Cove House

By Lori Haynes

It was supposed to be a simple job in a quiet setting…

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Banham has been hired to paint a watercolor landscape in a small town in northwestern Michigan. At first, it seems like the perfect job. She gets to live in a quaint lakeside cottage perched above a sandy beach. But it’s not long before the peaceful setting turns deadly, putting her in the path of danger. In the midst of confusing and horrific events, a piece of her past she thought buried, is thrust back into the present and sets her on a path where she must fight to stay alive and be clever enough to gain back her freedom.

Sheriff Aiden Brock is determined to figure out what is going on in his town. Everything seems to be centered around Cove House and its pretty new inhabitant. Dead bodies have started turning up and evidence surfaces that makes him think someone close to him may be on the wrong side of the law. Can he stop those responsible for the trail of death and destruction? And, if he can, will he be able to stop them in time to save Lizzy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483573991

Book preview

me.

It’s done.

Can it be traced back to any of us?

No. The sheriff thinks it was just an accident. Not uncommon given the last hurrah of tourist season and all that.

Good. After a slight pause, the man continued. Keep an eye on the situation. Deal with it more…permanently if anything changes. The man in the chair finally looked up from the android tablet he’d been studying. Is the next shipment on schedule?

He knew better than to provide any response other than yes, but with the recent problems, he wasn’t at all sure he could make good on an affirmative answer. Still, he nodded his head once and prayed he wasn’t signing his own death warrant.

Good, the man repeated and returned his gaze to his tablet, effectively dismissing him.

He took his cue and left, breathing an inaudible sigh of relief as he went. He would never get used to being around his boss. It wasn’t just that the man was cold as ice and capable of anything, it was that he seemed to enjoy it when matters had to be dealt with and things turned deadly. He just hoped he wasn’t the next victim of an ‘unfortunate accident’.

Lizzy’s destination was a few hours away–assuming she didn’t get lost–and she wanted to get there early enough to look around the place and start settling in. The directions she had received via email were printed out and on the seat next to her, but she had read through them so many times, she was unlikely to need them. And they were simple enough. The place really shouldn’t be difficult to find.

As she drove down the interstate, she looked around at the beginnings of Fall colors among the trees lining the road. Most of the leaves were still green, but some of the early ones, like Aspen, were just beginning to turn a bit yellow. Soon this area would be a riot of brilliant reds, vibrant oranges, and bright yellows. They would quickly fade to brown and then fall to the ground, leaving skeletal trees shivering in the early winter winds. It always amazed her how quickly the colors changed this time of year. She made a mental note to drive back this way in a few weeks when the colors would be at their peak. Maybe that would be her next project.

After taking the exit indicated in the instructions, she turned left onto a two lane blacktop into what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Within a few minutes, however, she passed the sign welcoming her to Pendant Cove, and proudly proclaiming a population of 1926, and then, almost instantly, she was driving through the center of the town.

She slowed the car and looked around. It was like going back in time. Many of the store fronts were connected along the sidewalks on either side of the street. She saw a bakery with an array of donuts and pastries visible through the front window that looked guaranteed to add five pounds just by walking by it. There was a restaurant that looked like the kind that catered to families. She was surprised to see there was only one bar. Her experience with small towns had been that any town with a population under 2000 had a minimum of three bars on Main Street. She came to what looked like the town’s only gas station and pulled her Subaru up to one of the four available pumps.

As she stood there waiting for the tank to fill, she casually looked around, trying not to look too out of place. There were people walking around, many of whom had the look of tourists, so she didn’t think she’d have a problem blending in. Suddenly, the back of her neck tingled and she had the feeling of being watched. She tried to ignore it, telling herself it was just her over-active imagination. The pump clicked off and the handle released. She replaced it and screwed the gas cap back into place and took her credit card receipt.

As she climbed back into the driver’s seat, the feeling of being watched was so strong it made her movements jerky from self-consciousness. Once inside her car, she looked around as much as she could without being too obvious about it. She still didn’t see anyone openly watching her, but she was sure that behind one of the many storefront windows someone was carefully scrutinizing her.

