“I thought I did, but I don’t think I knew what love really was.”
“And you do now?”
“Now I know what it isn’t.”
“What’s that?”
“Physical attraction, a sudden thrill of emotion when you see the person walk into the room.” She shrugged. “In the end, I wanted more than that. Loyalty. Friendship. Shared goals and dreams. Maybe I wanted too much.”
“I don’t think you wanted any more than what you deserve.” Ben was standing so close Chloe could see the flecks of silver in his eyes, could smell the woodsy fragrance that clung to him, feel the heat of his body warming the air around her.
She stepped back, swallowing past her suddenly dry throat. Everything she’d wanted from Adam, everything he couldn’t give, she could see in Ben’s eyes.
That wasn’t good. At all.
She started toward the front door, wanting to put distance between them. “It must be time to go over to my house now.”
“Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Not at all.”
He grinned, a slow deliberate curving of his lips, his eyes flashing with humor. “Could have fooled me. But you’re right, we’d better get going. Grab your pup. I’ll grab mine and we’ll head out.”
“You don’t have to come.”
“Is that the same as, ‘I don’t want you to come’?”
She wanted to say yes, but couldn’t get the word past her lips. How could it be that in just over a week of knowing the man, he’d become such a big part of her life? She shook her head, lifting Abel and carrying him toward the door. “No. It’s the same as ‘You don’t have to come.’”
He smiled, looped an arm through hers. “In that case, I think I’ll tag along.”
Ben’s cell phone rang before they could walk out the door. “Give me a minute to get this. It might be an emergency.”
He lifted the phone, frowning as he glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Jake. He must have found something.”
Chloe tensed, not sure what Jake was going to say, but pretty certain it wouldn’t be good.
“Hello? Yeah, we’re still at my place.” He met Chloe’s eyes, the heat of his gaze spearing through Chloe.
She paced across the room, her heart beating a hard, fast rhythm. She told herself it was from fear, that worry over what Jake had to say was causing her pulse to race, but she knew that was only part of the truth.
“I’ll ask her. Chloe?”
She turned to face Ben again, steeling herself against the force of his gaze and for whatever he had to say. “Yes?”
“Whose photo was on your dresser?”
“No one’s. I’ve got photographs hanging on my wall, but nothing on my dresser.”
Ben relayed the information to Jake, listened for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll be there in ten.”
He hung up the phone and pulled open the door, gesturing for Chloe to step outside. “Jake found a photograph on your dresser. A picture of a man and woman. Both their heads have been cut out of the photo. You didn’t see it when you got home this afternoon?”
“I didn’t walk through the apartment. I just grabbed Abel’s leash and the brownies and left. Since the door was locked, I assumed no one had been there.”
“Someone was. Who has the key besides you?”
“My landlady. Opal. That’s it.”
“Who would have had access to it?”
“No one.”
“Then whoever it was got in some other way. Let’s get over to your place and see what Jake is thinking.”
Chloe stepped outside, the cool overcast day doing nothing to reassure her as she hurried to her car and pulled open the door. Ben stopped her before she got in, his hand on her arm, his expression grim. “When we get to your place, Jake is going to ask a lot of questions. He comes off as gruff, but he means well.”
“I get that about him.”
“Good, because if you’ve got any idea who might be behind this, you need to tell him. No matter how unlikely you think it is. Any clue. Any detail you remember that might seem insignificant. He needs to know it all if he’s going to be able to help you.”
“If I had any idea who was behind what’s been going on, I would have told the D.C. police.” She shoved her bangs out of her eyes, disgusted to realize her hand was shaking. “But I’ll answer his questions the best way I can. I’m as anxious as he is to get this all over with.”
“It’ll be over soon.” Ben pulled her into a brief hug before he started toward his car. “I’ll follow you to your place.”
Chloe climbed into the Mustang and pulled out onto the road, her stomach churning with nerves. When she was in D.C. she’d been desperate for someone to believe in her. Now she had two people standing beside her, doing everything they could to help her. Three if she counted Opal. That should have made her feel better. Instead, it increased her worry.
“But I’m not going to worry. I’m going to act. The answers are somewhere. I just have to find them.” She muttered the words and Abel barked, as though agreeing.
She absently patted his head, her mind racing ahead. To the apartment. To the conversation she was about to have with Jake. To what needed to be done to find out who might have wanted to hurt Adam. Who was still trying to hurt Chloe.
“Lord, I’m going to need your help on this in a big way. The path I’m on is treacherous, but I know you can steer me to safety.”
The prayer whispered through her mind as Chloe pulled up in front of the Victorian and stepped out of the car, waiting for Ben to do the same.
Chapter Eighteen
Jake was waiting in her apartment, a silver frame held in gloved hands. She knew the picture even before she got close enough to see it. The old-fashioned silver frame was one she’d bought from an antique dealer in Georgetown, the Victorian scrolling and fine details easily recognizable.
