by Jana DeLeon
“Yes. But he was wearing a hoodie and he never looked toward the camera. He walked across the parking lot to your car, his head down, and sometimes turned away from the cameras at an angle. He knew they were there.”
Damn it! Another dead end.
“I figure you’re going to the police, right?” Jeremy asked. “I know it’s not much, but at least I can show them proof that someone did it deliberately.”
“Of course. Thank you, Jeremy. I’ll be sure and let them know.”
“This guy…he’s a piece of bad work.”
“Yes, he is.”
“You be careful. If you come in today, you park up front with the ambulances, okay? I’ll see to it that no one has a problem with it.”
Emma’s eyes teared up at Jeremy’s kindness. “Thank you so much. I’ll see you soon.”
She hung up before she started crying. So many people were worried about her and doing the most they could to help. It was heartening and overwhelming at the same time. Even worse, it was frightening. Her stalker had already gone after Shaye for helping her. What if he went after Jeremy next?
That couldn’t happen.
She stuffed her pistol and cell phone into her purse and headed downstairs to the valet. “I’m sorry,” she said to the young man at the valet station. “I wasn’t feeling well last night and forgot to wait for a ticket when I left my car.”
“That’s okay, ma’am,” the valet said. “The manager recognized it. I’ll get it for you right away.”
“Thank you.”
The young man hurried off and Emma waited anxiously for her vehicle, a million thoughts rolling through her head. So many things to do, and all of them needed to be done now. She had to get organized. Get a plan and get out of New Orleans.
Her car stopped in front of her and the valet got out and handed her the keys. She gave him a tip and hopped inside, but when she went to put her purse on the passenger’s seat, she realized it wasn’t empty. In the middle of the seat was a bracelet. She let out a cry and the valet knocked on her window.
“Are you all right?” the valet asked.
Emma put the car in gear and squealed away, leaving the stunned valet staring after her. As she pulled out of the garage, she rolled down the window, grabbed the bracelet, and flung it into the street. Even though it was only in her hand for seconds, it felt as if the metal burned her skin. She screeched to a stop at a red light and yanked her cell phone out of her purse. Shaye answered on the first ring.
“He found me again,” Emma said. “He left a bracelet he gave me for my birthday on the front seat of my car. And that’s not the worst of it.”
Emma told Shaye about the mice in the parking lot the night before. With every word she uttered, her breathing grew faster until she was about to hyperventilate. Finally, she finished and sucked in a giant breath, trying to bring as much oxygen as possible into her body. Her vision blurred momentarily and she eased up on the accelerator, then it cleared again.
“Please stay calm,” Shaye said, “especially while you’re driving. I know how frightening all this is, and I don’t blame you for being scared. I’m scared too, but we’re going to figure this out.”
Emma didn’t doubt Shaye’s sincerity at all, but her hope that anyone could help her was rapidly vanishing. “How did he find me again? I was careful this time. I’m sure no one followed me when I checked in. Even last night, when I was ready to explode, I drove around the city twice before going back to the hotel.”
“I have an idea about that. When he found you at the repair shop in Bywater, I had my suspicions, but now I’m almost positive.”
“Positive of what?”
“He put a GPS on your car. That’s how he always knows where you are.”
Emma felt her back and neck tighten. It was something she’d never considered, but it explained so much. And completely destroyed her idea of getting away. Unless she abandoned the car here and flew to San Diego, he’d just track her right to her front door again. Her breathing increased again as wave after wave of hopelessness came over her.
“I can’t get away,” Emma said. “I was going to leave tomorrow. Drive across the country and start over, but he’s taken that option away as well.”
“I think I can help with that, but I can’t do anything until tomorrow.”
“Yes, of course. You’ve got to take care of your mother. I understand.” Given that Corrine’s attacker was almost certainly Emma’s stalker, she couldn’t expect Shaye to keep working on her case. Not today, anyway, but she couldn’t help the feeling of abandonment and helplessness that she felt. In her entire life, she’d never felt so alone.
“It’s not that. I have a line on a guy David served with on his last tour in Iraq. He’s the one who called in a favor to get David his job at the petroleum company. I’m hoping he knows something that helps make some sense of all of this, but I’ve got to make a drive to Fort Polk to track him down. It’s not the sort of conversation I want to have over the phone. You learn more when you can watch someone while they talk. And if he doesn’t know I’m coming, he can’t prepare.”
Immediately, Emma felt guilty for assuming that Shaye had abandoned her, even though she wouldn’t blame her one bit if she did. But as long as Shaye was still working, Emma still held on to a small ray of hope. Given the extremity of her situation and Shaye’s lack of experience, Emma was probably hoping for a miracle, but that didn’t matter. She had to have something to latch onto or the thin thread that held her sanity in the balance would snap in two.
“How is Corrine?” Emma asked.
“Feeling well enough to complain. They’ll send her home later today. Her best friend will stay with her until my grandfather arrives. And I’ll stay at her house tonight. I’m more worried about you. You’re going to need to change hotels again. If you’ll call and have the hotel pack your things, I’ll pick them up after I get back. You can take a taxi to another hotel tonight and I’ll bring your things to you tomorrow morning.”
