Had Darrell grabbed her? Why? And, if so, what had he done with her?
Nothing made sense.
Her life felt as if it was spiraling out of control and there was nothing she could do about it. Alan was dead. John was dead. Diane was MIA. Bradley, the one person who could help her, suspected she was somehow involved.
But there something else that didn’t compute—something major. If Diane had disappeared two days ago, that was before Julianne showed up here. She’d assumed Darrell was only targeting people that she’d been in contact with.
But what if Darrell had targeted Diane also? Why would he do that? What was she overlooking here?
The desk phone rang. Bradley stared at it a moment but made no move to answer.
Julianne pointed to the phone. “You’re not going to get that?”
“I don’t have time to monitor my calls. I’m already behind.” He sighed, and Julianne noticed the exhaustion around his eyes.
Because of her. He didn’t say that, but he probably wanted to.
“How about if I make myself useful and answer the phone for you?”
He leaned back as if contemplating his response. Meanwhile, the phone continued to jangle. “Do you have any experience?”
“I answer phones for a living. Of course, it’s a hotline...but still. I like to think I have some skills in that department.” She stared at him, daring him to look away.
She’d been placed in a situation where she had no choice but to ask for help, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t capable. She prided herself on being organized, efficient and compassionately discerning. Discernment came in handy when she counseled people.
She took each of her clients seriously, but there had been a few occasions where callers had been little more than pranksters. Then there was that one caller who’d given her the creeps. He’d kept calling and asking for her, asking her personal questions. He’d even come down to their office once and tried to find her. Thank goodness he hadn’t seen her.
Of course, she hadn’t seen him, either. Could it have been...Darrell?
She shook off those thoughts as Bradley stood. “I’d appreciate it then. I need to lock myself in the office for the rest of the day, so if you could just take messages for me.”
Julianne plopped into the seat, a moment of guilt filling her as she realized that Diane should be here. God, please watch over her. Help her to be okay. Keep her from harm.
Bradley gave her a lingering glance before going into his office. Once again, he didn’t shut the door—probably because he wanted to keep tabs on her, which was fine by Julianne. He’d see that she was trustworthy.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The detective came back and got the scrap of paper, and Julianne answered several phone calls, taking messages just as Bradley had directed.
Close to five o’clock, her cell phone rang. Her work cell phone. She’d been on call since she left, but this was the first hotline call she’d received. At least, she assumed it was a hotline call since she didn’t recognize the number.
“This is Julianne. I’m here to remind you that there’s always hope. What can I do for you today?”
Silence stretched on the other line.
“Hello?” she repeated. Still, she heard no one, only a faint crackle that caused her nerves to rev. She wanted to hang up. But what if it was someone who needed her help? Who was simply afraid to begin speaking? She couldn’t hang up based on some irrational fear.
“I’m here if you need to talk and tell me what’s going on in your life.”
“Julianne.” The word was whispered, so soft that she thought she’d imagined it. Had she?
Suddenly, she couldn’t say anything, do anything. The phone felt frozen to ear.
“It’s all for you.” The same whisper, one that sent chills all over her skin.
A shadow passed in the distance. Bradley. Standing in the doorway, his hands on his hips, worry wrinkling between his eyes.
She bristled, realizing she had to seize this opportunity. This was her chance to get some answers. “What’s all for me? What are you talking about? Who is this?”
Silence stretched out for several long seconds. The phone line cackled and cracked. Someone was on the other line. He just wasn’t speaking. Her gut tightened. That’s when she heard the breathing—deep, raspy breaths. Breaths that were meant to be known, breaths that were purposeful.
“What’s all for me?”
More silence and breathing and crackling. Normally, she might try to prod a little more, to coax the person on the other line into talking. But the events of the past twenty-four hours were playing mind tricks on her, making her suspicious of everything and everyone.
She pulled the phone from her ear, ready to hang up when she heard someone speak on the other end.
“I need help.” The voice was gravelly and low.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” Was this Darrell or was she reading too much into things? She had to keep a level head.
“All I can think about is death.”
Shivers raced up her spine. “Death? Why do you suppose that is? Did something happen?”
“I’m angry. People have said I’m possessive. And I have no hope so I have nothing to lose.”
Her shivers intensified. She’d gotten some weird calls before—calls where the absence of emotion in people’s voices made her blood turn cold. This man might outweigh the rest of those calls, though. His voice, his words... She didn’t like where this was going.
“There’s always hope for whatever you’re facing. There’s always help available. Calling this hotline was a good first step.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I want to help you and I want you to know that taking your life is never the answer.”
“I never said I was considering taking my own life, Julianne. I’m thinking about taking other people’s. Starting with Bradley Stone.”
Julianne gasped. Darrell. She was talking to Darrell.
And he wanted to kill Bradley.
