As the computer powered on, a soft glow filled the room. Lotty hoped it wouldn’t wake Aiden. He’d been teething and couldn’t seem to fall asleep anywhere but in her arms. She’d held him for almost an hour, since just past two a.m., but was anxious to set him down and resume her research online. She wanted to find any information she could about the three people whose bodies had been dug up and dumped in Strawberry Lake Estates. Jason’s friend hadn’t contacted them about the underground site yet and this research was the only thing she could think to do to help.

She slowly bent down toward the sofa in the office and Aiden’s long breaths held steady. She set him down and inched her arms out from under him. He whimpered and she froze, arms still halfway under his little body. When the wrinkles in his face relaxed, she wiggled her arms free and inched back to the computer.

She’d already searched one name, the only woman, Patty Henderson. Patty had sold insurance for the past twenty years and had plenty of friends and family, but beyond that, Lotty couldn’t find much. She looked up another name, Scott Willard. There was more information about him, but most of it had to do with his job as a project inspector. She saved several articles, determined to read them all later. It was difficult to make her eyes focus this time of night. The third name, Jerry Masters, turned up nothing except for his obituary. He was a retired English teacher from Texas, who’d moved to Montana with his wife five years ago. Since Jerry didn’t seem to have any social media accounts, Lotty decided to look up his children. As she opened Facebook, Aiden began to whimper. Lotty sighed as his cry escalated into screams within seconds. She walked to the sofa and picked him up, frustrated that she’d found nothing helpful. She settled into the rocking chair in Aiden’s room and he snuggled against her as her eyelids grew heavy.   

* * * * *

AIDEN CLUNG TO LOTTY. He’d been attached to her since she woke up in his rocking chair. He nestled his face in next to her neck and gripped her stomach with his chubby legs. She tried to set him down so she could change out of her pajamas, but he screamed and held tighter. Taking a deep breath, she slowly lowered herself into a chair in the bedroom. She tried to avoid sudden movements that would start the screaming again. It seemed as if Aiden’s teething was never going to end. At least she’d have a break from it on Monday. Nikki had offered to watch the boys so Lotty could go to the dentist to have a cavity filled. The thought of laying quietly in a dentist’s chair without anyone climbing on her had her almost giddy.

Aiden noticed they were sitting and didn’t like it. He lifted his head and pointed for her to get up. “Aiden, do you want to go see Daddy?”

He stopped whining and watched her.

“We’re going to meet Dad at his office and then we’ll all go to Strawberry Days together.”

“Go.”

“Yeah, we’re going to go. So, I need to get dressed while you sit here by yourself, okay?” She opened her door and hollered at Ty. “Did you get dressed like I asked, Ty?” She could hear him playing airplanes. “Ty, get dressed so we can go to Town Square, okay?”

“Kay.”

Aiden walked over to her and grabbed her leg. “Up.” She changed shirts while he maintained a death grip on her leg. Then she tried to pry him off so she could change pants, but was unsuccessful. She decided to stop fighting him and picked him up and snuggled with him for several minutes.

“Does your mouth hurt?”

He nodded so she headed to the bathroom to get him some baby Tylenol. She passed Ty’s room, where he was busy running in circles, wearing only his Batman underwear. She sighed, trying to control the outburst she was about to have. If she’d learned anything during her mom’s visit, it was she didn’t want to criticize her own children. By the time Doll had left for the airport, Lotty couldn’t even look at her. The criticism and insults were too much. “Ty, I need you to –” 

The ring of the doorbell interrupted her. “Get dressed, Ty,” she said, before opening the door for Nikki and Brent. “Sorry,” Lotty started. “We’re not quite ready yet.”

“Nikki!” Ty yelled, running down the stairs.

Lotty shook her head. Ty had added a tool belt over the underwear. “I don’t know how it is that when I say, ‘get dressed,’ he hears, ‘please run around the house in Batman underwear and a tool belt.”

Brent laughed while Nikki gave Ty a hug. “Ty, why don’t you show me what shirt you’re going to wear today?” She led Ty back upstairs and Brent pointed to the backyard through the kitchen window. “I heard all about your chicken coop.”

Lotty rolled her eyes. “Yeah. I don’t think Jason’s too much of a fan.”

Brent laughed. “Well, it was actually Nikki who told me about it, not Jason.” He got closer to the window to get a better look. “Uh, what’s wrong with your hens, Lotty?”

She looked at him questioningly and moved over next to him. Three hens lay on the ground. “Oh no.” She put her hand over her mouth. “Not more of them.”

“This has happened before?”

“One died yesterday. What do you think is doing it?”

Brent shrugged. “I don’t know. My grandpa used to raise chickens, but I don’t know a whole lot about it. I’ll go have a look around and see if I can find anything.”

“You don’t think this is related to the other stuff in the neighborhood, do you?”

