“I’ve got an empty coffee cup in my car.” Shiloh was already moving that way. She returned with it seconds later and Matt scooted the paper cup along next to the scorpion, holding his breath as he used the lid to sweep it in, then closed the lid tight.
Everyone seemed to exhale at once.
“He tried to kill me again.” Gemma stated the obvious in a quivering voice. She’d been proud of herself most of this whole time for how she’d handled the situation, staying strong and determined to catch the killer no matter what it took. It was inevitable, though, that she’d start to break eventually. They had to solve this fast, before she fell apart completely.
Another car pulled in as Matt was putting a piece of tape over the drinking hole on the coffee cup—no chance that guy was getting out. A little more tension eased from Gemma’s shoulders.
The chief climbed out of the car and walked toward Matt. “What’s going on? I heard you call units here on the radio.”
Matt gave him a rundown of the situation.
The chief nodded. “All right. I want someone with Gemma at all times. This guy’s getting desperate. Matt, I want you to come with me to the station. Let’s see if we can get an ID on this guy and piece together an idea of how this could have happened.”
Matt looked at Gemma. Torn.
She nodded. “I’ll be okay.” He needed to go. She’d be fine with another officer, just as long as someone was watching her. Or at least she thought she would be—but as she watched Matt drive away in his patrol car, part of her felt a little less strong, a little less brave than she had just moments before.
After Matt, the chief, Shiloh and the other officers headed out, it was just a few construction workers left working at the museum site and Clay, who was going to give Gemma a ride home. She just needed a few more minutes in the office to grab her purse and her things, and then she was going to leave, too. She hurried up the stairs, and back inside the building.
Her phone rang just as she got inside. Matt. “Hello?”
“They think they ID’d the type of scorpion. It looks like an Arizona bark scorpion. Not just a threat—that one’s deadly.”
“We’re in Georgia. Someone went to the trouble to get a scorpion here from Arizona? How? Why?”
“Mailed it, I would guess. As far as why, if you’d picked up that bouquet and held it for even a few seconds, he probably would have stung you—and then crawled away, leaving little to no evidence about who was behind it. That’s easier than killing you himself.”
Gemma understood. It was sick. But it made sense. The man who was after her was getting more desperate to get her out of the picture, getting more creative and determined by the second. She shivered. “I’ve got to go, Matt. I’ll talk to you later, but I want to get out of here.”
“All right. You’re okay with Clay, right? The chief wanted me to be part of this.”
She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “Clay’s waiting for me just outside. I’m fine. Talk to you soon.”
They hung up and Gemma rubbed her arms to try to make the goose bumps go away. Time to gather her things and then she could go. She walked farther into the room, looked around to make sure she was getting everything she’d brought with her this morning.
She paused at the desk, noticing a small folded piece of paper. She’d almost gotten it unfolded when all at once, alarm bells in her brain sounded.
If he had been here since leaving the palm flowers, he was probably still here. And he wanted her dead. Today.
Gemma dropped to her knees just as the first gunshot pierced the window on the other side of where she’d been standing.
She’d been right. The note had been a trap, a reason for her to stand still in the killer’s line of sight. She crawled toward the door but stayed low. More gunshots outside. She knew some would belong to the killer, some to Clay, who would be shooting back as long as he had eyes on his target.
This had to end soon.
Hands shaking, she unfolded the note, not ready to read it, but knowing there could be something in it she needed to know.
TOMORROW MORNING. HAMILTON ESTATE WHERE THE HAUL WAS BURIED. COME ALONE AND BE READY TO TELL ME WHAT YOU’VE TOLD THE COPS.
As this went on, he was seeming less stable. Gemma couldn’t take much more of this. She shoved the note in her pocket, curled up against the wall and waited for the shooting to stop.
Then she heard someone shouting outside the door. “Gemma, it’s Clay. He’s stopped for now, let’s go.”
Running to the car not knowing if the shooting would start again sounded dangerous. Then again, the paper-thin walls of the portable office building weren’t exactly offering a lot of protection.
Clay cracked the door open and they ran to the patrol car. Nothing. Not a shot fired. Trying to figure out this guy’s motives, staying one step ahead of him, was getting nearly impossible.
They drove to Claire’s house without talking. There was nothing to say. And Gemma didn’t want to share the contents of this note with anyone but Matt.
Just to make this nightmare end sooner, she was half considering doing what it asked.
* * *
“I need to see you in my office.”
The chief’s voice was more businesslike than Matt had heard it in a while, understandable with the new threat against Gemma earlier today. In fact, its tone was so different from usual that he half questioned the handful of interactions they’d had over the past weeks. Hadn’t it just been yesterday that the chief had given him what had amounted to a pep talk, let him know that he thought he could handle this case?
Now...things were falling apart. Matt could feel it, tried to brace himself for it, but he still wasn’t ready when it came.
“You’re off the case, O’Dell.” The words fell like a gavel—and Matt could feel the accompanying judgment—the moment he had shut the door behind himself.
