A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) (27 page)

The cabin was separated from its neighbor by a thick grove of evergreen trees. Lindsey's footsteps were cushioned by the thick carpet of needles on the ground as she wove her way toward the Cattleya property. Through the trees, she could see the golden glow from the windows.
 

She focused on the house on the other side of the grove and inched forward through the branches. The underbrush rubbed against her toes and she wished she’d thought to change out of her flat, strappy sandals. She took another careful step forward, but this time her foot didn’t connect with the soft dirt, her body falling forward as she stepped into air. Panicked, she reached out to grab something, anything, to keep her from falling into the sudden opening in the earth.
 

“Eek,” she yelped, her grip on the thin prickly branch slipping.
 

Lindsey’s feet scrambled to find traction on the steep slope, but the puny lifeline gave way before she could catch her balance and she found herself sliding several feet, her bare arms scraping the bushes.
 

She came to rest at the bottom of a ditch and stood up quickly, assessing if anything was broken. Nothing hurt except for the painful welts on her arms from the slide, so she started climbing up the other side of the ditch. After a couple false starts, Lindsey crawled up the side of the crevice and stood, brushing the dirt off her clothes.
 

“Damn,” she whispered, checking a small tear in her favorite blue top. Her white capris were never going to be the same, either.

Her heart still racing from the tumble into the ditch, she crouched down on the edge of a small grassy yard, where she was hidden in the shadow of a leafy bush. Whoever was in the house hadn't pulled the curtains and Lindsey had a clear view of the well-lit interior.
 

From behind the veil of the hedge, Lindsey studied the car in the driveway. Pricey, of course. She squinted at the logo and through the dusky light, made out a BMW symbol on the rear of the car.
 

Movement inside the house caught her eye and Lindsey saw a woman crossing the room heading toward the wide window, facing directly out. Lindsey held her breath and shrank back into the shadows as the woman slid the windows open. With the house lit up so well, Lindsey had a clear view of Teri Schulman peering into the darkness.
 

What was the city attorney doing at a house owned by Cattleya, Inc.? And what was she wearing?
 

Lindsey’s mouth dropped. Teri Schulman's low-cut blouse showed off her impressive cleavage, a sparkling necklace drawing the eye to that physical asset. The city attorney also had put on lipstick and her hair was loose and framed her face. She looked... different. Relaxed. Sexy. She smiled and sipped her wine and moved around the house. A moment later, Lindsey could hear the sound of light jazz from the house.
 

She was really quite pretty, her appearance a stark contrast to when Lindsey had met with her at City Hall. Then, she’d been all business in her drab olive suit and too-tight bun. This Teri Schulman was a different creature altogether.

After what felt like an eternity, Teri walked toward the back of the house, where Lindsey could see a kitchen counter.
 

Lindsey slowly exhaled and glanced down at her light blue top and white capris. Had Teri turned to her right, there was no way she could have missed the reporter crouched in the hedges on the edge of her yard, even though Lindsey’s clothes were now smudged with dirt.
 

The house itself, which is all Lindsey had wanted to see, was small and rustic and fronted by a large covered porch. It looked simple, but Lindsey had no doubt that it was one of the pricier properties in the county.
 

Lindsey started to stand to ease her cramping legs, but the sound of car tires on gravel announced a new arrival. She dove back behind the thick brush as a silver Lexus parked behind the BMW. Floodlights on the front corners of the house flashed on as a man got out of the car. The automated convertible top rose out of the backseat, obscuring Lindsey's view of the man who walked up the front steps and entered without knocking.
 

Lindsey parted the branches, expecting to see Frank Derry going in to greet his wife. As the black convertible top sank into place, she caught a glimpse of the front door shutting. A moment later, she saw Teri walk in front of the window again, greeting the new arrival with a huge smile. Lindsey could hear the low murmur of voices, but couldn't make out the words.
 

She started to stand to move back into the woods when she heard the sound of a car door slamming, this time from behind her. The sound was more faint and came from the house she had passed to get to the cabin. Voices drifted from the neighbor's house, and lights flickered through the trees. The voices grew louder and higher pitched and Lindsey realized that the car had just unloaded a passel of children. More car doors, more shrill voices.
 

"Mom, where's the volleyball?"
 

An answering voice, then more lights filtered through the trees. Even if she wanted to try her luck crossing that ditch in the dark, now she had no choice but to leave by walking down the driveway. She turned back toward the cabin, and still crouching, started around the shrub. If she stayed low and on the edge of the cars, she could get down the driveway unseen.
 

She stepped onto the grass and the dark yard lit up like an airport runway.
 

"Eeep!" She leapt back into the bushes, the branches grabbing at her thin cotton pants.
 

Teri Schulman yanked open the door and peered into the yard which was now illuminated by the powerful motion-sensor lights on the front corners of the cabin.

"It's fine," a male voice said from inside the house. "Just an animal. Come back inside."
 

The city attorney scanned the yard again. Lindsey held her breath and tried not to move. Her legs trembled as she crouched, trapped in the shadows under the thick leafy bushes.
 

And now she was worried about animals, too.
 

The door shut and a moment later, Teri Schulman walked in front of the large windows that faced the yard. She slid a large pane open and her hair moved in the slight breeze. At the other end of the house, a small window lit up, probably a bedroom or bathroom. She glanced over her shoulder toward the two-story house whose yard she had trespassed through. Though the house was hidden by the trees, she could see lights and hear the sounds of a lively volleyball game and a half-dozen voices.
 

Lindsey got as comfortable as she could in the underbrush, sitting back on her heels to observe the house. She watched Teri Schulman standing at the kitchen counter preparing a meal, taking a sip of wine once in a while, swaying to the faint notes of jazz carried out through the now-open windows. From her cramped perch, Lindsey had a view of the simple but tasteful great room that also boasted a large window on the lake side of the house. Teri walked to the back window and slid it open. The light sheer curtains that draped the opening swayed in the breeze from the lake.
 

