In His Sights

“It’s really not necessary for you to take me home, Edgar.”

“It’s not a problem,” he insisted.

Dee resigned herself to going along with Edgar’s plan. For the time being anyway. She was tired, and she really didn’t want to go home alone. With Lauren in Savannah for the weekend, going home to a dark, empty house held little appeal after Lauren had been attacked in her backyard. She couldn’t deny that it felt comforting to know he was next to her, just in case anyone was watching.

They arrived at Julia’s and Edgar walked his sister to the door. Dee watched Edgar step inside and be greeted by a middle-aged man she presumed to be Julia’s father. Knowing Edgar, she imagined he was apologizing for the inconvenience.

Her mind drifted back to the phone call. The more she thought about it, the only voice that came to mind was Josie Skerritt. But why would Josie call to say the messages were from an impostor? Why couldn’t one thing in this entire scandal make some sort of sense?

A few minutes later, Edgar returned to the car. “Sorry for the delay, Dee,” he said. “I wanted to make sure Julia’s parents understand why I’m a little more concerned than usual.”

“I’m sorry to cause all of this trouble, but now I’ll admit, I’m relieved to have someone with me.”

“Good.” Edgar reached over the console and took hold of Dee’s hand. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if you’d said no. Where are you parked?”

“In K lot, near the bell tower.” She noted that he wasn’t letting go of her hand, and she didn’t mind. It was a nice reminder of the reunion, when she’d thought he was flirting with her. “It’s not your fault, the extra exposure, I mean. It goes with the profession. And it doesn’t normally bother me. But it does feel more personal with this job. If Lauren wasn’t out of town this weekend, I’d at least have her waiting at home for me. I should…” her voice faded as she thought of what had already happened in town over the past few months. “Before you leave me at my car, I want to tell you about the call, just in case.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you by bringing up Scott’s death.”

“It’s true, though. The police would know what story he was researching if his laptop had been found or if he’d left Jameson more information, and we’d probably know who killed him by now. I’m not so much worried about myself as I am hoping we catch this maniac before anyone else is hurt.” Dee told him about the mysterious call. “I searched the Internet for a Josie Skerritt, but there were no results on any of the sites or search engines.”

“That’s very strange,” Edgar said thoughtfully.

It felt better knowing someone else was concerned. She realized that she really should write it all down while it was fresh in her memory, in case it did turn out to be important information that the police might need.

“And she didn’t give any clue as to who she is?” Edgar turned into the parking lot, made a circle and left the parking lot again. “Do you have any premonition of who it could be? Who were Josie’s friends in college? Who would he have kept in touch with?”

“Premonitions?” Dee laughed. “I don’t have premonitions. Or at least I don’t think I do. And who is the ‘he’ you’re thinking of?” Dee noticed Edgar going around the block for a second time. “Edgar, you just went by my car. Where are you going?”

“I was busy talking and want to take another look around in the landscaping. When I get nervous I confuse my pronouns and mix up my languages. Sorry.”

It endeared Edgar Ortiz to her even more. Macho, chivalrous, and he didn’t hesitate to admit he was a bit frightened, too. Now she was really scared. She forced herself to think of the caller to ease her concern about getting into her own car.

“I was so focused on the caller’s voice that I didn’t really consider who Josie would’ve kept in touch with. Now all I can think of is that the voice sounds like Josie’s did.” She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. “But if it was Josie, why wouldn’t she have just said someone was responding as her? The more they dig into this case, the more peculiar it’s getting.” Edgar circled once more before returning to her car. Then he made her wait until he’d looked around it before allowing her to get in.

“I’ll follow a little too close. If you see anything that alarms you, pull over in a busy place. And keep your phone handy. And…”

“Edgar, you’re scaring me even more. Let’s get on the road. And you do realize that I live half an hour out of town, don’t you?”

He paused. “Since your other office is in Savannah, I didn’t think you lived around the corner, but no, I don’t know exactly where your apartment is. It’s okay, I’ll follow. I’m not going to send you out there alone.”

