Week 423 – Liam looked around at the mess in his cabin

Someone had been in here.

Recently.

Liam looked around at the mess in his cabin. The covers on the bed were mussed, there were dirty dishes sitting beside the sink in the small corner kitchen, there was a pile of paperwork on the table, and there was a heavy scent of cologne in the air. One he didn’t wear.

It had been months since he’d last been out here, and he was a bit of a neat freak when it came to his home, both his one in town and the cabin, so there was no way he wouldn’t have made the bed and cleaned dishes before he left. And he would know if he’d bought a stack of paperwork out here.

Liam supposed it was possible the cologne, bed, and dishes could all be contributed to someone getting stuck in one of the previous storms and seeking shelter in his cabin, but that didn’t explain the papers. There were multiple stacks of them, and there would be no reason to be out hiking and get caught in a storm with something like that in your possession.

“What’s wrong?” Cara asked, looking up at him with wide green eyes.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said briskly, she was barely clinging to consciousness, the last thing she needed was his worries about why someone had been staying in his cabin. “Come on, let’s get you out of these wet clothes. I keep some here so we can get you into those, and then I’ll build a fire, make us something to eat, and tend to your injuries.”

When he went to move one of her hands darted out to circle his wrist.

It would be easy to break out of the weak hold, she was shaking, her long golden brown locks plastered to her head making her look like a drowned cat, there were bruises appearing on her skin, which was far too pale for his liking, but there was a strength in her eyes that demanded he give an answer.

“Someone has been here,” he told her.

Fearfully she looked around as though she expected someone to come jumping out from behind the couch. “Recently?”

If the smell of cologne was anything to go by then yes. “I think so.”

“Hiding out from the storm?”

“Maybe.”

“But you don’t think so. Squatters?”

That would be the simpler option, sure, but there was something about all that paperwork that his gut said meant someone was deliberately hiding out here.

“Probably,” he agreed, feeling a sudden urge to patch Cara up, wait out the storm, then get her back to his car.

“But you don’t think so,” she said softly.

Meeting her gaze, Liam shook his head. “I don’t think so.”