Chapter 14

Jo placed the list of workers on her desk. She turned her computer on and opened a new search screen. "The first thing we need to do is check out the construction company."

"Country Renovations." Carrie placed her cat on the windowsill. "Look at this view, Mr. Whipple? I bet you can see lots of birdies in Jo's trees."

"There's a birdfeeder on the porch. If you put him in the living room's front window, he'll be entertained for hours."

Duke nudged the office door open and trotted inside. He spied Carrie's cat and stopped dead in his tracks.

The two engaged in a stare down. Mr. Whipple blinked first. Or more like he ran for cover, climbing over the top of Carrie and diving behind her back. "It's all right, Mr. Whipple. Duke won't eat you."

"Duke likes cats," Jo said. "He and Curtis are best buds."

"Mr. Whipple is more of a loner, kind of like his owner." Carrie tried soothing the cat, coaxing him out. Finally, he peeked his head over the armrest, his ears flat against his head.

Duke, unfazed by the cat's obvious discomfort, merrily trotted around the desk and flopped down at Jo's feet.

"Duke's a big teddy bear. I'm sure once Mr. Whipple discovers he's harmless, he'll come around." Jo typed the name in the search bar and pressed enter. Several ads popped up, along with a side section which included reviews about the company. "Country Renovations has a pretty solid rating."

"Believe me, I researched several companies before choosing this one," Carrie said. "I know it's been a while, but you helped me pick them and gave the final approval."

"You're right." Jo skimmed through the reviews. Most were positive. There were a few from customers who complained about the workers—unprofessional, sloppy work, showing up at all hours.

She briefly scanned each review, all seeming to have a similar theme. Jo kept going until reaching one from the previous fall that caught her eye. Where does this company find their workers?

Jo clicked on the review. "This one is concerning." She read it aloud: "Where does Country Renovations find their workers? I had to fire this company shortly after they began working on my garage installation, after I caught one of them peeping in the bedroom windows."

The reviewer went on to say they contacted the authorities and discovered the worker in question had a previous record. The review ended with a warning and suggested anyone who hired them be sure to do their due diligence.

"It appears we might have more than one person on our radar," Jo said.

"Charlie and at least one of Country Renovations' workers," Carrie said. "Should I mention it to Barney?"

"What if it's him?" Jo asked.

"True." Carrie bit her lower lip. "Why me?"

"An attractive, single woman, living alone in a rural area," Jo said. "Why not you?"

"I can't stay here forever. I need to be at the farm to keep an eye on the renovations," Carrie said.

"Why don't you spend the day hanging out? After the crew leaves this evening, come back over."

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure." Jo told her that she planned to do a little more digging around. Her first stop would be to track down Charlie Golden and try to figure out where his head was.

"I appreciate your offer, but this isn't your concern."

"I disagree. I'm half owner of this rehabilitation project, which means I'm helping pay for the construction crew. At the very least, we need to know who works for the company." Jo opened a new search screen.

Working their way down the list, they researched every single worker. Nothing popped up as suspicious or questionable, not even the worker, Jake Rhodes, who had stormed off the jobsite the previous day.

"There's nothing here," Jo finally said. "As far as I can tell, none of them have prior records."

"It still doesn't mean one of them isn't behind it," Carrie said.

"True."

"Country Renovations is an upstanding business. Most of their reviews are positive. Only the one about the worker with a past record would be a major concern. What about checking the Better Business Bureau?" Carrie suggested.

"Good idea." Jo pulled up the website and typed "Country Renovations" into the search bar. "It isn't accredited by BBB and has zero reviews."

"Not listed on the BBB?" Carrie sniffled. "I should have checked there before hiring them."

"You have to buy into the BBB," Jo said. "Maybe Barney didn't think it was worth the cost."

"I do. I use the Better Business Bureau certification on all my ads," Carrie said. "Granted, I rarely run ads, but when I do, it looks very professional. And I have several glowing reviews."

Jo typed Carrie's Custom Creations in the search bar. Up popped her site and the star rating, which was a solid 3.6 out of five. "What did you say your review rating was?"

"Five stars," Carrie beamed. "Isn't that awesome?"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you must have gotten a recent review. You're down to 3.6."

"You're kidding." Carrie scrambled out of her chair and ran around the desk. "What on earth? Who left me a bad review?"

Jo clicked on the review link. At the top was a review posted by "MIN." Horrible company. Carrie, the owner, killed my pet to make a buck. Don't trust this woman. She'll murder your loved one for profit.

Carrie's hand flew to her mouth. "I've never killed a single animal, a person's pet, or even a stray."

"This could be bad for business," Jo said.

"No kidding."

"Bad for your taxidermy and for the rehabilitation center. You don't want people to believe this reviewer, that you're going to kill pets for profit."

Carrie's face turned ashen. "This is a lie."

"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Jo asked.

"Not a clue. No one has ever complained about my taxidermy services."

"Until now." Jo grabbed a yellow pad and began writing. "The list of people who might be behind what's going on is growing. Charlie, a construction worker and a disgruntled former customer with a screen name of ‘MIN.'"

"I'm going to respond to this absurd review as soon as I get home," Carrie said.

Jo clicked out of the screens and stood. "You know as well as I do you can't make all the people happy all the time, no matter how hard you try."

"Agreed, but this is a flat out lie," Carrie said. "Maybe it's a competitor, someone who is in the rehabilitation field and scared we're going to take some of their business."

"It could be."

The porch bell rang. "There's the breakfast bell. Delta doesn't like it when we're late."

"I can't even think about eating until I respond to this false review."

"It will still be posted an hour from now," Jo pointed out.

"I suppose." Carrie clenched her fists. "I need to think about what I'm going to say. I also want to be at the farm when Barney shows up this morning."

"Don't forget about Mr. Whipple." Jo motioned to the cat who was sunning himself in the window, no longer bothered by Duke's presence. "He looks comfortable."

Carrie reached for the cat. He batted at her hand, as if to say he was content right where he was.

"Don't give me a hard time." Carrie carefully scooped him up. "I have things to take care of. You can sit in the upstairs bedroom window."

Jo trailed behind her. "He's free to wander around the house."

"Mr. Whipple is sneaky. If you give him too much room to roam, he'll try to sneak right out the door." Carrie returned downstairs moments later, purse in hand and a determined look on her face. "I'll check in with you later," she promised.

"Be careful," Jo warned. "We don't know who we're dealing with."

She wasn't sure if Carrie heard her. The woman was on a mission. Jo watched as she hopped into her van and tore out of the driveway, certain that the construction company's owner was in for an earful when she got home.

Jo couldn't help but wonder what type of response Carrie would give to "MIN" about her scathing review.

The list of suspects was growing. Who else might be lurking out there, targeting Carrie?