The Eyewitness

by Nancy C. Weeks

  She paused before facing him. Good. Let his neck muscles twist in scorching knots. “You have one minute.”

  “I saw what was happening between you and Joe. Making things right with you . . . I would have had more success putting my fist through a brick wall. I walk into a room, you walk out.” He took a step toward her. “I’m so damn sorry, Em.”

  “You saw me as a spoiled little twit who didn’t appreciate a damn thing my parents did for me.”

  “When I found you locking lips with that asshole, that’s exactly what went through me.” He shifted his position and met her stare. “By the time Joe got you released, I knew from talking to the other kids that something was off. No one knew you. I hunted down your bitch of a roommate and had her write up a statement.”

  Emersyn didn’t want to ask what he’d threatened Alison with to get her to come clean. Alison had moved out of their dorm room and their paths had never crossed again.

  “I talked to Joe until I was blue in the face,” Alec said. “He would never let up on you.”

  “What made my dad so angry was that I didn’t think about my personal safety. There were plenty of people I could have called who would have gone with me to cover my back.”

  “That’s all I’m asking from you, Em.” Alec moved in close but kept his hands at his sides. “Trust me enough to let me cover your back. Yesterday was no accident. Someone wants you out of the way.”

  “If you are trying to scare me, don’t bother. I’m already bouncing out of my own skin.”

  “Maybe we should think of some place you can hide out until this case is closed.”

  “No. That could take months.”

  The sound of chirping birds came from her bag. She dug into it and pulled out her phone. She swiped the screen and put it on speaker. Alec edged closer. “Hi, Angela.”

  “I need you to come in, Emersyn. Immediately.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “I’ll explain when you get here.”

  The call was disconnected. Seconds later, Alec’s cell began to vibrate across the kitchen island. He grabbed it and, like Emersyn had done moments earlier, placed the call on speaker. “Pearce.”

  “Where are you?” Angela demanded.

  “What do you need?”

  “I have the preliminary report on the lab. Emersyn D’Azzo is in a hell of a mess. Get your ass over here.”

  He gripped Emersyn’s hand, his strength easing the fear in her gut. “I’m on my way.” He shoved his phone in his pocket. “We can go together or separately. Your choice.”

  Emersyn pulled her shoulders back until her spine was ramrod-straight and grabbed her keys.

  Alec touched her arm. “This time around, I have your back.”

  “Maybe you should wait to see how bad this is before you jump off that ledge.”

  He cupped his hands around her neck, his herbal, clean scent wrapping itself around her like a warm blanket. “To get to you, they will have to go through me first.”

  Chapter Ten

  The closer they got to Angela’s office, the harder Alec’s anger pulsed against his rib cage. Em was quite scared. He should say something to ease her mind, but he couldn’t think of anything. Words were not his forte. A good swift kick or a punch in the gut was more his style. Maybe it was time to develop a better vocabulary.

  As they passed the lab, they both froze. Men in rubber gloves and waterproof boots were using portable flood pumps to extract liquid from the lab floor. All the equipment had been moved into the hallway, large dehumidifiers set in their place.

  “How did this happen?” A tremor shook Emersyn hard enough for him to feel it.

  “This isn’t on you.”

  She placed a hand on his sleeve. “Relax. Don’t throw a punch and get suspended along with me.”

  He straightened his arms at his sides, holding his palms out. “No fist. I’ve learned a thing or two about control from Joe over the years, but damned if I’m going to let them railroad you.”

  Angela stood outside her office with two men. Nothing was said as they all filed into the conference room. Alec couldn’t help but admire Em’s poise—his own fuse was tugged to the breaking point. Before everyone took their seats, he blurted out, “What’s going on?”

  The man sitting across from him was the head of the criminal investigation division, Steven Handel. Their paths had crossed several times over the years. The man to Steven’s right was a stranger. He held his hand out across the table, but his name slipped right past Alec when he mentioned where he worked.

  “What does a lab accident have to do with the forensic cyber division?”

