Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 526(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“There’s also a rescue and wildlife sanctuary up near you where you can adopt a dog, but I suggest you contact Hutch first. He not only breeds his own dogs, he trains others.”
“You also might get in touch with Mrs. Matthews, share what happened, and ask her to put up some motion sensor lights,” Rus put in.
I did not thrill at that news, for three reasons.
One, Mrs. Matthews clearly was not a woman who liked to spend money, she preferred raking it in.
Two, I knew my property had gone unrented for quite some time, possibly because of this Lion and Lamb business. Therefore, I sensed if she knew they were messing with me (allegedly), she’d send her goon son, and her equally goon-like grandsons, to have a few words, and we didn’t need a mini-Waco on our hands in Fret County. Not after all the population of Misted Pines had already endured (or ever).
Three, there were a lot of critters out there, and the lights would be lighting all the time because of it.
But I got what Harry Moran was saying without saying it.
I was a fool to be a single woman, living in the middle of nowhere, without at least some form of protection.
And of the protection he listed, I had none of it.
I looked back down at Hutch Hutchison’s name.
“Yeah, if it was me, I’d be getting on getting the dog first,” Harry said quietly, and I lifted my gaze to him. “Nothing small and yippy. Mid to large, with a ferocious bark. Although I’ve seen the results of one of Hutch’s animals on a trespasser, and it was not pretty, even if it was deserved, with a dog, you’re not only going for a deterrent, you’re going for an early warning system. I haven’t been to The Cooper’s Retreat in years, but I do know it’s sturdy, has stood the test of time, and hopefully has good locks. If a dog tells you that you have company you don’t want, you can get on the line with us, and in fifteen minutes, you’ll have help.”
“And don’t hesitate to call that help,” Rus entered the conversation. “It’s not an inconvenience. It’s our job. You get spooked, you phone.”
That last sentence was an order.
“Okay,” I said.
“Right then, do you want us to go speak to Lars Enstrom?” Harry asked.
I turned to him. “Lars Enstrom?”
“As far as we know, he’s the leader of The Lion and The Lamb. His name is on the property. And in any dealings we’ve had with them, which are few, mostly just going in to warn if there were wildfires and they might need to evacuate, he was the front man of that crew.”
I took a second with this information.
I took another second with my history (and maybe that was more than just one).
That morning, when I found that note, I didn’t think I was flying off the handle and overreacting with coming down to talk to the cops.
It was not okay to leave that note. It wasn’t okay to watch someone on their property. And if something like that happened, the cops should know so you had it on record in case things escalated.
That said, considering my Post-it Lover was a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am type of dude, and this would not be repeated (definitely not) for some time (if ever), it could just be a blip.
I’d lived there for seven and a half months without even knowing that community existed (outside of now realizing I’d bought jam and bread, and once a very delicious apple pie, from them at the Farmer’s Market).
Right now, there was no reason to make a big deal of this, possibly get on their bad side, and make people who lived extreme beliefs do something I wouldn’t like a whole lot more.
“Can we just have this on record, and I’ll get a dog?” I asked.
“It’s your call,” Harry murmured.
I glanced at his very shiny, very wide gold wedding band.
“Is that the call you’d make if your wife lived out there, before she was your wife?” I queried.
He smiled a smile that made a handsome man breathtaking.
“Even if we haven’t been married long, I can’t think of Lillian as not my wife, so…no. I’d probably go in there, itching for a fight, do something stupid, and we’d be holding another election for sheriff because I’d get canned.”
I laughed and made the firm decision I liked this guy.
If it could be believed, he seemed to be one of the negative one percent of men who was one of the good ones.
“Though, sitting here, looking at you,” he continued, “knowing how far you are from our help, I think it’s the wise decision to have this on record, but at this juncture, let it slide.”
And again, I was nodding.
“That said, even if you get an inkling they’re messing with you, Mabel, I want you right back here in my office, yes?” he pushed.