and listen.” He shrugged. “You can also tell me to butt out. I’ve even been known to pay attention.”

Now her smile widened and he was relieved to see that she seemed to be shaking off whatever nightmare had haunted her. “No need to butt out. You’ve been kind, but you must want to get to work.”

Was that a dismissal? He decided not. “No rush. The nice thing about being my own boss is that if I need a few hours for something else, I can take them.”

Just then there was a knock on the door and Kelly entered with Bugle. “Dead end,” she said. “Bugle tracked him to Ash Street and then the scent vanished. Guess he drives to his little trysts. Anyway, if Bugle smells him again anywhere, he’ll let me know. Listen, Haley, I’m going to file a report. If we’ve got a peeper, you might not be the last victim. These guys seem to like to bother more than one person.”

“I hope he doesn’t bother me again. Thank you, Deputy.”

“Kelly. Just Kelly. Come on, Bugle.”

Then, in the subsequent silence, Roger took the bull by the horns. “So what did you mean when you said calling the police would make it real?”

Chapter 2

“I was talking about my reaction,” she said after several minutes. “At first it seemed like a bad dream, but then it raked up old memories. It was a childish thing to say, Roger. It happened. Reporting it has nothing to do with its reality.”

She pushed back from the table and went to the refrigerator, where she pulled out a bottle of water. “Want some?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

She sat again, unscrewing the bottle cap. “I remember the tap water here being very tasty, but I’ve been chicken to try it. I suppose I should.”

“It’s good water,” he agreed. “Better than some of the stuff in bottles.”

Again she smiled. “I remember way back when, when we were both kids. You were infinitely patient then, too. Remember the fishing expedition?”

He laughed. “How could I forget? I got you all excited about going to my favorite fishing hole and when we got there it was nothing but mud.”

“And I wanted to know where the fish had gone since there was no water left.”

He laughed again. “They had the sense to get out of Dodge.”

“I guess. You must have been as disappointed as I was, but that didn’t stop you. We drove up a little way into the mountains and you found us a small pool. What’s more, I caught my first fish!”

At least this memory was making her smile. He was glad to see it. In terms of time, her kidnapping seemed like a lifetime ago, at least to him. Apparently not so much to her.

Then she sighed and her smile faded. “I know it was a long time ago,” she said, almost as if she could read his mind. “I don’t think about the kidnapping often anymore. My dad made sure I had therapy afterward, and I got over it. Mostly. But once in a while…” She trailed off and sighed again, as if some heavy weight filled her. “Once in a while… Like last night. It dragged everything up from the depths. I was kidnapped through my bedroom window, you know.”

His heart lurched. God, last night must have been Halloween-like for her. “I didn’t know.”

“I guess that’s why I overreacted.”

He shook his head. “Waking up to find someone looking in your bedroom window? Well, I don’t think you can overreact.”

“Maybe not.” She shook her head a little, as if trying to shake off bad memories. “I’m wondering if I should sleep upstairs now. I wanted to use that room because I’d shared it with my grandma on the few occasions I came to visit here. When I was really young, before you and I met, it was such a treat to crawl into her bed and have her tease me with riddles until I fell asleep.”

“And you wanted to recapture that?”

“Can you ever? But, yeah, good memories. And maybe I should just sleep upstairs, where no one can peek in the windows and I can leave the curtains open and enjoy the fresh night air.”

There was a sadness to that. Maybe time to change the subject? “You can decide that later. Frankly, you look like you need a nap, but I guess you had plans for today?”

“I did, sort of. I’m sure I need a nap, but I’m too wound up. Anyway, I was going to go through some more of my grandmother’s things. Looking for keepsakes and so on. But then…” She hesitated. “I came here convinced I was going back to Baltimore in a few weeks. But I started to wonder why I shouldn’t just stay here. I always liked it, and it’s so much quieter than my home. I called yesterday and the community hospital said they could definitely use me, so I’d even have a job.”

She drummed her fingers briefly. “At least I was thinking about it until the wee hours this morning. Now I’m not so sure.”