She pulled the car back out onto main street and immediately stopped at a red light. Looking around, Lizzy thought it might be the only traffic light in town. Just through the light on the corner opposite the gas station was what appeared to be the town’s only grocery store. As much as she just wanted to keep on driving and leave the feeling of being watched behind her, she knew she needed to stop and get at least a few food items. Since it didn’t look like the town boasted any fast food or takeout restaurants, she was going to need some groceries in the house if she planned to eat at all during her stay here.

She parked the car and walked through the automatic doors. The town had an old-fashioned look and feel to it, but the inside of the grocery store looked much like any small town grocery store. She grabbed a basket and headed toward the produce section. The produce turned out to be surprisingly fresh and varied and even included a few organic choices. Not knowing what utensils would be available in her new kitchen, she picked up a head of romaine lettuce and a bag of baby spinach. She got a cucumber and a couple of ripe, red tomatoes. Deciding she needed a little protein to go in her salad, she found her way to the dairy section. The cheese selection was more what she expected from a small town grocery store—not many varieties—but what there was seemed pretty fresh. Lizzy grabbed a bag of already-shredded cheddar cheese and tossed it in her basket, followed by a dozen eggs (hoping there was at least one pan in her new kitchen) and a large bottle of water. As an afterthought, she added a bag of Pepperidge Farm Mint Milano cookies to her basket and then headed for the check-out counter, eager to be on her way. It had been a long drive and she wanted to get settled in before dark.

There were two checkout counters, but only one that boasted a cashier. Standing at the register, flipping through the pages of a magazine lying open on the counter in front of her, was a young girl, maybe 16 or 17. With her head tilted toward the magazine, her face was largely obscured by thick, straight, shoulder-length, dark hair. As Lizzy approached the counter, the girl looked up showing a cherubic face with bright green eyes. She hastily slid the magazine under the counter and presented Lizzy with an open smile. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling back.

Did you find everything ok? The perfunctory question came as the girl began pulling items from Lizzy’s basket and running them across the scanner.

Yes. Thanks. Lizzy noticed her name tag identified the girl as Emily.

Emily bagged her items, took the cash from Lizzy, counted the change back and wished her a good evening, her smile never dimming. Lizzy wondered if Emily was one of those people who always seemed to be happy.

Back in her car, Lizzy checked her directions once more. She just needed to make a right turn back onto Main Street and the next street should be Scenic View Loop. She only had a few more miles to go.

Scenic View Loop was indeed the next street, with a bank on one corner and a park on the other. The street didn’t cross Main Street, making a right turn her only option. To her left, on Main Street were buildings identified clearly as City Hall, Sheriff’s Office, and the Post Office. The City Hall building also indicated it was the location for visitor information, presumably in the form of a rack filled with pamphlets showing a map of the town and any tourist attractions the town boasted. Lizzy made a mental note to stop by and pick one up the next time she was in town.

She took the right onto Scenic View Loop and looked around as she drove. On her left was the park which turned to thick woods with a variety of deciduous trees, none of which appeared to be starting the transformation to Fall, though there was just enough nip in the air to hint at the approaching season change. The trees all looked old and sturdy and she thought it looked like there might be a few trails weaving through them. She would have to check that out.

Along the right side of this stretch of Scenic View Loop appeared to be backyards of houses at the ends of a couple of cul-de-sacs. The yards were large and seemed to be well tended. Some were fenced with swing sets and playhouses. Lizzy saw a dog or two as well. At least from her current limited vantage point, they looked like nice neighborhoods.

When she’d gone almost two miles, she began watching for the next–and last–turn that would take her to her new temporary home. She saw the sign indicating an upcoming U-turn in the road which would ultimately take Scenic View Loop back to Main Street to complete the loop. She also saw the sign saying a scenic overlook spot was just a half mile away. She had just past these road signs when, just as her printed directions indicated, she saw a road–if it could be called a road–which turned off to the right. The street sign identified it as Cove House Road and Lizzy turned her Subaru onto the narrow dirt lane. The road was lined with trees on both sides, similar to the ones that made up the woods she had past moments before and the thought crossed her mind that this entire area must once have been nothing but woods.

