ChapterFourteen
“Have you ever been inside Jeb’s cabin?” Xavier asked as he shined a red beam of light through the kitchen window.
“No. Jeb didn’t want it included in my historical inventory. It’s in the historic district nomination because it’s a contributing element—Jeb’s feelings don’t change that—but the information is scant and the photos were taken from the lake without trespassing on his property. Jeb was pro-historic-preservation protections, but adamantly antigovernment.”
“How did he justify both positions?”
She shrugged. “I’m sure it worked in his mind.”
Xavier circled the cabin with Audrey at his heels. He found an unlocked window on the north side, glad he wouldn’t need to break in this time. He hoisted the pane and found it moved smoothly in the old frame. From what he’d seen in daylight when they inspected all inholding properties two days ago, the hundred-plus-year-old cabin had been meticulously maintained. The thought triggered yet another pang at the death of the owner who’d cared so much for his lakeside cabin.
Xavier remembered seeing Jeb in the lodge the night he met Audrey. Jeb had been playing checkers with Audrey’s friend, George. Both men were of a similar age, and for a brief moment, Xavier had imagined himself and Jae, friends since elementary school, facing off over checkers in the lodge when they were in their seventies.
On the other side of the room, he’d seen Harriet and Daniel Jamison enjoying a cocktail, and Jae had pointed out the couple had been married for nearly seventy years. At the time, Xavier had wondered what it would be like to have that kind of life partner, and he’d envied both their longevity and their relationship.
Hours ago, he’d invaded the Jamison cabin, and now he would trespass in Jeb’s. Little had he known that night in the lodge that dominos were already falling. The thin rectangular bricks had twisted and turned as they fell, following switchbacks on a hillside, bringing him to this moment.
Somehow, someone had learned his reason for being in the lodge that night. They’d staged their weapons in the forest above the lodge complex two weeks later—a mere week after public notice had been sent to inholding landowners, a group that included antigovernment activist Jeb McCutcheon.
Jeb, who had stayed in the park after signing a contract to leave. Jeb, who had died hours ago outside the yurt before the training even began. Who had Jeb told in those first precious days after receiving the public notice?
Xavier hoped to find answers inside this cabin.
He paused just inside the window, listening for movement in the house. He didn’t want to leave Audrey outside, but having her enter before he searched the place went against his nature. She followed her own nature, however, and was shoving both their packs through the opening and then climbing through herself before he could object.
They searched the small two-bedroom log cabin together, finding no one, and no obvious clue as to why Jeb had been at the yurt last evening.
Initial sweep done, Audrey made a beeline for the phone. Xavier spotted an old rotary-dial, wall-mounted phone next to the kitchen, but on the counter next to it sat a modern cordless phone.
“That won’t work without electricity.”
“Thank goodness for antiques,” Audrey said as she pulled the plug from the cordless phone base. She then inserted the male plug into the bottom of the wall-mounted relic that dated to around the time the yurt had been built.
She placed a palm on the handset, then closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath. If a wish could give a phone life, then certainly the intensity of her silent plea would open the line.
She lifted the handset from the hook and placed it next to her ear. She closed her eyes and gave a sharp shake of her head.
Damn.
He hadn’t dared to hope. At least he thought he hadn’t. Not until he’d watched her failed ritual and found himself hoping for her sake.
He didn’t want to see the devastation she was feeling. Didn’t want her to feel it.
She returned the handset to the hook and pressed her forehead to the wall. He suspected she was holding back tears. “I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up. But I couldn’t help it.”
He stepped up behind her and hesitated a moment, then wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into him, accepting his embrace. He had no clue what to say, so he just held her.
“I’m scared, Xavier. I’ve never been so scared.”
“It’s okay to be scared. Fear will keep you alive.”
“But what if it paralyzes me? Like it did on the cliff ledge. I saw that guy coming for me and I froze. Deer in the headlights.”
“You also screamed and got my attention. And then you threw a rock that saved my life—and yours. Fear didn’t stop you.”
She turned in his arms. They both wore thick, wool-lined rain gear, and he had his tactical vest loaded with tools between them, but still, she burrowed against him, undeterred by the stiff layers that separated them.
His heart did something strange when her face pressed against the bare skin at his neck.