Always Watching

by Lynette Eason

  “Maybe she went inside the auditorium.” Olivia pressed her earpiece in tighter. “Haley?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Did Amy come inside the auditorium?”

  “I didn’t see her and I’ve been watching the doors. The lights are low, though, and people are still mingling.” She paused and Olivia knew what was coming. “I’ve got my binoculars out and I’m sweeping the room, but there are just too many people.”

  “I should have told Katie to come.”

  “No, we should have convinced Wade to stay home.” Haley paused. “We do need to bring someone else on board if he’s going to insist on going out in public like this. I don’t think Amy’s in here, Liv,” she said, her voice low but crystal clear. “Martha is here . . . Okay, it looks like people are settling down and it’s getting ready to start. There aren’t any teenagers in here that I can see.”

  “Because they’re all in the youth room.”

  “You need to check there. Maybe she changed her mind.”

  Wade shoved his way to the auditorium doors and stepped inside. Olivia stayed right on his heels. Darkness swallowed them and she blinked to allow her eyes to adjust. It didn’t take long. The lights from the stage soon pushed aside the dark. The music had already started.

  She grabbed his arm. “She’s not in here,” she said into his ear.

  “How do you know? She may have decided to come sit with Martha and Joanna. She’s comfortable with them.”

  “Haley’s in the balcony with binoculars and she hasn’t seen her. Let’s check the youth room.”

  She followed Wade out of the auditorium back into the lobby.

  Three loud cracks rang out. She dove for Wade and took him to the floor.

  [17]

  Amy jumped at the loud booms and slapped her hands over her ears. To her left, Stacy let out a scream. To her right, Vicky squealed. The screams and roars from the others in the large room echoed around her.

  Amy felt the panic rising, her throat closing, her lungs shrinking. She rose to her feet and ran from the room. She had to get away, get out. She couldn’t have an attack in front of her friends. She ran down the hallway that was filling fast with people rushing from the auditorium. She made a left and raced to the bathroom in the children’s wing. No one ever used it until after the service, and she’d found it the perfect place to catch her breath and find calm.

  She pushed inside. Vacant, just like she wanted. Panting, gulping air, she went to the sink and turned on the faucet. She ducked her head to put her lips to the water, gulping it down her dry throat. She choked, coughed, and sputtered.

  She turned the faucet off and grabbed a handful of paper towels and dried her face. She threw the paper in the trash, then went into one of the stalls. The small space would soothe her attack. She knew it was weird. Small places made some people crazy, but they made her feel protected. She’d felt an attack coming on once before in the youth room and had run to the bathroom before anyone could notice. Discovering the tight space made her feel better had been a huge relief. One of the reasons she liked coming to church so much. She felt safe there. Or at least she had. The attack started to ease. She pulled in a lungful of air and glanced up, wondering why she had to be different, why she had to be afflicted with the panic and anxiety. Sometimes she even wondered if God hated her. Her dad promised that wasn’t the case, but privately Amy wasn’t so sure.

  She rubbed her eyes, not caring that she smeared the carefully applied mascara or eye shadow. She stared at the door and thought. Maybe she should ask her dad to have doors like the stall doors put on her classroom at school. She didn’t know why, but she liked the bathroom stall doors.

  They weren’t regular metal stall doors. These were nice, with handles that locked. They reminded her of the blinds on the den at her house or the bathrooms in that fancy restaurant Aunt Martha liked to go to where all the ladies wore dresses and the men had to wear a coat and tie. The doors were brown and tight and no one could see in. She tested the handle.

  Locked.

  She was fine. She sat on the lid of the toilet and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Tears leaked down her cheeks and she wanted to wail. Why was this happening to her? Why, God? She breathed deep, felt it catch. Relief flowed through her. When I am afraid I will trust—

  The room went dark.

  Amy froze. The squeezing in her chest returned.

  She heard the creak of the main door as it shut. She’d been so lost in her own panic she hadn’t heard the door open. Or had someone been in the bathroom and she hadn’t noticed?

