When a Heart Stops

by Lynette Eason

  She snorted. “Not for the weary.”

  He nodded to a local fast-food place. “How about a burger?” She wrinkled her nose and he laughed. “I’m just kidding.”

  “Cute.” Her eyes brightened. “How about one of my pizzas?”

  “You really like pizza, don’t you?”

  “I have to confess, it’s my absolute favorite meal ever.”

  “It’s not really a meal, you realize that, right?”

  She pursed her lips. “Take me home, Mr. Special Agent FBI man, and I’ll whip us up a meal of a pizza.”

  He felt a smile curve his lips and thought about that. He discovered he smiled a lot whenever Serena was around. That is, when she wasn’t making him frown with worry and exasperation. And outright fear for her life.

  Dominic pulled into Serena’s driveway. Once inside, he made her wait while he cleared the place. Thankfully, it didn’t appear that anyone had been inside. He made the call to Katie while Serena got busy in her kitchen.

  “So you’re going to stay there awhile? Till 11:00?”

  He heard something in her voice but couldn’t identify it. “Yes. I’ve got her covered until then.” He frowned. Was Hunter right? Was Katie interested in him as more than a fellow cop and friend?

  “All right. I’ll be there at 11:00.”

  “Thanks, Katie.”

  “Right.” She hung up and Dominic just sat there for a minute.

  “Everything all right?”

  He looked up to see Serena in the doorway. Her beauty took his breath for a moment. He smiled. “Yeah. Fine. Katie will be here at 11:00.” Serena bit her lip and looked away. Dominic frowned. “What is it?”

  “She’s in love with you,” she said softly.

  He froze. First Hunter, now Serena. “What makes you say that?”

  She let out a puff of laughter. “I’m a woman, we notice these things.”

  He stood and walked over to her, took her hands in his, and said, “I’m not in love with her.”

  “I know.”

  He lifted a brow. “You do?”

  “I’m a woman, we notice those things too.”

  “Really?” He had no doubt she was observant.

  “Really. Besides, you wouldn’t have kissed me on the boat if you were in love with Katie. You’re not that kind of man.”

  “You’re absolutely right. I wouldn’t have kissed you on the boat. Or now.” He pulled her closer and leaned over to capture her lips with his. She returned the kiss, lifting her hands to cup his face. When he pulled back, he said, “I want you to be safe, Serena. I don’t want to lose you now that I’ve found you.”

  Tears misted her eyes. “I know.”

  “So,” he cleared his throat and backed up a step, “would you like to go to church with me in the morning?”

  “I would love to.”

  30

  SUNDAY, 8:30 A.M.

  Serena glanced in the mirror one more time, satisfied that she’d done a pretty good makeup job. The bruise on her cheek was only slightly noticeable. She padded into the kitchen and opened the drawer where she’d shoved Jillian’s package.

  Tomorrow she’d take it to the bank and put it in a safe deposit box.

  Her doorbell rang and her heart flipped as she pulled the package from the drawer. She really needed to put it someplace safer.

  Rushing into the foyer, she spied the small table and mirror her grandmother had passed down to her. Slipping the package behind the mirror, she let it rest against the bottom piece of wood that protruded to hold the mirror slightly off the wall.

  Stepping back, she looked at the mirror and decided it was a good hiding place for now.

  She opened the door to find Dominic standing on her porch. “You’re the most punctual person I know,” she said.

  He laughed. “Come on. I’m going to enjoy going to church with you.”

  Serena smiled. “Yeah. It’ll be nice to worship and totally focus on God for a while.” She sobered. “And pray for the capture of a killer.”

  Dominic’s smile slid. “I’ve been praying that for a long time now.”

  As they climbed into his car, her phone rang. She snatched it from the side pocket of her purse.

  Covenant House.

  “Hello?”

  “Serena? This is Mrs. Lamb. Camille is here and said she had to talk to you. She said the guilt is eating her up inside.”