“I found this on your dresser. Is it yours?” As Ben had predicted, Jake’s words were as gruff as ever, his gaze hard.
“Yes. It’s our engagement picture. We had it taken a few weeks after Adam proposed. I couldn’t make myself throw it away. I gave it to Adam’s parents before I moved.” She leaned close, blanching as she caught sight of the photograph.
Adam’s face had been cut out, leaving a neat oval where his head had been. Chloe’s image had fared even worse. It looked like someone had taken a razor blade and sliced through that side of the photo over and over again.
“Call them. See what they did with it.”
It wasn’t a request and Chloe didn’t even consider arguing. Her heart was pounding as she lifted the phone and dialed the familiar number.
“Hello?” The once vibrant voice of Karen Mitchell sounded weak and quiet, as if losing her only son had sapped some of her own life.
“Karen? It’s Chloe.”
“Chloe! How are you feeling, dear?”
“Fine. I just—”
“Then you’re over your cold? I’m glad. You’ve been through so much this past year. Did the picture arrive in one piece?”
“Picture?” Chloe’s hand tightened around the phone, her heart racing so fast she was sure she it would jump out of her chest.
“Your engagement photo. That is what you wanted me to send, isn’t it?”
“Karen, I didn’t ask you send the engagement picture. I didn’t ask you to send anything.”
“Dear, you called me last week and asked me to send it to you.”
“No, I—”
Jake shook his head, a sharp, quick gesture that stalled the words in Chloe’s throat. “Ask her where she sent it.”
“Karen, listen, can you give me the address you sent the photo to?”
“So it didn’t arrive? What a shame. I know how much the picture means to you.”
“Do you have the address I gave you?”
“Of course. It’s right in my address book.” Papers rustled, Karen’s words carrying over the sound and the throbbing pulse of Chloe’s terror. “Here it is.” She rattled off the address, a PO box that Chloe didn’t recognize.
She wrote it down, her hand trembling, the letters and numbers wobbly and unclear. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Is everything all right, dear? You don’t seem yourself.”
“Everything is fine. Listen, I was wondering if you still had Adam’s laptop.”
Jake raised an eyebrow at the question, but kept silent as she continued the conversation.
“Not his laptop. Jordyn said it belonged to the business. I do have his other computer, though. It’s in the spare room with his other things. I haven’t had the heart to go through everything.”
“I understand. And I hate to even bring this up, but I’d really like to take a look at the computer. Can I send you the money to have it shipped here?”
Karen was silent for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was stronger than it had been. “Is something going on, Chloe?”
“I’m not sure. I’m hoping that Adam’s computer might help me figure it out.”
“I’ll send it to you then. Shall I ship it to the same address?”
“No. Send it to this one.” Chloe rattled off her address and phone number, then hung up, her pulse racing with anticipation and with fear.
“Asking for the computer was good thinking. If Adam was having trouble with someone, there may be evidence of that on his computer.” Ben was holding Abel, his strong hand smoothing the puppy’s long fur.
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
“What I’m hoping,” Jake interrupted their conversation. “Is that our perpetrator’s mistake will be to our benefit.”
“Mistake?” In Chloe’s estimation, her stalker had made far too few of those.
“The PO box. He had to have known how easily he could be traced through it.”
“Maybe he didn’t care.” Ben sat on the couch, stretching his long legs, looking as if he belonged there.
“Or she.” Jake leaned a shoulder against the wall, his brow creasing. “Someone was impersonating Chloe. It would be hard for a man to sound like a woman.”
“A woman.” Chloe rolled the words across her tongue, testing them out. “That would make sense.”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Jake muttered the words, his gaze on the photo. “And based on the way you’ve been carved out of this photo, I’m thinking someone definitely felt scorned.”
“All we need to do is find out who.” Chloe glanced at the photo again.
“Any ideas?”
“No, but the answer may lie in Adam’s computers. Karen’s going to send me his PC. I’ll see if I can get James’s permission to take a look at his laptop. E-mails. Old files. There may be a name there somewhere. If there is, I’ll find it.”
“Good. While you do that, I’ll check into phone records and get information on our PO box owner.”
“How long will that take?” Ben asked the question that was foremost in Chloe’s mind.
“A few days, but getting the information is no guarantee we’ll find our stalker. It’s unlikely our perp is using a real name. In the long run, that won’t matter. We’re going to find our quarry. It’s only a matter of time.” Jake placed the framed photo in an evidence bag, sealed it closed. “I’ve already dusted for prints and checked to see if the locks on the balcony or front door were jimmied.”
“Were they?” Chloe would rather think someone had jimmied her door than spend hours worrying that someone had her key.
“Not that I could see, but it wouldn’t take much to open your front door. A credit card would probably do it.”