  Soft footfalls reached her ears. No. Someone had come in and shut off the lights. Her heart thudded, her mouth went dry. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her shins. Her body shook and the panic wanted to overcome her. She squeezed her eyes tight, then opened them. Her chest hurt, but she ignored it.

  Why would someone turn off the lights? Did they know she was there? Did the person think the bathroom was empty? But why turn off the lights and step inside? She hesitated, then opened her mouth to call out.

  “Amy?” The raspy whisper froze her. Her stomach cramped and she thought she might be sick. A wave of dizziness hit her and she leaned her forehead on her knees, desperately trying to control her breathing. Conscious of every sound she made. Be quiet, be quiet, be invisible.

  She thought of her father’s stalker. His worry that something would happen to her. Was this the person?

  Another footstep. A thin beam of light reached under her door and she bit back a gasp. The light moved across the floor to the next stall and on down. Amy lowered herself to the floor and peered under the partition. The light continued to move, but her eyes had adjusted to the dark enough that she could see dark shoes slowly moving with the light. “Amy? Where are you?”

  Amy thought her thundering heart would alert the person as to her location. Fear kept her quiet. Did she recognize the voice? Something . . .

  No. Not that soft creepy whisper. Daddy! Where are you? Come get me! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus—

  Her dad wasn’t coming. No one was coming. Jesus wasn’t going to help her. She’d have to do this alone. The person moved farther away. “Amy? I need you to give your father a message for me.”

  Amy stayed frozen for a brief moment.

  “I know you’re in here. Tell your father Justine is waiting for him.” The voice gave a low chuckle, the footsteps moved closer, and Amy’s breath lodged in her throat.

  Yes, she’d have to do this. And now. She moved as quickly and quietly as possible, crawling under the stall divider into the next space, then the next. The footsteps started back in her direction. She had one more stall and she’d be in the open.

  But also right next to the door.

  The steps continued. She glanced back. The light came faster.

  Amy scrambled out from under the stall, bolted to her feet, and beelined it to the door. Her fingers fumbled for the handle, turned it.

  A hand brushed her shoulder and she screamed.

  Wade didn’t know how long he and Olivia lay in a tangled heap behind the information desk along with others who had taken cover there, but it seemed like an eternity. In reality it was probably more like sixty seconds as they waited for more shots.

  When that didn’t happen, Olivia rose cautiously to her feet, staying in a crouch, her weapon in her hand. Wade mimicked her position and rubbed his elbow. His heart thundered in his ears as his terror level reached new heights. Had someone shot at them? He looked around and saw nothing amiss. No bullet holes, nothing that looked damaged. Just people on the floor, terrified expressions on their faces.

  To his left Wade heard running footsteps. A young man wearing a staff T-shirt came into the lobby holding up his hands in a surrendering gesture. “It’s okay, everyone. That was a bit louder than we’d planned. It wasn’t gunshots, just a recording in the youth room turned up too loud. I mean those were gunshots, but they were recorded and the door was open and . . .” He eyed th
e weapon in Olivia’s hands and swallowed hard. “Um, we didn’t mean to scare anyone. Really.” He backed up, eyes wide. He turned and found Haley behind him, weapon also drawn. “Whoa. What’s going on?”

  Olivia holstered her gun. “It’s okay, Haley. False alarm. But we’ve still got to find Amy.”

  Stacy hurried into the lobby, her eyes searching, then looking relieved when they landed on Wade. “I can’t find Amy. She came in the youth room with Vicky and said she decided to be in the play, but then there were these loud bangs and she ran out.”

  “Where would she go to feel safe, Stacy?”

  Stacy’s worried eyes lit up. “The bathroom in the children’s wing. She goes there sometimes.” She spun on her heel and raced back the way she’d come. Olivia and Wade followed her. Haley pulled up the rear. Wade noted they had the undivided attention of the people in the lobby, as well as two security guards who spoke into their radios as they hustled toward him. He ignored them. He had one goal, one purpose.

