by Diane Bator
Writing was one thing. She hadn’t counted on having to read out loud to a bunch of strangers. If she was ever published—when she got published, positive thinking was important—she’d have to read her work aloud at book releases and parties. She’d have to ask Katie more about what would actually happen when she finally did get published.
Across the street, Danny was back. The guy was starting to get on her nerves. On a regular week during school, she probably wouldn’t pay any attention. Now that the kids were away, there was nothing else to occupy her time except writing and gazing out the windows. He parked at different spots along the street, either hated his job or wanted her to know he was there.
Her stomach flipped as her sorrow and self-pity turned into anger. She grabbed her digital camera and took a picture of the car for evidence. Her. Time to find out just who this Danny guy thought he was. All she needed was a plan—and maybe a baseball bat. At least focusing on unmasking the stalker would keep her mind off missing her kids.
“Okay buddy, you’d better look out because here I come.” Lucy didn’t bother with subtly or stealth. She hobbled up the sidewalk, ankle throbbing, and crossed the street. then march straight over and pounded on the driver’s window. “What the hell do you want?”
Danny’s bright blue eyes widened. He was awfully good looking for a stalker. He tossed the newspaper behind him, the pages fluttering until the paper hit the back seat.
“Get out here.” She hammered on the window again then reached for the door handle, hoping he’d deem her harmless enough to give her a few answers. “You have a lot of explaining to do. Why are you stalking me?”
Danny blew out a breath and ran a hand through his dark hair. He pulled the keys from the ignition as he opened the door. Of course, no one ever suspected handsome men of wrongdoing. “I’m not stalking you.”
She scowled. “You followed me to the lawyer’s office. You were behind me when I went for a walk yesterday. And I saw you at Java Jo’s. To top it all off, you’ve been parked out in front of my house for the last two weeks. Is your name really Danny or is that a lie too?”
He pressed his lips together, which infuriated her, then dropped his hands to his lap and met her gaze. “Fair enough.”
“Huh?” Her jaw fell open and she took a step backward.
He swung his feet onto the asphalt. “What do you want to know?”
She swallowed hard and gave him credit for not standing up. Not only would he tower over her, she’d probably run for the marsh behind the houses across the road. False bravado kicked in. “Who are you and why are you spying on me?”
Bare feet slapped the pavement behind her then Clancy grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away. “Go home, Lucy. I’ll deal with him.”
She wanted to yell and scream, but would never get answers that way since yelling never worked with her kids. With no idea what worked with grown men anymore, she played dumb. “Do you know this guy?”
Clancy sighed and glanced to Danny for help. “Yes, I—”
She jabbed a finger into Clancy’s chest. “I saw him at your house, remember. I know you two work together.”
“Looks like you’ve got some explaining to do.” Danny grinned.
“Don’t be so smug, buster.” She narrowed her eyes. “So do you.”
The two men exchanged guilty glances before Clancy shuffled her feet and sighed. “Maybe we should go inside and discuss this situation.”
When alarm bells went off in Lucy’s head, she put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere with either of you until you tell me what’s going on.”
Danny motioned to Mitch who pulled a lawnmower across his lawn. “Do you really want your neighbors to know your personal business?”
She shot a glare at Clancy. “Apparently, some of them already do.”
Clancy rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. “This is Danny Walker, my boss at the detective agency. I started to work for him because he needed some extra help.”
“And who’s the red-headed guy with the ponytail?” She wasn’t as concerned about her neighbors as she was about the two large, well-built men in front of her. “The one who was at your house before the police came.”
Danny’s eyebrows rose. “Leo. How’d you know he worked with us?”
Lucy grimaced. “I write mystery novels. I notice things.”
“Of course you do.” Danny groaned.
She folded her arms across her chest. “Do you have a problem with creative people?”
“Just writers. It’s a long, ugly story.” Danny leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Look, can we go to your house to talk? Please. You don’t want the local grapevine to hear what we have to say.”