  Em sucked in a breath. “It was a cyber attack?”

  “The sprinklers went haywire because someone deliberately set them off in that lab,” Angela said.

  Alec’s protective instinct shot into high gear. “Have you been able to determine how this hacker breached your system?”

  “The sprinkler systems are controlled internally. They aren’t hooked up to an external server,” Angela responded. “Which means our hacker was inside the building. There was a new guy on the maintenance control consoles yesterday, but security says he checks out. Of course, the console itself could have been compromised by the hacker from anywhere in the building. There have been no reports of missing badges. We’re going through the camera footage from all entrances and exits for the last forty-eight hours, looking for anything that stands out.” She rubbed her eyes, the strain and tension easy to read. “Considering what goes on here, security is tight. There’s never been a breach in this building.”

  Em’s chair inched closer to Alec’s, until their thighs touched. Not a good sign. It had taken him years to control his darker self, and it was about to erupt all over the conference table.

  Emersyn D’Azzo was becoming too personal in a “you hurt her, you get me” kind of way. Alec took a calming breath.

  “You aren’t blaming this on her, are you?” he asked Angela. “She didn’t have a fucking thing to do with it.”

  “Alec, your invitation to this party is only out of respect for your partner. If you can’t restrain your outburst, then leave.” Angela’s tone was harsh, unyielding, before she turned to Em. “It would have been physically impossible for you to hack the system from the lab.”

  “I wouldn’t know how to in the first place. What else did you find?”

  “The power should have automatically shut down when the sprinklers burst. Someone very clever changed that command.” She passed a photo across the table. It was a picture of the instrument Ben had tried to shut down. “The cord had been sliced open, exposing the wires. With the amount of voltage that went through Ben, he’s lucky to be alive.”

  “Someone tried to kill him?” Em’s eyes widened, and her nails bit into her palms. If he covered her hand with his, would she strike back?

  “Or you,” Angela replied.

  “Couldn’t they have been after the evidence?”

  “Ben was examining paint chips from a hit-and-run involving a parked vehicle. It doesn’t warrant this kind of attack. As for your sample, that’s why you were brought in.”

  “Wasn’t it damaged?”

  Steven cleared his throat and swirled his chair. “No. We were able to amplify the DNA from the sample, the polymerase chain reaction generated several copies of a specific DNA sequence. Even with the water damage, the PCR developed enough DNA to run another sample.” He paused, his expression turning cold as he tossed another photo across the table at Em. “I was in that tree. That bandage wasn’t there.”

  Alec glanced over Em’s shoulder while she examined the dated image. The back of the limb was clean.

  Em grabbed a pen from the table and circled a section of the photo. “I found it right here,” she said, jabbing the point of the pen into the photo. “You don’t know me, but you knew my father. That should count for something. I didn’t plant that evidence.”

  “Then explain how your DNA ended up on the band
age?”

  “What? That’s crazy—”

  “Your DNA. Nothing else,” Steven snarled.

  “No. I wore gloves. It can’t be mine—”

  “Bark can tear through latex, Miss D’Azzo. Did you nick yourself?”

  “Wait one damn minute. Are you saying it was Em’s blood? That’s fucking impossible.” Em’s not a moron, dipshit. “How would you even have her DNA on file?”

  Em kicked him under the table. He met her stare. Shut it, she seemed to say. I got this.

  She cleared her throat. “Alec, it’s procedure. Since I will work with DNA, I provided a sample for the employee database. They would have checked the unknown sample against it before using the national database.” She lifted both hands, turning them so each person around the conference table could see all sides. “A cut couldn’t have completely healed in two days. I didn’t contaminate the sample.”

  “Whoever ran the second sample needs glasses.”

  “Shut up, Alec. We’re not looking at Emersyn as our scapegoat,” Angela said. “That brings us to a creepy situation. Who is our scapegoat? Who knows you well enough to guess you would search that tree? And how did they get a sample of your blood?”

