Just Intuition Read online

  One hand on her coffee mug and the other on her iPhone, Erin opened the News App and thumbed through the highlights. Ever since the horrible events of 9/11, when she'd overslept and awoken to a world under siege, she began and ended her day with the news. She rarely missed a thing.

  Her ears pricked at muffled cries and a crashing thud upstairs. Allie! The all too familiar sensation of adrenaline knocking on her skull overtook Erin's exhaustion. The dog startled up ramrod straight and froze. For all her virtues, no guard dog was Fiona. Break in? Did the decrepit alarm malfunction? Why didn't Fiona alert earlier?

  Because she had learned to think and move, Erin was at the front closet in a few swift strides. She located the off duty pistol in her leather bag, unsnapped it from its concealed holster and palmed the 9 mm SIG Sauer P220 in one fluid motion. Up the stairs in seconds, she operated on instinct. In a half crouch on the balls of her feet, Erin continued down the hall on silent socks. Her nerves wired for sudden movement.

  Bathroom: Clear. Guest room: Clear. Windows: Secure. Nothing out of place. No sign of forced entry.

  Finally, she approached the master bedroom and toed the door from the side. The window was open and wooden blinds swayed in the breeze. There was the empty bed, but no sheets, no blanket—and no Allie.

  Panic rose in Erin's throat. She tore the window slats aside. Sunlight stabbed mercilessly into every dark corner. Thumbing the magnetic alarm contact on the window frame, confusion roiled in her gut. Why had the alarm not activated with this security breach? She dove onto her belly and peered under the bed, commando crawling behind the armoire. Nothing but a few dust bunnies. One ear against the oak floorboards, she held her breath to listen. The house was eerily still and only Erin's heart thundered in the silence. An unexpected wave of nausea overtook her and she swallowed hard, her face flushed with the effort.

  She lay still and tried to calm her breathing but a faint scrabbling noise sent her vaulting over the mattress. With the Sig 9 mm gripped in her right hand, she covered the hall, semi-barricaded by the doorway. Blood pounded in her ears.

  Light padded footsteps approached from below and Fiona's timidly inquisitive muzzle appeared at the top of the stairs. The dog proceeded down the hallway, sniffing the air as she walked. She stopped in front of the linen closet, peered with clouded eyes at Erin, wagged her tail once and lay flat. Nose pressed to the crack beneath the door, the dog emitted a low moan. Erin joined her outside the tiny closet, turned the knob and eased open the door.

  Her girlfriend curled in fetal position under the shelves of linens. Erin's internal panic reached a new crescendo and she touched her arm. Allie's entire body jolted upright and she smacked her head against the shelf. Mewling like a kitten, she thrashed against the tangle of bedding.

  * * *

  What woke Allie was the smell. Acrid smoke. Burning stench curled evil fingers into her nostrils. Throat constricted by fiery tentacles, she held her breath, eyes screwed tight. Her skin burned with furious intensity and she tried to kick, but found her limbs immobile. She was trapped in the blaze.

  The shadowy figure watched excitedly and raised arms to the sky.

  She struggled with all the ferocity of a wild animal. Incessant roaring intensified and descended in an incendiary tornado. Lungs ready to burst, she gulped air like the drowning and her tormented body freed itself.

  Hell's inferno opened to devour her.

  * * *

  "Wake up, baby." Erin's voice cracked.

  Allie's dark brown hair splayed across her face. A trickle of crimson ran the length of her eyebrow, drizzling a bloody streak onto the white fabric of the sheets. Fiona whined and tucked her tail between her hind legs.

  Erin dropped the pistol and gathered Allie in her arms. She felt hot. A fine line of moisture beaded her upper lip and she was drenched in sweat. Eyes wide open, she panicked and gulped for air. One hand brushed her bloody eyebrow and she stared blankly at the red smear.

  "It's okay. You're okay. It's just me." She whispered soothing words until Allie's movements calmed and her breathing slowed. She tucked her face into Erin's shoulder and Fiona's nose intruded to sniff wetly at her cheek. The dog huffed in relief when she reached out a trembling arm to encircle her. Fiona was apparently more of a comforter than a protector.

  "What's going on? Are you hurt? Are you having a nightmare?" Erin asked. She brushed disheveled hair from her girlfriend's forehead.