SEVEN
Bradley saw Julianne’s face go stark white—again. But as her eyes met his across the room, fear and sorrow loomed in their depths. Just who was on the other end of that phone call?
She pulled the phone from her ear. “He’s gone. He hung up.”
“Who’s gone?”
“Darrell.” Her voice hitched as she said the word.
Bradley straightened. “That was Darrell? Darrell actually called you?”
“He didn’t say his name, but it was him. I know it was.” She pulled her arms over her chest and stared at the cell phone laying on the desk in front of her.
“What did he say?” He stepped closer, protectiveness rising in him.
When she looked up at him, the fear in her eyes was truly palpable. “He said he’s going to kill you.”
Bradley leaned against the desk, certain he hadn’t understood her correctly. “Darrell said he was going to kill me? He used my name?”
She nodded.
“Why would he want to kill me?” This situation was becoming more absurd by the moment.
She shook her head, her fearful expression morphing into outrage. “Why would he do anything that he’s done? Nothing makes sense. He doesn’t make sense.”
“Why do you think he would fake his death, Julianne? What reason would he have for doing that?” He kept his voice even, trying to dispel any panic and keep Julianne calm.
“I’ve thought about that a thousand times. I don’t know. He wanted out of the military? He wanted to escape his life? Maybe more sinister reasons. Maybe he started working for an enemy of the United States and he needed to die before he was found out. I really have no idea.”
“Why would he want to k
ill the people around you? Why chance coming out of hiding to risk that, especially if he was successful in faking his death?” He needed a plausible explanation and so far he didn’t have one.
She rubbed her shoulder. She did that a lot when she was nervous or scared, he noted.
“He told me once that if he couldn’t have me, no one could. I think he might be targeting anyone he sees as a threat.” She stood so quickly that her chair rammed into a trashcan and sent it toppling over. “I should go. I should take you up on that offer to loan me some money and get out of here. I can’t stand the thought of causing someone else’s death.”
“Julianne—”
Desperate eyes met his. She stepped closer, her gaze pleading. “So what do you say? Can I still borrow the money?”
He inhaled deeply. She was like a frightened rabbit, ready to run. However, she wasn’t thinking about herself. She was frightened for others, wanting to protect those around her. He couldn’t let her do that, though he admired the noble thought. It made him want to protect her even more. “I can take care of myself, Julianne. Don’t worry about me.”
“You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Her voice went eerily still.
“I have a good idea.”
Her intense gaze met his. “You have no idea.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He stepped closer. “Why don’t you tell me?”
At once, she scooted back and shook her head, almost as if some kind of instinct kicked in. She squeezed her eyes closed and drew in several deep breaths. “Just answer my question. Can I still borrow that money and get out of town?”
“No.” He said it in a way that left no room for argument.
She blinked. “No? But just this morning...”
Against his better judgment, he laid his hand on Julianne’s arm. He felt her tense and wanted more than anything to comfort her. “I don’t think you’re in any state of mind to strike out on your own. I’d feel better if I could keep an eye on you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she rasped. She rubbed her shoulder again, almost with a certain fury.
“I don’t have to do a lot of things, Julianne. I want to.”
“But your life could be in danger.” Her voice cracked with emotion.
“Like I said, I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about me. I’ve faced some pretty formidable enemies before. I didn’t come out untouched, but I came out stronger.”
Her arm trembled under his touch, and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears.
He directed her back to the seat in the corner and lowered her there. “Why don’t you sit down for a moment? I have a few things I need to wrap up. You’re safe here. As soon as I’m done, we’ll go back to the house. It’s going to be okay. You hear me?”
She nodded, but her eyes didn’t register the assurance.
“Why don’t you turn that phone off? If Darrell is trying to scare you, it’s working. No need to give him any more power.” He’d play along. He’d pretend that Darrell really was alive, even if he had his doubts. Either way, he had to get to the bottom of this.
Something was obviously going on. Though he knew he should probably assign someone else to watch over Julianne, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He needed to know for himself that she was safe and taken care of. Maybe he could protect her, even if he hadn’t been able to protect Vanessa.
Vanessa.
Every time he thought of her, his heart throbbed with sadness. Last week would have been their wedding. He’d wanted to get married sooner. She’d insisted on waiting, said she needed more time to plan her dream wedding. He’d wanted to give her everything and anything she’d wanted so, of course, he’d complied. Now he wished he’d insisted on pushing up the wedding. Maybe things would have been different.
“Bradley?” Julianne blinked at him, and he realized he was staring at her.
He stood. “You’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”
* * *
Julianne stared out the car window at the darkness around them. The car was silent—no radio, no chatter, no GPS telling them where to go. All she heard was the turn of tires on pavement and the sound of other cars zooming past.
