“No,” Alice said, “she’s farsighted and didn’t have her glasses on. We should be fine.”
“Okay great. Ruth, you still have the picture?”
Ruth glanced back at me, beaming. “Sure do.”
“Great. Let’s go to my house so I can get my truck. Then we’ll head out to the covered bridge. There’s something I need to find.”
Ruth didn’t slow the ATV until my house was in sight. She slid into a spot out front, and the three of us got out.
I had to contort my body to get out of the bed. Exiting was worse than squeezing myself into the stupid thing. I cocked my head right and left, cracking the tendons in my neck.
We reached the door, and I stopped, staring at it.
It was open. Not slightly open, but very open, as if someone had simply let themselves in.
Butterflies tornadoed in my stomach. I glanced back at Ruth and Alice.
“What in the world?” Alice’s gaze flickered to me. “Did you leave it open?”
“Yes, Blissful goes around leaving her front door open,” Ruth snapped.
“Well, I wasn’t sure,” Alice whimpered.
“It’s okay,” I reassured her. “I closed and locked it.”
The wood around the lock looked as if someone had taken a crowbar to the frame. My stomach sank.
I pushed open the door. The house was quiet as death. I snapped on the light and stared.
My rental had been ripped apart. Chairs lay overturned. Cabinets opened, bookshelves emptied.
The three of us moved slowly through the house. My fists were tight. I was ready to hit anyone who still remained. But after a couple of minutes of searching, I realized the house was empty.
I glanced around. It was a mess, but everything seemed to be in place. Nothing was missing until I reached my laptop.
“What did they want?” Ruth asked.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I gripped a kitchen chair. The hard wood felt good under my skin-smooth and strong.
I opened my eyes to find Ruth and Alice staring at me. “They only wanted one thing.”
“What was that?” Alice said.
“Your video camera. It’s gone.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Unfortunately I had to call Kency Blount to report the break-in and theft.
On the plus side, Kency showed concern in the face of my ransacked rental.
“Someone stole Alice’s video camera,” I said.
Kency quirked a questioning brow. “Is that it? They didn’t want to take anything else in all this?”
I followed her gaze to my completely ordinary belongings. “I don’t have expensive things. There’s no point. Listen, they wanted the camera because of the evidence on it.”
“Oh really?” Kency crossed her arms and leaned back on one hip. “What sort of evidence?”
