Chapter 7

Cam had just opened his eyes when Ellie opened the bedroom door. “You awake?” She whispered.

“Yeah.”

She entered, holding a steaming cup of coffee. He sat up and she handed it to him. He noticed she was wearing the same oversized t-shirt she’d worn to bed.

“You get finished?” He asked then took a sip.

“Yep.” She was fairly vibrating with excitement as she sat down beside him.

“And?”

“And I think I’ve figured it out.”

“Really? Tell me.”

“Okay, well, first I put all the images together on one canvas. I kept each one in its own layer so I could move them around and—”

“You just lost me.” Cam had no idea what she was talking about.

“Oh! Okay, hold on. I’ll be right back.” She scrambled off the bed and tore off out of the room.

He could hear the sounds of her feet as she moved through the house. The sound stopped for a few seconds then resumed. A few moments later, she was back. She rounded the bed and climbed on beside him, holding what looked like a giant tablet.

“What’s one big honking tablet.”

“Yeah,” she grinned. “It’s essentially a tablet computer. I use it for work. Anyway…” she activated the screen. “See? These are all the paintings. I took a photo of each one. And see here, on the side? Those are the layers, each photo in its own layer. See? I can turn them off and on.”

She demonstrated and he nodded his understanding. “Okay, so once I got them all on one canvas, I enhanced the lines.” She minimized the current window and opened another. This one showed all of the paintings again, but the lines that ran through each were now bold and black.

“So, this is the first possible combination.”

“Okay.”

She opened another window. “And here’s the second. I have one more. Three possible combinations.”

“So how do you know which one is the right one?”

“That was the problem! I was getting really frustrated so I propped the tablet on the kitchen counter and started fixing a pot of coffee. That’s when I saw it.” She switched back to the original image. “Look. See the horse? He’s not always facing in the same direction, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, what if the direction he’s facing is the direction we use?”

“Okay, but how does that connect the next one?”

“Because only one combination worked when I used the horse as the compass.”

She showed him a new image. “This one.”

Cam studied the image. Sure enough, it looked like some crazy map. “Great, but what’s it a map to?”

“That was the second problem,” she said and laid the tablet aside so she could turn to face him. She didn’t notice as she arranged her legs Indian fashion that she was exposing more than just her legs to his view.

Cam tried to keep his gaze on her face. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. Now if other parts of his anatomy would cooperate, he’d be fine.

“So,” she continued. “I asked myself. What was important to my father? Obviously, this place. And that white horse. And what’s so special about this place? Nothing that I’ve found, but obviously, there’s something because someone is trying to scare me into selling it. So, I figured it had to be a map of this property.

“I received a map with the deed, so I redrew it.” She picked up the tablet and opened another window. “It’s not to scale but it’s pretty close. This is the property.”

“Okay.”

“And this…” She diddled on the tablet for a moment then turned it for him to see. “This is the property map with the painting map on top of it. I removed everything but the lines.”

Cam looked at it and sat up straighter. “Hey now. You might be onto something. Look. Right there. That’s about where the house sits and where the map begins.”

“Exactly!” She grinned.

“That’s pretty amazing,” he said with a smile. “So, what now?”

“Now we get dressed and follow the map. I emailed a copy to my phone.”

“Mind if I use your bathroom first?”

“Oh no, I’m sorry. Of course. I have to get dressed anyway.”

She jumped up and made for the closet, pulling up her t-shirt over her head as soon as she opened the door. He saw her back stiffen and it dawned on him that in her excitement she hadn’t considered what she was doing—stripping in front of him. He found it amusing that despite what had happened between them she was shy about being naked in front of him.

Ellie hurriedly snatched a tank top from a small stack of clothing on the top shelf, pulled it over her head then grabbed a pair of shorts and stepped into them. “I’m just going to brush my teeth,” she said over her shoulder as she hurried from the room.

Cam grinned and watched her dash away. He got up, put on his clothes, and went into the bathroom. Just before he closed the door, he heard her call from the kitchen. “I have an extra toothbrush. It’s in the medicine cabinet.”

Cam found the toothbrush, did what he needed to do, and walked through the house to the kitchen. Ellie was standing at the counter, plugging in her tablet to an outlet.

“You want me to fix you something to eat?” She asked.

“No, I’m fine, but maybe I could get another cup of coffee to take with me?”

“Oh yes. Sure!” She poured another cup and handed it to him.

“Okay, let’s do this,” he said.

She grabbed her phone and opened the door. “Okay, so if I read this right, we need to go that way—to the stream.” She started marching and he followed.

“So, I guess you don’t need me to protect you from the snakes anymore?”

She looked over her shoulder at it. “Wrong, big boy. If I see a snake, I’m liable to climb you like you’re the only tree in the jungle.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

They made it to the stream and stopped. “Okay, so we go…left. I mean west,” she said.

“Lead the way, Tonto.”

“I think maybe it’s time for you to take the lead. I’ve never been past this point.”

“Oh, those snakes again?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay, give me the map.”

They walked in silence for nearly ten minutes, following the stream. “It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” Ellie asked from behind him.

“Yeah, it is. But damn odd.”

“So, you say, but maybe my father just spent his time cleaning up the woods and making a sort of park. Maybe he even put the quartz in the stream.”

“Maybe.” Cam couldn’t imagine why anyone would do something like that. Just the time alone would have been enormous, not to mention getting quartz shipped in to line the streambed. And even if he’d done all that, how in the world had the stream stayed so free of debris?

“How many acres are on the property?” He asked.

“A little over six hundred according to the information I got from the attorney.”

Cam stopped for a moment. “Okay, so best guess is that we’re probably less than a quarter mile from the line between our properties to the east. And six hundred acres is about a square mile. And we’re maybe a quarter of the way from the front line.”

“So?”

“So, just trying to figure out where on the property we are. I mean since the map isn’t to scale. That way if we find the source of the stream we’ll know about where it is, and you can add it to the map.”

“Oh, okay.”

They continued walking and he noticed that the stream had started to widen a bit. He turned to look at Ellie and saw her eyes grow wide. “Look!”

He turned back around and felt a shock. A very sizable body of water glinted in the near distance. They picked up their pace and when they reached the water’s edge; he knelt down and stuck his hand in the water.

“It has to be spring fed,” he said. “Water’s cold.”

“Is that good?”

“Well, it’s damn unusual. I’ve never heard of a natural spring around here.”

“How about a fairy house?” she asked and reached for his hand.

“A what?”

She pointed and he looked toward the far end of the pond. A lush green lawn, dotted with flowering trees and flowers of every imaginable variety led to a structure.

“Whoa!”

It was, as Ellie had said, something that belonged in a fairytale. Constructed of what looked like natural hewn wood and glass, in an A frame fashion, it had a big porch that ran around the entire structure and stairs that led up from the yard made of stone.

“Come on!” Ellie tugged on his hand and started running. They rounded the lake and came to a stop at a path. The path rimmed the house side of the lake and had an intersecting path that wound through the trees and flowers and led to the house.

“This is incredible,” Ellie breathed, looking one way and then the other as they made their way toward the house.

Together they walked up the steps and onto the porch. The entire interior of the house was visible through the wall of glass that made up the exterior front wall. There was a kitchen with a big island around which were four bar stools that occupied the right side. A big wooden table with six chairs sat in the dining area in front of the kitchen, looking out onto the porch.

A big rock wall separated the kitchen from the living area. It was solid only in the area where the fireplace was housed. On either side of that were openings so that one could see from the kitchen to the rest of the living area.

That area was furnished with two deep cushioned couches, several recliners and an enormous wooden coffee table upon which stood a carving of a running horse. Ellie went to the door and tried it. “It’s locked.”

“Well, did you get keys?”

She looked at him in surprise. “Yes! Well, I mean maybe. There were three keys. One fit the front door of the house. I haven’t figured out what the other two were.”

“Let’s go get them and see if one works.”

She looked back at the house. “Do you think this is really his, Cam? I mean, I thought he was poor. This…this is incredible.”

“Not to mention what it would have taken to build.” He remarked. “Just look at the land. There aren’t many hills in Florida, so all that dirt had to have come from somewhere, hauled in or something. And there’s no road so how the heck did he get it here—not to mention the rest of the building materials?”

“Maybe there’s a road in the back.”

“Maybe. But let’s explore that after we find out if you can get in the house.”

“Okay.” She turned and started down the steps then stopped. “Uh, which way? I mean I know we go back to the stream, but after that…”

Cam chuckled. “We walked upstream for twenty-six minutes so we walk back the same amount of time then head south.”

“How do you know it’s south?”

“Because my place is to the east and we went west, so it has to be south.”

“Oh okay, so let’s go.”

They started back the way they had come, both of them quiet. Cam imagined she was as shocked by what they’d found as he. And he couldn’t make any sense of it. If Mike Whitehorse had a place like this on his property, why in the world did he live in that rundown old house on the front acres? Or had he?

Suddenly a neighbor he’d never known was a real mystery. A mystery with a beautiful daughter he was more than a little interested in.

Ellie snatched up her keys from the counter as soon as they entered the house. “Okay, I have the keys. Come on. No, wait; let’s grab a couple of bottles of water to take with us.”

She went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator, handed one to Cam and opened the other. Cam opened his and lifted it to his lips then stopped.

Chugging down an entire bottle of water wasn’t an act he considered sexy, but watching Ellie tilt her head back and her throat work as she swallowed had a decidedly erotic appeal.

She finished off the bottle, put her hand over her mouth, burped, and then smiled. “Sorry.”

Cam had to grin. So much for eroticism. She grabbed another bottle then made for the door.

Despite the difference in heights, he had to hurry to keep up with her. She made a beeline for the fairy house as she called it. It wasn’t until they were walking up the steps to the house that he spoke.

“Guess you’ve gotten over being afraid of the woods and all the critters.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “Oh my god, I never even thought about it! Okay, let’s see if one of these keys fit.”

The first key she tried didn’t work and he could see the disappointment on her face. She looked at him and then the other key in her hand. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“Never know till you try sugar.”

She gave him a hopeful smile and inserted the key into the lock. It worked. This time the smile she gave him was one of excitement. Unfortunately, it faded almost as soon as it appeared.

“What if…” She looked at the door and then back at him. “What if I find something in there? Something horrible.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. But look at this place! I mean I know I’m not Einstein, but even I know this is strange to say the least. Florida’s flat, I mean, flat. So how the heck is all this here? A big hill that slopes down to a clear lake and a stream that’s filled with rocks that you say aren’t even found here.

“And how did he manage to build this place without anyone knowing? How did he get the materials here, or get it built? I mean it didn’t just appear so how did he manage to build a place that no one knew about and more important why would he do that? Why the pretense with that crappy house up front and all this here?

“Who was my father Cam and why did he do these things?”

Cam reached out to take hold of her arms, just above the elbows. “I don’t know, Ellie, and if you don’t want to know, just walk away. But if there are answers in there, isn’t it better to know whatever the truth is rather than spend the rest of your life wondering?”

She looked up at him for a few moments then nodded. “Then open the door, honey. I’m right here with you.”

“Gonna protect me from the snakes?”

“Always.”

One part of Ellie knew it was foolish, that his words were not meant as a real promise or some commitment. He was just trying to comfort. But another part of her succumbed to romantic fantasies and dreams and felt a thrill unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

She told herself she was foolish. Cam Marsh was out of her league. Entirely. The idea that he’d want a future with her was crazy. He could have any woman he wanted. Still, she couldn’t obliterate that foolish romantic inside who wished it were possible.

“My hero,” she finally said and then inwardly grimaced. That had not come out in the teasing way she’d intended.

Cam opened his mouth, and then closed it. She felt his hands loosen on her for a split second and in the next moment, he pulled her to him and covered her lips with his.

And time stopped. The universe held its breath and all that existed was frozen in that moment. There was only the feel of his lips on hers, the way his hands tightened on her arms and the heat of his big body as he pressed closer.

