Obsession

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  Charlie nodded. He stared at her for a moment as though lost in his own thoughts. Then he asked, “Don’t you think you should at least talk to the FBI? It wouldn’t be the same as moving back home or having your dad force bodyguards on you.”

  “Maybe not, but I need some time to think about it.” She stared up at him, warmth settling through her as he continued to hold her by his side. A ghost of a smile crossed her face. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.” His hand lifted, gently brushing her hair back behind her ear.

  Their faces were close, tears still moist on Kendra’s eyelashes. Her heartbeat quickened when his gaze skimmed down to her mouth. The sudden image of kissing Charlie Whitmore sent a thrill up her spine along with a skittering sense of panic. The hand on her shoulder was gentle, but his eyes were dark and intense. Then he shifted slightly, creating a safe distance between them.

  “Have you eaten lunch yet? I could fix you something.”

  She shook her head, still feeling like she was under a spell. “I’m not really hungry.”

  Before he could respond, the rumble of an engine sounded outside. Charlie sprang up with a speed that surprised her and rushed to the window.

  It took a moment for Kendra to understand the source of his concern, to remember that they were snowed in and that whoever was out there might be the person trying to hurt her, the person who wanted to kill her. Her voice was shaky when she asked, “Who is it?”

  “I’m not sure.” Charlie shifted by the window so he could look out without being seen. “It could just be someone out snowmobiling.”

  She let out a shaky breath and moved to the other side of the window so that she, too, could peer out without being noticed. Her heartbeat quickened when she saw a man turn his snowmobile into her driveway.

  “Do you know him?” Charlie asked.

  Kendra had to take another breath before she managed to focus. Then she made herself take a good look at the man in the driveway. He pulled off a helmet, his mop of brown hair spilling out wildly. “That’s Jed Burgess, Eleanor Burgess’s son.”

  “Stay here,” Charlie said in a commanding tone. “I’ll go see what he wants.”

  “Okay.” Kendra’s head bobbed up and down in agreement. “Be careful.”

  He glanced over his shoulder then and gave her a nod of encouragement. “I will.”

  Chapter 15

  Charlie controlled the urge to reach for his weapon. From what Kendra had told him after their trip to the general store, he knew that the Burgess family had lived in Pinewood for years. The fact that Jed Burgess was a white male between twenty-five and thirty-five years old didn’t mean he was a serial killer. Then again, there wasn’t any evidence that he wasn’t one either.

  The moment the door opened, Jed looked up, his eyes hopeful. Then he saw Charlie, and his disappointment showed before he managed to control it.

  “Hi, there,” Jed greeted him as he dismounted the snowmobile and stood facing Charlie. “You must be Kendra’s friend.”

  “That’s right.” Charlie tried to keep his voice casual as he moved down the steps. “I’m Charlie Whitmore.”

  “Good to meet you.” Jed tugged off his glove and offered a hand. “Jed Burgess.”

  Charlie shook his hand and let his curiosity show on his face. “What brings you up this way?”

  “Just following orders.” Jed opened the storage compartment on the back of his snowmobile.

  Charlie tensed, his right hand lifting slightly in case he really did need his gun. Then Jed pulled a white pastry box out of the storage compartment and turned to offer it to Charlie. “My mom was worried that you and Kendra might not be able to get out with all of this snow. She wanted me to deliver this cake and pass along her phone number in case you needed anything.”

  “That was nice of you to bring this by. I’ll make sure Kendra gets it.”

  He nodded and passed the box into Charlie’s hands. Then Jed looked up at Kendra’s front door. “So I guess you and Kendra are dating?”

  Charlie banked down on his conflicting emotions and tried to consider how best to handle the probing question. “You could say that.”

  Jed mounted his snowmobile and gave him a subtle nod. “You’re a lucky man.”

  “I guess I am,” Charlie managed.

  Jed motioned to the box Charlie now held. “One of Mom’s business cards is inside. We’re supposed to get another eight to ten inches of snow tonight, but if you think of anything you need, I can run a delivery up here before the storm hits.”

  “I appreciate that, but I think we’re okay for now.” Charlie stared at the man in front of him. Logically, he doubted that Jed Burgess was the man responsible for six murders in California. He decided to trust that logic for a minute. “I wonder if I can ask you and your mom a favor though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Kendra and I came up here to get away from the paparazzi. People may come through town looking for us.”

  “And you don’t want us to tell anyone that you’re here,” Jed finished for him.

  “Yeah.” Charlie nodded. “Most people wouldn’t be able to find this place without directions.”

  “Isn’t that the truth.” Jed let out a short laugh. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with us.”

  “There’s one more thing,” Charlie added. “Could you let me know if anyone does show up looking for Kendra?”

  “No problem.” Jed patted his jacket pocket. “I don’t have a pen on me, but you can give Mom a call and leave your phone number with her. We’ll watch your back.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Charlie waited until Jed started the engine and turned the snowmobile back down the road.

  The man seemed harmless enough, but just to be safe, Charlie would have Elias run a background check on him. It should be easy enough to prove whether Jed had been in LA on the dates of any of the murders.

