“Don’t even think it!”
5
Lindsey turned around, and there was Emma. She was running for the door, and Lindsey jumped out of her way. Emma yanked the door open and ran outside, in hot pursuit of the person who had just fled the house.
The interior door banged open behind Emma, and a gust of wind brought in a torrent of rain. Lindsey had to put her shoulder into it to close it. She glanced through the window, hoping to spot Emma, but the chief had disappeared behind the high grass that separated the house from the beach.
Lindsey tried not to worry. Emma was the best cop she knew. She was tough but fair and as fit as any person in town, running double marathons just for the fun of it. Who did that by choice? Also, she had a gun on her, and she knew how to use it. Lindsey closed her eyes for moment, hoping with all she had that Emma wouldn’t need to use it.
She heard footsteps from above and doubled back to the stairs to see whether she could help. She had just turned the corner when she saw Officer Kirkland coming down the steps, carrying Theresa Huston. The pretty brunette was blotchy faced and sniffing as if trying to hold back her tears. She was also pasty, and her lips were pressed into a thin line, as if she was trying to keep from crying out. No matter how gently Officer Kirkland carried her, the hip-to-toe cast was massive and unwieldy, and moving had to hurt Theresa terribly. Liza was right behind them, carrying a pair of crutches.
“Theresa!” cried Lindsey. “Are you all right?”
Theresa nodded. Then she shook her head, and a sob burbled up out of her mouth. “A man broke into my house and tried to suffocate me with a pillow.”
Lindsey gasped. This was so much more than a burglary. She glanced at Liza, whose eyes were huge. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and her hands were shaking as she tucked her hair behind her ears. She looked at Theresa with worry in her eyes and then shook her head as if she just couldn’t understand how anyone could do such a thing.
“How did you manage to call the police?” Lindsey asked.
“I didn’t,” Theresa said. “Larry had a security system installed on the house yesterday. He was worried about me being here alone during the daytime. If a window or door is opened, it sends an alert to my watch with a video feed of the area for verification. When I looked at the alert, I saw the man. I saw him come through the back door. All I had to do was tap my watch, and the police were called.”
Theresa’s breathing was quick, as if she was reliving the terror she must have felt when the man came into her house.
“I wanted to hide, but I was so panicked I couldn’t get off the bed without making noise, not in this thing.” She tapped her cast with her knuckles and then winced. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I couldn’t make it to the closet or hide under the bed. I was just sitting there like a big target with an enormous bull’s-eye on me.”
She pushed her long dark hair off her face and blew out a breath. She was clearly trying to pull it together. Lindsey was impressed with her inner resolve. Comparatively, Lindsey didn’t think she’d bounce back so fast from a possible suffocation. Her skin prickled at the thought of being stuck in a cast in bed with a bad guy skulking around her house, intending to do harm. Terrifying.
“Where do you want me to set you down?” Kirkland asked.
“The couch will be fine,” Theresa said. Her voice was thin, as if she was on the last reserves of her energy.
Kirkland carefully navigated all the furniture in the front room and set Theresa down on her brown leather sofa.
“It’s a good thing Dad had that system put in,” Liza said. “I mean, that probably saved you, right?”
“Yes, I’m sure it did.”
Theresa shuddered, and Liza sat on the arm of the couch behind her and awkwardly patted her shoulder. Theresa reached around and hugged Liza. The young woman stiffened and then hugged Theresa back before pulling away and moving to a nearby chair.
Officer Kirkland stepped back and glanced toward the kitchen. Lindsey was betting he knew that Emma had run after the suspect and he was dying to go out there, too.
“We need you here,” she said. “In case there is more than one of them or if he loses Emma and comes back.”
Kirkland glanced at her and nodded. He then looked back at Theresa. “If it’s all right, I’d like to ask you a few questions so you don’t forget anything that happened.”
Theresa gave him a droll look. “I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget. Not for the rest of my life.”
“I understand. Still, can you tell me what happened after you alerted the alarm company to call the police?” he asked.
“I tried to get up,” she said. “So stupid. I dropped my crutches on the floor, and they made a horrible thud. I’m sure he heard it, because within minutes I heard him coming up the stairs. I suspect he checked the house to make sure I was alone before he attacked me.”
A single tear dripped down Theresa’s cheek. She brushed it away impatiently, as if irritated with herself for the show of emotion. Liza grabbed a tissue from a nearby box and handed it to her, then she sat back down on the arm of the couch beside Theresa and crossed her arms around her middle as if she could keep the horror out.
“Even without my crutches, I tried to get out of the bed. I thought I could roll onto the floor and then hide under the bed. I had just scooted to the edge when he burst into my room.”
Lindsey hadn’t thought it possible, but Theresa went even paler. She put her hand to her throat as if to reassure herself that she was still there, still breathing, still alive.
“Do you remember what he looked like? Could you describe him?” Kirkland asked.
Theresa shook her head. “He seemed large and very muscled, probably because he was standing and I was lying down. I remember he had a black hooded sweatshirt on, and it was tied tight around his face. I couldn’t see his eyes, because he had aviator sunglasses on. That was all I saw before he snatched a pillow and pressed it down over my face. At first I tried to flail and fight him, but I couldn’t get any leverage with the cast, and my leg hurt so much, I practically passed out with the pain.”
