Page 39 of Fire Harbor

“Did you see that?” Linus whispered, his voice barely audible.

Lake followed his gaze and tensed up, chills running up her arms. “I see him now. Let’s get inside.”

But Farley had seen the man, too. Reacting on instinct, the labradoodle growled before breaking into a run.

Lake could only gape as Linus flew off the porch after his dog. The chilly air rushed past him as he sprinted, his heart pounding in his chest as he chased after Farley.

The figure ahead moved fast, darting between houses. Even though Farley seemed determined to catch up, Linus lost sight of the guy in a dimly lit alleyway two blocks from Cape May. The spot kept the labradoodle sniffing the pavement as if deciding which way to head next. Breathing hard, Linus caught hold of the dog’s collar.

“Come on, boy, let’s go home,” he called out, his voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through him.

They retraced their route back to Lake’s.

She greeted them at the front door, holding an aluminum softball bat. “Someone broke in through the basement window while we were gone,” she explained, her voice trembling. “I took Scout and Jack down there to shower off the sand and noticed he’d tracked mud throughout the house. Everywhere. Was it that guy you were chasing?”

“Probably,” Linus retorted, feeling a rush of anger wash over him. He led Lake into the entryway, where he saw the muddy footprints left in the hallway.

She pointed back toward the kitchen. “He tracked mud up the back staircase, too, so I know he went upstairs.”

Anger building, Linus stuck his head into the study where they’d spent time together hours earlier. He found drawers pulled out, books knocked off shelves, and the desk ransacked. “We need to report this. Is anything missing?”

“I don’t think so.” She held up her phone. “I already called it in, though. Colt Del Rio answered the call and said Theo would be here within fifteen minutes. I told him the intruder had already gone, so it wasn’t considered an emergency. But he told me he was dealing with another break-in on Crescent Street.”

As the couple moved through the other rooms, the dogs, sensing the tension in the air, followed their every move. Linus concluded that each room had been searched, belongings scattered on the floor for the greatest effect. The loss of privacy, the sense of violation, made his blood boil.

Despite the mess left behind in the kitchen, one thing in particular caught Lake’s eye that she’d missed before—a piece of paper left on the table with a single word scribbled on it—"Remember.”

The hairs on his neck stood up as Linus read the ominous message. “Who would break in here just to leave a one-word note? And what are you supposed to remember?”

Lake’s mind raced with possibilities as she tried to think what it could mean. Suddenly, she thought of something. “A note like this was left at the front desk at the library. I’m pretty sure it was last Tuesday after I returned from lunch.”

She grabbed Linus’s arm. “Come to think of it, Greta Wilding lives on Crescent Street. You don’t suppose—?”

“We’ll ask Theo when he gets here. Until then, we leave every room as it is and take photos to show what happened here.”

“I’m scared, Linus,” Lake admitted.

“It’s okay. You have me—and I’m not going anywhere—along with three dogs that won’t let anyone come in here without alerting us.”

Chapter Ten

Sunday morning proved things always looked better in the light of day. But Lake had still spent a restless night. It wasn’t like break-ins were a common occurrence around town. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had complained about a burglary ring breaking into houses in broad daylight. Bicycle thieves, yeah, but burglars who left notes were rare.

She knew Linus hadn’t slept any better than she had. He had been up and down several times checking windows and doors. Old houses tended to creak and moan. And last night was no exception. Their extra cautionary measures hadn’t made either of them feel any better.

Theo had arrived last night to take the police report. During his walkthrough, he’d also informed them that Greta Wilding’s rental had been hit an hour before Lake’s. Since both worked at the library, Theo figured the two break-ins were related.

She could still hear Theo’s words. “The footprints are from the same Adidas shoe, a size eleven with a distinctive diamond pattern on the sole.”

As she cracked eggs into a bowl, she realized the whole thing was unnerving. Through Theo, she’d learned that Greta had met up with friends at the Shipwreck until about eight-thirty when she’d left to head straight home to study. She’d found her little bungalow turned upside down, muddy footprints everywhere, and a note that read, “Remember.”

Lake jumped when Linus came up behind her to put his arms around her waist. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. But understandable.”

“You know what just occurred to me,” Lake began, “everything seems to tie back to the library, including the missing true-crime books on serial killers. Greta and I both work there. We must have interacted with this person more than once. And now he’s been in our houses.”

Linus had already thought of that. Something else nagged at him, but he wasn’t sure he should mention it. Lake seemed spooked enough. But he couldn’t ignore that both women fell within the killer’s targeted victimology.

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