His words hit hard. What if someone was living on her land? Maybe she should lock up more. When she first moved out here, she’d thought about getting a camera, but she thought it made her look paranoid, but now, she thought she might want one.
She hadn’t washed that bowl. She was sure of it. But it was put up in the cabinet where she would put it.
The rest of the group caught up with them after about ten minutes. They were at the river not long after. All the women thought the river looked like a great place to swim. Then Griz pointed out the camera.
She stared at it, then back at the river. The tree was technically on her property. Why would someone want to point a camera at the river?
“I don’t get it. That is my property, but I didn’t put up the camera.”
“Maybe we should remove it,” Sharp said.
She stared at the camera, worry creeping in. “Do you think they’ll be angry?”
“It’s on your property and you didn’t put it there.”
“I haven’t had any issues…that I know of. But then again…” She trailed off, not wanting to bring up the bowl. Telling these people about the bowl would make her sound crazy. Of course she’d washed the bowl. No one would come into her house and do her dishes. Or would they?
“What?” Griz asked.
Squat moved from the far side of the group to right in front of her. “You look like you are thinking hard about something.”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“Are you sure it’s nothing?” Rowan asked.
She blew out a breath. “So the other day I made the cookies. I was running a little late, and I didn’t want to show up halfway through lunch. The timer for the cookies rang, and I grabbed them and put them on the plate. I didn’t have time to wash the bowl. Or I thought I didn’t have time. But when I got back from the cabin, the bowl was washed and put away. I swore I hadn’t washed thebowl or put it up. I was surprised to find it in the cabinet when I got home.”
“You lock your doors, right?” Sharp asked.
She shrugged. “I’m out here, in the wilderness. Few people live out here.”
Asher circled her hand around like she was indicating the whole area. “You don’t have a dog, do you?”
“No. I didn’t want to get one while I was working on the cabin, then I didn’t want a dog disturbing any guests. I’ve thought about it, but I just haven’t made the move.”
“So someone could have gone into your house and washed your dishes,” Griz said.
“Yeah, but that sounds crazy. Why would someone come into the house and wash dishes?”
Apple moved to the tree and shimmied up, grabbing the camera before dropping to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Elowen asked him.
Apple turned off the unit. “There is no reason for this person to keep getting video and audio feed.”
Elowen didn’t know what to say. Why had someone put a camera on her property? There wasn’t anything out here, except people swam here. “This is the place people come to swim. I know it. The other side of the river is state land. There is an access trail, but you’d have to cross the river to get to my side, and few people are that adventurous. But they come out here to swim, sometimes naked. Do you think they wanted to watch people skinny dip?”
Griz shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think with the angle of that camera, they wanted to catch you skinny dipping.”
“But who would do that?”
Sharp wiped his hand over his face. “A demented individual who is obsessed with you. So you haven’t had anyproblems with people, mainly men? Have you dated anyone? Noticed anyone obsessed with you?”
“No. I haven’t interacted that much with the locals. I deleted all my dating apps. I haven’t even tried since I came here. I was working to get the cabin finished.”
Amelia spoke up. “So no ex-boyfriends? No guys you went on one date with, nothing like that?”
She shook her head. “No. There are a few guys who helped me with construction I couldn’t do on my own. There were a few tasks that took two people to complete, and I needed help. But those guys were professional. None of them even tried to do anything. They came to the cabin, worked, and left. Most of them have families and they aren’t going to come around to harass me.”
