by Dale Mayer
Cranking the engine, Kali locked the doors and peered through the tinted window. Nothing. The eerie sensation of being watched would not turn her loose. Kali left the parking lot and drove toward home. She kept one eye trained on the rear-view mirror. She didn't think she was being followed...yet couldn't shake the sensation.
Uneasy enough to not want to go to an empty house, she drove to a late-night coffee shop at the mall and parked close to the patio seating. Kali clipped Shiloh's leash on and walked to the take-out window before choosing a seat close to her vehicle. Hating that she'd let a simple noise unnerve so badly, Kali hugged her latte and tried to unwind. Several tables were full. A couple of teenagers sat off to one side, heaps of whipping cream topping their concoctions. A man sat at another table with an open laptop, working diligently on something.
"Kali?" someone called, startling her. "Wow, I haven't seen you in a long time."
Squinting into the gloom beyond the cafe lights, she finally recognized the speaker. "Jim. How are you?" Kali was happy to see anyone she knew right now, even a stocky, fun-loving, very ex-boyfriend. She thought he'd gone north to work on the oil rigs. "I haven't seen you for a couple of years. How are you?" She motioned to the empty seat. "Join me."
"I've only been back in town a couple of months." He grinned down at her, spinning a chair around backwards and straddling it. Dressed in jeans and a lightweight plaid shirt, he looked like he had filled out some since she'd seen him last.
"That's great. I'm sure your mom is delighted to have you home." She watched as Shiloh greeted Jim like the old friend he was, before sprawling out again. Kali relaxed some herself. Jim was safe. He could never be the letter writer. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she questioned it. Did she know that for sure? How? Jim could have changed. For that matter, how well had she known him to begin with? They'd had a hell of a fight before they'd split. A fight that hadn't been easy to resolve. Kali had bolted from the fight, from the relationship, from him. Then again, it had been years ago. And their relationship hadn't been serious back then. They'd both known it. The breakup hadn't hurt either of them. They'd seen each other enough since to know they'd both moved to new relationships. It was actually nice to consider that they could visit on a friendly basis now without all that 'relationship' stuff to interfere.
Shiloh grunted and stretched on the cement, reminding Kali that if anything was wrong with the company, Shiloh wouldn't be so relaxed.
They spent a pleasant hour catching up on their years apart. Then the conversation lulled.
Slowly that same sense of unease returned. She sat nursing her empty coffee cup, stalling. She wanted to see Jim drive away before she headed home. Stupid, she knew, but that didn't change how she felt. Her cell phone rang. She frowned. Who'd be calling at this hour? Pulling it out of her pocket, she didn't recognize the number. "Hello."
"Kali. Are you alright?" Grant asked.
"Ahh, yeah," she said, hating the instant relief washing over her at the sound of his voice. Her world righted itself. The sense of unease slipped away. "Why?"
"Because you look like you're trying to get rid of the guy at your table." His voice deepened, sending delicious shivers along her back.
"Where are you?" Kali smiled apologetically at Jim, and continued to search the area around her.
"Close. I'll walk your way in a couple of minutes. Feel free to act like I'm an old friend," he said and hung up.
She stared at the phone in her hand. For the number of times she'd seen him lately, he almost was an old friend. And how had he known where she was?
As she glanced at Jim, smiling reassuringly at him, another thought occurred. If Grant was that close, maybe he'd been the one following her? No, that didn't make sense. He had no reason to.
She searched the parking lot and patio again. Grant should have shown up by now.
Jim stood. "Home time. You take care of yourself, you hear?"
Kali waved good-bye, watching him walk away, unsettled again. His exit seemed abrupt, making her once again suspicious, though moments ago she'd been wishing he would leave. God, it was horrible thinking like this about people she'd known for years.
There'd never been an energetic connection between any of her past friends and lovers like she had with Grant. There'd never been this sizzle. She'd only ever had that reaction with Grant.
She watched as other people came and left.
Grant didn't show.
Sitting long past the time manners would dictate, she finally had enough. She considered phoning him and decided against it. As she walked to the Jeep, her phone rang again.
She checked the caller ID. She didn't recognize the number. She ignored it, not wanting to be sold any more free trips to Costa Rica. It rang again as she unlocked the Jeep. Same number. She ignored it again. Then she reconsidered, chewing on her bottom lip. It could be something important. Calls at this hour were often emergencies. As she reached to answer, it stopped.
Figures.
Kali put her key in the ignition. It rang again - from the same number. "Damn it."
Shiloh whined.
"Sorry, Shiloh. I'll answer it this time, okay?" She hit the talk button. "Hello?" No answer. "Hello?"
Still no sound. Then a faint coughing chuckle sounded in her ear.
