21.

Chapter Three.

Addie followed directions and ended up directly in front of the most beautiful house she'd ever seen, The Apple Valley Inn Bed and Breakfast. My home. She pulled into the driveway and stopped, gazing up in awe. "Isn't that something?"

"It's big." Chloe got out of the car.

"It's beautiful!" Addie followed, grabbing her purse and the new ring of keys. The large front porch was welcoming, with patio chairs and small tables grouped in several spots.

"They left the furniture?" Chloe touched the back of one of the wooden seats.

"Yes, Tia agreed to leave it all. She took her decorations and wall art, but the furniture, including linens and table service, stayed." Addie fiddled until she found the right key to unlock the front door. It was dark inside, and she fumbled for a light switch. Finally touching one, she flipped it, and a lamp in the corner came on. "Good, the power is on. I called, but you never know. All the drapes and blinds are closed. Let's get some light in here so we can see what we've got." She went from one window to the next, drawing the curtains and raising the vinyl blinds.

"Oh, my," Chloe murmured.

At the last set of windows, Addie spun around to see her new home properly for the first time. Her heart sank. Trash, beer cans and food wrappers littered the floor.

"Those last owners were f.u.c.king slobs." Chloe kicked a pile of garbage, and something scurried out from it. "Oh, my G.o.d!" she shrieked.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" Addie moved closer. "It wasn't a rat, was it?"

"No, just a f.u.c.king big c.o.c.kroach, I think. This place is disgusting. I can't believe anyone would leave it like this for the new owner."

Addie walked over to one of the two sofas in the front reception and sitting area. Their cushions were askew, and she straightened one. Cigarette burns covered the top of the first foam pad. "I don't think Tia left it in this condition. Look at this." She held the pillow up.

"One little spot, okay, accidents happen. But n.o.body would allow this to stay on the sofa.

22.

She'd have had it recovered or replaced, whatever. No, I don't think she left the place like this."

"Let's look around some more." Chloe walked further into the house. She flipped on another light. "Hopefully, the kitchen's in better shape-"

Addie froze in her footsteps behind Chloe. "f.u.c.k me," she murmured.

The kitchen was worse than the front room. Food and trash littered every corner.

Insects had obviously taken over. Skirting piles of broken dishes, she went and stood in front of the state-of-the-art appliances. The fridge was open and basically empty. It looked like it had been clean at one point. Someone had spilled things all over inside, and it didn't look like an accident. The once-beautiful chrome stove was no longer silver. Addie's heart sank.

Someone had created a fire on top. The whole thing was charred black.

"This sucks." Chloe glanced around.

"The rest of the house!" Addie ran from room to room, racing up the stairs and throwing open every guestroom door. She was crying by the time she saw the last of them.

Pillows had been slit open, their feathers covering every surface. Curse words, carved with a knife, decorated the wooden dressers and headboards, and the mattresses were gutted, their coils and stuffing tossed around the floor. Not one room was untouched.

A faint odour of urine hung in the air. "Did they pee on the mattresses?" Chloe sniffed with distaste.

Addie held her head for a moment, then turned and marched down the stairs. She was shaking by the time she got to the main floor, tears turning to anger. Chloe stayed two steps behind her and thankfully didn't speak. Addie wasn't prepared to make small talk. She needed to call someone, but was so angry she had to take a minute and calm down.

There was a telephone at the reception desk. She picked up the receiver, not expecting it to work, but she got a dial tone. Punching in the universal number for information, she asked the operator for the number to Booklovers then let the woman automatically connect her for a small fee. What the h.e.l.l difference does a small fee make now? She looked around her inn in utter shock and disbelief.

"Booklovers, this is Melissa," a soft voice answered.

It threw Addie for a moment. Melissa. The brunette with deep brown eyes and a beautiful smile. She'd never expected to find someone who looked like that when she got to *

23.

Cattle Valley. Addie shook her head, clearing the image from her mind. This wasn't the time.

She glanced around. I never expected this, either. "Melissa, this is Addie Murphy. The inn is messed up." Her voice cracked with frustration.

"I'm sorry, Addie. I know Tia left in a hurry. She probably could have cleaned it better, but what I saw looked decent enough. Of course, I didn't dig around or look too closely."

"Did you camp out in here, maybe have a wild party or three, leave your trash and beer cans everywhere and p.i.s.s on my mattresses? Oh, and bugs. Now we have bugs, too. But no furniture or pillows, because those have all been ruined." Anger bubbled just under the surface, and Addie wasn't sure she could hold it back much longer.

"Addie, what are you talking about?" Mel asked slowly.

"The place has been trashed!" she hollered. "It's awful! Oh my G.o.d, it's f.u.c.king awful."

Tears choked her voice. She pulled the phone away from her ear.

She heard Mel talking on the other end of the line, but whatever the woman said didn't matter. She shouldn't have called her. The amazing, dark-haired woman had nothing to do with the inn, other than holding the keys. Someone had obviously broken in. She needed to call the police.

