by Anne Stuart
Maybe she wasn’t madly in love with David after all. There was no missing the tension that was simmering beneath the surface. So far Sophie had tolerated him for Rachel’s sake, but if her mother wasn’t as blinded as she had been in the beginning then maybe there was a chance for them to get out of there.
She’d certainly picked the wrong brother. Caleb was everything David wasn’t—funny, relaxed, treated her like an adult instead of some creepy, precious doll. Her mother had always had excellent taste in friends and the occasional boyfriend. It was only with David that her instincts had gone haywire.
Sophie crept silently to the door, her Asics in her hand, moving the chair out of the way and unlocking it without making a sound. Her mother had no idea she locked her door, had locked it within a week of getting there. She herself didn’t quite know why—it just made her feel safer. Which was kind of weird, because she left her windows open on the warmer nights. Whatever threatened her was inside the house, not out.
But she wasn’t going to think about that. The house was still and silent—David and Rachel were asleep, and she hoped to God they weren’t asleep together. That was just too weird and gross to consider. She scribbled a note, put her shoes on and walked all over David’s spotless floor, and a moment later slipped out into the cool Northwest morning.
For the first time in weeks it wasn’t raining, though the clouds threatened. She pulled up her hoodie anyway and started walking, past the bungalows and Victorians, toward the center of town. By the time she got to Ray and Lucy’s Diner the fitful light of day was at its strongest, and she went inside, hopeful.
Caleb was sitting at a booth, nursing a cup of coffee, and he gave her a brief smile when she slipped in across from him. “I thought you might be in jail,” she said.
“I think Maggie was doing that more for show.” He rubbed a hand across his brow. “She’s too smart to spend her time chasing ghosts.”
“Is the Northwest Strangler a ghost?”
“I hope so,” he said, but he didn’t sound optimistic. “Why don’t you and your mother get out of town?”
“We have to wait until David can get some time off.”
“Go without him.”
“Easier said than done,” Sophie muttered. “I don’t think she’d go if he couldn’t. She’s madly in love with him.”
“You sure about that? I haven’t seen any signs of it.”
“Why else would she marry him and drag me up here, when we could be somewhere, anywhere? We were doing just fine before she met David. She could make enough money for us to live well enough, especially overseas, as long as we weren’t too fussy, and we both liked living with the locals. But suddenly she just threw everything away, our plans to go to New Zealand, and married David. What other reason could there be besides true love?” She sounded disgruntled and jealous and she knew it, but she couldn’t help it.
“You’d be surprised, kid,” he said. “I talked with Maggie. She wants you to stay with her family for the next week or so. I think that’s probably a pretty good idea.”
“Why?”
Caleb would have been pretty cute if he weren’t so old. If her mother had any sense she would have seen it herself—he made his younger brother seem about as interesting as oatmeal. “Just trust me on this.”
“I need to look after my mother. She tends to jump into things without thinking them through.”
“Leave your mother to me. I promise you I’ll make sure no one hurts her. Can you trust me on this?”
She considered it for a moment. In her life she’d been used to trusting her mother first, and then the people her mother trusted.
But her mother trusted David, which was a big mistake in judgment as far as Sophie was concerned. And Rachel didn’t trust Caleb, who was the only adult around who was honest with her. Not even Kristen’s mom told her the truth.
She nodded. “I can trust you. What am I going to tell my mother?”
“I told you. Leave your mother to me.”
Sophie repressed a romantic sigh. If only her mother had better taste, she could do just that.
As it was, her mother had taught her early on that you played with the cards you were dealt, and life had dealt them David. At least for the time being.
“I’ll give you a ride to school,” he said, tossing some money down on the table.
“I can walk.”
“I’m giving you a ride. And from now on you only ride with the sheriff, your mother or me. You got that?”
She grinned at him. “Bossy, aren’t you?”
“You bet your ass. Are you going to do what I say?”
“Don’t I look like an obedient child?”
“You look like your mother’s daughter, a pain in the ass,” he said. “You’re also smart enough to do what’s best.”
“Okay, pops. You can drive me to school.”
“‘Pops’?” he echoed, startled.
“You come on all parentlike, that’s what you get,” she said cheerfully. “Okay?”
“Christ,” he grumbled. “Teenagers.” And he followed her out of the diner, a reluctant grin on his face.
It had taken Rachel forever to get to sleep, and when she finally did, her dreams were horrific. No secretly shameful erotic dreams about the bad boy—in these someone was chasing her, and she kept stumbling over dead women. Every time she turned to look at her pursuer his face changed. From David to Stephen Henry to Caleb. From her judgmental, fundamentalist father to Jared, who’d abandoned her, to all the faceless men she’d avoided over the years, only to make a mistake…
She woke up in a cold sweat, the dream still haunting her. She took deep, calming breaths, trying to shove away the sick, awful feeling that still lingered. Marrying David hadn’t been a mistake—it had been the smart thing. For once in her life she’d done what her head had told her, not her heart.