  Guilt? Concerned, Serena said, “Tell her I’ll be right there.”

  Dominic lifted a brow when she hung up. “We’re not going to church, are we?”

  “I’m not.” She frowned. “I’m sorry. Camille’s at Covenant House and I really need to talk to her. Why don’t you let me get my car and I’ll meet you at church after I finish with her.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  She read the look in his eyes. “You’re going to take me, huh?”

  He simply lifted a brow.

  Ten minutes later, Dominic pulled into the parking lot. “I’ll walk you up and then come back out to make a few phone calls.”

  “That’s fine. There’s a security officer on campus at all times and the entrances and exits are monitored. Visitors have to be buzzed in, so if you decide to come in, press the white button by the door.”

  He looked relieved. “Sounds like you’ll be secure.”

  “Secure enough.”

  They walked to the building and Serena showed her ID. After being buzzed in, she headed toward the family room, stopping several times to speak to the girls who recognized her.

  “Hey, Ms. Serena, I got a job!” Serena turned to give a too-skinny black girl a hug.

  “Good for you, Amanda. I’m proud of you.”

  The girl frowned. “You won’t kick me out of here yet, will you?”

  “No way. You know you’re welcome here until you can save some money and find a place to live.”

  The girl’s brow smoothed. “I know, but I just wanted to make sure.”

  “Relax, you’re doing great.”

  Serena gave her another hug, finished her trek down the hall, and entered the family room.

  Camille had staked out her spot in the corner of the couch. Her eyes were on the television screen, but Serena didn’t think the girl was paying any attention to what played there. Serena spoke to several of the other girls who recognized her and smiled.

  “Camille?”

  Camille jumped and swiveled her head. Then she popped up and threw herself into Serena’s surprised arms.

  “Hey.” She hugged the thin teen and pulled back with a smile. “Now that’s what I call a greeting.”

  A flush crept into Camille’s cheeks. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry at all.” Serena gave her another quick hug, then motioned for her to sit. Camille did and Serena sat beside her. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer my texts and calls?”

  Camille’s eyes darted to the window then back to Serena. “It doesn’t matter. I . . . um . . . I just had some things I had to work through.”

  “You want to talk about them?”

  “Not really.”

  Serena decided to change the subject. “Have you seen a doctor?”

  “No.” Camille let out a mournful sigh. “What am I going to do?”

  Serena studied the teen. “I don’t know, Camille, I guess that’s really up to you.”

  A long pause filled the silence, then Camille whispered, “I almost had an abortion.”

  Serena’s breath hitched and she felt her stomach tilt. “But you didn’t.”

  “I just couldn’t. I . . . kept picturing the ultrasound that woman did at the pregnancy center and seeing the beating heart and . . . ,” tears welled and spilled over before she finally finished, “I couldn’t. I wanted to, but . . . I couldn’t.”

  Serena reached over and gathered Camille into her arms. “I’m so glad you couldn’t do it.”

  “Yeah.” Camille rose and walked to the window. Standing off to the side, she pushed the c
urtain to look out.

  “Is something wrong?”

  Camille jumped. “No. I just . . . no.”

  But the nervous flicker of her eyes said she was lying.

  “Camille, Mrs. Lamb said something about the guilt killing you. What did you mean by that?”

  Licking her lips, Camille turned her gaze back toward the window. Then she said, “You’ve done so much for me.”

  “Honey, I care about you. A lot. You know that, right?”

  Camille finally lifted her eyes to Serena’s. “You’ve done more for me in the last year than any member of my family’s done my whole life. Yeah, I believe you care about me, that’s why—” She bit her lip and began to pace.

  “Camille, I need to ask you a question and I need you to be honest with me.”

  Camille stopped her jerky stride. She looked at Serena, wariness flickering in her eyes. “What?”

  “Were you at my house Thursday night when the alarm went off?”

  She flinched. “At your house?”

