Practicing Murder

by Unger, Erin;

  He moved at a clip until he could see. All clear. Joze took another look through the binoculars as far down the street as he could see and then turned them on Maddie’s house.

  Someone moved through the living room. It must be the other cousin he hadn’t met yet. What was her name? Something close to his, he remembered that much.

  Maddie stepped into the light of the window in the library on the front right side of the house. He jerked back. She didn’t see him, did she? He’d better get back to his car. She stepped out of sight, and he took off through the trees. His foot caught on something and he pitched forward. Good thing he had the binoculars on a strap tied around his neck. He’d never find them in the dead leaves from last fall that clogged the ground and killed any chance of fresh grass growth.

  He got his feet back under him and made a beeline for the curb, out of view of the front door. With a hasty look back, he didn’t see anyone exit the house. No one came around the side of the house from the back door.

  It took him a second to get his breath. He climbed into his truck and scrunched down in his seat. Maybe he should circle the neighborhood and come back in a few minutes. But that meant he’d have his eyes off the property for too long. At least pull forward out of view a little more?

  He moved the car twenty feet further away. Now he could only see the front yard. No view of the side; that wasn’t going to work.

  He could army crawl into the woods and hunker down on the ground.

  Through his rear view mirror, he took another look back. Still dead calm reigned. He relaxed his shoulders and slowly sat up.

  22

  Maddie’s heart kicked into third gear. She jumped back from the window and rounded the doorway. In the living room, she took another look through the windows as far as she could see up the street. A truck just out of full view sat on the side of the road. Wasn’t it a little closer the last time she looked? She didn’t recognize it. Not again. And in a truck this time, not the tan car? It had gotten so out of hand she was afraid to even go on her own front porch.

  Anger welled all the way to her fingertips. Followed by a huge dose of fear.

  What could she do? She couldn’t live like this anymore. She had to show him he couldn’t control her.

  If the plan was to kill her, wouldn’t he have done it by now? Was his tactic just to scare her into silence for something she didn’t even know about? If the fear clogging her nerve endings would stop she’d go out and yell it on the top of her lungs that she didn’t know anything. Didn’t know why he was after her. But would it do any good?

  She pulled back. She’d been through worse and she couldn’t let this continue. She couldn’t be a victim again.

  She moved her hand to her pant pocket. The little pocket knife that never left her since she’d scouted it out of Devin’s drawer wouldn’t do any good unless she didn’t mind getting up close and personal. And she did mind. Then what could she use? Devin had a bat somewhere. Please let it be in his room and not out in the garage. Maddie stopped. How was she going to explain to him why she wanted it?

  She peeked into the kitchen. He slumped over a bar stool reading something. This wasn’t the time to raise suspicion. She’d have to get it as fast as she could and leave his room before being seen.

  Skipping steps, Maddie got to the top landing and checked for Jocelyn and Aster. The hall was empty. Music seeped out of Aster’s room. She walked past her door as calm as she could and made sure her cousin wasn’t paying any attention to her movement. Aster sprawled across the pink bedding from her youth, her head turned away. Maddie hurried into Devin’s room. She checked his usual spot behind the door. It wasn’t there.

  She shook the frustration out of her body. Quick, check under the bed. Maddie lifted the comforter. The metal dinged-up bat caught the light. Yes.

  She hurried to the door and put her back against the wall, checked the hall and scampered back down the steps, careful to hold it tight against her left side as she passed Aster’s door.

  Sliding her boots on, Maddie put her hand on the door and turned the knob. She froze. Disarm first. She scolded herself, reached for the buttons, and then put in the code.

  One last look down the hall, and she stepped out the door and hunched down as close to the house as she could get.

  The purple-hued truck gleamed in the sun. She grasped the bat in a tight grip. How could she get to it without being seen? She could take a full run at it. No. He’d have time to get out and grab her.

  If she went around the garage she could go through the woods. She gave another look back to the kitchen. Devin mumbled out a few words to some song he must be listening to on his iPod. There would be no getting past him with the heavy bat unless she covered it. She’d have to scurry around and dash through the bushes to the back, too.

  Maddie wrapped it in a blanket and made a run for the bushes, squatted down, and eyed the area. Once a car passed, she rushed to the garage and skirted the back of it. With eyes wide open, she took in the neighbor’s backyard. Still nothing.

  Into the woods, her skin prickled, her fingers tensed even tighter around the weapon in her hands. She stooped behind a few rock outcroppings on her way forward and dropped the blanket.

  Now she’d have to crawl or risk being noticed. The person in the driver’s seat remained hidden behind the tinted windows covering him.

  She got on her stomach and crawled, slow and jerky.

  Had she seen movement? Maddie didn’t have a choice. She hurdled off the ground, and vaulted to the back of the vehicle. She raised the bat and slammed it against the back light, a scream belting out of her. “Why won’t you leave me alone?” Her chest almost exploded from the racing of her heart. “I—don’t—know—”

  “What are you doing?” The driver thrust the door open and flew out.

  Maddie slowed the bat as it descended upon the side of the truck a second time, but from the force of momentum, she couldn’t stop it from bumping the two-toned paint job again. “Joze?”

