“No,” Martha said. “Joanna and I will go on with our plans for the day. It’s ridiculous to let one individual have that much power over us.” She lifted her chin. “Let’s go, Joanna.”
Joanna nodded. “Fine.”
The two ladies left and Olivia nodded to Wade. He took Amy’s hand and Olivia led the way to the parking lot. Haley brought up the rear, keeping an eye on their flank, her hand never far from her weapon. At the vehicle, Wade helped Amy into the back, then climbed into the passenger seat. Haley slid into the seat next to Amy. Olivia walked over to Katie, who now sat in the driver’s seat of her own vehicle. “Will you follow us back to Wade’s house? I want you to hear whatever Amy has to say.”
“Of course. I’ll clear the house before you go in.”
“Thanks.”
Olivia returned to Wade’s SUV. She settled herself behind the wheel and cranked the engine while Wade buckled up. He blew out a slow breath. “I have a charity dinner Thursday night.”
“I know.”
“Should we call it off?”
“You’re willing to do that?”
“I’m not worried about myself so much as I’m worried about”—he glanced in the rearview mirror—“others worrying about me.”
She nodded, understanding his convoluted sentence. “That’s four days away. Do you need to know right now?”
“Pretty soon.”
“Give me all the information and I’ll check on the security that’ll be present. Depending on that, we can make the decision by tomorrow evening.”
“That’ll work.”
She wove through the maze of the parking lot and finally made it to the street that would take her to the interstate.
“Where are we going?” Amy asked.
Olivia glanced at Wade, who also looked interested in the answer to the question. “I’m going to take you home and then I’m going to see about watching the security footage from the church.” And calling in reinforcements. Amy needed someone with her 24/7. Whoever was after Wade had just proven she’d use Amy to get to him.
And that simply wasn’t going to happen.
[18]
SUNDAY
LUNCHTIME
The drive to the house was uneventful, but frankly Olivia didn’t anticipate any problems while she—or another bodyguard—was around. At least not yet. Not in an in-your-face kind of way. A sneak attack was going to be more her style.
Wade’s stalker had already proven she was clever—and not afraid to kill. But she had only attacked individuals. She hadn’t gone after Wade—or Amy—when they’d been with a group of people. Even at the church, with the big crowd, she’d still managed to get Amy alone.
And that was the key.
She pulled into the drive and put the car in park. Haley got out. “I’ll do a perimeter search as well. I’ll let Katie know.” She was already on her phone as she slipped out of the vehicle.
Olivia turned to Wade. “She went after you when you were alone.” She tapped the wheel as she thought. “And she went after Amy when she was alone. Granted, she orchestrated that, but she still wanted her—and you—alone.”
“So as long as we travel in a group, we should be fine?”
“No, no, I’m not saying that, I’m saying it appears like she’s not confident enough to take on more than one person at a time.”
He snorted. “Well, that’s a comfort.”
“Sarcasm?”
“Sorry,” he muttered. “But yeah.”
“She’s a behind-the-scenes kind of girl. A wallflower, but not necessarily physically unattractive.”
“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?” Wade murmured.
“Hmm. Yes. Something like that. Maybe by choice, maybe not. You probably intimidate her. Beneath it all, she doesn’t think you would find her appealing, but she’s decided not to let that stop her from having you. One way or another. She’s slowly gaining confidence to make that happen. Or maybe that’s been her goal for a while and she’s just now figured out a way to get you to notice her.”
“And she’s progressed to the point that she’s willing to use the dark of night to . . . uh . . . take out one of your employees.” He was mindful of his daughter still in the backseat. “You’re trying to analyze her.”
She shrugged. “Profile her.”
He nodded and went silent.
“What does ‘profile her’ mean?” Amy asked.
Olivia glanced in the rearview mirror. The girl hadn’t said a word from the time they’d left the church to now. Her question had been subdued, but at least she was talking. “It means to try and understand how someone thinks or figure out why they behave the way they behave.” There was more to it than that, but she figured a simple explanation would be best here.
Olivia’s phone pinged and she looked at the text. Katie had already cleared the house. No decapitated gifts this time. No bombs adhered to the doors. That was a step in the right direction.
“Oh. Because once you understand how someone thinks, you can help that person, right?” Amy said.
Olivia smiled. Helping wasn’t really on her priority list. Taking that person down and putting her behind bars was more in line with what she had in mind. “Yes. Something like that.”
Amy nodded. “That’s what my dad does. He figures out how people think, then helps them.”
“I know. Your dad’s a smart man.”
“Not as smart as Pops.” Amy opened her door and got out of the car.
Wade cleared his throat. “We’ll debate that another time,” he said to Amy’s back. His daughter slipped inside the house.
“She seems okay,” Olivia said in a low voice, “but I don’t really know her well enough to tell.”
“She’s not okay. I can see the tremor in her hands and she hasn’t looked me in the eye since we got in the car.” Wade led the way into the house via the kitchen door. Katie had already entered the front. Amy grabbed a box of raisins from the counter, but didn’t stop to speak or acknowledge Katie’s presence. She darted past her and disappeared up the stairs.
