Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

T here had been two young rattlesnakes in the box. No matter how many times Bailey repeated the fact to herself, she could hardly believe it. If she'd taken the box in and opened it without taking precautions, she could've been bitten. Or the snakes might have gotten loose and bitten one of the boys.

To top it all off, there was no note included with the snakes. Not even a threat, although the fact that someone had gone to the effort to capture venomous snakes and deliver them to her house was threat enough.

She'd even gone through the mail from the mailbox in case a note had been placed there separately. Still nothing.

They'd found some footprints around the mailbox, and Nate had taken pictures of each one. Now, all the officers had gone home except for Jenny. She and Nate were sitting on the couch, Nate's laptop open on the coffee table in front of them.

"What about this one?" Jenny pointed to the screen.

Bailey rounded the couch to stand behind them where she could see .

Nate glanced up at her. "I've got the footprint from the guy last night here," he pointed to the image on the left, "and we're comparing it to pictures I took by the mailbox. I'm hoping we'll find a match." He closed that picture and opened another. The tread was clearly different. He opened yet another and stopped. "Just like that."

Bailey leaned forward, her forearms resting on the back of the couch between Nate and Jenny. There was no doubt that they were both created from the same shoe or boot. "Definitely a match. So it was the same guy."

Jenny gave a shake of her head. "Judging from the fact that we never saw his face on video, he didn't care if the camera caught him. This means he's confident that we can't identify him by his clothing or hat alone. He's bold yet careful."

"Not the best combination," Nate muttered. "Eventually, he's going to get overconfident and make a mistake. We're going to be there when that happens."

Bailey pushed away from the couch. "Well, everything before was bad enough, but the rattlesnakes crossed a line. Someone could've been seriously injured. What is he going to try next?"

It made her angry to think this guy was trying to make her upset enough to sell her place. Yet, there was a small part of her that wondered if it was worth it to keep fighting. She was tired, and the farm was a lot. But if she did let it go, how would she support the boys? She'd have to get a job and start working, and the only thing on her resume since Seth was born was stay-at-home mom and running the farm. There wasn't a big call for either when it came to employment.

Suddenly, the stress of it all made her want to curl up on her bed, have a good cry, and drown it all in a big tub of ice cream. She cleared her throat. "I'm going to check on the boys. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Bailey? Are you okay?"

Nate's concerned voice only brought the tears closer to the surface. Not trusting her voice, she gave a wave and made her way upstairs. In the hallway, she took several deep breaths and blinked back the tears before peeking her head into Seth's room.

The boys were sitting at the little table with a bunch of building blocks and toy farm animals.

Seth's sweet face brightened when he saw her. "Mom, look what we're building." He stood and swept his hand over the table as though he were beginning a presentation. "We're building the old barn in the woods. Except we fixed everything, and now there's lots of room for more animals. See? Even Poppy, Petunia, and Pansy have their own bedrooms."

Bailey couldn't help but smile at the vision of each goat having a fancy four-post bed to sleep on. "I love it. Very creative, you two. Are you going to give the barn a name?"

Seth touched his chin with his index finger and thought for a moment. "The Hidden Barn. Don't you think that's a good name?"

"It's great, honey. It's nice to see you guys playing together so well."

Seth lowered his voice. "I'm mostly letting Jordan add the roof pieces. The other stuff is a little too hard for him."

She chuckled. "Well, you're both doing a great job. I'm going to let you guys get back to your building and go downstairs. Love you."

She'd barely made it to the door before Seth spoke again.

"Hey, Mom? "

"Yeah, baby?"

"I like having Nate around. I wish he didn't have to go back to his house."

Jordan looked up for the first time and nodded. "Me, too."

Bailey was getting used to him being there, too. Before this, they saw him once a week at the most. Sometimes, it went as long as a month between visits. What if it went back to that once this mess was over and he returned to his normal routine again? One way or another—whether they caught this guy or not—Nate would be back to work on Monday. "I know what you guys mean. But the important thing is that we all live in the same town. Maybe he can come over for pizza sometimes."

"Or cheeseburgers," Seth said in agreement.

"All right, you guys keep on having fun."

With that, she left them to their building and crossed the hallway to her own bedroom.

Standing in front of the large mirror against one wall, she looked at her reflection and frowned.

The boys kept her plenty busy during the day. The truth was, though, the evenings and nights were terrible. They were way too quiet, lonely, and sometimes downright creepy. Having this huge house felt like too much when all the creaks and groans made her feel jumpy. And that was before someone was trying to scare her out of her home.

Would she ever be able to relax again after this case was solved?

A dog of their own very well might be a must. But a house all on one level would be really nice, too. If they stayed here, she would look into having a security system installed .

There were a lot of ifs there. Was she actually seriously considering selling the place?

Her gaze flicked to the framed photo on her dresser. She and Joe were smiling for the camera. What the picture didn't show was how Joe had his hand poised just inches from her ribs and that, as soon as the photo was taken, he'd tickled her.

The memory made her smile, but it quickly morphed back into a frown.

"Would you hate me if I sold this place?" As soon as the words were uttered, she knew the answer was no. He would want her to be happy. Safe. He would have supported her in anything she truly wanted to do.

Was she willing to walk away from the place that held so many memories that she shared with Joe? That was the real question. Why couldn't it all be black and white?

She took a deep breath and headed back downstairs. When she re-entered the living room, both Nate and Jenny looked up from their conversation, concern evident on their faces.

"I was just going to come up and check on you." Jenny stood. "I know today's been a lot. Maybe I should head home and give you a chance to relax a little this afternoon and evening."

Bailey swallowed hard. "Joe had so many plans for our future here. Would I be dishonoring his memory if I sold this place? Would I be severing one of the last connections between him and the boys?" Her voice cracked, and her face flushed. She never should've voiced her concerns. Her friends were going to think she was finally losing it. Maybe she was.