  Her legs jellied, and she grasped the side of the vehicle to keep from falling backward.

  “What are you doing?” he yelled. His hands waved in crazy movements. “I can’t believe you did that.”

  She couldn’t look at him. Confusion clogged her to her pores. Why was he in this truck? The one that’d been parked for hours. How had she managed to screw this up and think it was the stalker?

  His full force yelling ceased as he stopped and sucked in all the air around her. “My friend is going to kill me.”

  The bat clunked against the asphalt at her feet. She pulled herself up and braced against the truck, her hand going to her pounding head. “I…I didn’t know…it was you. I thought…”

  He was at her side before she could draw more oxygen into her lungs. “You try to stop me at every turn.”

  Nothing made sense. “But I told you to go. I didn’t know it was you. I swear.”

  He shook a fist in the air. “You are more trouble…”

  Now he’d said it. She pushed away from him and narrowed her eyes. “Listen, I didn’t know it was you. I thought that creepy stalker was back, and I’m done with this whole thing. I want my life back.”

  He stopped ranting.

  The heat of his body radiated against her skin. Why’d he have to be the most aggravating human being she knew?

  His nose flared as he stared her down. She looked away. The taillight. On an antique truck. Oh great. Where was she going to get the money to replace it? And how was she or he going to explain to the owner what happened?

  In one fluid movement, Joze yanked her around the side of the truck.

  He shoved her to the ground. Maddie tried to push out of his grasp, but he whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling her to her core. “Stay down. It’s the tan sedan.”

  She breathed in his sweet sweat and cologne, and tensed.

  Two minutes too late. The bat could’ve done a number on the right car if she’d just waited.

 
; She peered under the truck as the car passed in slow motion, and whispered, “Are you sure it’s the right one?”

  He pressed closer. “Shh. The license plate is obscured. Has to be.”

  Her side ached from the cold metal of the truck running board cutting into it.

  Time seemed to slow so much she had to fight the urge to pull away from Joze’s grasp and see for herself if the car was long gone. His proximity reminded her how much he had been there when she needed someone to lean on the most. He’d cared even when he didn’t have to. She couldn’t discount him anymore. What if…

  Maddie flinched and tried to pull away mentally.

  At that moment, Joze began to stand. “He’s gone. Man, he’s relentless. Thank God he didn’t see us.”

  She refocused back to the road. And then tears threatened. What had she been thinking? She’d almost put herself straight into the stalker’s path.

  Joze pulled her to her feet. “Call Sam Tuttle. He has to know the guy’s still around.”

  Had she crushed her phone against the road when they’d hidden? She got up and pulled it out. Oh, please let it be OK. There was no money to replace it if it was broken. Not after the tail light.

  Its screen had a tiny crack in the bottom corner. She sucked in the flower-scented air in relief and dialed.

  Joze threw open the door and pushed her up into the truck. “We need to be out of sight if he makes another round.”

  She nodded.

  The officer took her information once the dispatcher connected her to him. “Ma’am, he’s gone?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you said you’re with Joze Evans?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll be there to patrol the area as soon as I can. It’s been a busy day.” He hung up.

  How long could that take? She dropped the phone into her lap and relayed the information.

  Joze propped a hand on the wheel, his gaze bouncing up and down the street. “We need to get out of here.”

  23

  The flowers. The oppressive soft music in the background. All the people filling every corner of the house made Maddie want to vomit. How she’d managed to hold her back ramrod straight through the funeral service and keep back the tears was a true miracle. And now the cloying air of casseroles and salads made it just as hard to breathe. She swiped a fuzzy off her black, fitted dress and avoided yet another friend of Aunt Lonna’s for the third time. Where had Joze gone? She couldn’t shake him off her side since the truck incident yesterday until now.

  If she could get outside to the air of freshly fallen rain, she’d be able to think. Sidestepping a group of talking guests, Maddie kept her head down. Don’t look into any eyes. It’ll stop people from trying to talk.

  She rested against the outside back door, a cool breeze stirring her long hair. Devin and some old friends from high school passed a faded football back and forth. How lucky they were to forget the debilitating pain of Aunt Lonna’s loss for a while. Why couldn’t she?

  Aster and Jocelyn sat under the tiny roof of the porch to Aunt Lonna’s office outbuilding. The younger of the two wiped her face with a tissue. Obvious mascara marks streaked her face. Maddie wanted to bound over and comfort her as she had over the years, to play mother one more time to them both, but she held her ground. She didn’t have anything to give them right now. And what would come out would be more damaging than good.

  Aster caught Maddie’s gaze. Maddie stepped back into the kitchen, pretending she didn’t see them wave her over. They’d have to do this on their own. With her hand to her temple, she wished away the headache she couldn’t completely shake since she’d hit her head. Good excuse to disappear into her room.

  Someone touched her elbow. “Maddie?”

  She blew out her cheeks and stopped. “Yes?”

  Mrs. Canney stood beside her. An apology started to roll off her tongue.

  The apricot-haired woman seemed to sense her need to have space. She backed up some. “I understand.”