“Off the... Sir, why? I’ve been doing the best I can, and I really think I’m getting closer to finding this guy. I know you wanted it solved as quickly as possible, but I don’t think you’re going to find anyone who will work it with half the determination I will.” He fought for it, not sure if he stood any chance at all, but figuring it couldn’t hurt.
“Frankly, I’m uncomfortable with how close you are to this case.”
Unbelievable.
“Chief, you’re the one who reminded me less than a week ago that my dad and I are different people. His crimes are in the past and don’t affect this at all.”
A funny expression crossed his face, but he shook it off. “We’ll talk about that in a minute. For now, it’s not your father I was referring to.”
Matt all but fell backward into the chair he’d been standing in front of. He kept staring at the chief, even as the pieces started to fit, as the conversation started to seem less crazy and began making sense. “Gemma.”
“Yes.”
“But we aren’t... I mean, I don’t know...and why do you think there’s something going on anyway?”
“Her parents came to talk to me.”
Stunned fell short of explaining how he felt right now. “Her parents...but...” He searched for what he wanted to say, wanted to ask. Every fiber of him wanted to stand up, be a man, defend himself.
But he’d been getting romantically involved with a witness in a case he was investigating.
There was no way to spin that, no way to make it sound better than it was. Because Matt should have known better. Had known better. But his feelings for Gemma had been so strong that he’d ignored the conflict of interest, or at least minimized it in his mind, to make it seem possible for them to be together.
The thing was, he still wasn’t sure he completely regretted it. Matt’s only option here was full honesty. He’d plead his case and see what happened.
“Sir, if you’ve heard that I’m emotionally involved with Gemma, then I suspect that what you heard is true. And I... I’m apologetic that my choices reflect badly on the departm
ent. I should have known better.”
“Yes, you should have.”
He didn’t know what to say to that.
A few seconds passed. Finally, he had one more thought. “Sir, if I can say so, this is still not affecting my work on the case in a negative way. If I thought for a second that it was, I would fully understand your choice to have me taken off it. But it’s not. I’m still the best man to work this case.”
The chief shook his head. “I’m sorry, O’Dell, but I can’t take the risk of an emotional response compromising the case. Besides, if it comes down to it, we may have to use Gemma’s presence to draw her stalker in closer.”
Matt was up on his feet, all but in the chief’s face faster than he could blink. “You can’t do that.”
“That’s exactly what a man who is too close to the situation would say.” The older man kept his voice steady, level. Certain.
Matt sat back down.
“Even if this wasn’t an issue, there’s a bigger problem with you continuing to be involved. Your father... He seems to have escaped from prison.”
Matt shook his head. “Why does that matter? You said yourself that I wasn’t responsible for his mistakes. I haven’t heard from him, nothing like that in case you’re wondering.”
“I know. You’re a good cop, O’Dell. I don’t doubt your loyalties at all.”
“But you’re taking me off this case.”
The chief leaned back in his chair, rubbed his temples with both hands. “I don’t have any choice. You’re off the case for now and I’m going to have you...take some time off. Take a break, refocus. If you can lie low for a week or two, just until this resolves, which hopefully won’t take any longer, you’ll still have a job when you come back.”
“And if not?”
He shook his head. “I’m not the only one watching, O’Dell. The Phillips family has a lot of influence in this town. I’ve got the mayor, town council members breathing down my neck. You mess this up? I may not be able to guarantee your place here at the Treasure Point Police Department.”
Matt didn’t say another word. Just stood and walked out of the office, straight to his car. He jammed the keys in the ignition, started the engine and headed straight for Gemma’s house even as everything inside him screamed that it was a bad idea. He should go home, think about it.
But he’d done something wrong. He hadn’t been the man he wanted to be. Dating a witness? He shook his head at himself, at his selfishness. Gemma was too good for him anyway; everyone knew it. He was practically taking advantage of the chaos the whole situation had plunged her life into. And that was the last thing he wanted to do. That meant he needed to take a big step back—and before he could, he owed her an explanation.
He pulled into the driveway, took a deep breath and got out of the car.
Gemma must have seen him pull up, because she walked onto the front porch and out to the driveway, dressed in a Georgia football fitted T-shirt and jeans.
She looked good.
“Hey.” Her smile was sweet, soft.
And he was about to be the one to take it away. Matt shook his head to shake himself out of it. It had to be done.
“We need to talk.”
The smile fell away. “Okay.”
“I’m off the case, Gemma. I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about it. So, uh...I guess this is goodbye. I know they’ll solve it soon, you’ll be able to get back to Atlanta...” Matt cleared his throat, tried to talk past the lump forming in his throat.
“Wait, what do you mean, off the case? And why are you telling me goodbye?”
Clear brown eyes met his, and while usually he loved looking into her eyes, feeling the odd but welcome sense of a connection with her, today it was uncomfortable. Too close.
Matt looked away. Shook his head. “I’m sorry. Another officer will be guarding your house.” He motioned to the unmarked car sitting on the street two houses down. “Goodbye, Gemma.”
