Page 101 of Stay With Me
Maybe I’m just overthinking with all the emotions and heavy talk with Ann this morning. She knows she can tell me anything with no judgment.
With that last thought, I head to the cabins.
The timer on my phone vibrates in my pocket as I check the last cabin. I quickly lock up and head back to the main house.
Dirt crunches under my shoes as I take a deep breath, allowing the fresh air to fill my lungs. In the distance, the cows talk to each other as I round around the corner and open the backdoor.
Inside, faint voices come from near the kitchen, and I head that way.
“I’m going to call the sheriff’s department,” Joe says.
As I turn the corner, Ann is standing next to Jess with her arm around her shoulder, and Jess is frozen with a look of fear on her face.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” I say as panic claws at my chest.
“Everyone’s okay. I just found evidence that squatters have been in the broken-down shed that I should have torn down months ago. They did some damage, and I want to report it so that, hopefully, it can help the sheriff find them. They had to bethere within the last couple of hours because the firepit I found was still hot,” Joe says as he picks up the phone on the wall.
I walk over to Ann and Jess and bend down to Jess’s level. “Are you hurt? Did you see anything?”
She shakes her head.
“I think she’s just a little spooked after Joe came charging in here saying he needed to call the sheriff’s non-emergency line.”
Joe talks softly into the phone, and after a few minutes, he hangs up and lets us know that Noah, the sheriff, and one other deputy, Collin, are on their way.
“Jess, do you want some lemonade to drink while you wait?” Ann asks.
“Yes, please,” she says softly as she sits down.
I sit next to her. “Are you sure you’re okay? You know you can tell me anything, right?” I ask softly.
Her eyes lock with mine, and she nods. “I know.”
“Noah will be here soon, and he and his work friends will have to ask us all some questions, probably. Remember, they want to help, and you’re not in trouble, okay?” I gently squeeze her hand to let her know it will be okay.
FORTY-FIVE
Noah
AsCollinfinishestakingthe pictures for evidence, I survey everything around me. We’re one step behind whoever is doing this, but this time, we know it’s more than one or two people.
“This is the most evidence they’ve left behind. Maybe they’re getting lazy and want to be caught?” Collin says.
“Maybe. Or was this intentional? I have a feeling we’re missing something.” Closing my eyes, I picture a map of the town that I’ve called home my whole life, trying to see if there’s a pattern. “When we get back to the station, I’m going to need a map of town. I want to try to plot out where they’ve been staying.”
“You think it’s more than people making a pit stop on their way to somewhere else?” he asks.
I look over at him. Collin didn’t grow up here. He moved here after getting out of the military, wanting a slower life. “At first, I thought we were going to catch up to them and just tell them to head out. But don’t you think it’s weird that it’s been a couple of months, and there has beenno evidenceof who it is? No one has seen them. They move from place to place during the night anddestroy it before leaving and magically avoiding any cameras. I think it’s weird that they’re sticking around.”
He shrugs. “It’s nice weather here. Maybe they plan to hang out for the winter and then head on their way?”
“Yeah, maybe, but I won’t let the people in town feel unsafe knowing that someone could be hanging out in one of their outbuildings,” I tell him.
I turn and head back to the main house.
The sheriff is talking to Joe and the girls. When Mike called me over the radio to head over here, I couldn’t get here fast enough. He made sure to let me know that everyone was alright but that Joe found evidence of squatters and wanted to talk to us.
The pattern of the people squatting doesn’t point to physical violence, but they leave every location damaged. I look at my watch and see that it’s close enough to the end of my shift that we can probably head home after this. Walking into the main house, I head to the kitchen and beeline to Luna and Jess sitting at the table.