This time there was no stopping the sobs that erupted from Theresa’s slender frame. Liza slid off the arm and moved to sit facing Theresa. She hugged her and let Theresa cry all over her shoulder. She glanced up at Lindsey and Kirkland, and her expression was fierce.
“We need to catch whoever did this,” she said. “Before they strike again.”
A door slammed at the back of the house. They all jumped. Theresa let out a startled cry while Officer Kirkland’s hand went to his holster. He stepped forward in front of them, using his own body as a shield.
It was unnecessary since the gust of wind that blew into the house when the door opened pushed Emma into the room as it blasted them with a rainy-day temperature drop. Emma was soaked through, and her black hair hung in limp strands over her face. She sneezed, and the sound, so normal in all the chaos, made them all come back to themselves.
“Bless you,” Liza said.
“Thanks,” Emma replied.
“Liza, go grab a couple of towels for the chief,” Theresa said. Her voice was high and tight, as if she was forcing herself to try to sound normal and it was a strain. “She’s drenched and shivering and will catch a cold if we don’t get her dry and warm.”
“No, it’s all right. I’m fine,” Emma protested.
Theresa wasn’t having it. She looked at Liza and said, “Go, please.”
“But I want to hear what happened. Why can’t Ms. Norris go?” Liza balked.
Theresa frowned at her. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to, as her disapproval was clear.
“Fine,” Liza said. She dashed up the stairs to get the towels.
Her feet pounded up the steps, and Emma listened until she heard the door of the linen cupboard being opened before she spoke.<
br />
“Theresa, it’s clear that you’re in danger. I don’t want you to stay here alone anymore,” Emma said. “It’s not safe.”
“I don’t think—”
“I know you don’t want to believe it, but you were the victim of a hit-and-run, and now someone broke into your house and tried to suffocate you. There is no way these are random incidents. Someone wants you dead.”
Theresa glanced at the stairs. It was obvious she didn’t want Liza to overhear the conversation.
“But that makes no sense,” Theresa said. “I’m nothing, a nobody, a retired tennis pro who coaches now—that’s it. Who could possibly have a grudge against me that would warrant killing me?”
“You’re not nothing or a nobody. Perhaps your athletic career is over, but you’re about to marry one of the richest men on the East Coast,” Emma pointed out. “And we all know that at least one person is really unhappy about it.”
“Kayla Manning,” Theresa said. She didn’t sound surprised that Emma had mentioned her. “No, I refuse to believe it. I mean, I know she was upset when Larry and I got together, but it doesn’t make sense. What would she gain by harming me? It’s not like Larry would go back to her.”
“Murdering you—the words you’re looking for are murdering and you, and there’s no telling what Kayla is thinking, which is assuming she’s the one who’s behind this,” Emma said. “It could be someone else, someone who is obsessed with you, maybe an old fan or a former boyfriend. Heck, it could even be a neighbor who doesn’t like the way you put out your trash.”
Theresa looked like she was about to protest, but Liza hurried into the room and handed Emma two big fluffy blue towels.
“Thank you,” Emma said. She wrapped one around her shoulders and used the other to dry her hair.
“What happened to the suspect?” Officer Kirkland asked. “Did you get a good look at him?”
Emma’s dark brown eyes flashed, her frustration as palpable as the puddle of water slowly forming around her shoes.
“No, he got away,” she said. “Somehow he managed to jump from the upper deck to the lower without breaking anything, and then he took off into the marsh. I thought I had him, I really did, but between my utility belt, the weather, and the sand underfoot, I just couldn’t get ahead of him.”
Despite being the chief of police, Emma wore a uniform and a duty belt just like her officers. Briar Creek was small enough that at times she was the only officer on duty and as such needed to have all her equipment. Lindsey knew for a fact that the belt that had all her gear strapped to it weighed a solid twenty pounds when fully loaded. It’d be like trying to run with twenty hardcover books strapped to her middle. Ugh.
“It’s all right, Chief,” Officer Kirkland said. “We’ll get him.”
“You had better. If anything happens to my fiancée because of your incompetence, so help me, I’ll have your jobs,” a deep voice boomed from the entrance to the house.
As one, they all turned toward the door. Standing in a pricey bespoke suit, with his hair flattened to his head by the rain, was Larry Milstein. His cheeks were ruddy, but Lindsey wasn’t sure whether it was from the cold or his temper.
She recognized him from his commercials, and he was as good looking in person as he was on television, with his square jaw, full lips, long nose, and bright blue eyes. He retained his all-American handsomeness even though his brown hair was fading to gray and he had the crinkles in the corners of his eyes that were common in people well into their forties.
“Liza, we’re going to need more towels,” Theresa said. She didn’t seem phased by Larry’s hulking presence at all; if anything, his bluster seemed to calm her. “Larry, I’m fine. Chief Plewicki and Officer Kirkland saved my life. I think you owe them a thank-you before you threaten their jobs.”
