Hours later, Carlise was happy about how much work she’d gotten done. Thanks to the quiet cabin and zero distractions, her translation work was going much faster than when she was at home. She’d caught up and was back on track to finish the book by the deadline the author had requested.
She was taking a break, snuggling with Baxter—who’d turned out to be quite the cuddle bug once he’d gotten over his fear of her and Riggs—when a noise outside caught her attention.
Recognizing the sound of a vehicle engine, she frowned slightly. Maybe it was Riggs getting home a little early. He’d only been gone for about four hours, but maybe he’d finished all his errands.
Carlise stood and headed for the window at the front of the cabin. To her surprise, Baxter followed her. He was usually content to stay on the couch, stretched on his back with all four of his paws in the air, when she got up to use the bathroom or get a snack. But this time, he was right at her side, and she noticed the hair on his scruff was actually standing up.
“It’s okay, Bax. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
When she looked outside, Carlise was surprised to see a Toyota RAV4 heading down the drive toward the cabin.
“Who in the world is that?” she asked out loud, despite knowing she wasn’t going to get an answer.
Baxter pawed at the front door and growled low in his throat.
The hair on Carlise’s arms stood up. She froze, hardly daring to breathe.
Had her stalker found her? How? And when? Had he been watching them? Waiting for Riggs to go somewhere and leave her alone?
She was working herself into a huge freak-out and was about to run to the kitchen to grab Riggs’s satellite phone when the SUV stopped, and someone got out.
Carlise stared for a moment in total shock before a huge smile formed on her face. She went to the door and gently urged Baxter aside. “It’s okay, Bax! It’s safe. That’s my friend. Be nice! No—stay!” she ordered as she slid out the door, trying to keep the dog from pushing past her legs to get outside.
She had the door shut and had turned by the time Susie reached the steps of the porch.
“Susie! What in the world are you doing here?”
“I’m hoping that’s a happy greeting and not a pissed-off one,” her friend said with a smile.
“Yes! Of course it is!” Carlise opened her arms and hugged her friend. Susie was petite, only around five feet four and skinny as a rail, but she had a personality that made her seem much bigger. Her long black hair was thick and gorgeous, and her brown eyes sparkled when she was happy. She never seemed to leave the house without a full face of makeup and the most fashionable clothes, and apparently a road trip was no exception.
She was younger by five years, and sometimes that made Carlise feel ancient compared to her put-together and sometimes-naive friend, but she wouldn’t trade her for anything.
“I can’t believe you want to stay here willingly,” Susie said with a laugh as she looked around. “You weren’t kidding about being in the middle of nowhere!”
“Right? How in the world did you find me?”
“I did a lot of thinking after we hung up, Car. I felt really bad about how I behaved . . . but I was still really worried about you. You sounded so out of character on the phone, and with the notes and stuff you’ve been getting, I just knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make sure you were really okay. And I wanted to meet this Riggs guy. So I pieced together all the things you told me about where you were, the roads and the town, and I made my way here. I flew into Bangor and rented this SUV and . . . here I am!”
“I’m so happy to see you,” Carlise told her. “I still can’t believe you found the cabin.”
“I asked around in that small town. Apparently, there isn’t anyone else there named Riggs who works with trees and has a cabin. It wasn’t too hard to get directions.”
“Well, I think it’s great. Riggs isn’t here right now, though.”
“He left you out here by yourself?” Susie asked, her brows shooting upward in surprise.
“It’s not like anyone’s out here who would want to hurt me,” Carlise replied.
“So he doesn’t even have neighbors?” Susie asked.
“Nope. And I don’t think the animals around here count. Wait here a sec while I grab Baxter.” Carlise was a little concerned, actually, because she could hear the dog scratching nonstop at the door. He wasn’t barking, but he definitely wasn’t thrilled that she was outside while he was stuck in the cabin.