She shook her head at his casual acceptance. “Just how much money do you have, Jack?"
"Well, when I left the company, I assume my father probably cut me out of his will, although I'm not sure about that. But my mother was Margaret St. John of the St. John hotel chain. She left me a pretty good bit when she died. And I've made some wise investments along the way. Let's just say that I don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from and leave it at that."
"Good grief. I wonder why Beau never mentioned it."
"The money never meant much to me or to Beau either. It probably didn't even occur to him. Why? Is there a problem?"
"Nooo. I guess it just surprised me, that's all. I mean, you certainly don't act like you're filthy rich."
"How do filthy rich people act?"
Abby realized how stupid she was sounding, and she laughed at herself. “I don't really know. I've never met one before."
"Well, I can tell you that most act just like everybody else."
"I guess.” She pushed the thought aside and moved the conversation on to other topics, just a bit uncomfortable at the thought that Jack was so far out of her reach.
An hour later, Abby finally left Jack to return to her own place and try to get some more work done on her book. It had stopped raining, although the ground and trees were still quite wet. Bear stayed right with her as they tramped through the damp bushes, the afternoon sun painting shadows on the path ahead. Picking up their pace, they broke free of the trees and arrived at the clearing. Abby was anxious to get into her own clothes and out of the borrowed t-shirt and sweats Jack had loaned her because her own were still soaked.
Once Abby reached the cabin, she went inside to change. Folding the borrowed clothing into a neat pile, she placed them on her dresser and opened a drawer. With her mind on the day she had spent with Jack, it took a moment for her to notice the tangled pile that was her panties and bras. That was odd. Generally, she was pretty neat about keeping them separated into small stacks, with her bras on one side and panties on the other. In fact, she was a little anal about it. Oh, well, she'd had a lot on her mind lately. It was a miracle the whole cabin wasn't in chaos.
She put on a pair of red thongs and a matching bra before finding some blue jeans and an old University of Alabama jersey. Once she was clothed again, she ran a brush through her tangled hair and went into the living room.
Sitting down in front of her computer, she noticed that the computer light was turned on. That was strange. She thought that she'd turned it off the night before when she went to bed. It wasn't the kind of thing she was careless about since it was how she made her living. And obviously, she hadn't used it yet today. Curious, she moved the mouse, and an open file came up on the screen. In large red letters, she read the bizarre message printed there:
Like it outdoors, do you, whore? That was quite a show. Up against the wall last night and doing it in the rain this morning. What a bad girl you are! You'd better watch out. Bad things can happen to bad girls.
Stunned, Abby closed the message, deleting it from the screen. Then she stood, knocking over her chair as she moved blindly back from the desk until her back was against the wall. Ohmigod. Someone had been in her cabin. And that someone had watched Jack and her making love under the tree. But who? And how long had he watched them?
Oh, God, just knowing that someone had been there and observed all the things they had done creeped her out. She had believed that there was no one around to see them. That someone had spied on them was bad enough, but for them to have witnessed such intimate moments made Abby feel nauseous.
A whimper of fear escaped her throat. It must be Scotty. God. He had to be here somewhere. Her eyes darted around the room, seeking out any other sign that her things had been disturbed. Nothing looked different from when she had left this morning. Nothing except for the threatening message on her computer. Then she recalled the mess in her underwear drawer, and a chill raced down her spine. Had he gone through her personal things? Abby shivered at the thought of him pawing through her panties and bras. She felt violated. This was bad. Really bad.
She grabbed her purse that was lying on the couch and searched through it until she found the key chain which had a small container of mace attached to the ring. Clutching it in one hand, she ran to the door and down the steps, calling Bear to come to her so that they could go back to Jack's. She had to warn him. Who knew what Scotty was capable of doing? Remembering her rather meek-looking assistant, she felt astounded that he could be doing this to her.
When she entered the woods, every sound startled her and every shadow held hidden danger. It was spooky amongst the trees, and Abby had to tread carefully to avoid stepping in hidden holes or tripping over fallen branches. She held the mace forward, her eyes scanning the forest around her with every step, grateful to have Bear beside her. She tried to hurry, not wanting to linger where she couldn't see very far around her. Anyone could be hiding and watching her. As soon as she reached the end of the path, she yelled, “Jack! Jack, where are you?"
