“Is that car familiar?” she asked. “Did you know them?”
“No. Why?”
Julia shook her head. “It was odd how they slowed.”
“The conditions aren’t great out here. Maybe they were checking to be sure we were all right and saw our exhaust and figured we were.” When Julia didn’t respond, I asked, “Did you see the driver?”
“No, I’m not even sure of the color of the car. It’s getting dark.” She shook her head. “I think all your warnings and what happened yesterday has messed with me.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s get dinner and then we can forget about reality.”
“I promise to take your mind off everything but us.”
“I like that promise.”
“Then consider it made,” I said. “First, I’ll call Michael and tell him our plans before we’re without a signal.”
Less than an hour later, with a dinner, breakfast, and a few extras, I pulled the truck onto the nearly hidden road leading up to the cabin. Our headlights sent bright LED beams through the darkness and the trees and foliage beyond the lane until the cabin came into view.
With the dark sky and tall trees, it was easy to miss the plume of smoke. My attention was on a glow coming from within. It was as I opened the truck door that the scent of burning wood added to my unease. My gaze met Julia’s. “Stay in the truck and lock the doors.”
“Why?”
My focus went to the tire tracks in the packed snow and ice. Looking around, I saw no signs of another car or a person. But if there was a fire…
“Let me check the cabin first.”
“No, Van. I don’t want to be out here alone.”
“Lock the doors,” I demanded as I shut the door.
It was hard to decipher if I was seeing fresh or old tire tracks and shoe prints. The last big snow we’d had was before we left for Chicago. Since then the temperatures had plummeted. Sunshine could melt snow, even in the cold, enough for tracks to morph and become hard as ice.
I turned back at the slamming of the truck door. Julia was out of the truck, her hands in her coat pockets and hat on her head as she hurried my way. When my gaze met Julia’s, I scowled. “You’re not in the truck.”
“Is that smoke? Is the fireplace going? Who’s inside?”
“That’s what I was about to find out.”
Her head moved back and forth as she reached out and grabbed my arm. “I changed my mind. Let’s go home.”
“Maybe Michael came here, checked out the cabin for us and started a fire.”
“Call him. Oh, you can’t.” She tugged me toward the truck. “What if it’s someone else?”
“No one is on our property, no one who doesn’t belong.”
My reassurance was more to ease her mind. This part of the property wasn’t under surveillance. The cold air nipped at my face as my skin warmed from within, precipitated by my need to be sure. Our boots crunched the snow and ice as we made it closer to the cabin door.
“Please, Van. What if someone is in there?”
Julia
“Please, let’s go home,” I said again, unable to ignore the growing sense of dread. Its dark tentacles stretched beneath my skin. “You can make me forget about everything there. I know you can.”
“This is wrong, Julia. You shouldn’t be afraid here. Don’t let anyone have that kind of control.”
“We’ll come back tomorrow…when it’s light.”
I followed Van’s lead, lifting my chin and peering up at the light gray smoke contrasting the black velvet sky as fright gave way to concern. “The Christmas tree is in there. It’s probably all dried out by now. A fire shouldn’t be left burning.”