The harder she thought about everything, the more her head hurt. She wished the end was in sight, but she realized that even when she found some answers, her life would still be in danger. How would she pick up all the pieces and reach a semblance of normalcy again?
She pushed the thought aside and turned toward Bradley. They drove off the main road, going in the opposite direction from his house. “Where are we going?”
“I thought you might want to grab a bite to eat before going back to my place.”
She was hungry, now that he mentioned it. She’d grabbed a sandwich down in the cafeteria for lunch, but that had been five or six hours ago now. “Sounds good.”
“Like seafood?”
“I do.” Not that it was usually her cuisine of choice, but she wasn’t going to argue. How could she? She was reliant on Bradley for everything right now...a fact that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with. She liked being independent. But was that even an option now? She knew the answer—no. But she’d put this behind her and, when she did, she’d make a way for herself again. With God’s help, of course.
They drove down to the resort area of Virginia Beach, a picturesque place with tall hotels, gift shops and restaurants along the boardwalk. In the summer, this part of town was flooded with tourists. But in the winter, the streets were mostly barren.
Bradley pulled into the Rudee Inlet, an area a few blocks away from the boardwalk, and stopped in front of a seafood restaurant. The waterway was popular with boaters, fishermen and tourist expeditions like parasailing and dolphin-watching tours.
They walked toward an octagon-shaped, plank-sided building, up a flight of stairs and stepped into the dining area. The place was filled with mounted replicas of fish, carved wooden fishermen and old fishing nets decorated with sand dollars, sea stars and shells. Despite the simple decor, the price per plate deemed it upscale. Julianne knew because she’d eaten here once before. They were seated at a window table facing the inlet. In the darkness outside, water glimmered under a few stray streetlights. A couple of guys—fishermen, she assumed—walked along a nearby dock.
“I’m from Texas, you know.” Bradley followed her gaze. “I came here when I was a SEAL and fell in love with the area. Never wanted to go back.”
“It is nice being so close to the ocean.”
“How about you? Where are you from?”
“I was born out in the western part of the state, in Roanoke, to be exact. Came here to get a job after college, and ended up staying. Until Darrell died, at least. Then I moved up north to the D.C. area.”
“Why’d you move?”
His question caught her by surprise, and she shrugged, trying to buy time as a waitress set a basket of cornbread on the table along with two glasses of water. She picked up her glass and twirled the ice around with her straw before looking up at him. “I just needed a change, I suppose.”
Bradley stared at her a moment longer. He obviously knew there was something she wasn’t telling him. But how could she tell him the truth? She’d only appear weak. He’d only pity her. She wanted neither of those things. She had to keep some of her pride intact, didn’t she? She had no one else to protect her. She only had herself and God to rely on.
She distracted herself by perusing the menu. A few minutes later, she ordered soup and Bradley ordered some broiled salmon. With their menus gone, silence stretched between them. Darkness, which had begun to fall when they left the Eyes headquarters, now stained the sky an inky black. Lights reflected onto the dark water outside their window. This was the perfect spot for a romantic dinner for two. If only this were a romantic dinner instead of an ob
ligatory gathering of two people with nothing in common except a lunatic.
“Will you go with me for a moment on something?” Bradley stared at her from across the table.
“I suppose.” She picked up some corn bread and slathered some butter across it.
“Let’s assume for a moment that Darrell isn’t behind any of this. Are there any other possibilities?”
Julianne bit down on her lip. Darrell was at the center of this, but she could be levelheaded enough to explore other options. “It would have to be someone who knew about Darrell, who knew how he acted and what he liked.”
“A friend maybe?”
She shrugged and then her eyes lit with a memory. “I did run into Tommy Sanders about a month ago.”
Bradley straightened, his expression filling with curiosity. “Tommy Sanders? There’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”
She leaned back in her chair, her stomach rumbling with hunger. “It was the strangest thing. I went down to see my parents here in Virginia Beach before they left for their cruise. We went out to dinner out in Lynnhaven, and he was there at the restaurant having dinner with a friend.”
“Did he act strangely?”
“Now that you mention it, he did. He seemed uncomfortable...and he had shifty eyes. I just thought it was because of Darrell, like he didn’t know how to express his grief still or something.”
“That was the first time you’d seen him since...?”
“Since Darrell’s funeral.” She nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t really stick around the military community afterward. I lost touch with almost everyone.”
“Anyone else who’s given you the creeps? Left you with an unsettled feeling?”
Julianne shook her head. “No, not really. I mean, I guess there was that one guy who always called the hotline and asked for me.”
“Tell me about him.”
She told Bradley about how the caller always asked personal questions and seemed to know more about her than he should. But she’d never seen the man, and he hadn’t reached out in a couple of weeks. Of course, she had no name or face for the man, either.
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