With Alex on the hike with Zach, Shauna cleaned the house, then took her laptop out to the back deck with the dogs. She should be spending her time looking for the killer, but she couldn’t squelch her curiosity about Dorothy Edenshaw. Her comment about Brenna was never far from Shauna’s thoughts.
The links that popped up in her search held no surprises. Mostly news articles touting her designs or jewelry blogs mentioning her talent.
Apollo lurched to his feet and growled low in his throat. Artemis did the same, and both dogs leaped off the deck and ran to the west side of the fence. Artemis snarled and leaped up on the fence.
The hair prickled on the back of her neck, and Shauna rose. “Is anyone there?”
When no one answered, she grabbed her laptop and ran for the house, her heart pounding by the time she shut the back door. The dogs could scare off whoever was out there. It might be that same guy who’d lured Zach out on Monday night. She snatched up her phone from the counter and called the sheriff. When he didn’t answer, she left a message asking him to send someone by to check on things.
She paced the floor for several minutes. What should she do? She could get in her truck and leave, but she hated to feel like a coward. She could call Zach, but she didn’t want to interrupt Alex’s fun. They should be home within the hour anyway.
She found her purse and reached inside to feel around for her can of bear spray. As soon as her fingers closed around the metal, she gained a bit of courage. Shauna carried it with her and made the rounds through the house. There was no evidence of anyone trying to sneak in a window or the front door.
She went back to the kitchen and peeked through the window into the backyard. The dogs were sleeping on the deck again, so whoever was out there was gone now. She exhaled and sank onto a bar stool. Her relief was short-lived, the sound of the garage door opening had her on alert again. She rose and faced the door into the garage with her finger on the nozzle of the bear spray.
Alex’s giggle in the garage was the sweetest sound she’d heard all day. She quickly dropped the bear spray back into her purse and pasted on a welcoming smile. The dogs began to paw at the back door so she went to let them in. Nails clicking on the wood floor, they raced to greet Alex and Zach as they entered from the garage.
Alex threw his arms around Apollo’s neck. “Mommy, we had the best time! Me and Zachster found the most plants and trees, and I won a book about the forest.”
“That’s great, honey. I’m so proud of you!” As soon as he let go of the dog, she hugged him. “Ooh, you smell like a fish, and you’re a little muddy. Let me run you a bath.”
“I want to take a shower like Zachster. I’m too big to be a baby and take a bath.” He puffed out his chest. “When I grow up, I’m going to go on adventures like him too. He’s going volcano surfing next month!” He pulled away and headed for the hall. “Can I have a cookie when I’m done showering?”
Volcano surfing. Adventures. Her gaze collided with Zach’s. Her chest compressed until she couldn’t breathe. “Sure.”
Zach held up a hand. “Look, I didn’t tell him anything about it. He must have heard Stuart grilling me about it.”
“Volcano surfing. Really? You get Jack killed, and now you want to take out his son as well?” Aware that she was nearly shouting, she tried to temper her tone, but holding in her rage made the pressure in her chest build. “Doing this kind of thing is crazy, Zach!”
Patches of mud had spattered his jeans and sneakers, and his eyes were tired. “It’s just sliding down cinder on a hillside, Shauna. It’s not as dangerous as it sounds. I can sit down like on a sled if I want. I don’t have to stand like on a snowboard or surfboard.”
She lifted a brow and clenched her hands into fists. “Really? And where are you going to do this?”
“Nicaragua. Cerro Negro.”
“That’s a live volcano! There are poisonous gases, and it might even erupt!”
“I’ll be wearing protective gear.” His eyes grew wider as if he were trying to figure out a way to deflect her anger, and he held his hands out in a protective stance.
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him with every bit of disdain she could muster. “For a little while there, I thought you’d changed, but you haven’t. Not really.” She turned on her heel and ran for her room.
Music blared from the jukebox in Harvey’s Pier, and Zach winced. The place was packed tonight, and he didn’t see a single open booth or table. He was in no mood to go home after Shauna’s tirade. All he wanted was to forget everything for a few hours.
He started to leave to head to another place down the road when he caught a glimpse of Valerie sitting at a corner booth. She saw him at the same time and waved him over.
He slid into the booth across from her. “Hope you don’t mind me crashing your party. Where’s Richard? Harvesting apples?” This time of year her husband worked long hours. Valerie was used to doing things on her own, and Richard never seemed to mind.
“It’s no party, believe me.” Valerie ran her finger around the top rim of her glass of iced tea. “I’m here drowning our sorrows. I don’t even want to talk to Richard tonight.” Her usually serene blue eyes were stormy.
He’d rather focus on someone else’s troubles than his own. “What’s going on?”
“We’re being investigated.” She gave him a quick look, then went back to studying the iced tea. “This is between you and me, okay? Richard knew azinphos-methyl had been phased out and banned, but he thought the allowed pesticides didn’t work as well so he went back to using it. And he’s been acting funny—all secretive and weird. He told me he’s got it covered, and no one is going to find out, but I doubt that’s true. The EPA tests for these things, you know?”
“Yeah, this could be bad.” The algae bloom in Clarence’s picture wasn’t far from their apple orchard. Could the pesticide be the cause? It wasn’t for him to run down, though. Valerie wasn’t one to sit back and let the ship sink. She’d handle it.
She took a sip of her tea. “Why are you here and so down in the mouth? I thought you’d be home playing house with Shauna.”
Her words were like nails on a chalkboard. Did everyone in the world think he had only invited her to stay with him in order to woo her?
Valerie must have seen his ire surge because she held up her hand. “I know that look. I’m not insinuating you’re sleeping with her or anything. You look upset, and I was just trying to help.”
The server, a brunette in her late teens, popped over to take his order. He paused to ask her to bring a root beer and fish tacos. The pause gave him a chance to cool off.
Valerie tipped her head to one side as soon as the server left them alone. “Well?”
“Shauna heard about the volcano-surfing trip. I thought the top of her head was going to blow off.”
Valerie smiled and leaned back. “I knew she’d rein you in.”
“Sheesh, Valerie, I’m not a horse. I have every right to have some adventure in life. Just because you like to play it safe doesn’t mean I have to. And the same thing goes for Shauna. She’s just a friend, that’s it! She had the gall to ask me if I was trying to lure Alex into an adventure that would lead to his death too.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”
Her smile faded, and her eyes went somber. “Alex doesn’t have a male role model, Zach. He’s got his mom and his grandma. And now you. If he sees you modeling risky behavior, he’ll think that’s what a real man does.”
“Sometimes it is,” he shot back. “Men like to do all kinds of things. There are plenty of dads who played football in school, but their boys don’t do it. You’re both reading way too much into this.”
“I might have agreed with you once, but you’ve changed since Jack’s death.”
“Here we go again,” he muttered. “All right, so I like extreme sports. It’s not a crime.” In spite of his protest he shifted uneasily. Maybe she was right. It was a miracle of God’s grace that he had all his limbs.
Was he trying to punish himself? He would have said no just last week, but Valerie had given him plenty of food for thought. And he would never want to do anything to coax Alex into trying anything risky. Zach would have to think about it.