She managed to push herself out of bed, moving across the polished hardwood floors to open the heavy linen curtains. The dull, gray day was like every other day, and she wanted to beat her head against the thick glass. And then she noticed that despite the darkness of the weather, it was later than she realized.
She looked back at the clock, and let out a shriek of panic. It was after ten—Sophie was due at school by eight. Grabbing her ancient silk kimono she slammed out of the room, calling Sophie’s name.
The house was empty, all the lights off, making the place thick with gloom on such a dismal day, and she ran into the kitchen, ready to call everyone, including the National Guard, the FBI, the CIA, and the president himself until she was sure Sophie was safe.
There was a note by the phone. Got a ride with Kristen’s mom—going there this afternoon. Get some rest.
She almost burst into tears of relief. She’d been an idiot, panicking over nothing. Despite Maggie’s suspicions, Rachel knew that the killer was long gone, and her daughter was out of danger. In the cold, gloom of a northwest day her worries seemed ridiculous.
David had left for the day as well. She moved through the house, turning on the lights. Today she wasn’t going to go anywhere. If by any strange miracle the sun actually came out then she could change her mind, but the chances of that happening seemed astronomically small, and she really couldn’t stand the thought of going out into the rain one more time. After she showered and dressed, she’d go see what she could salvage of the disaster in the darkroom.
The adoption papers were lying on her work-table, prominently displayed with a pen right beside them. She picked them up, planning to scan them, then set them down again. Right now she didn’t want to think about anything. She wanted to immerse herself in her work. There’d be time enough to deal with legalities later.
She only emerged from her studio once, to find something to eat. The message light was blinking, but before she pushed the button she picked up the phone to check caller ID. Two calls from David, one from the lawyer. They could wait.
It was late afternoon by the time she closed the door on
her makeshift studio. The house glowed in the artificial light, but beyond the windows the darkness loomed. More messages. They could wait.
She was free for the next few hours. With luck, free for the rest of the night. David had said he’d be home late and he meant it—he usually didn’t come in until long after she was asleep. She might be able to get through the entire day without seeing him.
And why did that suddenly seem so desirable? She could blame Caleb for putting those doubts in her mind. Caleb, who tortured animals and taunted his brother, who was driven out of town and whose occasional return was barely tolerated. Caleb the monster.
Except that he didn’t seem like a monster. In truth, he seemed like someone who didn’t bother to hide who he was, daring people to accept him or not. He clearly didn’t give a damn. Unlike David, who went out of his way to charm people, who’d twice been voted the most beloved professor on campus, a fact that had rankled Stephen Henry no end until he decided they weren’t considering professors emeriti, he’d informed her.
Suddenly the yogurt lunch began to feel meager indeed, and she wanted, no, she needed another In-N-Out burger, a double order of fries, a Diet Coke, with a chocolate milkshake on the side, a total pig-out in the confines of her Volvo. Why hadn’t she paid more attention to Caleb’s route?
Well, because she’d been a little preoccupied with panic at the time. But once she’d driven it herself she’d have it memorized, and an In-N-Out burger could get her through a lot of long, dismal days.
She headed for her computer, but the site wasn’t up-to-date, and there was no listing anywhere in the state of Washington. Now that she’d decided she had to have one there was no way she could just let it go. She had a fairly good sense of direction, and despite the fact that it had been dark and she’d been an idiot, she could probably find her way back if she just trusted her instincts.
Of course, if she had Caleb’s cell-phone number she could simply call him and ask him. Though it would be a cold day in hell before that happened. Besides, Maggie probably had him behind bars.
She dashed out into the rain, locking the door behind her, and got into her car. She turned the key, listening to the motor turn over as the sound of freedom. Putting it into Reverse, she started to back out into the street.
Someone was coming, and she put her foot on the brake. The pedal went straight to the floor, and she went careening backward, straight into the middle of the road, directly in the path of an oncoming SUV.
She slammed the car into Drive and gunned the motor, praying that the transmission still worked. The Volvo shot forward, jumping the curb and tearing up the manicured front lawn until it came to a stop at the trunk of an aging apple tree, snapping it in two.
She reached out with shaking hands and turned off the motor, then tried to pull the key out. It was stuck, until she realized she was still in gear. She shoved it into Park, yanked the key out and sat there, trembling, as the rain poured down around her.
She didn’t know how long she stayed there. Someone rapped at the window, and she turned, dazed, to see a dark, hooded figure looming over her.
Panicked, she fumbled for the locks, but it was already too late, the door was opening and hands reached for her, pulling her out, out into the darkness.
“What happened?” Caleb demanded, shoving the rain hood away from his face.
It’s all right, she told herself. People are nearby, it’s not that late, he’s not going to hurt me.
“My brakes failed,” she said.
“That shouldn’t have happened. This is a new car, isn’t it?” His face was unreadable in the darkness.
“Yes.”
“You need to have it looked at. I’ve already called a tow truck.”
The panic was finally receding. “Well, yeah, I kind of think so, considering my new car is now sitting in the middle of my yard,” she said. “I can’t very well drive it like that.”