“Fine. I’ll make coffee.” She turned and walked away, swallowing her anger. For now. She had a feeling she’d need something stronger in her coffee than milk today.
Behind her, Danny closed the car door. “She makes coffee? My kind of girl.”
“Back off.” Clancy snapped. “You’ve got a girlfriend.”
Danny and Clancy followed her inside and closed the front door, trapping her inside her own house. When they sat at the kitchen table looking somber, she braced herself for the worst. She hoped her legs held her up a little longer so she didn’t make an even bigger fool of herself. Her heart pounded so fast the flutter left her breathless. Making coffee kept her busy while her brain shifted into overdrive. She poured water into the reservoir, hands shaking, and sloshed some on the cupboard.
“Come sit down.” Clancy’s voice was soft.
“Not right now.” While her stomach somersaulted, she preferred to hide behind the cupboard. The conversation wouldn’t seem as personal if she kept a couple pieces of furniture between her and both men. She bit her nails, a habit she’d given up when she was twelve with a nagging feeling she was in a lot of trouble. “Why have you been stalking me?”
“We’re not stalking you.” Clancy sat back and sighed. “We were hired to monitor your activities and report back to our client.”
“Someone hired you to stalk me?” Her eyes widened as she looked from Clancy to Danny. “Who?”
“That’s confidential.” Danny’s face remained unreadable. “And we’re not stalking you.”
Lucy’s nostrils flared. She leaned against the cupboard and wanted to gouge his eyes out. “Confidential, my ass! You’ve followed me all over town and he’s been cozying up to me. I want to know what’s going on and why you’re after me.”
Danny shook his head. “Like I said, it’s confidential.”
She folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “You’ve sat here and watched me for a while now, which means you weren’t just following me.”
“What do you mean?” His gaze darted to Clancy then back to Lucy.
“You’ve also been stalking my kids.” She tightened her jaw. “That means I have every right to call your friend Bobby and tell him I think you’re both child predators because you’re following my children. You’d have to prove me wrong.”
Clancy paled. “You wouldn’t do that, Lucy.”
“To protect my kids? Oh, yes I would.” Triumphant, she turned and poured three cups of coffee before they called her bluff. She should just kick both men out and call the police. Her shoulders sagged. Since they already worked with the police, she was stuck listening to whatever they had to say instead.
“Lucy—” Danny started.
“Then tell me why you’ve been following me before I call the police.” She wanted them both to leave so her hands would stop shaking. Stunned silence draped over the room. The detectives seemed to send each other telepathic messages.
Feeling excluded, she wondered if bug spray would make them seriously ill and if there was enough in the laundry room to do the trick. Instead, she took a pack of cookies out of the cupboard. No point in being a bad hostess. Besides, maybe the coffee and sugar would sharpen her senses. She needed to be on full alert for the conversation still
to come.
“Okay.” Clancy rested his forearms on the table. “We’ll tell you everything, but you need to sit down.”
Lucy glared. “Milk or sugar?”
“Milk.” Clancy’s gaze dropped to the table.
Danny’s eyebrows rose. “Both please. Hold the rat poison.”
She ignored his comment then set the cups on the table and poured the milk and sugar into crystal containers she and Roger had received as wedding gifts. Her stomach clenched as she set the cookies on the table then sat and steeled herself. Wary, she slipped onto the closest chair with her gaze on Clancy.
“Lucy, I…” Clancy squirmed in his seat until her gaze met his. “Danny was hired to keep you under surveillance.”
“I know that part.” She hoped her steely glare made her seem more courageous than she was and kept her voice even. Not an easy feat with both men watching her. “What I don’t know is who hired you and why.”
“Roger Stephen.” Danny stared at his coffee mug.
Lucy clutched her cup as her bravado slid out of her body and onto the tiled floor. Her shoulders sagged and her words crackled. “My husband hired you to spy on me? I’d believe you if you’d said my in-laws. Roger hired you? Really?”