* * *
“No.” She stepped down off the porch onto the driveway, feeling fire start to burn in her chest. She took a deep breath, let it out again.
“No?”
She repeated herself one more time, this time shaking her head slowly to go along with the one word. “No.”
He leaned against his car, folded his arms and looked her way. His expression was different than it had been the entire rest of the time they’d been working on this case together. It was guarded, harder.
But Gemma knew the real Matt now.
“I think you’re running.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re running, Matt, from the slightest hint of trouble. We knew, you and I both did, that being...friends, being whatever we are wasn’t going to be easy. And now there’s trouble and you’re just going to quit?”
“I didn’t have the best role models about relationships, okay? Maybe you’re right, maybe that is what I’m doing.” He shoved a hand through his hair, an action Gemma had noticed him doing maybe once before when he was overwhelmingly frustrated. “But it’s my choice.”
Gemma shrugged, tried to hold back the tears she could feel threatening to spill over any second now. “Fine, if that’s what you want. It’s what I would have expected from the Matt I knew in high school, but I thought the man you are now was different.”
He leveled his gaze at her. “You want to talk about running away?”
She swallowed hard, looked away.
“You ran first. You’re fighting this battle because you know you have to in order to stay alive. But if you could, you’d have run again, wouldn’t you? Just like you did before when you tried to bury yourself under a bunch of fancy clothes and a big Atlanta corporation, as if that was the way to prove you were better than this town. Didn’t stop you from coming back, though, did it?”
“Me leaving was something I had to do. So was coming back.” Now it was her turn to add an edge to her tone. How dare he turn this around to her?
“You want to know why I think that is, since we’re analyzing each other here?”
She didn’t. And she did. And he was going to tell her anyway, she could tell by the look on his face, so she stayed quiet and waited.
“I think you’re afraid to let the past go. You’re afraid to be any other version of Gemma than the one who had bad things happen to her. You want the past to define you, because otherwise you have to find a way to move on, grow.”
Anything she might have prepared herself for would have been easier to handle than that. She felt the sting of the words all the way to her core, but...
Was he wrong?
Before she could respond, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Gemma. Even if we aren’t... We can’t... No matter what our relationship is or isn’t, I should never have talked to you like that. I’m truly sorry.” He was back in his car and gone before she could say another word. Before she could tell him that maybe he was right, or tell him about the letter she’d received earlier.
Her only comfort was that he’d driven away before he could see her break down and cry.
Likely the first of many tears to come.
FIFTEEN
Gemma had been left almost speechless after the conversation with Matt. She wasn’t mad, not really. What he’d said about her...it may have been true. She wasn’t sure yet. And in any case, she couldn’t blame him for snapping at her when every word she’d heard him say was covered in hurt, insecurity.
She was almost sure he’d go straight from her house to their beach near the Hamilton House to try to sort out his thoughts. Unfortunately, this time she doubted that a few hours in the fresh air would make things better. This was too complicated for that.
As for herself, she skipped dinner. Cried over the past, over their shared hurts, over the unendingness of this case, over losing Matt. Cried until there weren’t any tears left.
And then fell asleep.
Claire opened the shop late the next morning so she could make chocolate-chip muffins for Gemma
.
“I’m so sorry,” her sister repeated for the millionth time as the two of them sat cross-legged beside each other on the couch.
“It’s not your fault.”
This time Claire argued. “But it is, Gemma. I saw you two kiss, when you’d hurt your wrist. I told Mom and Dad that you were working with him on this case and also getting romantically involved.”
Okay, awkward, but still not something she could see as directly leading to their...breakup, or whatever you called something like that when you hadn’t technically been dating in the first place.
“Still, don’t blame yourself, Claire. I don’t even know what happened.”
“But I do. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Claire uncrossed her legs, leaned forward in her spot on the couch. “I told them and they said they would go and talk to the chief.”
“The chief? What does he have to do with anything?”
Her sister shifted again. “Nothing. He shouldn’t have anything to do with your and Matt’s relationship. But Mom and Dad figured... They knew...”
“They knew that if they pointed out to the chief that the officer in charge of my investigation might be dating me, Matt would lose his job.”
Claire nodded. “Yeah.”
So it had been intentional. Gemma debated how much she should let it bother her. On one hand, her parents had been so far out of line to bring something so personal to the attention of Matt’s boss. On the other, maybe she and Matt had been crazy to think they could start a relationship while in the situation they were in without consequences.
The whole idea had been doomed from the beginning. That first time she’d seen him again, when she’d been interviewing for the job and he’d walked across the parking lot, she should have looked away and never looked back.
But if she had it to do over again, she’d do exactly the same thing. Gemma wiped a tear from her cheek. Being with Matt, getting closer to him the way she had, had been worth it. Was still worth it.
“Thanks for telling me.” She finally found the words to tell Claire.
Her sister gave her a small smile. “I have to get to work.”
“Yes, go, I’ll be fine.” Gemma continued drinking her coffee, looking up to wave to her sister as she started to walk out the door.
Cold Case Witness Page 15