“I’m not talking about just fixing it. You need to find out what went wrong. If someone cut the brake lines.”
“Why the hell would someone do that?”
“You tell me,” he said, his voice dark. “All I know is that brakes don’t suddenly fail, not in a town where a serial killer has been active.”
“The killer is gone.”
“You sure of that?” he said.
“You know I can’t be sure of anything. But there’s no earthly reason why anyone would want to hurt me.”
He looked at her like she was an idiot. “Maybe not that you can think of. Sometimes people don’t need reasons. I told you…”
“Yes, I know what you told me. But the fact is, the only person I’m afraid of around here is you.” The moment the words were out of her mouth she wished she could have called them back. Not that it wasn’t the simple truth. Not that she was worried about hurting his feelings. Simply because she didn’t want him to know how deeply she distrusted him.
He said nothing, looking down at her. “Where were you going? And where’s Sophie?”
“A. None of your business. B. None of your business.”
“A. She’s my niece and I’m worried about her. I want to make sure she’s safe. B. I’m a nosy bastard. So why don’t you answer my questions since I saved your life.”
“What do you mean, you saved my life?”
“If you hadn’t been trying to dodge me you might have found out your brakes were gone once you were on the highway. If that was where you were heading.”
“How convenient that you just happened to show up at the right time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind,” she said stiffly. “I’m not making any sense. If you’d been out to hurt me you wouldn’t have waited around and then rescued me, if this can be called a rescue. Unless you had second thoughts.”
“I don’t waste my time with second thoughts. I do what needs to be done. Are you going to answer my questions?”
“Right. Sophie is spending the night at Kristen’s house—I asked Maggie to keep her there. It’s the only place I think is safe nowadays, thanks to you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve got me suspecting murder everywhere I turn. I don’t even trust my husband completely anymore. So you’ve won. You’ve taken what David wanted.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t give a shit about David, as long as you and Sophie are safe,” he said, and she almost believed him. “So if you weren’t on your way to get her, where were you going?”
She didn’t want to tell him. Wasn’t going to, except her reluctance annoyed her. “I was headed out to find the In-N-Out Burger place.”
He stared at her. “That’s way over in Monasburg.”
“I had a craving.”
For a moment she was actually able to shut him up. “Not the best actual diet,” he said after a moment.
“I get plenty of healthy food when I eat with David. Every now and then one needs a little variety. Things don’t always have to be good for you.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you the very same thing,” he said in a low, seductive voice. “Since your daughter’s out and presumably David’s not around, why don’t you come back to my place with me? I can’t feed you burgers but I can distract you with other things that aren’t good for you.”
“Give it a rest, Caleb. I’m going back inside and locking the doors and calling a tow truck. I’ll be just fine without fast food or…or you. I don’t like you. I wish you’d go away—you make everything worse.”
“And just how do I do that? My father’s delighted to see me, David professes to feel the same, your daughter adores me. How do I manage to alienate you so thoroughly when I’m just doing my best to be a good brother-in-law?”
“You’re about as good a brother-in-law as Jack the Ripper.”
“Ah, but we don’t know if Jack ever married or had siblings. It would be very interesting if he had a brother. How do you think the brother would feel, knowing he’d grown up wit
h a monster? Do you think he tried to stop him? Or did he follow in his footsteps?”
She turned, reached in her car for her purse and then slammed the door, giving herself time to recuperate. “You know how you keep telling me to go away? Why don’t you take your own advice? Why don’t you get back in your car and drive the hell away from here? You’re nothing but trouble.”
“I’ve been told that all my life, and it hasn’t stopped me yet. I tell you what. You agree to take Sophie and leave and I’ll get out of here myself. Leave town and your husband and my father will get by on their own. Wouldn’t that make life a lot simpler?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared down at her, and she could sense the anger simmering beneath his dark expression. And then something seemed to snap. “Yes, you are,” he said, and before she realized what he was doing he’d scooped her up, slapping a hand over her mouth, and started dragging her toward his waiting car.
She tried to scream, but his hand muffled the sound. She bit his hand, but he didn’t even flinch as her teeth clamped down hard enough to draw blood. He managed to yank open the door of his Toyota long enough to throw her inside, then shoved in after her. “Put your seat belt on,” he growled.
She was already fumbling with the door handle. He grabbed her wrists in one hand, holding them so tightly it hurt, as he put the car in gear. “You fight me and you just might end up killing us both. I’m trying to save your fucking life.”
“Right. You do that by kidnapping people and torturing animals.”
“I never tortured any animals,” he said in a tightly controlled voice.
“Then what was Maggie talking about? She doesn’t make things like that up.” His fingers were like iron around her wrists, and she tried to bend over to bite him again, but he simply yanked her upright.
“She didn’t make it up, she just didn’t have the right person. I didn’t torture birds, set fire to cats, hang my dog…”
“Stop!” she said, gagging.
“Oh, Christ. You’re not going to puke again, are you?”
She managed to swallow the bile that rose in her throat. “If you didn’t, then who did?”
