Alone and Afraid (Rocky Mountain Home Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

arrived to install equipment for her television and internet service.  With her books, computer, television , and garden, she would be kept busy.  She didn’t need anyone or anything else in her life.
    She was surprised how little time it took the men to install the satellite and lines to everything.  She had already set up h er computer, so it would be ready when she had service.  It looked like she’d be connected to the rest of the world, today.  She had cell phone service, but except for emergencies, she had no one to call.  Or she should say, no one she wanted to call.
    As soon as the men left, Brooke checked her internet for world news, and then checked the local news of the town in Utah she ran from.  She was stunned to learn that her ex-boyfriend, David, was out on bond until his trial date, which was set for five months from now.  Her head started to hurt.  She felt a migraine coming on.  Her thoughts went back to the past month. She was positive she covered her tracks well enough that he wouldn’t find her.  As far as she knew, he knew nothing of her aunt or this cottage.  She forwarded her mail to a P.O. Box, and then forwarded it from there to here.  She took out enough cash from the bank before the move, so as not to use her credit cards or debit card.  She tried to think of anything and everything she could do to make a clean break, so she wouldn’t be followed.  Now she wondered if she had done all she should have.
    Geez, another knock at the door, did people think she was holding an open house?
    Upon answering the door, she saw it was the local sheriff.  “Sheriff, how can I help you?”  Brooke asked.
    “I’m sorry to bother you, but since I forgot to get a contact phone number from you, I had to make another trip out here.  I wanted to tell you that the lab did find blood on the plastic taken from your back -yard, and it was human blood.  The plastic had a stamp in one corner that said “Lonely Motel.” Does that ring any bells for you?” the sheriff asked.
    Shocked, Brooke waited a moment before she answered , “I spent the night there just before arriving here.  How would something from the motel get in my back-yard?  I assure you I didn’t take anything from the Lonely Motel,” Brooke said.
    “We ascertained it to be a shower curtain. I checked with the motel and there was nothing missing from the room you stayed in.  I also understand you had a complaint that night about hearing screams,” the sheriff said as he looked at her expectantly.
    “Yes, I reported it to the front desk and they called it in.  An officer came , did some checking, and found nothing. The woman in the room next to me said she had the television on too loud. So the conclusion was that I heard the television next door,” Brooke said.
    “Ms. Laine , we’re a little confused about how the shower curtain ended up in your yard, with enough blood on it to tell us that someone was seriously hurt or dead, but we will keep looking into it.  I need to warn you, though, not to leave town, and also keep a close watch around here.  There’s a reason someone placed the plastic shower curtain in your yard, and we’ll find that reason,” he said before he walked back to his car. Suddenly, he turned around and said, “I almost forgot, again, to get your phone number.” He paused, and then added; “Now we can end this right here if you’d like to confess.”
    She rattled off her number for him and watched as he wrote it in his little note -book. Then she said, “I have nothing to confess.  I haven’t done anything wrong, so maybe you need to start looking elsewhere.”
    She closed the door slowly, almost as if in a trance.  She tried to make some sense of what the sheriff said , but couldn’t.  How did the curtain end up in her yard, who put it there, and why did they pick her yard to try to hide evidence?  What was wrong with the world?  Why wasn’t she allowed some peace and solitude?