Jack had been in the shed behind his cabin sanding a bookshelf when he heard Abby's cry. Dropping the sandpaper, he rushed to the front of the cabin and caught her in his arms as she ran toward him. “Abby, what's the matter? What happened?” Pushing her back slightly, he looked down into her pale, frightened face. Something was very wrong.
"Oh, Jack, it was awful. I just know it was Scotty. I don't know what to do. I think he must be crazy or something."
Jack had a hard time making sense out of Abby's panicked ramblings. “Slow down, angel. Come over here and sit down. Stay.” After he had pressed her down onto the steps, he went inside and came back shortly with a glass which held a small amount of a dark liquid. He stood over her and pressed the glass into her hand. “Here."
"What is it?"
"It's whiskey. Drink."
He pushed the glass against her lips, and she took a small sip. “Now, take a deep breath and tell me again what happened."
"Oh, damn. I don't know where to start.” Tear-filled eyes met his.
He sat beside her and slid his arm around her waist. “Just start at the beginning."
"Right.” She took another swallow of the whiskey. “Okay. It all started a few weeks ago. My assistant Scotty started acting,” she shrugged, “I don't know—weird, I guess. He was getting very possessive, coming by at odd times. One day he began accusing me of all kinds of things, called me a whore. I fired him.” She paused, pushing her hair behind her ear. She met his eyes. “Jack, there was never anything like that between us. I don't know what happened. Why he started acting like he did."
Jack listened, rubbing her arm in calming strokes. “I believe you, angel. Go on."
"That was one of the reasons why I wanted to get out of Gulf Shores for a while. Beau thought that if I was gone, that Scotty would just ... you know, get over it. But then when my editor forwarded my mail last week, there was a letter in it from him. It kind of frightened me, but I thought he didn't know where I was, so I just ignored it.” She shivered and looked away. “When I got back to the cabin a little while ago, there was a message on my computer screen.” She squeezed her eyes closed and covered her face with her hand. “It was hateful. Called me a
bad
girl. It said that bad things happened to bad girls. It said he saw us, Jack, in the rain. Watched us make love. And last night, too. On the porch. Oh, God.” Abby shook her head and tears welled in her eyes and slid down her face.
His face hardened at the thought of someone scaring Abby, threatening her. Some crazy was hiding in the bushes and getting off watching them? He wanted to kill him.
"And when I changed clothes, oh, Jack, my panties and my bras, someone had gone through them. Touched them. I can't stand the thought of him just going through my stuff.” She grabbed his arm. “It's Scotty. It has to be him. I just know it."
Trying to contain his own rage, Jack took hold of her shoulders and stared down into her eyes. Giving her a little shake, he said, “First thing is you've got to get yourself under control. It's not going to do anybody any good if you panic. Don't let whoever it is get the upper hand here."
She wiped off the tears from her cheeks. “You're right. You probably think I'm pretty stupid to get so upset about a silly computer message, huh?"
"No,” he whispered. “No, I don't think you're stupid. I think something is definitely wrong here.” He reached down to clasp her hand and discovered the mace that she still held. “What's this?"
"Oh, Beau gave it to me for protection. You know, girl living alone. Be prepared.” She smiled through her tears, trying to suppress the panic that filled her.
"Good. Keep it with you at all times. And Bear, too. Abby, we need to go see the sheriff about Scotty."
She met his eyes and nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know you're right. I should have reported something weeks ago. I thought I could handle things on my own, but I guess I was wrong.” She bit her lip. “Can we go now? I just want to get it over with."
Jack agreed that the sooner they spoke to the authorities the better, so they loaded up in the Jeep, putting Bear on the back seat. Before long, they were facing the Sheriff across his scarred desk. Sheriff William Tyrell was a large-chested man of about fifty. With graying temples and intelligent eyes, he exuded an air of competent authority.
"Hello, Jack. Ma'am,” he nodded at Abby. “Now what can I do for you?"