"What the hell?" Kali stared at her phone then held it to her ear again. "Who is this? What do you want?"
The same chuckle sounded again, followed by a distinct click. They'd hung up. Kali searched the darkness as she turned the key to start the engine. Placing her phone in the holder, she hit the automatic power lock on the door. She knew locking her doors would stop her creepy phone calls - however they did make her feel marginally better.
Where the hell was Grant, anyway?
Someone pounded on her driver door window. Kali shrieked. Shiloh barked. Her heart banging against her chest, she peered into the night - and saw the swirls of energy.
Grant.
She closed her eyes as relief and anger rolled through her. "Where the hell have you been?"
Grant motioned for her to roll the window.
Relieved and now mildly pissed, she lowered the glass.
"Take it easy."
"Take it easy!" she snapped. "I'm getting freaky prank phone calls and--" She unlocked her door and pushed it open, forcing Grant to move back. "You were supposed to be here close to an hour ago."
Stepping out of the car, she stormed away a few feet to stand staring at the stars, hands on her hips. Damn it.
"From the beginning, please. What's made you so jumpy?" he asked, concern warming his voice.
Just hearing that caring helped. Kali closed her eyes and focused on Grant's energy. She drew in two cleansing breaths as she regained control. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was so easily rattled. In truth, tonight she had been. She wasn't proud of that fact. Until this letter writer mess was over, she didn't think there was much she could do about it.
The next deep breath and the knot of tension in her spine loosened. She turned to face him. "Several things," she said. "It started when I left the center. A noise in the bushes rattled me, Shiloh didn't like it much either. Then I thought I was being watched as I left."
Grant's eyes narrowed and he frowned at her but didn't interrupt.
She continued, "Not wanting to go home to an empty house, I came here, where I met Jim. That worked for a while. Then the visit got weird. You called, he raced off, and I sat here waiting for you." She glared at him. "Only you never showed up." She took another deep breath. "When I finally decided you weren't coming, I headed here to my Jeep when three phone calls came in one after the other. I didn't know the number and chose to not answer the first two calls." She riffled her fingers through her hair before meeting his eyes. "I answered the third call." She caught his frown. "There was no answer at first, then some weird almost mechanical laughter before the asshole hung up."
Grant held out his hand.
Kali frowned. "W
hat?"
"Let me see your phone, please."
Blasting him a fulminating look, she walked to the Jeep and pulled the phone from its holder. Handing it over, she added, "Then you scared me half to death."
Grant wrote down the number of her mystery caller. "No, I didn't. You'd already scared yourself half to death before I ever got here. I only knocked on your window." He passed her the phone. "I'll have this number checked."
Shiloh, still in the Jeep, barked. Kali opened the driver's door and sat half-in and half-out in a way that allowed her to put a calming hand on Shiloh's neck. "It's okay, girl. It's just a crazy night." She turned so she was sitting properly in the driver's seat and reached to pull her door closed. "What happened to you anyway? Why didn't you show?"
Grant moved and closed it for her. "I followed your friend."
"Jim? Why?"
"I saw him leave and thought his timing a little suspicious. So, I followed him to a bus stop and waited until it he got on a bus to downtown Portland." He shrugged. "Then I came here to find you freaking out."
"Okay, I resent that." She hadn't been that bad, had she?
"Almost freaking out, then," he amended with a small grin.
Damn that smile. It did make her feel better, though. The heavy surge of emotions had taken its toll on her energy levels. Kali looked at the shadows surrounding them and shivered. The warm energy wafted between them. It wasn't enough dispense the darkness. "I'm going home. I've had quite enough of this for tonight, thank you."
"I'll follow you home."
"Why?"
"So that you know no one else is."
"Oh." That made sense and made her feel stupid at the same time. "Okay, thanks." She turned the key in the ignition.
"Just a moment." He pulled out another business card. "Keep this in the Jeep. And call me the next time you think you're being followed."
Kali tossed the card in the coin holder on the dash. "I hope I won't need it. I never thought to call you tonight. What if I'd been imagining things?"
He snorted. "Better to call and be embarrassed over nothing than not to call and get into trouble."
She sighed. She knew that. "Except, it's not me he's after."
He bent down and looked her in the eye. "What makes you say that?"
"He's taking victims to challenge me. If I'm dead, there's no fun in it for him." She allowed herself a moment of relief. She was right. She could feel it. This asshole didn't want her - at least not yet.
"That may be - only this guy's not rational. You can't attribute normal reasoning or behavior to him. He could switch in a heartbeat and decide that it's more fun to hold you captive for a month or two."
A month or two. She gulped. That was not something she wanted to consider.
Grant continued, "And what about when he decides the game is over? I'm sure he has final plans for you, too."