  After Jed disappeared from view, Charlie moved back to Kendra’s front door. She was safe for now, but he doubted he would get much sleep tonight until he could eliminate Jed as a suspect.

  Charlie had a feeling that thoughts of Kendra would keep him up even if he didn’t have any potential suspects to worry about. He had been prepared for her tears. He’d provoked them deliberately. What he hadn’t counted on was the way he’d felt when he held her.

  Somehow he had to get back on level footing, especially until he could tell her why he was really here. He pushed open the door to find her waiting nervously by the window. He banked down the urge to go to her, to gather her close. “Jed was just delivering a cake for us from his mom.”

  “Oh.” Kendra’s eyes followed him as he moved to the kitchen and set the box on the counter.

  Charlie lifted the lid to reveal a German chocolate cake. He pulled the business card with Mrs. Burgess’s phone number out of the box and tucked it into his pocket.

  “What was that?” Kendra asked, following him into the kitchen.

  “Just Mrs. Burgess’s phone number. Jed gave it to me in case we need him to bring us any supplies.”

  “That was thoughtful of her.”

  Charlie nodded and considered for a moment. “How well do you know Jed?”

  “Not very well, actually,” Kendra said. She opened her mouth as though she was going to say something else, but then she stopped and simply shrugged her shoulders.

  “What?”

  “I know this isn’t very nice to say, but he always gave me the creeps. Every time I came into town, he just stared at me, but he never said anything.” Kendra shrugged again. “I used to think he was just shy, but then he’d stop by and talk to Grandpa every time I came to town, and he didn’t seem shy at all.”

  “Did he ever give you a reason to be scared of him?”

  “Not scared, exactly.” Kendra blew out a breath. “Uneasy is probably a better way to describe it. I always felt like he was staring at me, especially when I wasn’t looking.”

  “He probably just didn’t know h
ow to act around such a beautiful woman.”

  Color crept into her cheeks, and her eyes dropped to the floor.

  Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Charlie found himself amused to see her embarrassed over such a simple compliment. His voice was light when he added, “Face it. Women like you can make men nervous just by breathing.”

  Kendra just shook her head. Then she looked down at the cake, and her expression softened. “She remembered.”

  “Remembered what?”

  “My favorite kind of cake.”

  Charlie looked up at her, trying to gauge her mood. She looked uncertain and still a little scared. She also looked like she didn’t want to be alone.

  “At least we have dessert for tonight,” Charlie said casually. “Is it my turn to fix dinner?”

  “Is that your way of inviting me over for dinner?”

  “I guess so.” Charlie managed to smile at her. “But tonight I get to pick the game.”

  The corners of her mouth lifted. “Does that mean you don’t want me to bring my backgammon game over to your place?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Charlie nodded. “I’m sure I have a deck of cards around somewhere. How are you at gin rummy?”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “I can hold my own.”

  “Tell you what.” Charlie moved toward the door. “I have to check in with my office, but after that, I’ll come back over and we can hang out. I’ll even bring over the steak I bought the other day, and we can fix it for dinner. That way you won’t have to go out in the snow.”

  “I’d like that,” Kendra said. Charlie started to turn away, but Kendra reached for his hand. “Charlie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry I got so emotional earlier, but thanks.” She looked up at him, her eyes still red from crying. “Thanks for being here with me.”

  Charlie stared down at her and felt himself wavering between his developing feelings for Kendra and his sense of propriety. He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll see you in a little while.” Then, before he could do something stupid, like lean in and kiss her good-bye, he turned and walked out the door.

  * * *

  Kendra picked up the printed article Charlie had given her and read it again, taking her time and absorbing the details. There weren’t any photos of the victims, but she knew who Joslyn Korden was. She had even met her a few times at charity events.

  How was it that she hadn’t realized Joslyn was a victim of a serial killer, especially when the serial killer was targeting women who looked like her and lived in Malibu, where she had been raised?

  That question circled in her mind, but she could come up with only one answer. She had been so busy living her own life that she hadn’t bothered to keep up with what was happening outside her own little world. Certainly her father would have known about the Malibu Stalker, but undoubtedly, he would have tried to shelter her and her sister from the cold hard reality that young women like them were being murdered. His viewpoint was that if they didn’t know about it, there was no sense in bringing it to their attention. Of course, Sienna didn’t have blonde hair like Kendra and the victims. But while her sister had inherited dark hair from their mother, Kendra had little doubt that Sienna had been sheltered from the information as much as she had.

  She couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of person would do something like this. Why would anyone want to deliberately kill someone, to take another’s life, simply because they could?

  The article revealed very little about any suspicions of who the killer might be, and Kendra could feel a huge weight settling on her shoulders as she considered her options. Moving back in with her parents would likely ensure her safety. It would also guarantee that her life would never move forward. Just the thought of living inside her childhood home, of dealing with the oppressive security measures her father had in place, made her stomach clench.