Clancy frowned. “He wanted to know what you were doing since he wasn’t here to keep an eye on you himself.”
Lucy lost control for a brief second. “I’ve looked after our kids while he worked and ran around with other women. What else would I do?”
Danny stirred sugar into his coffee. “Roger said you had an affair. He’s convinced you’ve been sleeping around for money, partying, and doing drugs.”
“That dirty, lying skunk.” Eyes wide, she shook her head. “He’s the one sleeping around and would do anything to make me look as sleazy as he is. What makes you think I party and do drugs? Sure, I’ve had a few drinks this week, but that’s not a big deal, is it?”
A smirk tugged back one corner of Danny’s mouth. “If you liked that one, you’ll love this. He also told us you’re abusing the kids.”
“What?” She stared. “And you’re dumb enough to believe him?”
“At first.” Danny reddened. “But after watching you for the first few days, I didn’t believe that anymore. Unfortunately, Roger’s the one paying to find the truth.”
Lucy turned to Clancy, releasing her grip on her coffee mug before she caved in to the urge to throw it at either of them. “You knew all of this since when?”
Danny answered. “Roger hired me a couple months ago just to do some background work. I was getting spread too thin. I brought Clancy in on the case a couple weeks ago since he’s looking after his parents’ house and your temporary neighbor.”
Before Clancy tried to sleep with her. The coffee suddenly left a bad taste in her mouth and she gagged. “So I’m just another case?”
“I’m sorry, Lucy, I crossed the line.” Clancy didn’t look up. “After the other night, I told Danny I wanted off the case. I don’t feel right spying on you when we nearly...”
“Slept together.” Lucy snorted. “Just say it, Clancy. I’m sure Danny and half of Packham already knows anyway and it’s only a matter of time before Roger hears the same story. Unless you told him already, in which case, I’ll lose my kids by the end of summer vacation.” She pushed away from the table and escaped to the living room. Her chin quivered, but she refused to shed any tears as she fought the urge to run off and find the bug spray.
Roger had hired private detectives to follow her. He wanted someone to prove she was carrying on with other men and beating their children. He wanted her to sell the house and slip up with some hot detective so she’d lose it all, including her sanity and the kids. On the other hand, he was also a suspected serial killer and probably used the detectives to help set her up to take the heat off him.
“Lucy?” Clancy followed her into the living room. “You need to sit down and listen.”
She clenched her jaw. “Go away.”
He touched her upper arm. “Not until you hear us out.”
“Why?” Lucy whirled around. “So you can weasel your way into my bed then get pictures and video to build a solid case against me for Roger?”
“That’s not true.” Clancy started to argue then dropped his shoulders. “Okay. You’re right. I was supposed to get close to you to gather evidence, but the more I get to know you and the kids, the more I—”
She jabbed an index finger at his chest. “Don’t you dare tell me you care about us, because I won’t believe a word you say so get out of my house. I’m done listening to you.”
“Lucy, stop.” Danny stepped between them before Lucy could give Clancy another black eye. “Look, the truth is I took Clancy off the case days ago. We all agree Roger doesn’t need to know about the other night.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You mean when I was at Clancy’s and you walked me home? Was that some sort of test?”
“You walked her home?” Clancy’s mouth dropped open.
“Are you kidding me? Don’t you two ever talk to each other?” She stared at Clancy in disbelief then wrapped her arms around her stomach and sank onto the couch. “So aside from both of you leaving me alone, what’s going to happen now?”
Danny sat next to her. “We know about the jewelry and the murders and want to investigate on your behalf. You have to tell us what you know so we’re all be on the same page. Bobby said they found money in your yard.”
Lucy looked Danny in the eye, still not sure she trusted him, but even less sure she had a choice. She trudged upstairs and grabbed the file folder where she’d compiled her information about Roger then returned and dropped it on the coffee table in front of Danny. “All the murdered women have either dated or worked with Roger at some point, which could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so. As for the money, I have no idea where it came from. I just know there was a lot of it and I’ve never seen that much cash in my life.”
