“In the truck.”
“Have you been inside yet?”
“Nope.”
“Go ahead.I’ve got you covered out here,” he said.
He didn’t have to say any more for me to read between the lines and know what he meant.
I walked to the front door and examined the door handle, noticing some of the wood was splintered.
“Someone’s been inside,” I said over my shoulder.
While I knew that whoever had broken in might still be there and hear me talking, I would rather that he be aware of the threat so he could take action if needed.
I pushed the door open, listening for the distinct sound of pitter-patter from Travis, and frowned when I didn’t hear it.He didn’t so much as even whine, which was unusual.I reached my hand along the wall and found the light switch, flipping it up as the lights turned on.
I walked slowly, looking into the kitchen before finding Travis lying on the floor.I knelt down, immediately looking for a sign that he was still alive when he whimpered.They’d done something to him, but I didn’t know what.I didn’t have time to check on him because I didn't know if they were still in the house.
Quietly, I stepped over him and grabbed a knife from the block on the counter, and held it at my side as I worked quickly to clear the kitchen and living room.I checked every nook and cranny to make sure no one was hiding before I went upstairs.
The guest room was still as I had left it, and nothing had been tampered with in the bathrooms as far as I could tell.
But I stopped in my tracks as I stood in front of the bed and stared at the photos scattered across it.In the middle was a piece of paper with the word "murderer" written in black marker.
Twenty-Two
Poppy
Icovered my mouthto keep from screaming while my stomach threatened to dispel the dinner we’d just finished not that long ago.I stared at the pictures on the bed and trembled as Patrick kept his hand wrapped around my waist while he spoke to a Silver Falls police officer.
Gage stayed by the bedroom door, keeping an eye on things, just in case the intruder decided to come back.They’d both searched the house top to bottom, but hadn’t found anyone.
Most of the pictures were of me in Las Vegas the night I married Dale.I had no idea who had taken them because it was just us, and I was drunk.I hadn’t paid attention to who was around us and thought I was having the time of my life.A few of the photos were of me in the ICU in Coyote Creek, which was even more disturbing because I hadn’t had any visitors that I could recall.What was even more alarming were the ones next to the note that saidmurderer,because those were taken inside Patrick’s cabin.
“Fucking hell,” Patrick growled, pulling away slightly to put his cell phone in his pocket.
