Passion In James County XI
Abby
By D.C. Roi
Chapter seventeen
Greg was puzzled. Most of the other people who lived at the lake left their cars outside all the time, but none of those vehicles had been vandalized the night before. And, contrary to what he'd told Abby, there weren't that many teen-agers who lived close by. Was it possible slashing of Abby's tire had been an act deliberately directed at her? If that were true, what was the reason behind it? And was that all the person would do?
He drove down to the main lodge, where the caretaker who looked after the development lived. Jim Dillon, the caretaker, was painting a snowplow outside the garage where the development's plow truck was stored. Greg parked his truck and got out. "How's it going, Jim?" he asked.
"Not bad, Greg," the caretaker replied. "I figure it isn't going to be long before it snows, so I need to get this plow ready."
"Yeah, it's been cold enough so it could have snowed a couple of times already this year," Greg said. "You see or hear anybody come in late last night?"
"I saw the Marklin's car come in," Jim said. "I was just getting in bed when they went by the lodge."
"Nobody else?" Greg asked.
Jim shook his head. "What's with the questions?" he asked.
"Mrs. Marklin's tire was slashed last night," Greg said.
The caretaker looked surprised. "No shit?" he said, "Anybody else?"
It was Greg's turn to shake his head. "I checked," he said. "The Marklin car was the only one."
"You think somebody is after Dr. Marklin?" Jim asked.
"Could be," Greg said, "Or maybe Mrs. Marklin. She's up here alone. It kind of looks that way to me. I mean, if it was random vandalism, it would seem your vehicles would have been hit, too, and maybe some of the others. From what I can tell, there were about five cars sitting out last night, a lot of them easier to find than Mrs. Marklin's."
"I'll keep my eyes open and tell Melinda to keep alert, too," Jim said. "If we see any strange cars around, we'll let you know."
"Thanks, Jim," Greg said. He got back in his truck and drove back to his cabin. Although he didn't want to scare Abby, he had an even stronger feeling now that the slashing of his neighbor's tire wasn't an accident. Maybe she knew some reason why someone might want to get back at her, someone who might have a grudge against her.
Before he went over to Abby's house, he went into his house and began a report on the vandalism incident on his computer. After he finished the report, he called the sheriff's office and asked them to advise the state patrol and Lincoln County Sheriff's Department about the incident and to have those departments be on the lookout for any suspicious vehicles in the area of the lake.
"You want us to have detectives take a run up there?" the dispatcher asked him.
"Not yet," Greg told her. "There isn't enough evidence. It's more of a hunch I have, really."
"You think this could be one of those stalker things?" the dispatcher asked.
Greg hadn't considered that possibility. "To be honest with you, I'm not sure what it is," he replied, "The stalker idea's a good one, though. I'll keep it in mind."
When he was finished with what he had to do at his house relative to the vandalism done to Abby's car, Greg walked over to the Marklin cabin.
Abby let him in. "You're early," she said. "The meatloaf won't be done for another hour, yet. I was just peeling potatoes so I could get the mashed potatoes started."
"You got another peeler?" Greg asked, "I don't mind helping."
"I'm supposed to be doing this for you," Abby said, "you don't have to help."
"A peeler?" Greg asked.