  "Burning in hell. Burning alive."

  Woven in Allie's hair, Erin's fingers froze.

  "Watching fire..." Allie whispered. She stared unfocused toward the end of the hallway.

  Erin turned to look. Nothing. Tiny hairs prickled the back of her neck.

  "Church Lady is gone..." Allie's whisper trailed off and she sucked in shallow gulps of air. Erin was now thoroughly transfixed.

  "Whaddyamean?" It all came out as one word. She made a conscious effort to maintain control. "What-did-you-say?"

  Silent for a moment, Allie's breathing changed and tight muscles released. "It's just a nightmare. I'm not crazy, you know," she whispered tersely into the folds of Erin's shirt. She was suddenly awake, aware, and very defensive. She pulled away and met Erin's gaze. Intensity smoldered in her dark eyes. "I'm not!"

  "I know. I'm always on your side, remember?"

  Allie kicked clear of the snarled sheets. Startled, Erin and the dog followed her to the bedroom. Fiona wagged her body in a semicircle beside Allie, who balanced evenly on both feet and faced the morning light.

  "What happened?" The adrenaline kick Erin had experienced a moment ago was making her lightheaded.

  "It was just a nightmare." Allie closed her eyes and filled her lungs.

  "I was afraid someone had broken in. I could't find you, and the window was open—"

  "It was hot last night. I bypassed that window when I set the alarm."

  "Oh," Erin took a step toward her. "I didn't know you could do that."

  "It's in the alarm interface toolbox." Allie scrunched her eyebrows and stretched to her full five foot nine inches, rolling her shoulders like a fighter. After a few more deep breaths, she shifted gears and made her way out the door.

  "Baby, wait!" Erin trailed behind her, snatching a robe from its hook. She caught up to Allie in the hallway.

  "You're not going out to slay the dragon in your tightie-whities are you?" Erin grinned. "You'll freak out the neighborhood kids."

  Allie grimaced, took the robe and draped it around her white T-shirt and blue polka dot panties.

  Erin made more coffee and meticulously buttered two slices of toast in the kitchen. Allie reappeared, her face scrubbed pink and her long hair tied back in a tight ponytail. A small skin-colored Band-Aid covered the corner of her eyebrow and she'd dabbed makeup on the red scrape. Dressed in jeans and black T-shirt with a little red maple leaf in the center, Allie's svelte physique made casual look hot. She was absolutely refreshed. Like someone had punched the restart button on her day.

  Fiona head-bumped Allie on the thigh and she opened the back door to let her out. Erin marveled at the blind dog unerringly picking her way down the steps to the yard, nose to ground. Allie sat in a kitchen chair, Android phone in hand, scrolling through her Facebook page. Wrong-Way Rachel appeared and wove a tight figure eight around their legs. The three-legged cat nimbly launched herself onto the table and swished her tail in Allie's face. She reached two fingers out to smooth Rachel's whiskers, which delighted the cat into making a happy chirping noise.

  "The cat—" Erin sputtered, "on the table—"

  "Sorry hon. You're right. We'll get the hang of this." Allie lifted Rachel and set her on the floor. A light dusting of feline hair marked the spot where she had been and Allie sheepishly swatted at it. With a twitch of her tail, and no farewell, the cat exited for her latest hiding place. Allie resumed browsing on her Android. Her expression was positively serene. Like Buddha.

  She suddenly rose and stood by the door where, two seconds later, the dog's ha
ppy grin and dangling tongue appeared behind the glass. She let Fiona in and the dog tracked muddy paw prints across the floor.

  Erin stifled a sigh and eyed the closet that held the sponge mop. She placed the café latté she'd made on the table for Allie. It was nice and frothy, just how she liked. Without looking up, Allie absently reached over, grasped the handle of the coffee mug and slid it to the right about a foot.

  Erin picked up the plate of toast and balanced the butter knife. She remembered to snatch a jar of homemade crab apple jelly from the fridge on her way back to the table. Before she could put it down, she fumbled and the knife lurched over the edge of the plate. It skittered across the table where seconds before the coffee had been. Erin cocked her head and stared at it and then the mug. Uncanny. She reached over and straightened the knife beside Allie's plate.

