Page 43 of In Pursuit of the Truth

She’d even gone through the mail from the mailbox in case a note had been placed there separately. Still nothing.

They’d found some footprints around the mailbox, and Nate had taken pictures of each one. Now, all the officers had gone home except for Jenny. She and Nate were sitting on the couch, Nate’s laptop open on the coffee table in front of them.

“What about this one?” Jenny pointed to the screen.

Bailey rounded the couch to stand behind them where she could see.

Nate glanced up at her. “I’ve got the footprint from the guy last night here,” he pointed to the image on the left, “and we’re comparing it to pictures I took by the mailbox. I’m hoping we’ll find a match.” He closed that picture and opened another. The tread was clearly different. He opened yet another and stopped. “Just like that.”

Bailey leaned forward, her forearms resting on the back of the couch between Nate and Jenny. There was no doubt that they were both created from the same shoe or boot. “Definitely a match. So it was the same guy.”

Jenny gave a shake of her head. “Judging from the fact that we never saw his face on video, he didn’t care if the camera caught him. This means he’s confident that we can’t identify him by his clothing or hat alone. He’s bold yet careful.”

“Not the best combination,” Nate muttered. “Eventually, he’s going to get overconfident and make a mistake. We’re going to be there when that happens.”

Bailey pushed away from the couch. “Well, everything before was bad enough, but the rattlesnakes crossed a line. Someone could’ve been seriously injured. What is he going to try next?”

It made her angry to think this guy was trying to make her upset enough to sell her place. Yet, there was a small part of her that wondered if it was worth it to keep fighting. She was tired, and the farm was a lot. But if she did let it go, how would she support the boys? She’d have to get a job and start working, and the only thing on her resume since Seth was born was stay-at-home mom and running the farm. There wasn’t a big call for either when it came to employment.

Suddenly, the stress of it all made her want to curl up on her bed, have a good cry, and drown it all in a big tub ofice cream. She cleared her throat. “I’m going to check on the boys. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Bailey? Are you okay?”

Nate’s concerned voice only brought the tears closer to the surface. Not trusting her voice, she gave a wave and made her way upstairs. In the hallway, she took several deep breaths and blinked back the tears before peeking her head into Seth’s room.

The boys were sitting at the little table with a bunch of building blocks and toy farm animals.

Seth’s sweet face brightened when he saw her. “Mom, look what we’re building.” He stood and swept his hand over the table as though he were beginning a presentation. “We’re building the old barn in the woods. Except we fixed everything, and now there’s lots of room for more animals. See? Even Poppy, Petunia, and Pansy have their own bedrooms.”

Bailey couldn’t help but smile at the vision of each goat having a fancy four-post bed to sleep on. “I love it. Very creative, you two. Are you going to give the barn a name?”

Seth touched his chin with his index finger and thought for a moment. “The Hidden Barn. Don’t you think that’s a good name?”

“It’s great, honey. It’s nice to see you guys playing together so well.”

Seth lowered his voice. “I’m mostly letting Jordan add the roof pieces. The other stuff is a little too hard for him.”

She chuckled. “Well, you’re both doing a great job. I’m going to let you guys get back to your building and go downstairs. Love you.”

She’d barely made it to the door before Seth spoke again.

“Hey, Mom?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I like having Nate around. I wish he didn’t have to go back to his house.”

Jordan looked up for the first time and nodded. “Me, too.”

Bailey was getting used to him being there, too. Before this, they saw him once a week at the most. Sometimes, it went as long as a month between visits. What if it went back to that once this mess was over and he returned to his normal routine again? One way or another—whether they caught this guy or not—Nate would be back to work on Monday. “I know what you guys mean. But the important thing is that we all live in the same town. Maybe he can come over for pizza sometimes.”

“Or cheeseburgers,” Seth said in agreement.

“All right, you guys keep on having fun.”

With that, she left them to their building and crossed the hallway to her own bedroom.

Standing in front of the large mirror against one wall, she looked at her reflection and frowned.

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