Chapter 13

Jo tiptoed into the kitchen early the next morning, nearly colliding with Delta, who was bustling past the open door.

Delta stumbled back. "You're up early."

"I wanted to be up when Carrie came down," Jo said.

"I thought she was staying in the empty unit."

"She was so distraught by the time she got here, I put her in one of my guest bedrooms instead."

"How is she doing?"

Jo tipped her hand back and forth. "She's freaked out, and understandably so."

Carrie had arrived late the previous night, claiming she and Barney had a slight disagreement over the phone about the project. She'd mentioned Jake damaging the window, and he'd gotten more than a little defensive.

Jo tried calming her down, but the harder she tried, the more agitated the woman became. Finally, she took a sedative and headed to bed.

"Carrie has a lot going on. Breaking up with Charlie, arguing with her construction supervisor, dealing with a stalker."

"The stalker part is the most concerning," Delta said. "You have no idea who it is?"

"I have a few people in mind. The first would be the construction guy who walked off the job."

"We can't forget about Charlie." Delta filled the coffeepot and turned it on.

"And who knows who else?" Jo sighed. "I can't help but wonder why they targeted her taxidermy trailer and spray painted the word ‘die' on the wall."

"It sounds disturbing. Maybe she botched up a job and one of her customers isn't happy," Delta theorized.

"I said the same. As far as Carrie is concerned, all her customers are happy with her work," Jo said.

The upstairs floor creaked. Moments later, Carrie appeared in the kitchen doorway, her hair matted to her head. Without her hair done and a thick layer of makeup covering her face, Jo almost didn't recognize her. She looked different. Younger. Softer, without a hard edge.

"Good morning." Jo smiled brightly.

"Morning." Carrie stifled a yawn and shuffled into the kitchen. "This house makes a lot of noise at night."

"It's our resident ghosts," Jo joked.

Carrie's eyes widened. "You have ghosts?"

"No, but we have angels who hang around."

"Divine's angels." Carrie reached for a coffee cup. "Do you mind?"

"Help yourself," Jo said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm sorry for my meltdown last night."

"No problem. It's completely understandable. If you want, we can try to do some digging around this morning."

"The sooner, the better." Carrie perused the array of baked goods on the counter. "These look delish."

"Grab what you want," Delta said. "There's more where that came from."

"Thanks." Carrie eased an apple turnover onto an empty plate and shuffled to the table. "I've spent hours trying to figure out who might be behind the vandalism and stalking."

Jo thought about the other day when she and Raylene first arrived, passing by Charlie, who was tearing down the road going in the opposite direction. "Charlie?"

"Maybe." Carrie nibbled the corner of her turnover. "He texted me last night."

"And…"

"He wanted to know if I was home."

"Why?" Delta asked. "Because he wanted to talk?"

"I'm not sure. It was almost like he knew I wasn't there. Do you think it's a coincidence Raylene found the second tracking device on my van and now he's calling?"

Jo mulled over Carrie's question. Was Charlie behind the stalking and vandalism? It was possible. Anything was possible. "At the risk of not minding my own business, how would you describe your relationship?"

"It was great until it wasn't. As I mentioned before, he wasn't thrilled about me starting a second business and when those hot construction guys showed up?" Carrie waved dismissively. "He doesn't like all of those men on my property."

"Maybe he was jealous of them and it's the real reason he didn't want you to start a second business," Delta said.

"It could be." Carrie plucked a chunk of apple from the gooey center of her turnover and popped it in her mouth. "It's hard to tell with Charlie. He's not good at expressing his emotions unless he's mad."

"Has he ever hit you?" Jo asked.

"Oh no." Carrie's eyes widened. "Charlie is a gentleman. He never raised his hand to me. I'm not saying he didn't have anger issues. I guess you could describe him as somewhat passive-aggressive."

"Meaning you knew when he was angry, yet he wouldn't directly address his anger issues," Delta said. "He did it in a roundabout way."

"Exactly."

"It's possible tracking you, sneaking into your house, vandalizing your trailer is his way of passively showing you how upset he is about the relationship ending," Jo said.

"I suppose."

"You don't have to give me details, but how was Charlie's text? Caring? Concerned? Friendly?" Jo probed.

Carrie pursed her lips. "I wouldn't say it was any of those. I'll let you see for yourself." She polished off the last bite of her turnover and ran upstairs to grab her cell phone.

Delta waited until she was gone. "You really think Charlie might be behind this?"

"Maybe. He could be more upset about the breakup than he let on." Jo mentioned passing him on the road, how he was driving recklessly.

Carrie appeared moments later. She tapped the top of her phone and handed it to Jo.

Delta hurried across the kitchen, leaning over Jo's shoulder while they read Charlie's text:

Charlie: Hey, Carrie. Are you home?

Carrie: No.

Charlie: Will you be home later?

Carrie: No. Why?

Charlie: Because I wanted to come by and pick up my guitar. I left it in your living room.

Carrie: It's not at my place. You must have left it somewhere else.

Charlie: Are you sure?

Carrie: Positive.

Charlie: Did you kick Country Restorations off your renovation project?

Carrie: No. Why do you ask?

Charlie: Just wondering. Could you check again and make sure I didn't leave my guitar?

Carrie: I will when I get back home.

The text conversation ended. Jo handed the phone back. "I wonder why Charlie asked if you kicked the construction crew off the job?" Her scalp tingled. "Did the owner Barney ever show up yesterday?"

"No. As a matter of fact, he had a personal emergency and never came back." Carrie frowned. "Charlie knew Barney wasn't there yesterday."

"Based on his line of questioning, it's possible," Jo said. "And the fact he was fishing around, trying to figure out where you were last night."

Carrie pressed a hand to her chest. "It's Charlie," she whispered. "He's been stalking me, tracking me, vandalizing my property."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Jo warned. "It could be coincidental."

"He asked where I was and seemed to know Barney wasn't around yesterday."

"It does sound suspicious," Delta said.

"Let's start with doing a little more research into the construction crew," Jo suggested.

"Sounds good. I took a picture of the list and also printed a copy. The copy is in my purse."

"Meet me in my office." After her guest left, Jo poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a slice of cherry cheesecake left over from the celebratory dinner. "Something tells me this is going to be a long day."