It was a good plan. She could catch a taxi at the front entrance of the hospital. That way, if he was watching her car, he wouldn’t see her leave. But even the thought of arriving at another hotel in the middle of the night had her anxiety increasing. “I think I’m going to stay at the hospital tonight. There’s a room off the break room with cots for staff to use if we get caught working a double or staying for a specific patient.”
“That’s good. You’ll be safe at the hospital. Tomorrow morning you can either take a taxi and meet me at a new hotel or I can pick you up. Either way, maybe you’ll finally get a decent night’s sleep.”
“Maybe.” Emma had all but given up the idea of a good night’s sleep, but maybe Shaye was right. If she was tucked away in the hospital staff lounge, with Jeremy watching over the security monitors, she would be safe. It wasn’t a good long-term plan, but for one night, it might be the best plan she could come up with.
“I’m about to leave to meet with a New Orleans police detective.”
“Do you think they’ll believe me now?”
“I think he does already. Hopefully, we can make something happen.”
“Yeah.”
Hopefully.
###
Shaye put the cell phone on her dresser and stared out her bedroom window into the alley. Her hands were sweaty and her pulse elevated. Most people couldn’t possibly imagine the horror that Emma was experiencing. They couldn’t understand how terrified she was. How desperate.
But Shaye understood all too well.
She pulled on a fresh shirt and hurried into the bathroom to give her teeth and hair a brush. She checked her watch and cursed because there was no way she would make her meeting with Jackson on time. She grabbed her car keys and hurried out of her apartment. When she’d set the meeting time with Jackson, she’d barely given herself time to get from the hospital back to her apartment for a change of clothes, but she wanted to talk to him as soon as possible and then get on the road to Fort Polk.
He’d left her a message the night before, but with everything that happened, she hadn’t checked her phone until after midnight. Given what she’d found in Corrine’s purse and what Emma had just told her, Shaye was more desperate than ever for information on David Grange and hoped Jackson had come up with some hard information on David’s past. Aside from the Paul Schaffer lead, all she’d managed to do so far was verify things that she already suspected or that Emma had told her. Someone had to know more. And she was going to find him.
Traffic was light, and she made the drive to the café in less time than she originally figured. Only five minutes late. Not too bad. She parked at the curb a half block away and hurried into the café. Jackson was already seated at the back corner table, a black coffee in front of him and a latte in front of the chair across from him. Shaye wasn’t sure if he was returning the favor from their last meeting or showing her that he also paid attention. Either way, she appreciated the drink and the efficiency.
“Thanks for the coffee,” she said as she slid onto the chair. “I haven’t stopped long enough to grab a cup this morning and I’m hovering somewhere between comatose and desperate.”
“Been there a few times myself. How’s your mother?”
She wasn’t really surprised that he knew about the attack on Corrine. Reporters had shown up at the hospital shortly after she’d arrived, and it had taken police threats to get them out of the building and onto the sidewalk where they belonged. They’d hung around for another hour or two, but finally cleared out, most likely when they found out her grandfather was in China on Archer Manufacturing business and couldn’t get back to New Orleans until this afternoon.
“She’s fine, considering. She’ll have a heck of a headache, but the bruised ribs will probably be the worst.”
Jackson nodded. “You don’t realize how much you use your stomach until you have abdominal damage.”
“That’s the truth.”
Jackson stared at her for several seconds. “I hope this meeting is about the message I left you last night…”
“But you don’t think it is.”
He shook his head. “I guess I don’t. The timing of Corrine’s attack is a little too convenient. Given her work and your grandfather’s status, I know there’s probably a hundred other options, but I wondered if it all hadn’t run together.”
“It’s that coincidence thing again. I didn’t like it either, and the whole time Sergeant Boyd was telling me what he knew, then afterward when Corrine told me what had happened, I wondered. Then I got confirmation.”
Shaye told him about the decorator’s swatch in Corrine’s purse and her disguise when she visited Emma’s house. “No way that was an accident. Her credit cards and cash were in place. He didn’t take anything. He left the swatch.”
Jackson’s expression darkened. “That’s not good.”
“I know it’s him. But why Corrine? Why not go after me?”
“Maybe he’s showing you how smart he is. Maybe he’s attacking you at your weak spot. My best guess is because he wants to scare you.”
“Like he’s scaring Emma.”
“Yes and no. You’ve gotten in his way. He controls situations through fear. I think he’s trying to scare you away. It’s a sick, twisted game he’s playing. The problem is, he’s making all the rules, and you don’t get to pick if you play.”
Shaye blew out a breath. “You warned me that he’d come after anyone he perceived as getting in the way of his fun.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes I hate it when I’m right.”
“I know the feeling. Unfortunately, there’s way more going on than just the attack on my mother.” Shaye told him about the mice and the bracelet. “He’s getting more brazen. The security guard said his face never shows on camera, but he’s got footage of a man leaving those mice. Surely that’s enough evidence for the police to do something.”
“Wow.” Jackson leaned back in his chair. “That is some serious sick shit. What the hell happens to a person to make them that way?”