“She’s right, Dad,” Liza said. “If not for them, well—”
She ran toward her father and stopped to hug him quickly before darting back up the stairs to get more towels.
Larry ran a hand over his face, wiping away the rain, then he came forward and kissed Theresa on the head, as if afraid that if he touched any other part of her, she might break. There was a tenderness in his gesture that surprised Lindsey.
“I’m sorry,” Larry said. “I’m just upset. I got here as fast as I could. When Liza called, I about had a heart attack. The thought of you in your cast and someone in the house with you, trying to rob you, and you unable to defend yourself. I think I just aged five years.”
Theresa smiled and pulled him down for a hug, disregarding his wet clothes. “It’s all right, honey. I’m fine. Perfectly safe.”
Larry studied her for a moment as if trying to see past the calm facade to what emotions were beneath the serene smile. Theresa met his gaze and didn’t look away. Reassured, he turned to Emma and Kirkland.
“I’m sorry about before. I was an ass,” he said. “It’s just, this whole thing—”
“It’s crazy,” Liza finished for her father as she bounced back into the room and handed him two towels as well. His were pink.
“Thanks, Lizzie,” he said. He looped one arm around her shoulders and hugged her into his side before he let her go. “And you’re right. It is crazy. Why are these things happening? I mean, who could possibly want to harm Theresa?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Emma said. She glanced at Liza as if worried about frightening her but then pressed on. “As I was telling Theresa right before you arrived, these were not random events. Between the hit-and- run and the break-in, it is clear that someone has targeted her.”
Everyone was silent for a beat as they absorbed the seriousness of Emma’s words.
“I just don’t understand why,” Theresa said. She swallowed and it was audible.
“It doesn’t matter. It stops right here, right now,” Larry said. “We will find out who is doing this, and we will have them arrested. I just found you. No one has ever made me as happy as you do, and I am not going to lose you. Not now. Not ever.”
The intensity of his gaze was so intimate, Lindsey felt the need to look away. As she did, she saw Liza watching them with a tender look on her face. She wondered how old Liza was when she lost her mother. Given that Theresa had been her tennis coach for years and was now her father’s fiancée, she might be the closest thing Liza could remember to a mom. This had to be terrifying for her.
“Oh, Larry, don’t you worry,” Theresa said. “I am not about to leave you. I love you. You and Liza are my family now, and it’s going to take a helluva lot more than a bad driver and a lunatic with a pillow to take me away from you.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he said. “Because you are moving in with Liza and me today, this very minute, in fact, and I won’t hear any more arguments about it.”
“No, you won’t,” Theresa said. “I realized when that man held the pillow over my face and I couldn’t fight him off—”
“My God!” cried Larry. He staggered a bit. “I thought it was just a break-in! He tried to suffocate you?” He looked at Chief Plewicki, and she gave a small nod. Larry’s face became ashen.
“He did and he came close, way too close,” Theresa said. “In that moment, I realized I don’t want to be alone again. Not until I can defend myself.”
Lindsey knew it must be hard for the lifelong athlete to admit that she was afraid. When Theresa’s gaze rested on her for a moment, Lindsey gave her an encouraging nod.
“I think that’s an excellent idea, Theresa,” Emma said. “I’ll feel much better if you have people with you at all times, at least until we catch this guy.”
“Did you see him?” Larry asked Theresa. “Did you recognize him? Do you have any idea who he is?”
“No,” Theresa said. “I didn’t get a good look at him. It all happened too fast.”
“But the alarm system worked, and the
police arrived in time,” Larry said. He took Theresa’s hand in his, as if to reassure himself of her presence. “Maybe this will have scared him off for good.”
“That would be great,” Emma said. “But to be on the safe side, Mr. Milstein, I think we need to assume the worst and operate with the utmost caution.”
“What is the worst?” he asked.
Lindsey watched Emma’s face grow hard. This was the same expression she used whenever she had to deliver really bad news at the weekly department head staff meeting held in the mayor’s office.
“That someone is out to murder your future bride,” Emma said. “And they’re not going to stop until they get the job done.”
6
Lindsey caught a ride back to the library with Officer Kirkland. The rain hadn’t stopped, and when she tried to dash into the library, she had to duck through the steady stream that was pouring over the gutters on the roof of the old stone captain’s house that had been remodeled into the local library. Despite her best efforts, she was soaked when she arrived back in the building.
“Didn’t catch her in the parking lot, then?” Beth asked. She was standing behind the circulation desk next to Ms. Cole.
“No, I actually made a split-second decision and went with her to Theresa’s house,” Lindsey said.
Ms. Cole grabbed a fistful of paper towels from under the desk and handed them to Lindsey without saying a word, not even her usual critical remark. Lindsey assumed she must look even worse than she thought.
“Is Theresa all right?” Beth asked.
“Yes,” Lindsey said. She didn’t mention that the intruder had tried to smother Theresa. She suspected Emma would want to keep that information on a need-to-know basis. “Unfortunately, they didn’t catch the person who broke in, but Larry is moving Theresa to his house as we speak, and I am quite sure she will be safe there.”
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