Katie lifted a brow. Olivia looked at Wade. He sighed and ducked his head for a second, then looked up. “Okay, let’s go.”
“She went to her room, I assume?” Olivia asked.
He nodded. “It’s her safe place.”
“Is it all right if we invade it?”
“I think we need to. We need to get her to talk while her memory is fresh.” His jaw tightened. “I want to know who was in the bathroom and get the full story. Come on.”
“You go first and clear the way a bit. I want to talk to Katie for just a few minutes.”
Wade nodded and headed up the stairs.
“What is it?” Katie asked from behind her.
“I just spoke with Haley. I told her we had this covered so she’s heading home.”
“That’s fine.”
“And Quinn’s pulling security footage from the church. He said he’d come by and show it to Amy and Wade if there was anything worth looking at.”
“Great.”
Olivia drew in a deep breath. “Now, let’s go see if Amy will fill us in on what happened at the church.”
Wade sat beside Amy and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She pulled away from him. “Go away.”
Stunned, he simply stared at her for a brief moment. “What?”
“Go. Away.”
“Amy—”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
Disbelief and anger fired to life. “Now look here, young lady—” She crossed her arms and turned her head, refusing to look at him. He stopped. She didn’t need a reprimand. She’d been terrified. “Amy,” he whispered. Her jaw tightened. He touched her shoulder. “Honey, talk to me.”
“Why should I?”
Wade was floored. His mind froze. With all of his expertise in counseling others in their relationships with family members, he couldn’t figure out how to talk to his own daughter.
“Why
are you mad at your dad?”
Wade turned to find Olivia in the doorway with Katie behind her.
Amy flinched and looked away.
Wade didn’t know whether to be mad or glad at the interruption. He stayed silent since he wanted to know the answer himself. Olivia kept her gaze on Amy. Amy stared back for a few seconds, then dropped her eyes to the stuffed animal she held in her lap. “He didn’t come get me,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “He didn’t come save me. No one did.”
Wade’s heart shattered. He’d failed his child. She’d expected him to come rescue her and he hadn’t. He’d let her down. He fought the lump in his throat. “I didn’t know where you were, sweetheart,” he finally said.
“I know that now, but—”
“But what?”
“I still thought you’d come.”
“I know. And I was looking for you.” He lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. “You saved yourself, Amy. I know your panic attacks overwhelm you at times, but you proved something to yourself.”
“What?” she whispered.
“That you’re clever and smart and strong and that the panic attacks don’t define you. You’re an overcomer and you’re going to be just fine.”
She gave him a faint smile. “Like Mandisa’s song?”
“Yeah, just like it.”
She threw herself into his arms and clung. Wade hugged her and fought the tears that wanted to fall. “Joanna didn’t tell me you were going to the youth room because of the misunderstanding, so I had no idea where you were. Which is why I was searching for you.” She nodded against his chest. He pushed her back. “Can you tell us what happened in the bathroom?”
Olivia and Katie, who’d been standing quietly just inside the room, moved closer to the bed.
Amy shoved her hair back and looked at them. “I went to the youth room and they were doing the play. Everything was fine until the loud gunshots.” She shrugged, but he saw the fine tremor that shook her. “I don’t like loud noises.”
Wade listened as his daughter recounted the incident, his muscles tightening with each word that rolled from her tongue.
“I prayed, but nothing happened. You didn’t come and the lady didn’t go away. So I crawled under the last stall and ran for the door. She grabbed my shoulder, but I turned and kicked her. She let go and I got through the door and then went to find you.”
Wade hugged her again. “Good job, sweetie. You did great.”
“I was really, really scared.” She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I know you were.” His arms tightened. He couldn’t believe she’d managed to control her panic and get away. “God was with you in that situation.”
She stuck her lower lip out and shuddered. “Well, I sure didn’t feel him.”
“But he allowed you to think clearly and do what you had to do to get away, right? Just like what we talked about a minute ago.”
She paused, then nodded. “Yes.” Another pause. “But I was still scared.” She pushed her hair back and shuddered, then froze. “I forgot,” she whispered.
“Forgot what?”
“She said I was supposed to give you a message.”
Wade stilled. “What message?”
“She said to tell you that Justine was waiting for you,” she whispered.
Goosebumps pebbled on his skin. The room stayed silent.
“And then I ran,” Amy said. “I thought she was going to kill me.” Her voice wobbled.
Wade hugged her close and fought his roiling emotions. Rage at the unknown person had him trembling.
“We’re going to make sure you don’t have to feel that way again,” Olivia said softly. “You’re going to have your very own bodyguard. Actually, you’ll have two who will take turns watching you.”
Amy pulled away from him and looked at Olivia. “Who?”
“Me,” Katie said.
“Cool. Who else?”
“A woman named Lizzie. She had to finish up a case she was working on before joining us, but she’ll be here tomorrow.”