  "Pretty coffee, Honey." Allie smiled and picked up her mug to take a swallow. "Good too." It always made Erin smile when Allie called her that. Honey.

  "It's Saturday. I don't work tonight so I can sleep later…" Erin began, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. A crazy idea began to form. "Why don't we take Fuzzy Fiona for a walk? She could sure use one. I've been busy. You've been busy with your new job. Fiona deserves it." Erin knew she was manipulating Allie by using the dog, but a spark was igniting in her mind and it stifled her guilt.

  Allie's brow furrowed. "You know I have to go soon. I'm meeting the girls from work at Zumba."

  "Zumba? Is that even a real thing?"

  "Yes, it's a fitness class, and it's fun. Not everyone likes free weights and treadmills."

  "Can't you miss it once? Spend some time with me?" she cajoled. Allie hesitated until Erin pointed to the grinning dog. "Look at that face."

  That did it. Allie bent, rubbed Fiona's ears and retrieved her jacket from the hall closet. Erin patted the dog, her unwitting co-conspirator. It was simply an idea she had. There was no harm in walking a dog and having an idea. She glanced at the dirty trail across the kitchen. They could go right after she mopped the dog's footprints off the floor.

  CHAPTER TWO

  "How far into mosquito country do we actually need to go to walk the dog? She likes it fine just going around the block." Allie rolled up her window when the roadside brush threatened to scrape the side of the Toyota Tacoma 4X4.

  Erin kept her window wide open, her elbow propped up on the frame, cool wind ruffling through previously tidy hair. She knew Allie liked how it looked when it was wind-blown into disarray but it annoyed her when it whipped her eyes. She ran a hand through to straighten it.

  Allie was a city girl, born and raised in Toronto. Concrete and cultivated urban landscapes her home turf. She easily navigated Yonge Street in her black Mini Cooper during Friday afternoon rush hour traffic without losing her cool or spilling a drop of her latté on the leather seats. She knew the best outdoor sight-seeing patios at Church and Wellesley and was most comfortable on a proper sidewalk in a pair of good walking shoes. Allie stifled a grunt when the tires hammered over furrows in the road, jostling her harshly against taut seatbelt. She hunched further down and clung to the door handle.

  Warm and clear, the temperature would be eighty degrees by mid afternoon. At least the heat might drive off the majority of hungry mosquitos. They'd driven five miles from Morley Falls, and Erin navigated through a labyrinth of unmarked dirt roads. She pointed out a few squirrels and a raven along the way. Within minutes, Allie was disoriented.

  "What kind of animal is that?" She pointed directly ahead.

  Erin squinted her eyes. There were deer around here, rabbits and maybe the odd moose. She stole a peek at Allie, whose brows knitted together in concentration.

  "Oh, duh." Allie announced. "It's not an animal." A few seconds later a dark willowy shape materialized ahead when a figure emerged from one of the bush paths.

  "Who is that?" Allie studied the road, eyes wide. She sucked in a breath. When they drove closer, she let it out. It was a young girl, no more than eleven or twelve. Thin as a reed, she wore a long sleeved gray hoodie pulled up over her head and walked with an odd stiff-armed gait. As they passed, she turned her pale expressionless face toward them and vaporized back into the brush.

  "That was Lily," Erin told her. "She's old man Gunther's granddaughter and they live at a little place just in behind here. He's been taking care of her since her mom took off a couple years ago and nobody else wanted her. Quite a few guys liked going ice fishing with Gunther every winter but, in the last few years, he's turned into a hermit. Now he pretty much keeps to himself. Except for his grandkid, of course."

  "There's something about that kid."

  Erin nodded. Everyone in town felt a bit sorry for Lily, the poor motherless kid practically raising herself. The girl had unusually pale eyes and a thin frame. Her skin was so light, she appeared almost translucent. They rode on in silence, Allie massaging one temple.

  "I think I'm getting a headache."