  Find Amy.

  He passed more parishioners coming out of the auditorium to investigate. Some looked scared, others more cautious and curious. He passed them without a glance, rounded the corner, and nearly wilted when he saw Amy racing toward him, her makeup streaked, her tearstained face bleached of all natural color.

  “Dad?” She hurled herself into his arms.

  He hugged her for a brief moment, then gripped her forearms and pushed her back to look at her. “Are you all right? Where did you go? You scared me to death when you disappeared.” He could see the strain on her face, the panic in her eyes.

  But she swallowed and gulped in a breath as her gaze darted between him, Stacy, Olivia, and the others. “Vicky wanted to go to the youth room so I decided to go with her. I told Miss Joanna where I was going.”

  Wade closed his eyes. He could feel his blood pressure still pounding way too high. “She didn’t tell me.”

  “She said she would, I promise. I wouldn’t have just left like that. But then the shots went off during the play and they scared me. I know it was only a recording, but it was so loud and I ran to the bathroom and got in the stall and I couldn’t breathe and then someone came in and turned off the lights and she called my name and I—”

  “Wait, wait, breathe,” Wade soothed. “Slow down a minute.” He could see Olivia standing next to him, listening to every word.

  She stepped closer. “What do you mean someone came in and shut the lights off?”

  Amy nodded and tears gathered. “She scared me.”

  “She?” Wade asked. A murderous rage built inside of him at the thought of his child being terrorized.

  “I think so. I mean it was the ladies’ room. But I pulled my feet up on the toilet and the light went past me so she didn’t know I was in that stall, but she knew I was in the bathroom.”

  “Light?” Totally confused, Wade glanced at Olivia. “Let’s get out of here so we can figure out what she’s talking about.”

  Olivia nodded and spoke to Haley via her earpiece. “Check the ladies’ room in the children’s wing and see if anyone is in there. If so, question them, get their statements about where they were when the shots went off, then meet us at the front door.”

  “What about my sister-in-law and Joanna?” Wade asked.

  “Haley,” she said into the microphone. “Find Martha and Joanna and let them know what’s going on. Martha was in the auditorium and Joanna is in the money counting room.” She looked at Wade. “I want to talk to Amy first without an audience.”

  Wade looked up and noticed the crowd gathered around him, their interest focused on Olivia, him, and Amy. The two security guards finally caught up to them and the youth pastor launched into another explanation about the noise that set off the panic. Wade wasn’t worried about that. Now that he knew there wasn’t an actual shooter, he wanted to know who was in the ladies’ room with his daughter and why.

  Olivia pressed the button to speed-dial Katie while Wade and Amy stood to the side in a small alcove next to the front door. It was perfect. No windows, just two couches, a big-screen television mounted on the wall, and a coffee table with several church pamphlets sitting on it.

  “Hello?”

  “Sorry to interrupt your sleep—”

  “I’m dressing now. Where do you need me?”

  “You’re about fifteen minutes away from the church. I need you to come do a sweep of the vehicle.” She gave Katie the license plate and the location of the SUV.

  “I’ll be there in twelve. Wait for me to give you the all clear.”

  The phone clicked off and Olivia paced the opening of the alcove. She reached the end and turned to face-plant into Wade’s chest. She gasped and stepped back, heat flushing up into her cheeks.

  “A sweep?” Wade asked, grasping her upper arm in order to steady her.

  “Sorry,” she said.

  He didn’t seem to notice her momentary discomfiture. She cleared her throat and put a little more distance between them. Her brain seemed to work better that way.

  “Your stalker was here,” she said. “She knows where you live, where you go to church, and what vehicle you drive. And now you’ve made her mad at you. And even though we don’t know the whole story yet about her being in the bathroom with Amy—or even if it was her—we do know that someone was there, and that person scared Amy.”

  “True.”

  “And since I don’t know the motive behind that—other than to scare you—I’m going to assume the worst and take all precautions.”