Oh God. That didn't bear thinking about. Kali avoided answering by shifting into reverse. True to his promise, Grant stayed behind her the whole way home. As she neared the house, she couldn't decide if she should invite him inside.
Still undecided, she watched to see if he'd park or, now that she was home safe, leave again. Locking the vehicle, she headed to her front door, not wanting to appear obvious.
Shiloh sniffed the long pampas grass by the front steps, enjoying the fresh air. Behind her, she heard Grant's door slam and the crunch of gravel as he followed her. She unlocked the front door, pushing it open for Shiloh, who wiggled in ahead of her.
Shiloh howled and raced down the hall.
Kali stepped inside. Shiloh stopped at the entrance to the kitchen and started barking madly. Kali halted, fear demolishing what little calm she'd regained earlier.
Grant raced forward. He grabbed her arm and tugged her onto the front porch behind him. "I'll go and check. Stay here until I tell you it's safe."
Kali's eyes widened. Good. She wasn't a hero.
"Keep Shiloh here."
Kali called Shiloh to her, snagged her collar. Both retreated to the front porch. Together they watched as Grant, gun out and ready, took several deliberate steps into the hallway, assessing the scene. He reminded her of herself on a SAR mission. Survey, assess, identify, catalogue the elements that need to be dealt with before moving forward. At the kitchen, he stopped.
Exactly where Shiloh had stopped.
He glanced at her still huddling under the outside light, before he entered the kitchen.
She waited. And waited. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and called out, "Grant. What is it?"
He reappeared, talking on his cell phone - as usual. Completing his call, he closed his cell phone. "I've called in a team."
Kali swallowed hard. "What's wrong? What did you find?"
"A package with a note from our letter writer."
Her stomach clenched. Nausea stirred in her stomach. The killer had been inside her house. She'd left it locked up. Shit. She forced herself to ask, fearing the answer, "What's in the package? And what does the note say?"
Grant sighed. "Kali..."
She held up her hand. "Don't. Don't try to protect me from this. It's way too late for that. To stay sane, I have to know what I'm dealing with." She closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them, she said, "Now, what did you find?"
"A bloody gold and emerald earring."
Kali swallowed hard as relief rushing through her. "I don't know what I'd imagined it could be, but I hadn't expected something as benign as an earring. That's good, right? This poor woman could be still alive. Right?" Kali felt a little better at his nod. "And the note?"
"I only read the part that showed without touching it. It said something about, Round Two to me. Someone close is gone forever. Now it's on to Round Three."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Round Three?" Kali squeaked. Shock reverberated inside. Not possible. How could they have missed round two? "Are you serious?"
"That's what it says. I haven't moved it yet. There could be more to the message."
"What happened to the second round?" Kali closed her eyes, pain washing through her. She leaned against the wall, grateful for something stable. If only she had something to grab onto emotionally. "He's already kidnapped, buried, and killed someone, and we didn't even know about it? Didn't even know this person was missing? How is that possible?"
Grant slid his hand through his hair, exhaustion and frustration in his voice. "Unfortunately, it's all too easy to do." Hands resting on his hips, Grant stared grim-faced into the vast blackness beyond the yard. "Kali, I need you to look at the earring. You might recognize it."
She stared at him wordlessly. Through her own shock and disbelief she could see years of experience in scenarios like this one etched in his face. His job had to be harsh to live with. The things he'd seen. The things he surely wished he'd never seen.
She took a deep breath. "Show it to me.”
Pushing the door open wider, he led the way. "I don't want you to disturb anything. I'll take you to the entrance first." He led the way down the hallway, pulling on thin latex gloves from his pocket as he went.
His broad frame blocked her from entering. "First, take a good look at the kitchen. Can you tell if anything has been disturbed?"
Kali perused the room. Nothing popped out at her. Except for the item on the table. She took her time, then finally said, "I can't see anything odd from here." At his nod, she drew a deep breath, then walked to the table.
The earring lay on a paper plate. No napkin, no wrapping, just a mistletoe pattern marred by the contents. Through the flecks of dried blood shone a stunning starburst earring with a half dozen emeralds. From its position, she couldn't tell the type of closure. It appeared to be a post style. The deep yellow color of the metal made her think it was real gold set with real stones, she didn't know for sure.
Bile rose in her throat. Kali swallowed hard. Her eyes flew to the note tucked slightly under the plate.
The sheet of standard printer paper had bee
n cut in half; the message printed again in block letters, but this time in black ink. She couldn't see anything to indicate the location, identification or where to start looking for the owner of the earring. Neither was there anything to denote the identity of the letter writer.
Unless something else was written on the note. Her hand at the ready, she glanced over at Grant. He stopped her and used gloved fingers to pull the note free.
"Round two to me -
Did you even see that someone is missing?