Sound advice, yet she lingered, checking the log to match the time the call had come in to the previous two nights. A screener would have required a name and location before putting the call through to Ellie, but she had nothing more to go on than Unknown Caller.
Locking everything down for the night, she left the studio and hurried along the path to her house. The moon hung low over the lake, silvering the water and casting long shadows along the bank. The eerie wail of a loon sent another tingle down her spine. At least it wasn’t the scream of a peacock, though she was used to that screech by now. Her nearest neighbor had died some time back, leaving Ellie to care for the peafowl that roosted on her property.
She was only a few feet away from her back steps when the wail segued into a tremolo, the maniacal laughing sound of a loon sensing danger. Ellie turned to sweep the water. The surface was calm and the air still, but she imagined she could hear the low grumble of an outboard motor somewhere in the distance. The bullfrogs and crickets had long since gone silent. The predators owned the night.
What a creepy thought.
She’d allowed herself to get caught up in the spookiness of her surroundings and those staticky phone calls and now she felt the thump, thump, thump of an accelerated heartbeat, the cold sweat and tightened chest of paralyzing fear. She hadn’t suffered a panic attack in years, but she recognized the signs. The old defensive exercises came back to her automatically. Take deep breaths. Find a focal point. Picture your happy place.
The techniques worked if she allowed them to, but her instinct at the moment was to rush headlong for the house. She knew better. A full-blown episode could debilitate her for hours. Or she might stumble and fall on the uneven terrain in her freak-out. Better that she take the time to ward off that dark visitor.
Drawing in slow measured breaths, she found a distant spot on the lake where moonlight gleamed down through the cypress branches, creating delicate twinkles on the surface, like the dance of a thousand fairies. Ellie pictured herself in a boat, trailing her fingers through that cool shimmering water. Drifting, just drifting...
After a few moments, her heartbeat slowed and she turned back to the path, forcing herself to take her time. There was nothing to be afraid of in the woods. How long had she lived out here alone? Five years? Or was it six now? Despite the recent spike in violent crime in Nance County, she’d been perfectly safe in her bungalow. Nothing truly scary had happened to her since—
A twig snapped behind her and she whirled, peering into the woods even as she chided herself for an overactive imagination. Had a few prank calls really put her this much on edge?
He’s coming...
Thump, thump, thump went her heart.
Focus on the shimmers...
Taking another deep breath, she turned back to the house, using the solar lights that lined the pathway to guide her to the deck steps. She went up quickly and didn’t linger outside to enjoy the night air. Letting herself in the back door, she turned the deadbolt and quickly reached for the light switch, leaning against the wall in relief as illumination flooded her tidy kitchen. She concentrated on her breathing for several more minutes until the tightness in her chest eased and she felt steady on her feet.
Opening a bottle of wine, she took a glass with her upstairs where she settled for a hot shower rather than a long bath. Shrugging into her favorite robe, she went back downstairs to replenish her drink, carrying both stemware and bottle into her cozy den where she curled up on the sectional to watch late-night TV.
She dozed. Sometime later a loud noise awakened her. She thought she was dreaming at first. Even lying with her eyes wide open, she wasn’t certain the banging on her front door was real.
Her movements were sluggish as she sat up and glanced around the room, eerily illuminated by the flickering TV. She switched off the flat screen with the remote, wondering if the sound had come from the infomercial that had taken over the airwaves since she fell asleep. Reaching for her phone, she checked the time. Then she got up, still lethargic, still mostly unconcerned until the doorbell rang in quick staccato bursts that startled her fully awake.
She bolted upright on a gasp, realizing that the pounding on her door, the flickering TV and the infomercial had all been incorporated into her dream.
She wasn’t dreaming now.
Rising for real this time, she pulled her robe around her as she moved to the front window to glance out. The moon was still up, unnaturally brilliant as its light glowed over the pine forest. She could see all the way down her driveway to the main road. No parked cars. No lurking shadows. She checked the back door, letting her gaze move across the deck and slowly down the steps to the dock. Despite the full moon, the shadows were deep along the bank. A mild breeze stirred the Spanish moss that hung in heavy layers at the water’s edge.
Retracing her steps through the house, Ellie removed a key from a carved box on the console table in the foyer. She held it in her palm for a moment before unlocking the drawer and removing the small pistol she kept there for protection. She had another like it in her nightstand drawer upstairs.
Her late father had been the Nance County sheriff for nearly thirty years. He’d made certain that she and her brother knew how to respect and handle weapons from an early age, and after the disappearances, he’d insisted that Ellie learn how to protect herself.
If she’d settled down in a more populated area, she doubted she would