Addie put the phone back up to her ear.

"Addie, do you hear me? Let me hang up and call the sheriff's office. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"You don't have to come," Addie protested. I don't need that distraction. "I just didn't know who else to call."

"I'm on my way. I'll call Ryan, first. Hang tight, we'll be right there." The line went dead.

Addie hung up the receiver. She felt better knowing Melissa was coming, although she wasn't sure why. The whole thing was just so upsetting, she was reaching out to anyone she could.

"What's going on?" Chloe sat on one of the few remaining unbroken chairs, nibbling a candy bar.

Blinking at her in disbelief, Addie frowned. "How can you eat after seeing this?"

Chloe shrugged. "I'm hungry. We haven't had much to eat today. Breakfast and lunch were both quick snacks in the car. I hope we get something better for dinner."

24.

Holding her stomach, Addie looked around. "I couldn't eat if I tried. I hope I don't get sick."

"Me, too." Chloe made a disgusted face. "That would be gross." She finished the candy and lit up a cigarette.

"Would you take that outside, please?" Addie snapped.

"What the h.e.l.l difference does it make?" Chloe barked back. "This place is toast. A cigarette b.u.t.t or two isn't going to make it worse." She flicked her ashes into a pile of trash.

Addie watched in horror, thinking her head might explode. She strode out to the porch and grabbed the railing to steady herself. If she'd been standing on a bridge right then, her first impulse would have been to jump.

She tried to put herself in Chloe's place for a moment. The other woman didn't have every penny she ever had to her name invested in this ramshackle dump. No one could possibly feel as awful as she did. It was her burden to bear.

Two vehicles pulled into the driveway, one beside the other. A black SUV with police lights on top was first, but the driver of the little blue Mazda exited before the officer. Melissa didn't even close her car door, just sprinted to the front porch in a full-out run.

"Addie!" Her voice was breathy. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Addie replied bitterly. "It's my house that needs life-support."

Mel peeked inside the open front door. "Oh, my G.o.d! Oh, no!"

Addie watched her with surprise. What was she so upset about? Maybe watching the place had been her responsibility. Tia had never said so, but perhaps she'd left Mel in charge of the inn.

"Afternoon, ma'am." A young, dark-haired officer, dressed in a uniform shirt and jeans, stepped onto the porch.

Mel looked back over her shoulder. "Addie, this is Roy Jenkins, one of our deputies.

Roy, look at this!"

He tipped his hat to Addie and walked past, stopping in the doorway next to Mel.

"Holy s.h.i.t." He blushed a faint shade of pink. "Excuse me, ma'am. This is bad."

Addie moved behind them. "It gets worse. The kitchen is trashed. Dishes are broken, the appliances are ruined. There's not a piece of furniture that's usable." She looked in to where Chloe sat on the single chair, puffing on her smoke. "Well, except that chair."

25.

"d.a.m.n." Roy brushed past Mel and went inside. He surveyed the damage with Mel just a few steps behind him.

Addie couldn't bear to go upstairs again. She waited in the front room, looking out the open door.

"Obviously the work of vandals," Roy announced when they came back downstairs.

"Probably some kids from Sheridan. We have a couple of teenagers around here that might be talked into going along with this s.h.i.t. One of them must have mentioned the place was empty, and the others took it from there."

"Vernie Adams," Mel announced, shaking with indignation. "He's a no-good little twerp. He's banned from the store because Naomi's caught him shoplifting three times. Not that he knows how to read, mind you. The little Neanderthal probably just looks at the pictures."

Addie gazed at her. "You really think he might be involved in this?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. He drag races his car up and down Main Street when he knows there's no law around."

"Now, just hang on." Roy held up his hands. "We'll talk to Vernie and a whole lot of other people. But you leave that to us."

"It just makes me so-so-angry!" Mel's voice exploded, tears streaming down her face. "This beautiful place in shambles. It's not right. It's not fair! Addie shouldn't have to deal with this her first day in town." She spun around to face the wall, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Addie stared at her. She didn't think much could surprise her anymore, after the things she'd been through in her life. The vandalising of the inn had shocked the h.e.l.l out of her. Yet, Melissa-the s.e.xy, dark-haired woman she'd never expected to find-continued to surprise her.

A large, hulking figure filled the doorway. "Roy, what we got here?"

Addie glanced up at the sheriff she'd met earlier. Ryan something. His skin was slightly tinted, and she remembered he had a Native American name.

"Howdy, Chief Blackhorse." Chloe smiled, an annoying smirk on her face.

Ryan stepped into the inn. "It's Sheriff Blackfeather, ma'am." He dragged his gaze from her and looked around, giving a low whistle.

26.

"Well, Sheriff." Chloe stood, hands on her hips. "Doesn't look like you or Barney Fife here managed to do your job very well. How could you let this happen? We've come all this way only to discover our home is in ruins. How are we supposed to stay here? Seems to me your department ought to take some responsibility. Put us up in a nice hotel for awhile until we get this mess taken care of."