Shaking my head, I redirect the conversation.“It’s a kind of uniform.Forget about it.I almost have.Show me Tempest’s mail.I will help you with it.”
Luna opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off, motioning her away with my hand as if she’s a naughty child.“Tsh-tsh-tsh, go get the mail.Go on, scoot.”
Padding upstairs, Luna shoots a teasing look at me.She believes I am impatient and wretched because I did not get sex.
But that is far from the truth.
Her nocturnal visitor might be more than a dream.And if that is the case, I have to do something about it.
Time is of the essence.
ChapterThirteen
Luna
My thoughts as I go upstairs are fragmented.
I have never lived in a log cabin before, but Tempest’s house is close to being one.Wooden steps mount from the parked car to the porch platform.There’s a front entrance, but if I follow the porch all the way around, it takes me to the side entrance.That’s used in winter so that snow does not get trekked into the house.It leads onto a mud room and then the kitchen.
That side door is always locked.I haven’t even gotten around to finding which one of the keys opens it.
The entrance hall has a narrow side table with a tray on it where I usually throw my keys.Opposite the table is a hat and coat rack.It makes me sad when I see Tempest’s gardening hats and raincoats hanging there.
One step further takes me to the sitting room.On the side is the open kitchen area.And then the stairs go up to the bathroom on the landing, the bedroom, and Tempest’s cluttered hobby workroom.I haven’t gone in there much because it also makes me sad.How many of my aunt’s half-finished projects are scattered over the desk?I would not want to hazard a guess.
But I chose to put the bundle of mail in the hobby workroom all the same.I have a feeling that is where Tempest liked to run things from.
Moving to the massive desk after flicking on the overhead light, I pick up the bundle of mail.Nothing stands out.All the handwriting is the same kind of neat print with the occasional printed sticker address thrown into the mix.Bland white envelopes and stamps marked with the Angle Inlet postal service.
A deep voice interrupts my musings.“It’s not like Tempest to have left things in such a mess.”
“Argh!Jesus Christ!”I can’t help swearing.I did not hear Shadow come in.
So much for those creaking staircase steps giving me a warning.After nearly jumping out of my skin, I get mad.That's what fright does to me.“A heads up would be nice next time, for God’s sake!You scared me half out of my skin.”
Ignoring me, Shadow moves stealthily around the room.He makes sure not to touch anything.Only when he has inspected the scattered papers and piles of toppled files does he speak.
“What were the other rooms like when you arrived?”I can tell from the way he says it that Shadow is more than momentarily distracted.A small frown brings his dark brows together in a wide V-shape.
“Well, the realtor—Linda Farmer—got here first, so I’m not sure how my aunt left things… but everything seemed to be neat and tidy except this room.”Running one of my fingers along the shelf, I check the tip.“It’s not that dusty.”
The words come out before he can stop them.“Someone has been in here.”
I am not enjoying the way Shadow is prowling around the room.His nostrils are flaring as if whoever came in here left an unpleasant odor behind them.
I find it deeply unsettling how convinced he sounds when he tells me about the possibility of an unwelcome visitor.
He can’t be serious.“Do you know if Tempest had a boyfriend?Maybe he was pissed she never told him where she was going, and then he came here and did this.”Gesturing around the room, I wonder what any lover could hope to find amid these piles of papers.
“No one on the island was having a love affair with your aunt, Luna.And no mainlanders can visit the island again until spring.”
The way he says it makes it sound as if no one would dare.
There’s only one thing for it.Crouching on the floor, I begin to read one of the handwritten pages.
“Sanitize everything.Scrub until the surface shines on equipment and tools.Then use an alcohol-based sanitizer as well.”
I read the words out loud.“Sounds like Tempest was a bit of a germ freak.”