“Okay, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to back out. And, just so you know, it’s a house, out by the Magnolia Lane Golf Course.” She watched in amazement as he hurried back to his car. His broad shoulders were enough to scare that puny stalker away, she was sure of that. She glanced into the shadows, relieved that no one was looking back.

Twenty-six minutes later, Dee pulled into the long driveway to her two-story home, wondering how she could be certain that no one was lurking outside. She turned her headlights on bright, then entered the security code to open the garage door. She pulled in on one side, motioning for Edgar to pull into the other. After they were both inside, Dee closed the garage door and breathed a sigh of relief. She got out of her car and entered the security code on the garage entry to the house.

Edgar looked around, a smile softening his strong jaw. “Impressive.” He met her at the door and glanced around. “Do you have a baseball bat or something?”

“Closest thing is a golf club. It’s over there.” Dee pointed to the storage cabinets on the far side of the garage. “They came with the house.”

Edgar raised an eyebrow. “You golf?”

“When I have to, let’s just say it’s not a problem letting the client win.” She smiled. “Come on. It’s going to be fine. After that jealous student broke into my carriage house to scare Lauren away from Seth, I had a security system installed. The service would have called if there’d been any problems. Would you like some coffee? I won’t guarantee it’s as good as in Brazil, but…”

“You are a beautiful surprise, Deandra. Here we are scared out of our wits and you’re going to make coffee, and worry that I won’t like it.” He motioned toward the door.

Dee laughed as she returned the key to her purse, more than a little relieved to be home. “No one calls me Deandra,” she said in a light tone. Edgar stepped inside ahead of her. “That’s not fair,” Dee said, playfully tugging on his arm. “I don’t get to see your reaction to my home if you’re ahead of me.”

Thunder rumbled. Edgar stopped suddenly and pulled her into his embrace.

SEVEN

He’d been outside waiting since the sun went down. He’d crawled through foot-high weeds to get to Dee’s house from the back side of the golf course, where he’d hidden that dump of a car he’d found in an Atlanta newspaper. It was cheap, and no paperwork to trace the sale. Just what he needed right now, something to get around in unnoticed.

He eyed the approaching thunderstorm, hoping it passed quickly without dumping too much rain. He’d been sitting in her gazebo, waiting for the call.

If it got too muddy, he’d leave tracks right back to the car. He’d have to duck into the garage and surprise her after she turned off that blasted security system. He tugged on the wire leading from the house to the pole out back, ready to run at a moment’s notice if an alarm went off. Nothing. It was better news than he’d hoped for. It had to have disconnected something.

I’d have thought you’d be smarter than this, Ms. Owens. Especially after all those close calls with Lauren.

Lightning cracked, hitting the tree next to him, sending a branch to the ground.

Then again, a thunderstorm could also hide evidence. How much more perfect could this be?

He picked up the branch and placed it over the downed wire. Just a little mishap with Mother Nature. His black clothes were getting soaked, and the leather gloves were going to dye his hands black if they got wet. He’d never be able to explain that to his wife. He tugged them off and tucked them into his pocket.

Where in the world is she? He felt his cell phone vibrate. All looked quiet here. He took the phone from his pocket and answered quietly.

“She’s on her way home, finally. I had her trapped in the library, when she met up with some guy and a girl. Don’t miss this time.”

“Don’t threaten me again.” He glanced at his watch and ended the call. It’ll take her at least twenty minutes, maybe more. While he waited, he went through everything one more time, making sure he hadn’t missed anything. Half an hour later, he heard a car approach, ducked around the corner of the garage and hid behind the azalea bush, ready to crawl inside behind her car.

But two sets of headlights pulled into her driveway, and he was surprised to see a sports car follow her into the garage. He’d seen that car on campus.

Why didn’t you tell me she was going to have company?

He backed away, deeper into the shrubs, and waited for them to get inside. First the garage door closed, then he heard the inside door bang shut. Thunder rumbled overhead. He turned and ran, straight into the fallen branch.

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