Wishing she had some popcorn, Lindsey watched the unfolding scene and waited for Frank Derry to come into view.
 

She shifted to find a more comfortable position to wait for an opportunity to get down the drive without being seen. Lindsey calculated the distance up the driveway, factored in her strappy sandals, and bit her lip. She'd have to really sprint to make it up the drive before Teri could get to the front door. It wasn't a race she'd dressed for, but if she waited until Teri was in another part of the house, maybe she'd just make it.
 

A shadow shifted and her heart jumped. She squinted into the deep gray depths of the woods. She didn't see anything but that didn't ease the nagging sense that she wasn't alone. The faint sounds of the neighbors were accompanied now by the sound of creatures in the forest coming to life, including the buzzing of mosquitos. Slapping at her bare arms, she again gauged the distance down the drive. Fifty yards, but it would be lit as brightly as a Broadway stage. Maybe she could try and creep along the edge of the yard, get beyond the range of the motion sensors, and then make a dash to the road.
 

She crept forward and stepped onto the grass again, careful to stay at the edge of the hedges. This time she made it two steps before the lights flashed on again.
 

"Christ!" she hissed, leaping back behind the shrubs.

Teri Schulman was at the door quickly, her figure in silhouette against the brightly lit interior. She shut the door and Lindsey sat down on the ground, feeling the twigs and needles from the evergreen trees poke through her cotton capris. The neighbor's party was in full swing on one side of the wooded area. If she moved toward the driveway, she'd be lit up like a Christmas tree and be on display for Teri and her husband to see. And wouldn't Frank Derry just love that—another chance to throw her into jail.
 

The temperature had dropped, but it wasn't cold. Which was good, because she was going to be here a while. She rubbed her arms in the cooling air and leaned forward to see what was going on in the house. The window at the far end of the cabin went dark and she heard a man's voice, but couldn't discern the words. She leaned forward in anticipation of seeing Frank Derry come into view.
 

She was so focused on the activities in the house, she barely heard the cracking twigs behind her. Turning, she peered into the dark, her heart pounding at the faint sound and a shiver running up her back.
 

Nothing.
 

She exhaled, willing herself to relax. She’d been born and raised in Los Angeles and was a city kid at heart. Being out in nature, at night yet, was not her idea of fun. She could do this, though. It would all be worth it to figure out what was going on with the city attorney and her link to the secretive corporate network that seemed to have an inside line on the arena.
 

She shifted back to keep watch on the house, just as a hand covered her mouth and a strong arm wrapped around her body, immobilizing her.
 

"Do not make a sound."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ben kept his hand over Lindsey's mouth until he was sure she wasn't going to scream. He hated scaring her, but there wasn't any way to let her know he was there that wasn't going to alarm her and if she screamed, the sound would have carried right into those wide-open windows.
 

"What are you doing here?" he asked, removing his hand.
 

She squirmed to get away, but he held her tight.
 

"What are
you
doing here?" she hissed.
 

"I asked first," he said, keeping his voice low. He settled on the pine needles and tried to get comfortable. He was still wearing a long-sleeved shirt and trousers, but had left his tie in the car. He hadn’t planned to spend his evening at Hunter Lake, sitting in the dark, fending off mosquitos, and fighting his impulse to pull Lindsey into his arms. But as he’d driven past the driveway Stanton had entered, he'd seen Lindsey's red hatchback parked on the side of the road. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
 

In the fading twilight, he saw Lindsey bite her lip before she answered. "I was following up on a lead. Your turn."
 

That wasn't the whole story. But then he wasn't going to tell her he was here because he had followed his boss whom he suspected of fraud.
 

"I was just out for a drive," he said.

She squinted at him. He gave her a smile and figured they were even.
 

Ben pulled a branch down so he could see the house. He'd caught a glimpse of the place from the end of the driveway, but then the floodlights came on and he was floored to see Lindsey scrambling into the darkness. He'd been so shocked to see her, he barely noticed who was at the door. Now he leaned forward, eager to see who Stanton was meeting out in the woods.
 

"Whoa," he said, catching a glimpse of a statuesque brunette decked out for a night on the town rather than a cabin in the woods. "Who's that?”

Lindsey giggled and he warmed at the unexpected sound.
 

"The city attorney, Teri Schulman," she said.
 

"No kidding." She didn't look like any attorney he knew.
 

"Hey, I'm right here," Lindsey whispered, jabbing him in the ribs with an elbow. He grabbed her and pulled her close. He wasn't sure if it was to keep her from fidgeting and drawing attention to them or if it was an excuse to touch her again. God, he had missed her. It had only been a few days, but his life felt decidedly emptier without her. Less exciting, too.
 

"She's not my type," he said, his fingers stroking her long hair. "But I can appreciate a beautiful woman."
 

"She didn't look like that when I met with her last week," Lindsey said. He could smell her perfume—floral with a hint of vanilla. He swallowed hard and tried not to think about what he wanted to do with her after they got out of the woods.
 

They were crouched together on the ground peering through the bushes. Ben rested his chin on the top of Lindsey's head and felt her soft hair caress his face. Despite their ridiculous situation, he couldn't think of any place he'd rather be than here in the dirt and bugs, spying on his boss—as long as Lindsey was with him.
 

He felt something under his leg. He retrieved a small novelty flashlight, before checking to see what else he was sitting on.
 

"Yikes!" Lindsey said, rearing back suddenly. Her head met with his nose and he saw stars.
 

"Oof," he said, his eyes tearing from the shock of pain. He reached up to feel if his nose was broken.