  “Angela, are you really suggesting someone took my blood, smeared it on a Band-Aid, and planted it in the bark for me to find?” Emersyn asked.

  Alec took hold of her twitching fingers and held them under the table. “What would be the motive?”

  Angela shrugged. “That’s your department, Detective. I deal with evidence.”

  Alec took in a steady breath. “Joe’s murder never fit the profile of the other sniper victims. Each kill had been quick, quiet, low profile. Then he killed a cop. This new, crazy-ass stunt tops the scale.”

  “And every cop in a four-hundred-mile radius wants a piece of him. But he returns to the scene,” Steven added, shifting his attention away from Em. “It’s like he’s daring us to catch him.”

  “Where would anyone get a sample of my blood? I haven’t had so much as a scratch since—”

  “Crime scene, hospital, or your trash,” Alec interrupted.

  Em tugged her hand from beneath his and inched away. She lifted her chin, and in a split second, her scared expression turned heated. “Whoever set off the sprinkler system knew I had the sample on me and waited for me to do something with it.”

  “Like I said, damn creepy,” Angela commented. “You have a stalker. The question is, just how crazy is this guy?”

  Alec cringed. How in the hell had he missed some prick watching her while he was stalking her every move? If he came clean and admitted he had been trailing her, she would realize he had lied not once but every time she’d caught him. His promise to Joe trumped a guilty conscious, and he couldn’t lose what little trust Em had in him.

  She broke the silence that settled over the room. “I haven’t been exactly on top of my game lately. One thing I know without a doubt is that the bastard behind this has something to do with my father’s murder.”

  “Or someone is playing a sick game, and it has nothing to do with your father,” Angela replied. “You can’t jump there, Emersyn. You’re a forensic specialist, and the only truth we have is evidence.”

  “Someone wants to discredit me or keep me so rattled I come apart at the seams.” Her hand covered the scar on her chest. “Bring it, damn it.” She shot from her chair with such force it slammed against the glass wall. “I’m sorry. I can’t stay out of this. If I’m not already fired, then you will have my resignation by the end of the day.”

  Before she took two steps, Alec caught her hand. “Wait a damn minute.”

  “I can’t do that. You are my stalker, Alec, or at least one of them.” She yanked her hand free. “I’m listening to me, trusting me.”

  “If you think I would do something like this, then—”

  “I don’t think you did this, but, Alec, you make me question everything. And I would like to turn around once and not find you in the middle of another damn catastrophe that’s become the norm for my life. If you want to do something for Dad, find his fucking killer or get out of my way so I can.”

  “Enough, Emersyn,” Angela cut in. “We’re far from done here. Sit down.” She turned to Steven and the cyber analyst. “I need the room.”

  They both gathered their files. Alec moved away from the door so they could make a hasty escape. Bracing a hand on the table, he edged close to Em’s ear and whispered, “Good to know you have so little faith in me.”

  She flinched. Fuck. He was on her side here. But then again . . .what the hell was wrong with him? He had one job. Find Joe D’Azzo’s killer. There was no room in his life for this shit.

  “Sit that tight ass back in the chair and shut it before you say something you can’t take back,” Angela demanded.

  Em raised her hand as if she wanted to touch him but dropped it to her side. “Look, I’m sorry if you’re hurt—”

  “It’s fine, Emersyn, I hear you.”

  “Don’t call me Emersyn.”

  “That’s your name. I get it now.”

  Angela let out a throaty laugh, cutting him off. “You still bark first, but this is a new one. Alec Pearce does have bruised feelings.”

  “Damn it to hell, there is nothing funny about any of this!” He shot his old friend a hard glare. “Yesterday was the second attempt on her life since Joe’s death. She doesn’t think she needs my help. Maybe you can talk her into protective custody before strike three kills her.”

  Em shot from her chair. “I’m not going into hiding, Pearce! Drop it.”

  “I keep my promises. Stay out of my case, or protective custody won’t be a choice.” He gave a nod to Angela and stormed from the room.