"Well, Bill, it seems we have a little problem.” Jack introduced Abby and then began relating everything that Abby had told him. The sheriff listened and wrote down some notes on a legal pad that sat in front of him, occasionally asking Abby to clarify something that Jack had said. When they were finished with their tale, he sat back.
Setting down his pen, he leaned forward. “I'm going to be honest with you, Jack. There's not a whole lot here to go on. No one was seen at your cabin, and you don't know for sure who left the message, right?"
Jack nodded in agreement, knowing what Bill was going to say. “I'll check around town, see if anyone new has been spotted. The usual kind of thing, y'know. But until we have more to go on, my hands are tied. I mean, even if I find out there's a stranger in town, I can't accuse him of anything without some hard evidence."
"But what about the letter he sent Abby? Surely you can do something about that."
"Do you still have the letter?” Sheriff Tyrell asked her.
"No, I threw it away,” she admitted.
"What about the message on your computer?"
"Deleted,” she acknowledged. “God, I'm so stupid."
"You say he sent you letters while you were in Gulf Shores? Do you have any of those with you?"
"No, I didn't keep any of them, either."
"Any witnesses to any of the phone calls or arguments?"
She shook her head.
He nodded. “As I said, there's not much to go on. I'll tell you what I can do. I'll contact the police department in Gulf Shores and have them check and see if they can locate Mr. Davenport. If he's still in Gulf Shores, then we'll know that he wasn't responsible for your problems."
"But if it isn't Scotty, who else could it be? Who went through my things? Who left the message on my computer?” Abby questioned.
"Well, Miss Montgomery, there's a lot of weirdoes out there. Sometimes strange people wander through the woods, just looking for mischief. And as far as the message on your computer, well, I don't know. Could you have imagined it? I mean, you admitted yourself that you've been under a lot of pressure. Sometimes our minds play tricks on us. Did Jack see it?” he asked.
"No. No one else saw it,” Abby admitted. “But I didn't imagine it. I know it was there."
"I
do
believe you, Miss Montgomery. I just have to cover all the bases. Is there anything else you can think of?"
"No ... Well, a few days ago a truck got behind me when I was on my way home. Whoever it was wouldn't pass me, even though I slowed down for them. They just rode right up on my bumper, almost hitting me a couple of times. It scared me."
"Why the hell didn't you mention this before?” Jack questioned, staring at her in disbelief.
Abby shook her head. “After it was over, it just seemed like a silly prank, maybe some teenagers trying to flirt or something. I don't know. I was already a little nervous because of the other things. I thought maybe I overreacted.” She looked at the sheriff. “Do you think it's connected to the other stuff?"
The sheriff shrugged. “Could be, but I'm not sure. There's too much happening for my liking, I can tell you that. One or two things would be coincidence, but more'n that, seems pretty suspicious. Like I said, I'll do what I can. In the meantime, to be on the safe side, stay alert. Use common sense. And if you're still staying up on that mountain, make sure you keep that short wave in working order. Without a phone, it's going to be hard to let anyone know if you have more trouble."
Jack rose. “Thanks for your time, Bill."
Abby stood up beside him. “You'll let us know what you hear from Gulf Shores, won't you?"
"Just as soon as I hear something, I'll be in touch."
"Thanks, Sheriff.” They turned and left the office.
As soon as they got outside, Abby said, “It wasn't my imagination, Jack. I swear."
"I believe you. But he's right. We don't have a whole lot of evidence. We'll just have to be careful. And you can't stay in that cabin alone. I want you to move in with me. I swear, whoever it is, he won't get close to you again."
"I'm frightened, Jack. If he's crazy enough to spy on us and to go through my cabin, what else is he capable of?"
As he escorted her back to the Jeep, Jack wondered that himself.
By the time they reached Jack's cabin, Abby was worn out. They had stopped at
Lila's
for coffee and then by her place to get some clothes and other things. Now exhaustion was setting in. She got out of the Jeep and headed up the steps with Jack, wanting nothing more than to take a long nap. The worry had taken a toll on her energy, and she really needed to recharge. Jack seemed to know how she felt.