Clancy sat in a nearby chair. “Roger embezzled it from one of his victim’s charities. A lady named Caroline Taylor-Smith.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh wow. I didn’t know her. I knew Cora, Roger’s secretary. She always wore pearl earrings she’d inherited from her grandmother. I’d met Renata Yalof once. She had a gold chain with a sapphire teardrop that went missing when she was killed.” She hesitated and blinked back tears. “Roger gave Gina a similar necklace for her birthday. She stashed it in a safe place in her room somewhere, but I haven’t seen it since Roger moved out. I thought it was just fancy costume jewelry.”
Danny flipped through the folder. “What does Renata have to do with Roger?”
“She started the real estate office with him in Newville when we moved here. I think they had a fling, but I can’t prove anything.” Lucy grabbed a list out of the folder. “When he left me for Cynthia, I looked her up online. She wore that emerald necklace to almost every charity function she attended. Her husband mentioned in the papers that necklace was missing.”
Clancy sat in the nearby armchair and stared. “You weren’t kidding about the whole mystery writer thing. You should’ve given it to Bobby, it would’ve saved him a lot of work.”
“There’s more.” Lucy rubbed the back of her neck. “I kept a calendar to keep track of the kids appointments and school activities.”
Danny leaned forward slightly. “What does that have to do with the case?”
“I also kept track of his so-called work schedule. Some of the days Roger worked late or didn’t come home coincide with dates the women were murdered. Renata and Caroline were both killed on nights he at conferences or meetings. I can’t account for Cynthia and Michelle since he’d moved out by then.”
“Why didn’t you give this list to the police?” Danny studied her list.
She blew out a long sigh. “Honestly? I was a bit overwhelmed by the swarm of police and didn’t want to believe any of it was true. He’s the father of my kids and I was worried if I reported him before they came
home safely…” Her throat tightened and she blew out a slow breath. “I don’t know what he’ll do. He might hurt them and I can’t take that chance. He and his girlfriend were supposed to take the kids to the cottage, but I can’t reach them.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m worried something bad has happened.”
Clancy rifled through the pages then met her gaze. “Has he hurt the kids before?”
“I haven’t seen anything suspicious. I mean, I’ve seen bruises, but nothing that’s unusual for three active kids.” Lucy frowned. “What if the weeklong vacation was just a ruse? What if he hurts them? What if he kills them and Tanji and then runs for Europe or the Caribbean?”
Danny placed a hand on her knee. “We have to deal with what we know first.”
“They’ve all had nightmares ever since Roger moved out.” She squirmed, wishing he’d move his hand.
Danny’s attention halted on one particular sheet of paper. “Can I take this with me?”
“You can take it all.” She wiped away tears. “I have copies on my computer.”
Clancy stood up and paced. “Make sure you should delete everything. We don’t want Roger to think you know any of this. You’re lucky your photo isn’t in a police folder already.”
Danny grunted. “That’s tactful.”
“Sorry, but it’s the truth and I’m tired of lying.” Clancy ran a hand through his hair. “We all agree Roger’s crazy and doubt he’ll bring the kids back without a fight.”
“He probably would’ve killed me too already if it weren’t for the kids.” Lucy shrank into the couch. “I thought of that. He’s never made it a secret he doesn’t want custody of the kids since they’d ruin his lifestyle. Now I know why.”
“It’s not easy to kill your dates with three kids in tow.” Danny shrugged.
Lucy reached for a cushion. “What do we do next?”
“You sit tight and leave the detective work to us.” Clancy reached out to touch her hand. “We’ll take your information to Bobby. You wait until he has questions for you.”
Danny scribbled an e-mail address on a scrap of paper. “In the meantime, could you forward your files to Leo? He’s tenacious. If anyone can find Roger and the kids, it’s him.”