“That’s understandable. But there’s no reason to think the creep will bother you again. And now that he’s been reported, he’s going to have to be awfully careful about what he does.”

“How will he know he’s been reported?”

Good question. Roger resisted the impulse to reach across the table and cover her hand with his. Childhood was far behind them both and, for all intents, they were now near strangers. “You opened your eyes and sat up, right? Then he knows he was seen. He’d have no reason to think you didn’t report it. Then, Kelly’s car was out there this morning and she brought Bugle with her.”

Haley smiled wanly. “You’re right. My head is kind of foggy. But I’m not ready to take a nap. First I want some of Grandma’s green tea, then I’m going to open all the curtains and let some sunlight in.”

“Good idea. Then?”

“I’m going to go back to what I was doing, going through her things for keepsakes. Everything else can wait.”

“Mind if I go back to work on the ducts downstairs?”

“Help yourself.” Her smile widened a bit. “Sure I can’t talk you into some tea?”

He laughed, feeling the atmosphere leaven. “Nope. But I’d be willing to make another pot of coffee if you don’t mind.”

The cup of tea helped. So did opening all the curtains downstairs and letting in the brilliant summer sun. The nightmare of the wee hours seemed to evaporate in the cleansing morning light. The dark miasma that had clung to her since she’d seen the man at the window began to slip into the background, like a bad dream. The sounds from the basement, where Roger occasionally hammered on something, or a duct clanged, helped, too.

Life had returned to this house, and she was almost ashamed of the way she had reacted during the night. Overreaction. Like a child. A hot shower helped, as did dressing in her oldest, softest jeans with threadbare knees and an old T-shirt worn thin from many washings. Age improved some things, for a fact.

She caught her wet hair back in a ponytail and tried to recall her list of tasks for today. Well, it wasn’t long before she remembered she’d wanted to air the house out. Despite her grandmother’s love of lavender sachets, the house still smelled musty from being closed for so long. Since she’d arrived here a couple of days ago, she’d felt chilled and had wanted to keep the windows mostly closed.

The summer here wasn’t very warm. She wondered if that was typical or just a spell. At home in Baltimore, it was a great deal warmer right now, and far more humid. Wyoming felt almost bone-dry. Refreshingly so, she decided.

She put the kettle on again, trying to center herself completely in the here and now. Another cup of tea would help. It would remind her of good things. In the meantime, despite lingering wisps of fear from last night, she opened every single downstairs window and let the soft summer breeze blow through.

When she’d learned she’d inherited the house, she’d had every intention of cleaning it out, storing the important items and selling it. Her life was in Baltimore, after all. Her job, her friends and the hospital she had seemingly wrapped her whole life around. Did she know anyone these days who wasn’t in the medical profession?

Anyway, she’d believed herself to be happy. Then this. Somehow over the last couple of days, she’d started thinking of staying. Maybe a crazy decision based on her childhood visits and memories, but the urge was growing. It would certainly turn her life on end, but she wasn’t sure that was a bad thing. She’d been kind of digging a comfortable rut at home.

But Wyoming? The state’s name could still unnerve her, if only a tiny bit. After her kidnapping, her mother had taken her away to a cousin’s in Michigan, no doubt trying to remove any reminders. Her dad had eventually moved his drilling business to the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota. Far enough north to feel different. The family had come together again.

Then her brother, five years her elder, had taken off with the Marines and had become a visitor in her life when he wasn’t overseas somewhere. Her mother had left, tired of the life of a woman surrounded by roughnecks, and Haley had stayed with her father because she hadn’t wanted him to be all alone.

But he’d been alone eventually anyway. Those summers he’d driven her to stay with her grandmother for a few weeks, and then when she’d knuckled down on her studies, determined to enter a medical career. Like all kids, she became eighteen and moved on to bigger dreams.

Her dad had evidently had some dreams of his own. These days he was working in the Middle East and would occasionally call her with stories of exotic places, but no, she shouldn’t visit him, because life was uncomfortable there for women.

So, once in a while, like her brother, he passed through her life.