  Chapter Eleven

  Emersyn fought a shiver as she placed her key in the front door. Dusk had fallen, and the temperature dropped into the teens. A nasty winter storm was on its way, but that wasn’t what caused the chill. As she scanned her beloved neighborhood, she couldn’t help feeling as if someone was lurking in the eerie shadows, watching her. After another quick scan, she charged into her foyer and set the lock.

  Face it. You’re crazy-ass scared. The bastard was studying her like a mouse in a cage. Well, she wasn’t going to hide and tremble in a corner. A D’Azzo never backed down.

  At least she still had a job. She did have to sit for a lengthy lecture about trust in the workspace, which she deserved. Since the lab accident was ruled a cyber attack and Ben would be out for a couple weeks, Angela expected Emersyn to shadow her, working on whatever case took priority, including her father’s. There was a short discussion about a temporary out-of-state assignment, which Emersyn gave a polite but firm no-way-in-hell response. The only way to stop the bastard after her was to stay put—but with her eyes wide open. Someone was going to a hell of a lot of trouble to kill her. If the sniper wanted her dead, she would be dead. This was a sick game, and she had no idea what her next move was supposed to be.

  And there lay her greatest fear.

  Shadow Man was the key. What drove him? He had nothing to worry about, because the harder she tried, the more clueless she became.

  She fingered the flash drive she’d taken from her father’s office in her right pocket. There had been no opportunity during the day to escape Angela and slip it into the USB port of her laptop. What could her father have thought was so important that he taped it to the roof of his desk? The curiosity was killing her.

  A loud bang came from the kitchen, accompanied by a fierce bark. Emersyn swallowed a shriek as her heartbeat drummed into her rib cage. She had pledged to keep her eyes and ears open, her mind on full alert. Yet she couldn’t even remember seeing her mother’s car in the driveway.

  “Mom?” she called.

  “In the kitchen, making a mess of things.”

  An instant calm flowed through Emersyn. Her mother was her height and weight and, as far as Emersyn knew, had no defensive training. But knowing she was there sent the fear
and unease back to their lonely corner.

  Emersyn opened the swinging door and came to a sudden stop. Her mother’s favorite saucepan sat on the floor with tomato sauce dripping down the sides. Glancing up, Emersyn saw a red spot of the same sauce dripped down from the ceiling. Her mother stood by the stove with hot mitts on her hands, her eyes wide with shock as she kept Simba’s nose out of the mess.

  Emersyn rushed across the kitchen and pulled the mitts from her mother’s hands. “Did you burn yourself?”

  “No. The pot slipped out of my hands. At least it landed straight up.”

  Emersyn pulled out a chair. “You sit. I’ll clean.”

  “I’m such an idiot.”

  “Don’t say that, Mom. It was an accident.” Emersyn lifted the pot back onto the stove and had the sauce on the floor cleaned up in no time. The ceiling would take some planning. “Are you sure you didn’t burn yourself?”

  “The only thing I hurt was my pride. Your dad always moved the sauce to the sink for me so it could cool.” She studied the large pot. “I don’t know why I made so much for the two of us.”

  “It’s what you’ve done for years,” Emersyn said, giving her mom a hug.

  “Tessa may come home this weekend, and I thought Nathan might drop in. I wanted to have a couple things ready to heat and serve.”

  “Have you talked to Nathan?”

  Something dangerous had to be happening in her brother’s life, because she hadn’t heard from him in almost five weeks. Even when he did call, it was too short. She was lucky if she got him for two minutes before he hung up. And the quick hang-ups were the worst. They left her with an overpowering sense of dread that stayed around for days.

  “He caught me just as I was leaving the office.” Her mom stood and removed a salad from the refrigerator. Pasta was draining in the sink. Using two forks, she lifted a couple helpings into her favorite ceramic bowl, ladled the meat sauce over it, and mixed the pasta into the sauce. It was something Emersyn had witnessed all her life. The tension in her muscles eased. This was home, her safe place.