Brent seemed to consider it. “Maybe, but I doubt it. It doesn’t seem like someone would go from arson and grave robberies to chicken slayer. Doesn’t make much sense.”

“None of it makes sense.”

“That’s true.” Brent headed to the back door. “Let me see what I can find.”

Lotty hauled Aiden back upstairs, where she found Ty perfectly outfitted in jeans and a shirt, with socks and shoes, and his hair fixed. She smiled at Nikki who smiled back and took Aiden from her arms. He whimpered for a couple of seconds before becoming distracted with the train Nikki was holding. She waved Lotty off and continued playing with both boys. Lotty took the opportunity to disappear into her bathroom and finish getting ready.

Within ten minutes, everyone was ready. “Michael and Emma are coming too. They said they’d watch for us to come out,” Nikki said, speaking of two of her children.

“Okay, just one more minute.” Lotty pulled Nikki away from the boys. “There’s something wrong with the chickens. Brent went out back to check it out. Let me see what he found and then we can go. Can you distract Ty for a couple of minutes? I don’t want him to see the hens like that.”

Lotty went out back. “Did you know this wood was pressure-treated?” Brent asked.

Lotty’s stomach sank. Did everyone have some sort of a code to not use pressure-treated wood?

“Uh, yeah. It was priced really well and it will protect against rot and insects. Plus, it’s stronger.” Lotty repeated what the employee at Dixie’s had told her.

“Is all of the wood pressure-treated?”

Lotty nodded.

“I think that could be your problem. Pressure-treated wood is full of chemicals. It’s toxic. That’s how it keeps insects away.”

“Uh...”

“I can’t find any other explanation for it. The chemicals in the wood must have made them sick.”

So much for feeling good about completing a project. She’d used pressure-treated wood mostly as a way of ignoring Cade’s friendly advice and now she had four dead hens. It was hard to believe that she was trusted with raising two humans.

“You really think the wood could have killed them so quickly? I mean obviously I don’t know anything about it, but I’ve only had them for three days.”

Brent shrugged. “Looks like it.”

“What am I going to tell Ty? He’s in love with the chickens.”

“Why don’t you guys go ahead and go to Strawberry Days?” Brent picked up the shovel that was leaning on the crooked post. “I’ll dispose of these and join you there. At least then he doesn’t have to see them like this. He’ll be so excited by the three that are still alive, maybe he won’t care.”

“That’s really nice of you, Brent, but I hate for you to miss out on time with your family.”

“Oh, the kids will run off with their friends as soon as we get there and Nikki will be talking to you the whole time anyway. I’m happy to do it, Lotty. Just tell Jason he owes me.”

Lotty smiled. “Thank you.” She went back inside and found Aiden sitting contentedly on Nikki’s lap with Ty cuddled up next to them. They were a picture of bliss as they looked at a book together. If she tried to read a book with the boys, Aiden usually tore the pages while Ty cried.

“Ready?” Nikki asked.

“Yeah. Brent’s going to meet us there in a bit,” Lotty said. She got closer and whispered, “He’s helping me. I’ll explain later.”

Nikki gave her an inquisitive look, but headed to the van, where Michael and Emma were waiting.

They circled Town Square twice before finding a parking spot down near the beach. A three-legged race and volleyball match were underway and several people were preparing their paddleboards for the obstacle course.

Nikki, Michael, and Emma decided to watch volleyball while Lotty led the boys up to the square. Mrs. Becker was laughing with several other women her age as she handed out samples of her baked goods. She spotted Lotty and called her name. Lotty hugged the small woman.

“I’ve missed you something fierce, Lotty Brooks.” Mrs. Becker smiled and hugged Lotty a second time. “You don’t come around here nearly often enough. I have to get all the details about your life from your husband.”

“I’ve missed you too. I stopped by your bakery a few days ago, but Janice said you were out running errands. I was going to introduce you to my mom.”

“Oh, darn it. I would have loved that.”

Lotty highly doubted love would be the proper word to describe Doll and Susan Becker meeting, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

“Now, tell me about that crazy neighborhood of yours.”

Lotty shook her head. “If only I had more to tell than what this whole town is already talking about.”

“I heard the bodies all had tattoos on their left arm that was the sign of gang initiation. What do you know about that?”

Ty grabbed Lotty’s arm. “Mom, there’s a bounce house. Can we do it?”

Lotty turned back to Mrs. Becker. “I’m pretty sure they didn’t have tattoos. I haven’t heard anything about that.”

Mrs. Becker started to ask another question, but Ty interrupted, “Please, Mom.”

Then Aiden joined in, pointing at the bounce house and saying, “go, go.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Becker, but we’ll have to talk later.”

