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“You only saw one person?” Lee clarifies.
Calli nods. “That was the same guy. With the mask and denim jacket. I guess he must not have been chasing me, but I swear, he stared at me and started in my direction, so I ran.”
“He’s not doubting you,” I reassure her.
Lee shakes his head. “Not at all, but we need to have a look around and make sure there’s no one else. Just because he didn’t pursue you after you ran doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous.”
“First, get the cops out here.”
Lee frowns, looking over at me. “For trespassing? They aren’t going to do anything.”
“I know, but that was my ATV. They can at least take a report in case it shows up for sale or at the pawn shops. It might help us figure out who it was.”
“Oh shit. Alright. Let’s go check if anything else is missing first.”
Lee’s right. Calling the police is largely a waste of time. The same cop who showed up when our cars were vandalized, Officer Fulton, arrives and takes Calli’s statement. The flippant way he talks to her is infuriating, like she’s a hysterical woman who got frightened in the woods.
“So, he wasn’t following you then?” he says, writing in his notebook. Keeping his head down, he raises his eyes to look at her.
“I guess he wasn’t since he couldn’t have made it over to the barn without us seeing him.”
“Mm Hmm. And when you believed you were being chased, why did you call your neighbor instead of nine-one-one?” A hint of accusation resides in his tone.
“My phone couldn’t keep a signal and when I saw it had service again, I just…I don’t know,” she confesses. “He was the first person I thought of.”
Those words wrap around me, squeezing tight. In her blinding fear and panic, she wantedme.
“We got here a hell of a lot faster than you would have,” I point out. “Why wouldn’t she call her neighbor?”
“Just trying to ascertain what took place.” He flips his notebook shut. When Calli excuses herself and walks toward her cabin, Officer Fulton regards me. “Do you think she might’ve had a part in this?”
The question stuns me, and he stares at me while I blink at him. “What? She was standing right in front of me when the guy rode off with my ATV.”
His expression says I might be the dumbest person in existence. “I’m sure she has friends. It wouldn’t be hard to make up a damsel in distress story to distract you while her buddy does his thing. Seen it a million times.”
It’s so ridiculous. “I wasn’t home. Why would she call for me to return then? He could’ve just taken it and I wouldn’t have known.”
“I couldn’t tell you, but I know I’ve been out here twice since she moved in, and you never had any trouble before.” He starts back toward his squad car, calling back over his shoulder. “You can pick up the police report in two days if you need it for insurance purposes. You know the routine.”
Lee glances over at me and shakes his head.
“What?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Don’t say it or do it. Whatever you’re thinking.”
“Fucking prick,” I mumble. “I need to get some cameras and trail cams. I don’t know if this was Handleman but twice doesn’t feel random.”
“Get your gun and let’s have a look around.”
Calli insists on going with us back into the forest. It’s fine by me. I don’t want to let her out of my sight. She leads us back to where she saw him and a few footprints are visible in thesoft earth, but it’s impossible to tell which way he came from or headed. A further search of the woods and fields turns up nothing.
As we’re crossing my front yard, an unfamiliar truck turns into the driveway and Calli wraps her hand around my arm, stopping in her tracks as it veers off to park in front of her house. Before any of us can say anything, Silver gets out of the passenger side. The driver gives a wave and drives away.
With a relieved sigh, Calli lets go of me and jogs down the driveway to meet her friend. Judging by the flying hand gestures and Silver’s reactions, she’s filling her in on everything that just happened.
Lee glances over at me as we take our time catching up to them. I’m sure he didn’t expect to see Silver again so soon. “You can wipe that smirk off.”
If he thinks I’m not having fun with this, he doesn’t know me at all. “This is my normal face.”
