Eventually, cool air started to nip at us as the sun went down behind the mountain peaks. I packed up the remains of our meal and we started back down the trail, leaving the roar of the waterfall behind.
I held her hand. It felt good.
Max trotted happily around us, zig zagging back and forth across the trail. The sun was still up when we reached my truck, but only just. Audrey got in with a contented smile and I preened a bit. I’d pulled off a damn good date, if I said so myself.
Hell, even I’d enjoyed it.
I wasn’t thinking too much about where tonight was going as I drove back to Audrey’s place. A little—I’m a guy, after all. But if we said goodnight outside and that was it, I was okay with it. As much as I would have loved to get her naked, I was also hesitant to jump into something too soon.
Although when I pulled into her driveway, that buzz came back—the sense of anticipation hit me like the blast of heat from a bonfire.
Until I saw her door.
“Oh my god,” she said. “What is that?”
Even in the waning light, it was clear. Someone had scrawled the word bitch in big letters across her front door.
And based on the rust color, I had a feeling they hadn’t used paint.
CHAPTER 22
Audrey
“Stay here.”
Leaving the keys in the ignition, Josiah got out and shut his truck door behind him. My heart raced as I watched him cautiously approach the house and the sight of that word scrawled across my door made my stomach churn with fear.
Who would do something like that? And what had I ever done to them?
Max seemed to sense the tenseness of the situation. He hopped onto Josiah’s seat and whined a few times.
“We need to wait here for a few minutes. I don’t know what’s out there.”
As if he understood me, he sat.
Josiah inspected the front door and surrounding area. He held up a hand for me to stay where I was, then made a circuit around the house. I didn’t like waiting while he was out of sight, so I locked the doors until he came around the other side.
Finally, he came to my side of the truck. I rolled down the window.
“There’s another squirrel. Let me get rid of it before you let Max out.”
“A squirrel?” I stared in horror at the door. “Does that mean –”
“Looks like it.”
Someone had killed a squirrel and written on my door in its blood?
This could not be happening.
“Actually, I probably shouldn’t move it,” he said. “I need to call Garrett. Do you have a leash so you can take Max inside?”
“Yeah, I brought one in my bag.” I pulled out Max’s leash. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
He looked around. His jaw was set in a hard line. “Seems to be and I didn’t see any sign of forced entry. You locked your door when we left, right?”
“Yes. I’m sure I did.”
“It’s still locked and so is the back door. I don’t see anyone around. Looks like they did this and took off.”
“In broad daylight? The sun isn’t even all the way down.”
“It’s ballsy, I’ll give them that.”
“Ballsy and horrible.”
I didn’t ask the question. I knew we were both thinking it. Who did this?
Was it Colin?
“Let’s just get inside,” Josiah said. “I’ll walk you in and we can call my brother.”
I clipped on Max’s leash and with my stomach jumping, got out. Josiah took my hand and led me to the front door. I kept Max close so he wouldn’t have a chance to even sniff the poor little squirrel that had been left behind.
With the front door safely shut behind us, I let Max off his leash. He didn’t tear through the house, sniffing, which seemed like a good sign. If someone had been inside, he would have caught their scent. He wasn’t much of a guard dog, but he was curious. He’d have at least followed where the scent led.
Josiah still did a sweep of the whole house, checking every room. Probably not necessary, but it made me feel better.
He came back and pulled out his phone. I sat on the couch while Max curled up next to me.
“Hey,” Josiah said. “Do you have a minute?”
I petted Max, stroking his soft fur. It helped me start to calm down.
“I’m putting you on speaker.” He tapped his screen and held the phone out. “I’m at Audrey’s. We just got here and someone vandalized her house.”
“What kind of vandalism?”
“Someone wrote on her door in squirrel blood.”