Manhunt

by Carla Cassidy

  He eyed her with surprise. “Very good. So, you know anyone around town who is pretending to have a broken leg or some sort of injury that would be nonthreatening?”

  “Nobody comes to mind.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think it would be that easy.” He reached out and ran his fingers lightly across her mouth. “When this is all over, why don’t you blow this joint and come to Tulsa.”

  Although her heart quickened at his words, she knew better than to allow herself to share in any fantasy he might be spinning while she lay naked in his arms.

  She laughed. “I’m not sure I’m ready to let Ruby have her wicked ways with my bed-and-breakfast.” She kept her tone light as if she’d taken his words as a joke.

  He pulled her closer and she placed her head on his chest, his heartbeat strong and reassuring beneath her ear. As he stroked her hair once again, she closed her eyes.

  Alone. Her grandmother’s voice seemed to whisper in her ear. It is the destiny of ones who have the vision to remain alone.

  Those words echoing in her head, in her heart, served as a heart-wrenching lullaby as she drifted off to sleep.

  Alyssa sat at her kitchen island sipping from a glass of iced tea and studying her finances. It had been three weeks since Michael Stanmeyer’s murder, three weeks that she hadn’t accepted a guest into the house other than Virginia.

  It had taken several days for the police to release the room, then another couple of days for Alyssa to pack up Michael’s personal belongings and send them to a relative in California.

  Nick had told her she was welcome to resume the normal activities of the bed-and-breakfast, but she’d canceled any new guests for the next month and had Mary working the ice-cream parlor in the evenings.

  For the past three weeks, her life had fallen into a new kind of pattern, one that revolved around Nick and the murders.

  Already the police were concerned that the time for yet another murder was drawing closer, that whatever timetable the killer seemed to be keeping would force him to act again soon.

  Her days were spent puttering around the place, doing chores and tasks she hadn’t had time to do before. During the evenings, despite Nick’s reluctance to the contrary, she consciously entered the vision that she still felt held the clue to the killer’s identity.

  Each time, Nick sat beside her, asking her questions, trying to delve deeper and deeper into the mist of her mind to retrieve any information that might be helpful. Afterward they went to Ruby’s for dinner, then back to the bed-and-breakfast and into Nick’s bed.

  She didn’t give herself time to consider if she was being a fool, making love to Nick night after night and knowing there was no future for them together. She merely took each moment with him as a gift to herself.

  A rapid knock on the front door pulled her from her glass of iced tea and through the living room. She unlocked the door and opened it to see her aunt Rita, Savannah and Breanna standing there.

  “What’s this? A family reunion?” She hugged each of them, holding on tight for a moment longer than necessary to each of her family members.

  “We just decided it was time for a visit, just us women,” Savannah said as Alyssa ushered them into the kitchen.

  “I’m so glad you did. Sit down. How about some iced tea?”

  “Iced tea sounds wonderful,” Rita said as she fanned her face with her hand. “No living creature should be out in this heat,” she exclaimed. She smiled as Alyssa placed the cold drink before her. “Thank you, dear.”

  There were no lingering signs of the trauma Rita had gone through while kidnapped and held captive by a madman. Her short dark hair was perfectly coiffed and her dark eyes radiated with her love of life.

  “Breanna, you’re looking absolutely gorgeous,” Alyssa said.

  “I’m getting fat,” Breanna replied.

  Alyssa squeezed her cousin’s shoulder as she placed a drink before her. “But it’s the best kind of fat…baby fat.”

  Breanna stroked her burgeoning tummy and her smile of satisfaction sent a whisper of wistfulness through Alyssa. What must it be like? To carry the child of the man you love inside your belly?

  She would never know, for her destiny was a life alone, without a husband, without children.

  “You should see Adam,” Savannah said as she raked a hand through her short black hair. The short hair emphasized her high cheekbones and lovely eyes. “The man acts as if he’s the only being on earth who has ever made a baby.”

  “He acts just like your Riley does,” Breanna protested.

  They all laughed and a sudden melancholy brought unexpected, unwelcome tears to Alyssa’s eyes. Horrified, she quickly swiped at them, but not before Rita saw her.

  “What is it, my little one?” Rita pulled out the chair next to her and forced Alyssa to sit, then she wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

  “Nothing…I…I don’t know.” Embarrassment forced a burst of uncomfortable laughter from her. “I’m just so glad you all stopped by for a visit.”

  “When I spoke to you yesterday you sounded more stressed than I’d ever heard you. We came by to make sure you were doing okay,” Rita said.

  “I’m fine.” Alyssa forced a smile to reassure them. She knew exactly what it was that had forced the tears to her eyes. It was knowing that her two “sisters” had found true love, were starting families and living the kind of life Alyssa would never experience.

  “You aren’t fine. What’s going on?” Savannah asked. “More visions?”

  Alyssa hadn’t shared her latest vision, the one about Nick and the murders, with her family. She did so now, although she kept the part where she and Nick made love to herself. But she told them about the tree, about the knife and the horror of stabbing somebody over and over again.

