None of this made perfect sense either. Hawks dropped things mid-flight. Coyotes stole kills and abandoned them wherever it suited them. Dogs wandered up with half-chewed treasures from the woods. Odd surprises turned up in yards out here all the time.
Except this one was right at her barn door. Her kitchen. It appeared too centered, too precise. Exactly where she couldn’t miss it and it would hurt.
A coincidence? Maybe. But it didn’t feel like one.
She scanned the yard. The new barn stood quiet. Nothing looked disturbed. Nothing moved. Just stillness. But her skin prickled anyway.
Someone had been here.
A shiver slid down her spine. Mia backed toward her car and the safety of her home. She’d look at it again in the morning. When she wasn’t alone out here. In the sunlight, it might look different. More explainable. Less like a message.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t just being cautious.
She felt watched.
Not certain. Not provable.
Just … watched.
CHAPTER 17
Thankfully,her dad was asleep when she finally got inside. Mia was worried as it was. There was no sense worrying him too since there was nothing he could do.
She barely slept. Every creak, every groan of the old farmhouse made her stomach clench. The house felt too big, too quiet. It didn’t help that she was listening for footsteps that never came. She finally got up, rummaged through her closet and found an old bat from her high school softball days and kept it close to her body all night. It felt ridiculous and necessary at the same time. By dawn, she’d given up the idea of sleep and made coffee strong enough to peel paint.
She stood at the window, watching the sky turn from gray-blue to salmon and pale yellow as the sun rose. Her breath fogged faintly before fading. She couldn’t see the rabbit from here, thank God, but her stomach clenched anyway. The memory lingered.
She took another sip of the strong coffee for fortification. It burned a trail down her throat but didn’t ease the knot in her chest. The rabbit needed to disappear before her dad got up and Roy arrived. She remembered there was a shovel in the garage and stepped outside just as Caleb’s truck rumbled up the drive.Ranger hopped out before the engine even shut off and galloped over to say hello.
Mia crouched to rub his ears. “Hey, buddy.”
His fur was warm, and his solid weight grounded her for a moment. Steady. Real.
Caleb climbed out, gave her a small wave. “Morning.”
She tried to manage a smile but failed. “Hey.”
“You’re up early.”
She shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”
He stepped close, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Everything all right?”
Not even close. But she wasn’t sure how to say it. “Can you … just look at something with me?”
He didn’t ask questions, just nodded. They walked toward the old barn. Dew clung to the grass, dampening her shoes. The air carried a faint metallic scent of blood. Her grip tightened on her sleeves.
Ranger trotted ahead. Halfway across the yard, he froze. Head low. Tail stiff. A soft growl rumbled from his chest.
Mia’s stomach dropped. She pointed to the door. “There,” she whispered.
Caleb followed her line of sight. His expression tightened for a second before he smoothed it out. “Heel,” he murmured to Ranger, who obeyed, sitting beside him and cocking his head.
Caleb crouched near the rabbit, careful not to touch it. “You found it this morning?”
“Last night,” she said. “When I got home.”
He looked up at her slowly. His face wasn’t angry, just focused. “Did you see anything?”
