Chapter 28

Jo's scalp tingled as she stared at the woman. "You said you recognize her?"

"Yeah." Carrie scooched forward in the seat, her binoculars zeroed in on the woman wearing hot pink jogging pants, a pale pink t-shirt and a pair of running shoes. "She was one of my taxidermy customers. I can't remember what I did for her."

"She could be the person I glimpsed the other night," Nash said. "Do you remember her name?"

"Nope, but I sure know how to find out."

Jo turned her cell phone on and snapped an action shot of the woman, her hands high above her head in a long stretch. She dipped down and touched her toes. Completing a series of stretches, the woman tapped the top of her watch again and took off down the trail.

Carrie hesitantly reached for the door handle. "Should we follow her?"

Jo grinned and pointed at Carrie's signature high-heeled shoes. "In those?"

"True. I wouldn't get far."

"I say we hang out and see if she follows the same routine as the person who lost the fitness tracker," Nash said.

"Agreed."

The time dragged by. Jo glanced at the clock every five minutes. Twelve thirty came and went. At quarter ‘til one, she checked her phone. "How much longer?"

"According to the broken fitness tracker we found, the owner should be wrapping up their run."

"Tick-tock. Tick-tock." Carrie kicked off her shoes and sprawled out on the backseat. "I couldn't cut it as a PI. This is too much sitting and waiting."

"I agree," Jo said. "The good news is, I think we found the fitness tracker's owner."

"Who is more than likely the person who has been targeting me," Carrie said.

"Even if this is the woman, we need proof." Jo blew air through thinned lips. "We don't seem to have any trouble getting her to the farm. She's been there almost every night."

"As you already suggested, we could try to lure her back," Nash said.

Jo warmed to the idea. "If we can confirm this woman is following the same pattern as the fitness tracker's owner, and Carrie verifies she was one of her customers, we can start building a case for Sheriff Franklin."

"To work with us to set up a sting," Nash said. "I like it. Unfortunately, I may have spooked her when I chased after her."

"We need to work on a profile," Jo said. "To glean some clues about what makes this woman tick and what sort of person we're dealing with."

Carrie rubbed her palms together. "I'm willing to try anything."

At five minutes until one, the jogger reappeared. She casually glanced around, did a few cool down stretches, hopped into her vehicle and drove off.

"This has to be the person," Carrie said. "She's clearly a creature of habit."

"Now, let's confirm she's one of your customers." Jo started the SUV and slowly followed behind.

*****

Back at the property, Carrie made a beeline for the albums containing all of her previous work. She flipped through the first book and then the second. Finally, she found the one she was searching for. "This is it. This is the woman we saw today." She handed the album to Jo and Nash. Sure enough, the woman at the trail was one of Carrie's customers.

Jo's eyes squinted. "Mareis Inman and her pet rabbit, Cheddar. She looks sad."

"Do you remember anything about her?" Nash asked.

"Not much. She brought Cheddar in, thinking he was in some sort of coma. I had to break the news that he was gone." Carrie made a choking sound. "Jo…the BBB review."

"Pull up the website. I want to take another look at the review."

Carrie hustled to the kitchen with Jo and Nash close behind. She opened her laptop, logged on and pulled up the Better Business Bureau's website. Within seconds, she'd accessed her account.

She scrolled down and clicked on the review, reading it aloud. "‘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.' The poster's initials are MIN."

"MIN," Jo repeated. "This could be an abbreviation for Mareis Inman. We need to see what we can find out about her online."

"I'm already on it." Carrie's fingers flew over the keys. "This woman is all over the place."

Jo leaned over her shoulder, noticing the woman's name was found on some of the larger social media sites.

Carrie worked her way down the list, checking each one. Several included pictures of Mareis and her beloved Cheddar. They reached the bottom of the page and found a pet obituary site, a memorial group created for people who wanted to share photos and stories about their pets.

"Try zooming in on her posts," Jo said.

Carrie enlarged it so all three could read what it said. The touching memorial clearly showed how distraught the woman had been over the death of her pet rabbit.

Jo could feel the blood drain from her face when she read the last sentence. "Do not take your animals to Carrie's Custom Creations taxidermy in Divine. The owner, Carrie Ford, killed my poor Cheddar so she could profit from his death." The rant continued to the point there was no doubt the woman blamed Carrie for her rabbit's death.

"It's her," Carrie whispered. "But why now? Cheddar died almost a year ago."

Jo pressed her palms together, her mind whirling as the pieces started falling into place. "My guess is she must have seen the recent news stories about you opening the rehabilitation center and sanctuary."

Nash picked up. "She convinced herself you killed her rabbit and is trying to stop you from opening this place, believing she's doing other pet owners a favor."

"That's twisted," Carrie said. "I did not kill Cheddar. He was long gone by the time he got to me."

"We still can't prove it," Jo said. "We have to get her here. I wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

"Do you have an online social media site for your taxidermy business?" Jo asked.

"Of course. It's how some of my customers have found me." Carrie opened a new search screen and pulled up her business site. "I have over a hundred followers, which is pretty good, considering Divine is small."

"Can you see a list of your followers?"

"Sure." Carrie clicked on the tab, pulled up the list, and began scrolling through the screen.

"Go a little slower. I want to read the names."

Carrie returned to the top and started scrolling again, this time much slower.

"Hang on." Jo stopped her. "Mareis Inman is following your posts. Have you posted about starting the sanctuary and rehabilitation center on here?"

"I have." Carrie clicked away from the list of followers and returned to the main page, going back to a post she'd done almost a week ago, featuring the recent story that had been released.

"What day did you post this?" Nash asked.

Carrie's face turned an ashen shade. "Last Wednesday."

"You found the tracking device in your driveway not long after."

"You're right, Jo. Opening the new animal center must've been a trigger. She saw the story and is making it her mission to stop me."

"Or, at the very least, harass you," Jo said. "Still, I have no idea why she would track you."

Carrie twirled her finger next to her forehead. "She sounds unstable, to put it mildly. She's not going away. Eventually, Sheriff Franklin will determine who owns the busted Trekki Fit and the Trekki Tracker devices."

"But how long will it take?" Jo asked. "By the time he's able to get his hands on this information, Mareis Inman could have burned your home to the ground. Our next step should be to build a profile of this person and figure out what her next move might be."

"How do you propose we do that?" Nash asked.

"I can't, but I know someone who can."