The trees thinned and a very sweet Cotswold Cottage style house came into view. The outside was stone with a large chimney near the front door which, she guessed, meant there was a fireplace in the living room. That would be nice if she was still here when the weather turned cold. As she stepped out of the car, she realized the cold weather wasn’t very far off. She could hear the waves from the lake below and knew that, this close to the water, it would likely be cold and damp for most of her stay here. She turned toward the sound of the water and saw a very large lake reflecting the glow of the sun which was rapidly slipping toward the edge of horizon. She had made it before dark, but only just.

She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and rummaged in it till she found the key she’d been sent, then scooped up the groceries and followed the stone walkway to the arched front door. The key turned easily in the lock and she wondered how long it had been since someone had been here. She pushed open the door and managed to find a light switch just inside. She had a split second of panic over whether or not the electricity would be on, but the room was sufficiently illuminated from the fixture in the center of the ceiling. She was in the entryway or vestibule as it was likely called when the house was built, probably sometime in the early 1900’s. To her right was a coat closet and straight through was the living room.

Lizzy continued through and found a lamp just to the right, which she switched on. It wasn’t yet dark outside, but the sun was low in the sky and, at least on this floor, the curtains all appeared to be drawn. Since the sun would be setting soon, there was no point in opening any of the curtains now. She looked around the room and, as she had guessed, it was dominated by a large and prominent corner fireplace. At the back of the room was the stairway to access the second floor, which she knew from the dramatically sloped roof would have sloping ceilings in each of the bedrooms. To the side of the room was a large arched doorway which she guessed led to a dining room and/or kitchen. She headed in this direction, hoping the refrigerator would already be running and usable. She got half her wish. It was completely clean and usable, but turned off. She set her things on a counter and adjusted the temperature dials in the fridge and freezer.

As she put her few groceries, except for the cookies, in the rapidly cooling refrigerator, she glanced around the kitchen. It was reasonably good-sized, certainly big enough for her needs, and looked as if it had been remodeled, or at least refurbished, recently. The appliances were a bit plain jane and all white, but they all looked fairly new. In fact, now that she looked closer, the refrigerator and stove both looked as though they had never been used. So either whoever had cleaned them last was extremely compulsive about getting every speck of grease and every water spot, or no one had used them since they had been installed. That was definitely odd.

There were considerably more cabinets and counter space than would have been in the original construction and, again, everything looked fairly new and completely unused. Atop the counter near the refrigerator was a microwave oven, a coffee maker–damn, she hadn’t even thought of buying coffee at the grocery store–and a stand mixer, of all things. There was even a toaster. All items she could certainly make use of while she was here, but not items she had expected to find in a normally empty house.

She opened the bag of cookies and took one out, leaving the bag and her purse on the counter. She decided to look through the rest of the house before bringing in her suitcase, munching the cookie as she looked around. There was a small landing where the kitchen doorway led to the back door. Opposite the back door was another door which, she was sure, would expose stairs that would lead to a cellar. In addition to the furnace and hot water heater, the cellar likely housed a washer and dryer and was probably lined with shelves to store bottled fruits and vegetables, etc. She had no desire to head down into a dark, damp cellar just now, but instead retraced her steps to the dining room.

Centered exactly in the room was a perfectly square, solid-looking wood dining table surrounded by four ladder-backed chairs. As she walked past toward the living room, she casually traced her fingers across a corner of the table and was surprised to discover there was absolutely no dust on its surface. Someone had been in to clean very recently. Because all of the arrangements for this commission had been handled strictly via email and she had been informed that the house was empty, she had expected to find sheets covering the furniture and a significant layer of dust covering every available surface. It was a pleasant surprise to find the place so clean and ready to be lived in, even if it did seem a bit odd to her.