  Wade glanced back at Amy. Olivia followed his gaze. Amy had her attention glued to the television screen. Closed captions ran across the bottom. Olivia didn’t know if she was listening to the sermon or not, but at least she’d calmed down. “And by those precautions you mean a sweep of my vehicle for . . . ?”

  “A bomb, Wade. I’m looking for a bomb.”

  He swallowed hard and blinked. Then his jaw tightened and he gave a short nod. “Right. A bomb. Because the first time didn’t get the job done.” He blew out a slow breath. “I’m going to talk to Amy and see if she can tell me anything more about the woman in the bathroom.”

  Olivia’s earpiece buzzed. “Go.”

  “I’m heading your way,” Haley said. “The service is winding down and the closing music’s going to start any second.”

  “Katie should be here any minute.”

  “Sweeping the car?”

  “Yes.”

  Martha entered the lobby, followed by Haley.

  Martha rushed over to Wade, Haley right on her heels. “What’s going on? What happened? We heard loud noises, but didn’t think much of it since they kept going with the service, but Haley said it set off some panic.”

  Joanna appeared from the door she’d vanished behind earlier and bolted over to Martha and Wade. “What is it? I got your text. What’s going on?”

  Wade stepped forward, a ferocious frown on his face directed toward Joanna. “Why didn’t you tell me Amy was going to the youth room?”

  “What?” Joanna stepped back. “She said she was going and I told her she needed to tell you.”

  “She said you told her you would tell me.”

  “No. I specifically said, ‘You need to tell your father where you are.’”

  “I thought you said you would tell him,” Amy said softly. “I thought you said, ‘I’ll tell your father where you are.’”

  “No, I’m so sorry.” Joanna held out a beseeching hand. “You must have misunderstood—”

  Wade placed a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter now. Misunderstandings happen. Amy’s fine and that’s all that matters.”

  Joanna clamped her lips together and nodded. She held her arms out to Amy, who slid into them. The two hugged.

  Olivia’s phone rang and she snatched it to her ear while Wade went into soothing mode with his sister-in-law.

  “Katie?”

  “Yeah, I’m here,” Katie said. “Going over the vehicle now. Stay on
the line with me.”

  Olivia did. She could sense Wade listening in on her side of the conversation while Martha turned to Joanna and began discussing the incident in soft tones.

  Haley walked up to Olivia. “Bathroom had three females in it,” she said in a low voice. “No way to know if one of them was in there when Amy was. I asked and they all claimed to have come from the auditorium. Could be true, could be not.”

  “Any cameras in the hallway?”

  “Yes. The whole building has security cameras.”

  “Check and see if Quinn can take a look and determine who went into the bathroom and scared Amy.”

  “Okay, the car is now clean,” Katie said in her ear.

  “Now clean?”

  “No bomb, but it had a GPS tracker on it.”

  Olivia sucked in a breath. “All right. You removed it of course.”

  “And bagged it. We’ll see if one of our contacts at the lab will do us a favor and see if it can be traced.”

  “Good deal. From now on, we do a complete sweep of the vehicle before Wade or anyone in his family gets near it.” She hung up and motioned to Haley and Wade. “We’re good to go.”

  Wade gripped Amy’s hand.

  “Well, what about us?” Martha asked. “Do you think we’re in any danger if Joanna and I continue with our plans for the day?”

  Olivia considered the question. “The stalker doesn’t appear to be after you or consider you to be a threat. So far her targets have been Wade and Amy.” She glanced at Haley, then back to the two women. “In other words, I can’t make that call. That’s up to you. If you’re with us, you’ll be under our protection. If you go off on your own, you won’t be.”

  Joanna shook her head. “We’ll be fine, Martha. The psycho is after Wade. In fact, if you think about it, we’ll probably be safer away from him.”

  Martha frowned and Olivia could see her trying to decide. Olivia glanced at Wade and wondered if he’d taken that last comment personally. His expression didn’t give her a clue.

  “Frankly,” Olivia said, “I would prefer you stay with us until we know for sure the person isn’t going to go after anyone else.”