  "I'm sorry I don't have any Advil." Erin glanced sideways at Allie and wondered how her girlfriend was adjusting to small town Minnesota life. Sure, there were negatives to being outside a big city, but there were good people here too. Allie had been here a mere few months. Would she miss being away from the Center of the Universe, as outsiders often laughingly dubbed Toronto? This was beautiful country and Erin hoped Allie might see that. She could teach her to navigate the interconnecting lakes by canoe. To find the moose feeding in the bog, to pick wild blueberries, maybe even catch a fish. They could sit shoulder to shoulder on their back porch, breathe pure air and watch sunsets with no suffocating city smog.

  Allie glanced back, eyes silently imploring her to slow down over the bigger bumps.

  Erin gripped the steering wheel and dodged potholes with easy familiarity, smirking an apology. Despite the deplorable road conditions, she was enjoying the drive. "Around this corner is a nice path we can walk on," she reassured her.

  Between them, the dog quivered with excitement, her nose scenting the air through the window. Fiona shared Erin's love of the rough country surrounding Morley Falls and was an eager walking companion. She bounded into Allie's lap with two paws on the passenger door when Erin ground to a halt on the road.

  "What's wrong?" Allie blurted.

  "We're here."

  * * *

  Allie cautiously opened her door and helped Fiona to the ground. The dog wiggled her body in circles, unable to contain her excitement. Allie looked up and down the dirt road, hemmed in on both sides by thick underbrush. She could not figure out where 'here' was.

  Erin hopped out the driver's side and slung her leather bag across her shoulder, messenger style, before setting off. A few feet in front of the truck, she pointed at a small gap in the brush and waved Allie over. "The trail is here." She disappeared and Allie rushed to follow.

  This was wild country and Allie's pulse quickened. The low brush was so thick that she had to hurry to keep up with Erin, already hidden from view only a short distance ahead. Fiona, nose to Allie's pant leg, followed her happily down the narrow trail. Ferns and low growing branches behind the dog swayed when Fiona's magnificent tail swatted them from side to side. With one arm awkwardly extended in front, she brushed a route through overhanging branches that grasped and tore at her hair like claws. Her free hand swiped at biting insects.

  Trees blotted out the sky and Allie heard only the buzzing of hungry mosquitoes and the panting of the dog. A branch cracked somewhere off to the left. Allie's scalp tingled. Fiona let out a low growl and planted her tail between her legs.

  It was suddenly too quiet, and too dark. The birds had stopped singing. There were only her footsteps and the branches ripping at her clothing. Darkness swirled around her. Humid earthiness of the undergrowth strangled her throat. She glanced over her shoulder. A shadowy presence was following. Watching. Waiting.

  She hunched her shoulders and scrambled faster to catch up to Erin, who kept up a jaunty pace ahead, ducking the occasional overhangi
ng branch. Streaks of sunlight pierced the darkness and the phantom vanished. Allie stopped and forced herself to take a deep breath. The dog nosed her hand and prodded her forward. There was no unseen menace, no danger. Was she being paranoid? She patted Fiona's head and hurried on.

  A moment later, the trail widened and they approached a clearing where she joined Erin who surveyed a field of moss. The incessant buzzing of mosquitos dissipated when they distanced themselves from the dank undergrowth to stand in the sunshine. Erin touched Allie's cheek, her hand cool against burning skin. Eyebrows squeezed together, she tucked errant strands of hair behind her ear.

  "I'm fine." Allie answered the unspoken question.

  Erin nodded. She turned and gestured toward the rough green carpet of plant life before them. "It's a floating bog," she announced, hands on hips like a proud land baron. "There's a fairly deep lake underneath all this moss." She pointed to what looked like a jumbled mound of weather-beaten sticks. "Over by the little creek is an abandoned beaver lodge but I haven't seen any beavers around for a few years now. As a kid, I used to be able to paddle down the river from my parents' dock, up the creek and through the culvert under the road to the far side of this bog. There was always a family of beavers slapping their tails at us, and it had a nice clear pool of open water."

  Allie smiled at the thought of Erin as a little blonde sunburned waif.

  "My brother and I liked to catch minnows all around that far side and sell them as bait to the tourists. It was better money than a paper route. Now the creek is almost dried up and you can't get a canoe in anywhere until you reach the river." Erin looked down at Allie's tidy leather shoes. "Back then, you'd be up to your hips in muck right here where we are standing. Instead of getting your city shoes sucked off your feet, today you're just getting your toes wet. It's amazing, eh?"