“Is she nice?”
“Very nice. She’s got a daughter about your age.”
Amy thought about that, then rubbed her nose and looked at Katie. “Just one more question.”
“What’s that?” Katie moved closer.
“Do you like kids?”
“Love them. Especially twelve-year-old girls with beautiful dark hair and eyes.”
That got a shaky smile. Amy nodded. “I think we’ll get along just fine then.”
[19]
Olivia slipped from the room and made her way down to the den. She needed to discuss Justine with Wade and knew that wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. She’d wanted to leave that painful topic alone, but now his possible stalker had brought her into this situation.
She pulled her phone from her back pocket. It had buzzed twice while she’d been listening to Amy, but she hadn’t wanted to interrupt the girl’s story and distract her. She glanced at the screen. Quinn. She called him back. “What’s up?” she asked.
“I got that security footage from the church. They have some sweet technology at that place.”
“They have a lot of money at that place.”
“Hmm. Well, anyway, the footage shows Amy running for the bathroom, her hands clasped over her ears.”
“That fits.”
“And a short minute later someone enters behind her. I think it’s a woman, but it’s hard to tell. She has one of those zip-up hoodies on and her hands shoved into her pockets.”
“The person in the parking lot of the radio station had on a hoodie,” Olivia said.
“This woman’s also wearing jeans and tennis shoes and carrying a bag over her shoulder.”
“What about the footage of people leaving the bathroom?”
“Got that. We even have a woman coming out with what looks like the same bag. We just need an ID on her.”
Olivia frowned. “Okay. Let me know when you know something.”
“Of course.”
“How’s Maddy?”
“The same.”
She nodded. “That’s better than worse.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, Quinn. Talk to you soon.” She hung up and turned to find Wade behind her. “Quinn’s got the video footage.”
“I heard.”
“They’re trying to ID a woman who has a bag over her shoulder that looks like the one someone went in with shortly after Amy entered.”
“Is she the one who did this?”
“Possibly. That’s what they’re trying to find out. How’s Amy?”
“Still talking to Katie.” His shoulders slumped. He moved to sit on the couch, hands clasped between his knees. His head drooped.
“You couldn’t have known,” she said.
“I should have been more alert.” He looked up at her, eyes narrowed.
“No. I should have.”
He sighed. “No. She should have been fine.” He shrugged. “But she wasn’t because of a stupid misunderstanding.”
“We’ll have to make sure misunderstandings don’t happen again. Joanna may need to be reminded of the seriousness of the situation. If she’s going to be around a lot, we’ll have to explain it to her.”
“She’ll be around. She’s a longtime friend. She and Martha are practically inseparable. Kind of like Amy and Stacy. And I think the scene today is reminder enough. She gets it now if she didn’t before.”
Olivia nodded. “Both Maddy and Haley noted her frequent presence in their notes. Where does she live? I’ll request an officer to ride by her place every so often. Even though she hasn’t been directly threatened, it might not be a bad idea.”
“I’m not sure where she’s living right now. She changes addresses about as often as I change my socks.”
“Why?”
“She says she likes adventure. And she said it’s cheaper to move where the deals are. You know, sign a twelve-month lease
, get two months free. A room for rent comes open and she’ll move into that for a few months. Then something else will come along and she’ll move into that place. That sort of thing. I used to help her move, but finally told her I was done.”
“Is that really cheaper?”
“Who knows? It seems to work for her.”
“Is she that tight financially?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. I think she gets bored and needs a change every once in a while. Moving is her way of adding a little excitement to her life, I guess.”
“Any men in her life?”
“A new one every couple of months or so. She says she’ll settle down when she finds the right guy.”
“Interesting.”
“Yes. But she’s been a friend since high school. A good friend. She’d do anything for me or Amy or Martha. She’s become family.”
Olivia nodded. “All right, let’s keep going.” She paused. “Amy said she doesn’t like loud noises. Is that common knowledge?”
He rubbed his chin. “People who know her would know that.” He sighed. “I’ve never tried to hide Amy’s anxiety disorder. It’s a part of who she is, but it doesn’t define her. It’s just something we deal with. I even talk about it in some of the speeches I make at different charity functions. I try to let people know that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how much money you have in your bank account, we’re all together in this thing called life and we need to help one another. It’s no secret I’m well off financially, but by using personal stories of hardship and what I’m going through, I’m able to relate to almost anyone.” He looked down. “Just because I have money in the bank doesn’t make me somehow ‘unaffected’ or ‘untouched’ by life.”
“I know,” she said.
He looked up.
Olivia cleared her throat. “So how would someone change the volume on that movie to blast those gunshots?”
“I suppose someone would just have to get ahold of the remote and crank it up.”
She nodded. “Of course. That makes sense. Someone who knew the loud shots would freak out Amy and send her running to the bathroom. Someone who was in the youth room at the time of the movie. Someone who belonged there.”
Always Watching Page 12