  “Yes.” Why did Camille feel the need to repeat the question unless she was stalling, trying to think of an answer? “Don’t lie to me, don’t do that. At least tell me the truth. This is important.”

  The girl snapped her lips together and looked back toward the window. Fear shadowed her face. “Yes. I was there. That’s why I came here. To tell you about . . .” She twisted her fingers and bit her lip. “I was looking for you.”

  “Tell me about what?”

  Camille bit her lip and looked away, her expression so tortured Serena actually felt the girl’s pain. “Did you try to get in the house and accidentally set the alarm off?”

  Camille crossed her arms in front of her stomach and leaned forward. “No, I was . . . no, someone was already in your house.”

  “What? Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”

  “Because,” she licked her lips, “I was scared.”

  “Scared of what?”

  “She saw me . . . um . . . looking in the window. She looked right at me and the look in her eyes was . . . crazy.” Camille shuddered and gulped in a breath. “She . . . uh . . . came after me, so I ran and she yelled she’d find me.”

  Serena stared. “She?”

  “A woman. A tall woman dressed like a man with a baseball cap and everything. She had on those clothes they wear in the army.”

  “Army fatigues?”

  “Yes. Camouflage.”

  Serena leaned back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. “A woman?” She’d have to pass that information on to Dominic. “But I don’t understand how my alarm went off.” She looked back at the girl. “I need you to talk to a friend of mine about the break-in and what you saw. He’s an FBI agent investigating something, and the break-in may be related.”

  “Talk to the cops? No way!” Camille stood and started an antsy, restless pacing.

  Serena frowned. “Why not? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Because . . . because if they come looking for me at my house, my dad will have a fit!” She edged toward the door.

  Serena stood. “No, not at your house. You can talk to him here. He’s right outside waiting on me to finish up here.”

  “Here?” Her voice squeaked.

  “Camille, what are you so afraid of?”

  Camille lifted a hand to her head and burst into tears. Shocked at the overreaction, Serena simply grabbed a tissue from the box on the end table and handed it to Camille.

  “I’m sorry. My emotions are just so out of whack these days.”

  “I hear that’s normal.”

  “Ugh. It’s awful.”

  “So, will you talk to him? Tell him what you saw and everything that happened Thursday night? You could save someone’s life.”

  Camille sniffed. “Save a life? How?”

  “We think this person is after a friend of mine and if he—she—catches up to her, she’ll hurt her . . . or kill her. We’re not sure why she’s after her, just that she is.”

  Camille hesitated, then gave a slow nod. “Okay.”

  Serena pulled her phone out to call Dominic. When he answered, she said, “Hey, can you come in for a minute? I have someone you need to talk to.”

  “Sure.” She could hear the curiosity in his voice, but he didn’t question her. “I’m on the way in.”

  “I’ll let the guard know you’re coming.”

  Camille stood. “I’m going to clean myself up some.” She headed down the hall to the bathroom.

  Serena walked over to the security officer and told him to let Dominic in. Then she stepped over to the window and looked out. From her vantage point, she could see Dominic climb out of the car and sprint across the parking lot toward the building.

  Two minutes later, she felt her phone buzz as he strode down the hall toward her, a question mark on his face. “What’s up?”

  She looked at her phone and frowned. Then she looked up and answered him. “I had a long talk with Camille. She was definitely the teenager my neighbor spotted running across the yard.”

  Dominic’s brows dipped. “Did she say why she was trying to break into your house?”

  “She said she wasn’t. Someone was already in the house when Camille got there.”

  He lifted a brow. “Who?”

  “A woman.”

  The other brow followed the first. “What? A woman? Did Camille recognize her?”

  “No. She said she was dressed in army fatigues and had a baseball cap on, but she was definitely a woman.”

  “And she was in your house.”

  “Right.”

  His mind clicked. He had an idea. Probably a far-fetched one, but he had to see how it panned out. “I need to look at one of those files from Howard’s house again. After we finish here, do you mind if we stop by my office?”