  “Nick and I have been trying to get details from the vision,” she explained. “I’ve been consciously willing them to come to me, trying to dissect from them anything that might help identify the killer.”

  “Oh, Alyssa…that sounds troubling,” Savannah said. “I hate the idea of you having visions on purpose.”

  “The killer is leaving precious few clues for the authorities. Somebody has to do something to stop the murders.”

  “I’ve heard you’re seeing quite a bit of Nick,” Rita said, her gaze sharp on the niece she’d raised as one of her own daughters. “The word is, you two have been spotted most nights looking quite cozy at Ruby’s.”

  “I told you, I’m helping with the investigation.” Alyssa reached up for a strand of her hair, then realizing what she was doing, dropped her hand back to her lap.

  “Oh, so it’s strictly a business relationship,” Breanna said with a sly smile.

  Alyssa’s cheeks warmed. “He’s a nice man.” The words sounded utterly lame and the heat of her blush intensified.

  “Working on the investigation must agree with you,” Rita said, her gaze still intent on Alyssa’s features. “There’s a look about you I’ve never seen before.”

  “Must be stress,” Alyssa joked.

  “Hmm,” Rita replied with a small smile.

  They remained for a little over an hour, talking about things that brought a measure of relaxation to Alyssa.

  Breanna spoke of her six-year-old daughter, Maggie, telling stories that had them all in fits of laughter. Savannah talked about her new life in Sycamore Ridge, a town about an hour’s drive away, and Rita spoke of the fall festival that would be taking place at the Cherokee Cultural Center in the next couple of days.

  It was a pleasant respite from the darkness that had seemed to inch closer and closer around Alyssa for the last couple of weeks.

  Their company was also a reminder that no matter what, she would never be utterly alone, that she would always have the love and support of her family. This thought gave her a renewed burst of inner strength.

  She felt better…stronger as she told them all goodbye. Savannah and Breanna went out to the car, but Alyssa’s aunt lingered behind fo
r a moment.

  “You’ve built a fine business here, Alyssa,” she said as the two stood on the front porch of the bed-and-breakfast. “Your uncle Thomas and I are very proud of you.”

  “That’s always been important to me,” Alyssa said. “That I make you proud. I have no other way to repay you for all the love you gave to me when I needed it most.”

  Rita’s dark eyes smiled before the gesture touched her lips. “You were an easy child to love, my dear, and now you’re all grown up and should be looking outside your family for a different kind of love.”

  “I…” The protest that Alyssa was about to speak was silenced as her aunt placed a finger to her lips.

  “Don’t speak, just listen. If this man, this Nick, fulfills you as a woman, then trust what’s in your heart, not whatever visions might be in your head.” She dropped her finger from Alyssa’s mouth and sighed.

  “I had plenty of time to think when I was in that basement room as Jacob Kincaid’s prisoner. I faced all the fears that a mother could face when she thought she was on the verge of death. And the one fear I had was that my children wouldn’t know the kind of love that I’ve known with your uncle Thomas. In the end, love is the only legacy we leave behind.”

  She didn’t wait for Alyssa’s reply, but instead turned and left the porch to meet her daughters at her car.

  Alyssa watched as her family members drove away, her aunt’s words ringing in her ears. Alyssa knew she was in love with Nick.

  She had no idea when it had happened, how she had allowed him so deep into her heart, into the bruised soul of her being. But he was there, filling up the spaces that had been empty all her life, accepting her visions without judgment, without fear, simply as part of her.

  But as deep as he’d burrowed into her heart, she had no idea what place she had in his. Each night they delved into the darkness of her vision, then sought the light in each other’s arms, making love with a frantic need, a desperate desire to banish the darkness forever.

  She knew he cared about her, knew he wanted her. But he hadn’t again mentioned her leaving Cherokee Corners for Tulsa. They had talked about anything and everything in their lives except a future.

  Not that she expected a future with him. Even a handsome, caring man like Nick couldn’t change the patterns of life that fate had laid out, and Alyssa knew the trail of her life was one she would walk alone.

  She drew a deep breath. There was a storm coming. She could feel it in the humid, soupy air, smell the hint of wildness in the atmosphere. Despite the muggy heat that surrounded her, an inexplicable chill crept up her back. She turned and went back into the house and carefully locked the door behind her.

  Chapter 13

  “Jason Sheller,” Nick said the name and watched Clay’s reaction. The two men were alone in the war room, the others having left for the night moments earlier.

  “What about him?” Clay asked.

  “What do you know about him?”

  Clay shrugged. “He’s been in Cherokee Corners for the past four years…transferred here from someplace down in Texas. Why?”

  “From Dallas. He transferred from the Dallas police force.” Nick frowned down at the paperwork in front of him, then looked back at Clay. “What else do you know about him?”

  “Not a lot. He seems to be a decent cop, but he’s kind of a loner. I get the impression he was a little fish in a big pond in Dallas and hoped that here he could be a big fish in a smaller pond.”

  “So, he’s ambitious?”

  “Definitely. What are you thinking?”

  Nick sighed and shut the file folder before him. “I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws. Sheller just gives me an uncomfortable feeling. It seems like whenever I turn around he’s right under my nose.”