  She wanted to be safe, but she also wanted to live. In the past three days, she’d felt like she was just beginning to discover who she was. She could make her own choices and tend to her own needs. Already, she had realized how much she liked keeping her own hours and eating when and what she wanted. She enjoyed cooking and the sense of satisfaction that came from preparing something herself and liking the results.

  Even writing her music with no one around was a gift she refused to take for granted. She took pleasure in the clutter her work created and the knowledge that she was responsible for cleaning up her own messes.

  No, as safe as her father could keep her, she knew she would suffocate if she moved back home. She thought of Charlie, of his suggestion of talking to the FBI. She tried to convince herself that she could work with them, but she knew from her grandfather’s days with the Bureau that their protection would only last for a short while unless she entered the Witness Protection Program. With her fame, she doubted she would be a candidate anyway.

  The bottom line was that, eventually, she would have to deal with her father and the security force he was constantly thrusting on her. Kendra let out a sigh. It didn’t matter if it was the FBI or her father’s security team. Once she gave her freedom to someone else, she was afraid she would never find a way to win it back again.

  She moved to the window and stared outside at the thick clouds looming overhead. The wind lifted some of the powdery snow, blowing it along the road, creating drifts against the pine trees on either side. Charlie’s SUV was still parked along the road, but it was completely covered in snow.

  The snow gave her comfort for now. As long as it lasted, whether it was days or weeks, she would be safe. As long as the roads were impassible, she could continue to hide, continue to find herself again, to discover who Kendra Blake was when the spotlight was turned off. But then what?

  As much as Kendra was enjoying her freedom and Charlie’s company, eventually she would have to face reality. She thought of her house in Malibu, the house that her father insisted she buy if she was going to live on her own. It was too big for her taste and too much of a showplace to be a real home. Not that she knew what a real home was.

  Her parents had given her and her sister both love and all the material things they ever needed throughout their childhood, but the family house in Malibu wasn’t anything like the kind of homes she read about in books and had seen in the movies. Besides the constant presence of security personnel, her parents kept a full household staff, and from childhood, she and her sister had been taught not to touch anything outside of their bedrooms and playroom.

  In many ways, Kendra had found what she considered her dream house in Nashville. It was much smaller, a lovely four-bedroom tucked away in a nice neighborhood not too far from the recording studio. Smaller still was the two-bedroom condo she had purchased in Phoenix. The condo had been her first purchase after she’d taken over her own finances from her parents. She had planned for it to be a getaway, a place for her to disappear when she needed a taste of normalcy. Unfortunately, she rarely found time to spend there.

  The sudden realization that the women killed by the Malibu Stalker all lived in California struck her. She thought back to the night when she had turned to her grandfather for help and realized that his insistence that she leave California had been inspired. If she could just leave Malibu behind permanently, maybe she would be able to find both her safety and her freedom.

  Chapter 16

  Charlie pulled out his phone the moment he stepped through his front door. Elias answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, Charlie. I was just about to call you.”

  “What about?”

  “The LA office finished their analysis on the two explosives. They were definitely set by the same person.”

  “That wasn’t the news I was hoping for,” Charlie told him. “Can I get you to run a background check for me? The name is Jed Burgess. His primary residence is here in Pinewood.”

  “What’s his story?”

  “His mom runs the general store here in Pinewood,” Char
lie began. “He stopped by Kendra’s place today, and from what she told me, he’s shown some interest in her in the past.”

  “You really think some guy living in the Arizona mountains could be a serial killer in Malibu?”

  “I doubt it, but it’s worth taking a look at him,” Charlie said, feeling suddenly foolish to think that Jed Burgess could possibly be involved with the murders in California. “It should be easy to eliminate him from the suspect list since he lives here. If we don’t find any evidence of him being in California near the dates of the murders, we’ll cross him off the list.”

  “All right. I’ll put Ray on it, and one of us will get back to you.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “One question though,” Elias said. “You said he paid Kendra a visit. I thought you said the roads weren’t clear enough to drive on.”

  “They aren’t. He came up the mountain on his snowmobile,” Charlie told him. “And he never saw Kendra. I was at her house when we heard him pull up so I went out and talked to him.”

  “Kendra didn’t find that odd?”

  “Like I said, she doesn’t feel comfortable around the guy. She was pretty upset. I had just shown her an article about the Malibu Stalker.”

  “Did she agree to protection?”

  “Not yet, but I think she’s considering it.” Charlie rubbed a hand over his face. “From what she said, her hang-up comes from the heavy security her dad has always insisted on. Sounds like she’s been feeling caged in for some time.”

  “Then it’s a good thing Sterling Blake doesn’t know where she is right now.”

  “Yeah, and I think it’s best we keep it that way for the time being.”

  “Definitely,” Elias agreed. “Keep me in the loop with your situation up there, and I’ll get back to you about Burgess.”

  “Thanks.”

  Charlie hung up the phone and then dug out the business card in his pocket. He dialed the number for Eleanor Burgess. Six rings later, he was about ready to hang up when Mrs. Burgess’s voice came on the line.