“I’m not sure we want to know.”
“Yeah, well, I think that’s plenty for the police to take her complaint seriously. Of course, they have the same limitations we do in locating the perpetrator, so while I definitely encourage Emma to report everything, I don’t know how much it will change things. As least in the immediate future.”
“I know I’m still her best hope to get information, but maybe if they assign someone to her case, I can turn over what I’ve got so far and someone more qualified can take over.”
“You’re doing a fine job. I mean that.”
Shaye felt a light blush creep up her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“You have a good mind for these things, and you’re a good judge of character. That goes a long way to being a good investigator. That being said, I wish you’d never taken this case. It’s not exactly the kind of thing you should be cutting your teeth on.”
“I know. It’s turned out to be something I never anticipated, but I can’t back out now. Emma needs me, and if I’m being honest, I want to be part of getting this guy. Especially now.”
Jackson nodded. “Now that it’s personal.”
“Yeah.” Shaye blew out a breath. “The thing is, I know David isn’t the stalker, but I can’t help but feel that it all circles back around to him. I talked to people at his job yesterday, but no one had much insight other than they thought he was creepy. One guy gave me the name of someone who served with David his last tour in Iraq. He’s still enlisted and stationed at Fort Polk. I’m going to try to run him down today. Did you find anything?”
“Not much. The Social Security number didn’t pop on employment records until he enlisted, so a little over eight years ago, but his age comes up as twenty-six, so that’s about right if he enlisted at eighteen.”
“What about birth records?”
“Nothing so far, but it didn’t sound like he came from a family with resources, so it could have been a home birth.”
“Or he’s not from here at all. We can’t take anything David told Emma as the gospel.”
“That thought crossed my mind as well.”
Shaye sighed. “I’m getting nowhere. He knows everything and I know nothing.”
“It certainly seems that way, but it’s not exactly true. You have a lead on the guy who served with him. Maybe he will know something. And I’ll keep looking. I can check records throughout the entire state. It just may take a while.”
“I really appreciate it.” She shook her head, trying to make sense of all the moving pieces, and then remembered her conversation last night with Emma in her mother’s hospital room. “Something else. Emma said an old boyfriend of hers from high school, Stephen Moore, was at the hospital yesterday.” She repeated Emma’s story to Jackson.
“Doesn’t sound suspicious,” Jackson said.
“Not on the surface, but I don’t like the timing. Also, I lied to Emma and said I couldn’t place him even though he’d taken part in some of Corrine’s charity events.”
“Now I’m fascinated. Why did you lie?”
“Because of something Emma said about his appearance. I asked her to describe him, to make sure I was thinking of the right guy, but the description Emma gave was completely different from the way he looked in high school. Emma said so herself. I’m certain I know who he is and what he used to look like, but now…”
“What does he look like now?”
“David Grange.”
Jackson whistled.
“I don’t think Emma has latched onto that yet, but from long, wavy, light brown locks to military short and dark is a strange choice for a guy to make, especially when I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s not the best look for him.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“A couple of months ago, and he looked like he always did.”
Jackson nodded. “You don’t have any reason to suspect a connection with the old boyfriend and David, do y
ou?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Soooooo, maybe he wants back in with Emma, saw pics of David on the news, and thinks she has a type?”
“Maybe. I don’t know exactly, but again, it’s the timing that doesn’t feel right.”
“Okay. Do you want me to pay him a visit?”
“Oh! You can do that? I mean, without an official reason?”
“It doesn’t have to be official. I could just drop by and have a chat with the man…see if I can get a feel for him.”
Shaye tapped her finger on the table. On one hand, since she’d be at Fort Polk, she’d love the help, but on the other hand, she didn’t want Jackson doing her job, especially when it might compromise his own. On the third hand, she might have a hard time questioning Stephen herself since he knew who she was. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“So I won’t get into trouble. What’s he going to do? Call and complain to my boss that I spoke to him?”
“He might. He’s an attorney.”
“Shit. That means I have to be polite.”
Shaye smiled. “Probably a good idea. If you don’t mind doing it, I have to admit, it would really help me out. I don’t know how long I’ll be at Fort Polk, and I really want to move on Moore as quickly as possible, if for no other reason than to eliminate him from the suspect list.”
“You mean the suspect list with no names on it.”
She sighed. “Yeah, that one. I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could get assigned to my mother’s case?”
“Not as long as I’m chained to Vincent. I suggested he ask for the assignment this morning and he acted like I’d just discharged my weapon in the men’s room. It’s probably just as well. If you got me, he’d be lead, so you’re probably better off with someone else. Given your grandfather’s, uh, prominence, the best detectives will be assigned to the case.”
“But the best detectives don’t know what we know. I suppose I’ll have to tell them. Do you think it will do any good?”
“I think at this point, you stand a better chance of being taken seriously than before. He messed up by attacking Corrine. I have no doubt he did it to force you to back off, but I don’t think he thought clearly about what kind of resources the family name would pull.” Jackson shook his head. “And then it could be he’s so cocky he doesn’t care.”