Murder At Granite Falls

“Are you a regular teacher here?”

“Honey, I graduated from Granite Falls High. I went off to Montana State, came back, and I’ve taught here ever since. Ten years.”

“You must know all of the families well, then.”

“It’s a really close-knit community. Tourists come and go, but the locals really watch out for each other.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Carrie muttered under her breath. Really glad.

“Hmm?” Marie gave her a distracted glance as she held up her hand to slow down a straggler racing for the door. “I hear you’ll be full-time in the fall. Where did you teach before?”

A brief, painful memory of Billy’s erratic, footloose ways cut through Carrie’s thoughts. “Until now, I’ve…just been able to do some substituting, now and then. We moved around a lot.”

Marie gave her an approving smile. “Lucky you to find a permanent position here. It isn’t easy, these days.”

“I know. And I’m thankful for this summer job, too. I need the money.”

Marie chuckled. “Don’t we all. Did you find a decent place to stay?”

“I have to start looking for something long-term in the fall, so let me know if you hear of anything. I have just a summer lease out at a rafting company property.”

“Which one?”

“Wolf River. Logan and Penny Bradley.”

“Really.” Marie’s eyes widened. “How did you end up there?”

“Weeks of searching on the internet—and the first day the apartment was listed, I nabbed it sight unseen. It’s really nice,” Carrie added, feeling defensive at the hint of incredulity in the other woman’s eyes. “Despite being a little noisy with the tourists coming and going on raft trips. I moved in over the weekend, and it was crazy on Sunday.”

“I can imagine.” Marie looked at her closely. “And what about the Bradleys? Have you had a chance to get to know them?”

“Not really, but they both seem like nice people.”

“Yes. Well…I’m sure they are.”

The tone in her voice didn’t ring quite true. “Is there something I should know?”

After casting a glance down the hall to where several teachers had emerged from their classrooms and were striking up a conversation as they headed toward the door, Marie flashed a diffident smile. “Well, I’m not one to gossip, you know. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything.”

“Now you have me worried.”

“Well…the Bradleys had a little…uh, trouble a year or so ago.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing proven,” Marie reassured her. “It all turned out okay…for them. There are people around town who still really want answers, though. Hey, I’d better get busy, or I’ll be here all afternoon.”

Nothing proven? Uneasy, Carrie watched Marie waggle her fingertips in farewell and scuttle across the hallway to her classroom. First Deputy Munson and now Marie had hinted at trouble, though neither had given her any concrete reason to worry.

So what on earth was going on? Tomorrow afternoon she had to go back to her brother’s ranch to pick up the last of her possessions, but when she returned, she was going to find some answers.

Not again. Carrie stilled. Held her breath. There it was—a rustle in the bushes—closer, this time. The muted crunch of pine needles. The snap of a twig.

And another.

It wasn’t the bears this time, though she might be the only person who’d ever wished it were. They tore at the garbage can lids with single-minded determination, heedless of the noise they created. But this was too quiet. Too stealthy.

And it wasn’t a wolf.

The looming threat out there was human and she’d never felt so alone.

She eased the blinds away from the window and peeked out, thankful that the apartment was darkened already, but frustrated by the dim sliver of moon that had long since slipped behind a threatening blanket of clouds.

Marie’s words from this morning ran through her mind again and again. The Bradleys had experienced a “little” trouble a year or so ago.

After class ended at noon, Carrie had taken the long trip to Trace’s ranch, and hadn’t made it back to her apartment until dusk. Logan’s pickup was gone, but Penny had just returned with her evening float trip customers and their cars were still parked next to both buildings.

She’d had to park farther away than usual, just beyond the bright pool of light beneath the security lights shining from the peak of the boathouse and the top of a single pole close to the river landing site.

It hadn’t seemed important at the time, with a noisy group of rafters chattering along the shore as they peeled off their life jackets. But now…

She drew in a sharp breath as a hunched dark form materialized out of the gloom next to her old SUV and crept from one door to the next, trying the locks. Lord—what do I do now?

She could yell and startle him…but what if he then came crashing through her apartment door? Her heart pounding, she stepped away from the window and took a slow, faltering breath, trying to still her trembling fingers and shaking knees as she punched 911 into her cell phone.

Four rings.

Five.

Six.

Why wasn’t anyone answering?

Moving back to the edge of the window with the phone at her ear, she furtively stole another look.

The stranger wasn’t by her Tahoe. He now stood a few feet away from it, something gleaming at his side. And he was staring right at her window as if he knew exactly where she was standing. As if he were taunting her.

“911. What is your emergency?”

She stood frozen, staring through the blinds as the figure melted back into the shadows.

“You have called 911,” the dispatcher said with an edge to his voice. “State your name and the emergency, please.”

“I…I think there’s someone outside. Trying to break into my SUV.”

“Your location?”

“Nine miles north of Granite Falls. Wolf Creek Rafting Company.”