  Maddie looked to the counters covered in food dishes. “I’m so thankful to you and your church for setting up all this food. I couldn’t have pulled it together on my own.” And Mom sure wouldn’t have done it, either. But Mom could pay for it. “Can I give you a donation from our family?”

  The woman’s warm hand touched her arm. A look Maddie couldn’t quite read passed over the woman’s soft, wrinkled face. “No donation will get you to God.”

  She drew back, but the small hand remained and Mrs. Canney’s face softened. “You should stop by some time to our lady’s group. We meet every Monday night at seven.”

  Three days ago, she’d have been incensed by the remark. Now it just made her sad. That’s where Aunt Lonna would’ve been if she were still alive. “I have to get back to college soon.”

  The woman dropped her hand. “Almost graduated, aren’t you? Lonna was so proud you went back and finished.”

  Maddie startled. Did the woman know what had caused her to leave the first time?

  A tiny smile fell across Mrs. Canney’s lips. Kindness, not sympathy. “I’ll stick around and clean up later. No worries.”

  With her hand to her heart, Maddie melted. She mouthed a thank you and headed for the stairs.

  Joze moved into her path. She couldn’t resist the touch of his hand. She grasped him back, the smooth material of his well-fitted black suit rubbing her palm. If she could only let herself fall into his embrace for a moment. Just one moment. It might all be better.

  He seemed to sense her need. Pulling her into the bathroom, he closed the door and brought her close. She didn’t resist. “You know you can cry. I haven’t seen a tear all day.”

  No, she couldn't. Not with so many people watching. And they only had a moment before someone would be knocking to use the facilities. But oh, how good his arms felt around her. The suit turned him from super-hero-ambulance-junky to pure, rich civility. She stroked his arm as he held her. What she wouldn’t give to turn back the days. Maddie tightened in his arms at the thought. Really? Maybe?

  He breathed words into her hair. “Let God take this burden from you, Maddie.”

  Her back tightened, but she didn’t completely pull away. “You and these church people. You know, Mrs. Canney was just harassing me with God. Why can’t you let up and allow me to believe what I want?”

  He didn’t speak right away. She waited for a holy roller diatribe. Instead, he pulled her closer. “Because I…care for you. I want you to have what I have. It’s the only way to deal with all the awful things that have happened to you.”

  Was it an admittance that he believed her about the past, or was he referring to the last few days? “And?”

  “And what? That’s all.” He nuzzled her neck.

  She fought the tingles, the warmth of him, everything that made her want to let go and trust him. “And I have to have an apology from you.”

  He stopped. “For what?”

  She pulled back to look in his eyes. “You know.”

  At that Joze released her and put his hands on his hips. “Can’t you stop for one day?”

  Great. Now the fighting would commence. Again. She swiped her hair away and yanked the door open with all her might, her lips in a taut line.

  He didn’t stop her. Maddie’s heels clicked hard against the wood floor. When she reached the bottom step, the doorbell rang. The last thing she needed was another guest to try and comfort her. She slung the door open and ushered in a middle-aged gentleman. Must be another reunion friend. A couple ladies followed him in, pausing their talk long enough for him to give his condolences. Should she drill him about the reunion? She couldn’t find the strength to do it today.

  He moved to the living room where the majority of reunion friends were gathered. She sat on the third step. This would be the time to ask questions. Maddie glared at the group from between the stair spindles. Exhaustion and headache etched into her brain.

  The bell rang again. Maddie squeezed her eyes c
losed. How many more friends did Aunt Lonna have?

  She stopped. Wait. One of these people could be the one following her. Was a tan car sitting along the street among the hordes of mourners’ vehicles? She hesitated and then checked the hall and living room doorway. There wasn’t one person looking in her direction or watching her movements.

  With slow steps she moved to the door and pulled it open a little. Two more men in dark suits waited to be admitted, one behind the other.

  They introduced themselves.

  Maddie tried to hold onto at least their last names, but the headache made the task impossible. “Please come in.”

  They entered and dispersed into the crowd.

  Once again, Joze had disappeared.

  If she didn’t get some medicine, she was headed for a full-out migraine. Maybe there was some ibuprofen in the bathroom. She edged the wall into the bathroom, closed the door, and reached in the mirrored cabinet for ibuprofen. She poured two into her hand, and then with a gulp of water from the sink she let them slide down her throat.

  The clock ticked four. How much longer would she have to paste a smile on her face and talk?

  A knock at the door made her groan. She pushed off the sink and strode out of the bathroom. Joze stopped her. “Did you hide the journal? There’re too many unknowns here.”

  She stopped. Huh? Oh, true. “I did.”

  The crowd seemed to push in and her world tilted.

  Joze’s hands caught hers. He led her to her mom’s room. “You better lie down.” He peppered her with medical questions. Some of them were so personal that she almost reached out and slapped him. Once again, he felt her head but the headache got so bad she let him do his work and answered with minimal words. “Migraine. That’s all.”

  He hovered. “Want me to talk to anyone specific?”

  She sighed. “That would be great. I was wondering how I could pull it off. The group talking in the living room are the reunion coordinators.” Her words began to slur. “See if they noticed anything unusual about my aunt right at the end. And find out if they know who K is.”