Lizzy walked back through the arched doorway into the living room. The corner fireplace was lovely, with a Colonial mantle, brick facing, and a wood shelf and frame; very traditional for a Cotswold Cottage style house. This too had been scrubbed to within an inch of its life. Not only was there no dust on the shelf, but the wood shone from a recent polish and the brick facing looked as if it had been sandblasted, it was so clean. The hearth was spotless and not only was the grate amazingly clean, wood had already been laid for a fire. Lizzy could see kindling and a bit of newspaper under two split logs, just waiting for the touch of a match. She had no doubt that somewhere outside near the house she would find a fully stocked woodpile. And probably a basket of kindling on the back porch.

It was very kind of Mr. Prentice to have hired someone to clean the place for her, but whoever had done the actual cleaning had certainly gone above and beyond what one would expect from a cleaning service. And why did all of the appliances look so…unused? Lizzy couldn’t be sure if they were brand new or if they were perhaps a couple of years old, but they certainly looked as if no one had ever used them. As she looked around the living room, the same could be said about the furniture in here. There was a fairly simple blue and green chintz covered love seat with two matching chairs. The set could be ten years or ten days old, it was difficult to tell from the style, but they certainly didn’t show any signs of wear. There was also a small, oval coffee table in which Lizzy could see her reflection.

In general, the room looked comfortable, even homey, but there was still something about everything she had seen so far that niggled at the back of Lizzy’s neck. A feeling she had learned long ago to not ignore. She wasn’t ignoring it now. She just didn’t know what was causing it or what she should do about it. She moved through the living room to the stairs that led to the second floor where, presumably, she would find bedrooms and the bathroom. Which now that she thought about it, she could certainly use. She hoped whoever had cleaned everything had thought to put a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about it at the grocery store.

She needn’t have worried. The bathroom was spotless and not only stocked with a roll of toilet paper, but also had a new bar of hand soap at the sink, a new bar of bath soap by the tub, and a clean (and new looking) hand towel, bath towel and washcloth. Lizzy had been afraid there would be no shower, only a bathtub, but at some point a shower had been installed and the walls around the tub had been covered with ceramic tiles. Not a hint of mildew or discoloration on any of the grout.

With a now comfortably empty bladder, Lizzy left the bathroom at the top of the stairs, and turned down the hallway. There was an open door on either side of the hall, each leading to a bedroom. The bedroom on the right was the smaller of the two, but it boasted a small dormer window which faced the lake side of the house and would likely have a fair view. It also had a second window on the side over the driveway. The curtains up here were drawn as well and when Lizzy parted them to look out, she discovered that it was almost completely dark outside. It always snuck up on her this time of year–how quickly dark settled in once the sun was down. So far, this was the only empty room in the house. Not so much as a cedar chest or off-season clothing hanging in the tiny closet.

Lizzy left the small bedroom and went diagonally across the hall to the bigger of the two bedrooms. This one was furnished with a beautiful mahogany four poster bed topped with a thick quilt and pillows. Given what she’d seen throughout the house, she suspected the sheets beneath the quilt would be fresh and clean. Matching night tables sat on either side of the head of the bed and a dresser, which also matched, sat against the wall between the hall door and another door which turned out to be the closet. Opening the door, Lizzy was pleased to see a larger closet than the one in the smaller bedroom. Although, why it pleased her she couldn’t say. She hadn’t brought along enough clothing to fill even the smaller closet, let alone this one. The closet was empty, but upon opening the dresser drawers, Lizzy discovered that two of the four were empty, but the bottom two held extra towels for the bathroom and a set of sheets for the bed, all neatly folded.

She headed back downstairs. It was already dark and she still needed to unload her things from the car. She was relieved to find that there was a working porch light bright enough to illuminate the stone path to the driveway and her car. She brought in the one large suitcase, a small bag containing extra shoes and a pair of boots, and her laptop. For now, she just set the things inside the vestibule and went back to her car for the important items. In the back of her Subaru Forrester, were two leather cases, similar to briefcases, but slightly larger. She deposited these next to her suitcase and went back for the last two items. One was a collapsible easel, the other was a large, flat case with hard, inflexible sides and handles on three sides. This last item contained a half dozen sheets of 300lb paper with the rough surface she preferred for her finished work. It also held a large pad of less expensive paper which she used to make the initial sketches prior to actually starting to paint.

