Don't Look Back (24 page)

A shudder.

Connor’s muttering under his breath.

Dakota’s hand on her shoulder.

All of it registered through the roaring in her ears. Jamie knew exactly what Sam was talking about. She used to wake to the same nightmare.

“I think the terror just froze me, so at first I just sat there. I wasn’t really sure what to do. I didn’t have my weapon, so I waited for him to make the first move.” A frown fluttered between her brows. “That seemed to throw him off.”

“Why do you say that?” Connor leaned closer.

“I’m not sure, just a gut feeling.” She sighed, shifted, and groaned.

Connor said, “That’s enough.”

“No,” she protested, “just give me a minute.”

Jamie tried to calm her churning stomach. Dakota slipped an arm around her waist and she shot him a grateful look.

Samantha continued. “Then I . . . I sensed something from him. Like he was getting ready to do something, so I threw the remote control at him. It hit him in the head, distracting him long enough for me to make a run for it.” She gave a weak humorless laugh, leaned back and closed her eyes. “Guess I didn’t run fast enough.”

The door opened. The nurse who said she’d be back. “All right, you people really need to leave. Mrs. Wolfe can’t get her rest if you keep making her talk.”

Dakota raised a hand. “I’m leaving.” To Connor, “I’ve got a couple more calls to make. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Dakota left and Jamie wilted onto the cot that had been set up for her.

Sam whispered something. Jamie glanced at Connor. “What did she say?”

He shook his head and leaned over Samantha. “Say that again.”

Rousing herself, words slurring, she said, “He was going for my throat.”

Jamie sucked in a breath.

“But I kicked him and he got me in the stomach.”

Then she was out. Asleep. Or passed out from the drugs, Jamie wasn’t quite sure.

Lasering a look at Connor, the nurse left the room.

“He’s escalating, Connor.”

“I know.”

“He’s not following his pattern. Going to kill Sam in her own home . . . that’s a message. He wasn’t interested in carrying out his sick fantasies with her, he wanted to . . .” She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat.

He hugged her close. “We’ll get him, Jamie, we’ll get him.”

22

Dakota and Connor arrived back at the house where the investigation was still going strong. Yellow crime scene tape bordered the property. Connor had called Jenna on the way over to tell her not to come home anytime soon.

Despite being almost midnight, several neighbors stood at the edge of their lawns to gawk.

Deciding exhaustion could be considered his new best friend, Dakota shoved it aside and climbed from the car. Surveying the scene, he asked Connor, “What do you think about insisting Jamie go to a safe house until this is all over?”

Flashing badges, they ducked under the tape and made their way inside the house where Dakota figured Jake Hollister, lead CSU, would be processing the kitchen.

Connor sighed. “We might have to. The only problem with that is, he’ll just wait us out. And possibly find another victim while he’s waiting for her to come out of hiding. She can’t stay in one forever. But we can ask George his opinion.”

“If this keeps up, she’s going to have to do something, if only for a break from the constant stress. I don’t know how much more she can take without snapping.”

“Jamie’s strong. Stronger than I think any of us realize.”

“I know, but with her past . . . I just think we need to keep a really close eye on her.”

Connor paused and studied Dakota. “We will.”

“Right.” He looked at Jake. “What do you have for us, Jake?”

Jake looked up. Compassion flickered as his gaze landed on Connor. “A lot of Samantha’s blood. A few hairs that I suspect will belong to people you know – or else be unidentifiable. Who knows, though? Maybe we’ll get lucky and get a hit on somebody in the system.” His look said he didn’t hold out much hope on that one. Standing, he nodded to the open kitchen door. “He got in through there.”

Frowning, Connor strode to the opening. “Samantha didn’t have the door locked? I can’t believe that.”

“Unless this guy’s got some lock picking skills, that door wasn’t locked. There’s no way for me to tell just by looking at the lock. Plus,” he motioned them on out into the garage, “that window there was wide open. No sign of forced entry.”

“That’s impossible. There’s no way we would have left the window open. Not with everything going on.”

Dakota blew out a breath. “And yet, Sam didn’t have the alarm set.”

Connor went still. “No, she didn’t. Why not?”

“Were you expecting Jenna?”

“No. At least not unless she called Samantha to let her know she was coming home, and Sam didn’t say anything about expecting her.”

“Call Jenna and see what she has to say.”

Connor immediately got on his phone and placed the call.

Dakota turned back to Jake but didn’t get a chance to ask his question before the vibration of his phone grabbed his attention. “Hello?”

“Dakota, this is Jazz. I got a hit on that facial reconstruction. The girl named Karen.”

“Who is she?”

“I ran her through NCIC using different search parameters. Four years ago, she was here in Spartanburg from New Jersey visiting relatives when she and a cousin got in a fight. Sharlene Karen Fuller took off and was never heard from again.”

A strikingly similar story to Jamie’s. Interesting.

“Have you contacted the family?”

“Working on it.”

“All right, thanks, