Such a Beautiful Family: A Thriller(51)

“Yeah, in the garage. The box is either labeled Tank or dog.”

“Thanks.”

“You okay?”

“Good as gold,” she lied, since she was feeling a little neglected, left to wonder if she’d made a mistake leaving a high-paying job. Images of sitting on the balcony with David while sipping wine, shopping with Hailey, and going on walks with Trevor had floated around her mind for the past four weeks. But now she wondered if she’d been delusional.

“Have fun,” David said before disappearing down the hallway.

But Nora wasn’t listening. Her thoughts were focused on the job she’d left. Except it wasn’t the job she’d been running from. It was Jane. And the mere thought of Jane reminded her that she absolutely did the right thing in leaving IMPACT. The last time she’d seen Jane was at work, more than a week ago, when she had introduced Jane to the woman Nora had handpicked to be her replacement. The decision would be up to Jane. Sabrina Gray was thirty-nine, divorced, with no children. She was upbeat, professional, and active on and off the job. She was easy to talk to, had many friends and acquaintances, and loved making connections. Sabrina would be perfect for the job.

It took Nora a good fifteen minutes to find a leash, but once she had everything she needed, she stepped outside with Tank at her side, inhaled the fresh pine air, and knew it had all been worth it: quitting her job, selling the house, everything. Sure, she might struggle at first with finding a new routine, but she would be fine. More than fine.

Energized and excited to be outside, Tank pulled her along the path that in just a few days he’d already become well acquainted with. Fifteen minutes into their walk, Tank led her off the trail where the soil beneath her feet was thick and spongy with layers of leaves and forest debris. Pretty soon, the canopy of trees grew so thick, she couldn’t see the sun overhead.

“What do you think, Tank? Time to go back?”

When she turned back toward home, Tank refused to budge. He was trembling. Something he did often. Tank was a scaredy-cat, afraid of the dark, yoga balls, garbage bags, you name it. She petted his head. “It’s okay, buddy. It was probably just a squirrel.”

Usually Tank was easily persuaded to return home, but not this time. His legs remained stiff, his body trembling. He wouldn’t budge.

A snap of a branch stole Nora’s attention. Fear surged through her and scrambled up her spine.

Tank barked.

Her hand tightened on Tank’s leash as she listened closely. Her throat closed up, making breathing difficult. What was wrong with her? Nora wasn’t usually one to get easily frightened, but there was something in the air; the trembling leaves and swaying tree branches told her so. She studied the pathway, trying to figure out which way to run. Was she closer to the cottage or to the house? She wasn’t sure. Panic made it hard to think.

Another snap, rustling leaves, and then thump, thump, thump, as if someone or something was running off.

Tank barked again. Nora’s heart raced as she peered into the semidark woods, relieved to hear footsteps fading until it was quiet again. Whatever it was had vanished into the deeper part of the woods, and she was thankful for that. Her dad said he saw a black bear once, but only once, and he’d lived in the area for twenty-five years. Mom had heard that mountain lions roamed the area, but that didn’t stop her from walking every day.

Did bears’ and mountain lions’ feet thump when they ran through the woods? Something told her the answer was a big no. “Come on, Tank.” This time when she pulled on the leash, he turned and followed along back the way they had come.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

As soon as Mom left his room, Trevor continued his search on the internet. Although he still hadn’t found anything on Jane Bell besides her connection to IMPACT, on the day of the barbecue an idea had come to him—maybe he could find information about Jane Bell using a facial recognition program. He hadn’t told his mom about his idea because first, he wasn’t sure if it would work, and second, he didn’t know how she might react to knowing he’d taken photos and video of Jane at the barbecue to use with the program.

He would try it out first, and if he came up with anything, he would talk to Mom then. There were a lot of facial recognition systems, and it had taken him a while to decide which one he would test out. Some required law enforcement qualifications. Others asked for nothing more than an email. He loved the technology. The fact that a program could capture, analyze, and compare patterns based on a person’s facial details fascinated him. The process had been used recently to identify demonstrators and rioters by looking at video taken by everyday citizens and journalists. The fact that people could be distinguished by an iris, voice-, palm-, or fingerprint was awesome, but facial recognition was obviously the most efficient, since it was fast, easy, and convenient.

As Trevor waited for the photos and videos of Jane to upload to his computer, he heard the front door clang shut. He stood and walked over to the massive window in his room. When Grandma and Grandpa had lived here, nobody used this room, so the window had no blinds or curtains. After a few minutes, to his left, he saw Mom and Tank disappear within the tall pines and redwoods. If he let his gaze follow the water’s edge, he could see the cottage where Grandma and Grandpa now lived. It was small, though, and he could really only see the deck that stretched out over the water. If he looked straight ahead, across the lake, he saw the house where Gillian lived with her mom. Since arriving in Whispering Pines, he hadn’t run into Gillian. He remembered what Gillian had said about her mom thinking the lake house was haunted. What if that were true?