Lizzy locked the car and headed toward the house with the last of her things. Walking along the stone path, she was focusing on not tripping on the uneven stones, when she caught a flash of light from the corner of her eye. She stopped and looked in the direction she believed the light had come from, but she couldn’t see anything. Perhaps the light had come from a boat out on the lake. But who would be on the lake at this time of night this time of year? It would be freezing out there in the dark. Had the light been low enough to be on the lake? It seemed like it had been closer to her level rather than at the level of the lake, the shore of which was at the base of a cliff at the edge of the property. She wasn’t sure how far down the lake actually was, but when she had looked out over it upon arrival, it had seemed like the house sat atop a pretty high cliff. Maybe she had misjudged the height and the house was closer to the level of the lake than she originally thought. After all, it wasn’t as if she had gone to the edge and looked down. She would get a better feel of the property and the lake tomorrow in the daylight.

Dismissing the flash of light—which she had nearly convinced herself she had imagined anyway—Lizzy finished her walk up the path, turned and locked the front door behind her, and carried her art supplies up to the smaller of the two bedrooms. It was nearly perfect that this room was unfurnished. It would work very well as a place to keep her things and work on the painting. And with the curtains open on the windows, she’d be able to get some natural light in the room as well. She laid the large case flat on the floor and set the easel up in the middle of the room, then went back downstairs to get the other stuff, except the laptop which she left on the coffee table.

Once she had the cases containing all her painting supplies safely ensconced in the small bedroom, and her suitcase and shoes deposited unceremoniously on the floor in the bigger bedroom, she went back down to the kitchen to see about putting together that salad.

Lizzy began opening cupboards, looking for a pan to boil a couple of eggs and a plate and fork. What she actually found was a complete set of good quality nonstick pots and pans, a complete set of dishes for a service of eight along with accompanying flatware. There were coffee cups that matched the dishes and a set of eight 16-oz glasses. These couldn’t possibly have been put here solely for her use. Mr. Prentice knew she would be coming alone. Did he have friends or perhaps children who occasionally used this house as a vacation spot? As with the appliances and the furniture, the dishes looked either brand new or never used after they were purchased and placed neatly in the cupboards.

She continued opening cupboards until she had checked the contents of each one. One contained a bag of coffee, coffee filters, a box of tea, a jar each of strawberry preserves and orange marmalade, a jar of peanut butter, and a loaf of very fresh bread. It was obvious these items had been purchased very recently, probably earlier today, and had been put here for her use. She would have to remember to thank Mr. Prentice for his thoughtfulness. The commission he was paying her for the painting was already very generous. The kitchen supplies and freshly scrubbed living space were definitely above and beyond.

Continuing, she found a few canned goods in another cupboard. A couple cans of soup, a jar of spaghetti sauce, a package of spaghetti and a container of grated Parmesan cheese. She also found a container of salt, small bags of flour and sugar, and a jar of powdered creamer–gack!–and a box of instant oatmeal packets. It looked like she was pretty well stocked. With just a couple of additions to the food items, she would easily have everything she’d need for her stay here.

Lizzy pulled out a small saucepan, carefully laid two eggs in the bottom and covered them with cold water. She added salt and turned the burner on to get them boiling. While she waited for the eggs to cook, she found two ice trays in a cupboard that had a few miscellaneous items including a few leftover containers and a gallon size pitcher. She also discovered that tucked behind some of the pots and pans were a few casserole dishes.

She filled the ice trays and set them carefully in the freezer. Then filled a large saucepan with water and set that to boiling. The eggs were just starting to boil so she turned the heat down and set the timer on the stove. When the larger pan of water was at a full boil, she removed it from the heat and added ten of the tea bags from the box. She checked the time since there wasn’t another timer and, while waiting for the tea to steep, she pulled out the ingredients for her salad and began washing the vegetables. She tore some lettuce onto a plate and added a handful of baby spinach. She located a cutting board and knife and cut the tomato and half the cucumber into chunks and added those to the plate. She checked the time and removed the tea bags from the pan and, not immediately locating a garbage can, put them in the sink. She poured the tea into the pitcher and filled the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water and put it in the refrigerator. The timer on the stove went off and she removed the pan of eggs and put it in the sink and ran cold water until the eggs stopped cooking and became cool. She peeled and sliced them onto the salad, only to then realize she had forgotten salad dressing. Oh well. It would be fewer calories this way.