“I thought that was only in the movies.”
“No. It’s a pretty simple thing to do once you know how. It’s probably a good idea if you get new locks and bolts installed.”
“I can call someone tomorrow.”
“Or we can take care of it today.” Ben stood and strode to the balcony door. “This one needs a bolt, too.”
“I’m on the second floor.”
“And your neighbors are gone more than they’re home. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to use a ladder to gain access to your apartment.”
“Ben’s right. It doesn’t make sense to take chances. I’m going to get back to the office and run the prints I’ve found. Make a few phone calls. I’ll be sending patrol cars down this way every hour or so until we get this case solved.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Just be careful and watch your back.” Jake strode out the door and Ben started after him.
“I’m going to run to the hardware store and go home for some tools. Then I’ll be back. Keep the door bolted until then.”
“I’ve got tools.”
“What kind?”
“What do you need?” Chloe hurried to her room and pulled a small toolbox from her closet, setting it on the bed and opening it.
“That looks pretty complete. I don’t suppose you have spare locks in there.”
“Spare locks aren’t on the list of things a single woman needs to keep in her house.”
“But pink hammers are?” He lifted the tool, smiling a little as he hefted the weight in his hand.
“Just because it’s pink doesn’t mean it’s not functional.”
“I’m sure it’s functional. I’m just surprised.”
“That it’s functional? Or that I have a pink hammer?”
“That you’d choose something so frivolous. You told me the day we met that you weren’t into frivolous things.”
“The hammer isn’t frivolous. It’s functional and cute. And if you keep making fun of it, you might just end up with one for Christmas.”
“We’re going to exchange Christmas gifts?” He raised a brow, a smile hovering at the corner of his lips.
“Maybe. If I live that long.” She meant it as a joke, but the words fell flat, the worry behind them seeping through. “Forget I said that.”
“You know I can’t.” His hand cupped her jaw, his fingers caressing the tender flesh near her ear. “And you know I’m going to tell you everything will be okay. That Christmas will come and you’ll be here to see it.”
“I wish I were as confident of that as you are.”
“I’ll be confident for both of us.” His gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth, his fingers smoothing a trail from her jaw to her neck as he leaned toward her. “I shouldn’t do this.”
“No, you shouldn’t.”
“So tell me to stop.”
She should, she really should. But she didn’t. And as he leaned toward her, she leaned forward. Just a fraction of an inch, but it was enough. His lips brushed hers, the contact shivering through her.
She jerked back, nearly falling into the closet.
“Whoa!” Ben grabbed her arm, pulling her up before she landed in a heap on top of her shoes. “Careful.”
“Sorry.” Her cheeks were on fire, her heart skipping. This was definitely not good.
So why did she feel so happy about it?
“Don’t apologize.” Ben seemed completely unperturbed. “I’m not planning to.”
He strode out of the room and out the front door, leaving Chloe alone with the two puppies. Curled up on the kitchen floor, neither bothered to rouse as she grabbed aspirin from the counter and swallowed two.
Ben had kissed her.
Or maybe she’d kissed Ben.
She wasn’t sure which was more the truth and wa
s pretty sure it didn’t matter. After almost a year of saying that she would never, ever, ever get involved with another man, she’d just allowed herself to do exactly that.
“This isn’t good, boys. It isn’t good at all.”
Neither of the puppies responded and Chloe dropped down into a chair, wincing as her leg protested the movement. “I think I need to go back to sleep and start this day all over again.”
But she couldn’t.
So the best thing she could do was get busy, take her mind off her terror and her confusing feelings for Ben.
Confusing?
Not hardly.
She knew exactly what she was feeling. That was the problem.
“Enough of this. I’ve got plenty to do besides mooning over a man.”
She logged onto her computer, pulled up her address book and dialed James Kelly’s home number. Adam’s business partner and fellow private investigator, James had been the one who’d first contacted Chloe, bringing her in on an investigation he and Adam were working together. He’d been thrilled when she and Adam began dating, devastated when they’d broken up. In the months following Adam’s death, shared grief had made Chloe’s friendship with James even stronger.
Still, talking to him about Adam’s betrayal, trying to get information about the woman he’d been seeing, wasn’t something Chloe had ever planned to do.
“Hello?”
“James? It’s Chloe.”
“Finally. My wife’s been telling me not to call and check in on you, but I was getting close to ignoring her suggestion and giving you a ring.”
“Were you really going to call to see how I was doing or were you going to call and ask me to take on a few cases?”
“Maybe a little of both.”
Chloe smiled, imagining James’s round face and balding head. A year older than his friend, James had always been more settled, more staid, maybe a little more boring than Adam. His generous spirit and calm nature had drawn others to him and had been the backbone of the private investigation service he’d co-owned with Adam. “Then I’ll answer both. I’m doing fine. I don’t freelance anymore.”
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