  “Sure.” She nodded. “You do that and I’ll go in to my office. I got a text. There’s an emergency autopsy a family is paying for and Daniel asked if I could come do it. They want to bury the body tomorrow. While I’m there, I’m going to go ahead and do Hilary’s too.”

  He frowned. “Is this a usual thing?”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes. We try to honor a family’s requests. If it falls on a Sunday, so be it.”

  “I don’t want you there alone.”

  “I won’t be. Paul is supposed to be there as well as Daniel. He’s really stressing about the cuts that are getting ready to happen.” She looked at her phone again, then down the hall. “Where did that girl go?” Serena tapped her foot, then narrowed her eyes. “Let me just see if I can find her.”

  Dominic watched Serena head down the hall, but his mind churned. He really wanted to get his hands on the file sitting on his desk. Impatience twisted inside him. First he had to make sure Serena was safe.

  “She’s gone!”

  At her frustrated shout, Dominic strode toward her. Serena stood in the middle of the hall, hands on her hips.

  “What?”

  “She’s gone. She went out the other bathroom door, down the hall parallel to this one, and out of the house.” A young girl came around the corner and Serena pounced. “Helen, did you see Camille?”

  “She went out the door a few minutes ago.”

  Serena raced for the door and Dominic took off after her. Serena skidded to a halt when she got to the security guard’s desk. “Which way did she go? The girl who just left?”

  He nodded toward the door. “Shot out of here like she had a snake on her tail.”

  Dominic followed Serena out the door and down the steps. She stopped and looked left, then right. “She’s gone. Where would she go?”

  “Probably the neighborhood that’s right behind this place. If she’s wanting to get away from you, she’ll go where you can’t follow.”

  Serena planted her hands on her hips. “But why would she want to get away?”

  “She didn’t want to talk to me.”

  Serena stomped her foot.

  In spite of
the seriousness of the situation, Dominic let out a surprised laugh. “I’ve never seen you do that before.”

  The flush that crept into her olive-complected cheeks made him grin. Her embarrassment was cute. She rolled her eyes and said, “It’s a habit from childhood.” Then she turned serious, pulled out her phone, fingers flying. “I’m sending her a text telling her to get in touch with me or . . . or . . . I’m going to cut her phone off.”

  “You’re going to make a great mom.”

  She looked up, her cheeks still red. Then her eyes crinkled as her brow furrowed. “I’m worried about her, Dominic. She’s pregnant.”

  “Ah. Oh boy.”

  “Yeah.” Serena paced toward the subdivision, then back toward Dominic. “I think that’s part of the problem.”

  “What?” He was confused.

  “I have come to think of her as . . . mine. And she’s not.”

  “But you want her to be?”

  She sighed and whispered, “Maybe,” as she stared in the direction Dominic thought Camille went.

  He pulled her toward his car. “She seems to be a pretty resourceful kid. Give her a chance to text you back. She’s obviously reaching out for some help or she wouldn’t have come back to Covenant House. Let her think about it.”

  Serena allowed him to open the door for her, but he could see her reluctance. He had a feeling if she didn’t have an autopsy to do, she would have been chasing right after the wayward teen.

  While Serena sat staring at her phone as though she could will Camille to text or call, Dominic turned his thoughts to Howard’s folder. He itched to get another look at it. Because if he was right, he was getting ready to blow this whole case wide open.

  31

  SUNDAY, 11:45 A.M.

  As Serena rode toward the hospital with Dominic, her mind chugged through everything. Jillian had sent her a package. Someone wanted that package. Camille saw someone, a woman, in her house possibly looking for that package.

  If Serena gave it up, would the person leave her alone or kill her because of what he—or she—thought she knew? Should she open the package and read the contents in spite of Jillian’s wishes? Or would that be betraying a friend? Then again, was that package putting her life in danger? The lives of those close to her?