She took her dressing-free salad and bottle of water into the living room and began munching while she waited for her laptop to boot. She knew she would not have internet service here and she didn’t really need it. She could send and receive emails with her cell phone so she could communicate with Mr. Prentice. She brought the laptop primarily as a way to watch a movie here and there when she couldn’t sleep or, like now, when she was eating a meal and simply wanted the ‘company’. She had a couple of movies on the hard drive and a few DVDs were tucked in one of the pockets of her laptop case.

From the laptop case, she pulled out the first season of the new Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. She knew every episode by heart, but never tired of watching them. It was still early when her plate was empty and the closing credits were rolling on the first episode of Doctor Who, but she couldn’t get started on the painting until it was light outside. So after washing and putting away what few dishes she had used, she made a quick–and short–shopping list of things she would need while she was here.

She remembered she had promised to let Mr. Prentice know she had arrived safely, so she retrieved her phone from her purse and was pleased to see there was service, though she noted not all of the bars were showing. Hopefully, it would be a strong enough signal to allow her to use her phone for calls and email with some reliability. She brought up her email app and created a brief message to Mr. Prentice.

Even though it was still a bit on the early side, Lizzy was tired from the drive and getting up early that morning. Plus, she hadn’t slept all that well last night. So she took her laptop upstairs, with the intent of zoning out to Doctor Who until she fell asleep.

Lizzy woke with a start. It was dark and she was in a strange bed. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was. Her laptop was still on the bed where it had been when she’d fallen asleep, but it had gone into sleep mode. She reached over and tapped the track pad and it hummed back to life, dimly illuminating most of the room. The clock in the lower corner showed 2:12 AM. What had woken her? She didn’t remember dreaming. Maybe it was just being in a new place with new noises. She restarted the DVD and fell asleep again halfway through the first episode.

The next time she woke the room was awash in a dim, early morning light. She stretched and got out of bed. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and went downstairs to make a pot of coffee and have a bowl of cereal. She ate the cereal while the coffee was brewing, then added sugar to a cup, grabbed her jacket and shoes and took the cup with her outside, anxious to get a look at the grounds and get to work.

The view was breathtaking. She could certainly see why Mr. Prentice wanted her to paint it. The backyard was large and surrounded by shrubbery and trees with openings here and there leading to paths, presumably toward the acreage surrounded by Scenic Loop Road or down the cliff to the lake. Though, now that she could see it clearly, it wasn’t a cliff exactly, but rather a very steep drop off. There were several low-growing shrubs along the side facing the lake, but they acted as a border rather than a fence and in no way obstructed the incredible view of the lake and the shoreline. She saw that Cove House was only one of a handful of cottages that dotted the top of the hill which flowed like a crescent moon around the edge of the water, giving the area an intimate, private feel. If she looked a bit southwest, she could see the massive expanse of the large lake. But if she turned a bit to the northwest, she looked across the indented hillside to other yards and cottages similar to her own.

Dragging her eyes away from the gorgeous view, she surveyed the rest of the yard. In the very center was an octagonal gazebo, complete with built-in benches completely lining the inside walls and a small round table in the center. She moved toward it and stepped up onto the raised floor. Choosing the spot she thought would give her the best panoramic view, she sat and took it all in. It was as close to perfect as she had ever seen. It was cozy, yet open, and hinted at intimate, quiet conversation between lovers, while exposing colorful foliage, lush green grass, and beyond to gentle waves lapping the sandy beach below.

Lizzy sat there, feeling a serenity she thought impossible just now. But however enjoyable it was to simply ‘be’, it wasn’t long before the artist in her surfaced. As she leisurely sipped her coffee, she slowly began seeing her surroundings through the critical eye of a painter.

Having seen and studied the view, Lizzy felt the familiar excitement begin to grow that comes with the start of every new project and suddenly she couldn’t wait to get started. Going inside to retrieve