As hard as she tried to fight it, she was lost to the power of his touch. Her hands worked up, as if of their own accord to press against the firm swell of his chest. She didn’t know how long it lasted, but when he pulled back, she felt a bit like a plant denied the warmth of the sun. The world was just a little colder.

“You ready honey?” He asked She nodded and he released her. Hoping that what lay on the other side of the door would not bring pain into her world, she opened it.

“Oh, Cam,” she breathed as she walked in.

It smelled of cinnamon and sugar, of fresh baked cookies or cake, of Sunday morning latte in bed, of late-night hot chocolate on a cold night. It smelled…magic.

“Damn, what is that?” He sniffed. “You’d think it would smell musty, being empty for this long.”

“It’s not even dusty.” She noticed as she wandered into the living area. “It looks like it was just cleaned. It’s…it’s beautiful.”

“Yes, it is.”

She moved through the room to the kitchen. “Cam, look!” She called after opening the door of the refrigerator.

He came into the room. “It’s stocked.”

Ellie opened the adjacent door to the freezer section. It was stocked as well. Cam turned and pointed. “Pantry.” He opened the door. Like the refrigerator, it was stocked as well.

“This is strange,” he said.

“Maybe he’d just been to the store before…”

“That was months ago, Ellie.”

“I know but…but let’s finish looking at the rest of the place.”

A short hallway led off the back of the kitchen. A door to the right led into a laundry room. A door on the left led to a storage area. At the end of the hall was a stairway.

They took the stairs and emerged on the second-floor landing. Another staircase led down into the front room and there was one door that led to an enormous master suite with floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the lake. There was a large bathroom along the back wall, complete with a giant garden tub and large walk-in tiled shower.

They took the front stairs back downstairs. Ellie walked to the window and looked out. “This is…it doesn’t seem real, you know.”

“I hear ya,” Cam agreed. “Hey, wonder where that door leads?”

She turned and looked in the direction he indicated. There was a door on the back wall. She went to it and turned the door handle. Nothing happened.

“Okay, another oddity.” She looked at him. “No lock and it doesn’t open.”

Cam tried it. The handle turned but the door would not open no matter how hard he tugged on it. “Nope, it’s not budging.”

“So how do we open it?”

“Aside from removing the hinges, I don’t know.”

“So, let’s remove the hinges.”

“Probably gonna need a screwdriver or something to let the lock pin in the hinge pried up.”

“I have one at the other place. We could go get it.”

Just then, Cam’s phone chimed. “Sorry,” he said as he looked at it. “I need to take this.”

“Detective Marsh…Yeah, on my way.” He ended the call. “Sorry, I’m needed at the department. I don’t want you staying alone here though, so how about I take you over to the ranch?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’ll be fine. And I still figure out a way to pack up all the paintings.”

“I’d feel better if you went to the ranch.”

“Okay, how about this? Call and make sure it’s okay with Clint and Lily. I’ll find some old blankets to put in the bed of my truck and I’ll load the paintings up and take them over there. It’ll only take a few minutes. They’re all right there in the front room.”

“And you’ll wait for me there?”

“Yes.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay.” Together they made the trek back to his truck. Cam stopped and turned to face her. “We’ll get to the bottom of all this Ellie.”

She nodded and smiled, and he leaned down to give her a soft kiss. This time her arms snaked up around his neck and she was the one to initiate a deeper connection.

His toes damn near curled and for the length of the kiss all thoughts of getting to the department fled from his mind. His big head gave up control to his little head, making him want to scoop her up, take her inside and make love to her all day.

She pulled back and smiled up at him. “I’ll see you later, Detective Marsh.”

“Oh, you will, Miss Whitehorse. You definitely will.”

Her smile brightened a notch and she stepped back. “I’ll be waiting.”

Cam returned the smile and climbed in his truck. He watched her wave as he pulled off. That kiss was really something. He’d been attracted to her since the first time he laid eyes on her, and last night had ramped up the chemistry big time. Now he was having a hard time feeling comfortable in his pants.

Cam was definitely looking forward to getting back to her. A soon as he could.