  Clay laughed. “He is a pain in the ass. I think he really wanted to be a part of the task force, probably saw it as a stepping stone to advance his career, but I don’t think he’s hiding any deep, dark secrets.”

  “Somebody is, dammit.” Nick raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “We’ve been here a month and we’re no closer to catching the killer than we were on the day we arrived.”

  “That doesn’t necessarily speak to our incompetence, but rather to the adroitness of the killer,” Clay replied.

  Nick flashed him a quick grin. “Thanks, I needed to hear that we aren’t complete dunces.”

  “We’re only as good as the clues left behind and this perp isn’t leaving behind much of anything for us to go on.”

  Nick heard his own frustration reflected in Clay’s tone. They were all feeling the rancor of failure, the pressure of defeat where this killer was concerned.

  To complicate matters, for the past two days tourists had been pouring into town for the fall festival at the cultural center.

  The police department was stretched thin and Chief Cleberg was terrified the next victim would be a hapless tourist.

  “I guess we might as well call it a night,” Nick said reluctantly. “We aren’t accomplishing much anyway.”

  “He’ll make a mistake, Nick.” Clay rose from the table where they had been seated. “Sooner or later he’s going to make a mistake. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “Yeah, but how many more victims are there going to be before that mistake is made?”

  It was a rhetorical question and Clay didn’t attempt to answer. “I’m going to check a few things in the lab. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Nick nodded, but remained seated at the table. He rubbed his forehead where a headache had pounded with almost nauseating intensity for the past hour.

  Something had to give…something had to break. He rose from the table and went to the single small window in the room. He peered outside where darkness had fallen unusually early. A brewing storm shot occasional streaks of lightning in the southwestern sky.

  Rain would be a welcome relief from the dry conditions. Hopefully it would bring with it cooler temperatures. He looked at his watch. After eight. If Alyssa hadn’t already eaten, he’d take her to Ruby’s for a late-night supper.

  Alyssa. He’d never been so damn confused about a woman before. His relationship with Dorrie had been incredibly easy. They had met, fallen in love and married. With Alyssa nothing was easy although everything felt right.

  He’d met her and he’d fallen in love with her. There were moments when he reveled in the love that filled his heart for her, and other moments when he despaired.

  No matter how often they had made love, no matter how many thoughts and feelings they had shared, he sensed that there was a tiny piece of herself she held back.

  Selfishly he wanted to breach that private place, storm her defenses and tumble that wall that he thought still existed between them.

  On the other hand, he wondered if perhaps out of all the people in the world, they were the two who should not be together. She had a darkness in her from her visions, was acutely tuned in to the shadows of evil.

  He was a man who worked with that evil, who wrapped it around him like a second skin and brought that darkness home with him each night.

  Was it fair for him to want her to share that kind of life with him? Knowing that by his work alone he might cause her more pain and more horrendous visions of death?

  He loved her. He loved her enough to do the right thing even if the right thing was to walk away from her and let her live in relative peace.

  The thought of her not in his life, not in his future ached inside him, but if by being with her he brought more pain, more darkness into her life, then he’d learn to live without her.

  But he wasn’t out of her life yet and suddenly he was eager to get to the bed-and-breakfast and see her beautiful face, talk to her about inconsequential pleasures and joys.

  Tonight he would insist she not pull up the vision, not put herself through the agony of seeing that terrible scene in her mind. Tonight they wouldn’t talk of murders or death.

  Eager now to leave, he locked up t
he war room and headed down the hallway toward the front of the station. If he hurried he and Alyssa could get to Ruby’s, eat and get home before the storm broke loose.

  “Agent Mead.” The desk officer, Corey Sinclair, stopped him before he could exit the building. “I’ve got something here for you.” He held out a small white envelope.

  “What’s this?” Nick asked as he took the envelope from the man.

  “Beats me,” Officer Sinclair replied. “If I was to guess, it looks like some sort of invitation to a party.” He grinned. “There’s plenty of single women in this town who wouldn’t mind throwing a party just to get you invited.”

  Nick tore open the envelope and removed the small card. It wasn’t an invitation. The words Thinking of You were just below the picture of a grinning cat. Nick’s heart warmed. Alyssa, he thought. She must have dropped the card by at some point during the day.

  He opened the card and the warmth that had momentarily suffused him froze in an icy river that ran through his veins. His eyes glanced over the inane preprinted message to the handwritten words below it. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, NICK. And the signature was a single letter, a familiar M.

  Murphy. The name screamed through Nick.

  “Who delivered this?” he demanded of Officer Sinclair as his gaze shot around the room.

  “I don’t know. It was here when I came on duty a little while ago.”

  “I need to know how this got here…who delivered it.” He slammed his hand down on the counter. “Dammit, somebody must have seen something. I want some answers now! I’m taking this to the lab, and I’ll be right back.”

  With the roar of fear…and rage ringing in his ears, Nick carried the card back to the lab where Clay was still working. “I need you to fingerprint this right away.” He held the card out before him with two fingers, cursing the fact that he’d already gotten his own prints on the card and envelope.