“Nonsense. Your boys just need white chocolate strawberry cookies.” She handed each of the boys a pretty, light-pink cookie and they were instantly quiet. “And you need some of this huckleberry bread. I know it’s not strawberry and we’re at Strawberry Days, but the huckleberry is so much better.” She gave Lotty a swirled purple and white slice of bread with a crumb topping.

“Oh, yum. Thank you.” Lotty inhaled the wonderful aroma of the bread and brought it to her lips just as someone grabbed her. She turned around where Jocelyn stood with her daughter.

“Hey, Lotty,” Jocelyn said excitedly. “Hi, Mrs. Becker.”

“You two need a slice of this as well,” Mrs. Becker said, handing Jocelyn and Katie each a slice.

“This is perfect. Katie just reminded me we’d forgotten to eat breakfast this morning.”

Lotty laughed. How did a person ever forget to eat? The closest she’d ever come was forgetting that she’d already eaten breakfast and eating another breakfast, or maybe two. She shoved a bite of the heavenly-scented bread into her mouth. It tasted even better than it smelled. 

“We’re headed over to the photo-booth. You guys want to come?” Jocelyn asked, daintily picking a huckleberry off her bread and setting it in her mouth.

“I’m still making the rounds with my samples,” Mrs. Becker said.

“I need to find Jason, but maybe we’ll see you over there,” Lotty answered.

“I just saw him near his office. Trinity was trying to convince him to judge the pie contest.” Jocelyn took another small bite. Honestly, the girl even made eating look good. Jocelyn continued, “I had to stop and watch. It was too entertaining to pass up. She was throwing herself all over him and I’m happy to tell you, he was not having any of it. He kept pulling his arm away from her and telling her he was busy. He’ll be happy to see you.”

Lotty hoped that was true. Was there any part of him that would be happy to see her? Not because she brought the boys, but actually happy she was there. She wandered toward the center of the square and looked at a few of the booths while the boys quietly enjoyed their cookies.

“Hey,” Jason’s voice sounded in her ear. She flipped around and found herself inches from his face, breathing in a combination of soap and peppermint. His smell brought with it a flood of memories. She stared at him, imagining herself moving closer and kissing those lips that fit so perfectly with her own, but feelings between her and Jason were still awkward and tense, so she scooted back to a comfortable distance away. 

“There you are,” she finally squeaked out, feigning interest in the booths to the side of him.

Jason seemed equally at a loss for words. He turned his attention to the boys and asked them about the morning. Ty continued asking about the bounce house until they wound their way to the inflatable castle and helped Ty inside.

“Where are Brent and Nikki?” Jason asked.

“Nikki’s watching the volleyball match down on the beach and Brent is going to meet us here in a bit.”

“Why?”

Lotty made sure Ty was happily bouncing several yards away before she explained. “Well, uh, we have three more dead chickens.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dead, as in not alive anymore.” 

He tipped his head to the side and smiled. “Thank you. I mean, what happened to them?”

“Not sure. Brent thinks it’s the chemicals in the pressure-treated wood. He agreed to stay back and dispose of them so Ty wouldn’t be upset.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“Mm hmm.”

“Why did you use pressure-treated wood for a chicken coop?”

Lotty rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know it was bad.”

“Still, I can’t believe it would kill the hens, especially so quickly. That’s four now. It might make them a little sick or bother their footpads, but I had no idea it could be so toxic,” Jason said, taking Aiden out of his stroller and holding him.

The man next to Jason turned toward him. Lotty froze. She knew that face. It was the man who had been arguing with Cade in front of Dixie’s a couple of weeks ago.

He stuck his hand out to Jason and smiled. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear you. I’m Jay O’Brien.”

Jason shook his hand. “Jason Brooks.”

“Your chickens are mysteriously dying?”

Lotty tried to make eye contact with Jason to keep him from talking. She didn’t trust this guy and didn’t want him knowing anything about them. Jason stared straight at Jay. “Yeah. It looks like maybe the chemicals in the wood for the coop did it.”

“You don’t by chance live near Strawberry Lake Estates, do you?”

Jason watched Jay carefully before nodding. “We do.”

Jay’s brows furrowed together and he shook his head. “It’s not the wood. How long have you had them? And when did they die?”

“Uh, we’ve had them for three days. One died yesterday and three more died today,” Jason said, holding the man’s stare.

He grunted in reply. Now Lotty wanted him to keep talking, to offer an explanation, but instead he said, “Sorry, excuse me. I need to find someone.”

Lotty stepped in front of him. “Wait, that’s it? What is it? What killed them?”

“That place.” He shook his head. “I don’t recommend buying any more small pets.” He stepped around her.

Lotty grabbed his arm. “Please. You’ve got to tell me something.”

Jay looked around and shook his head. “Sorry.”

“How do you know Cade Warner?”

Jay seemed confused and Jason’s head snapped up upon hearing Cade’s name. Jay answered, “I work for Warner Construction Company.” He pulled his arm back and walked away.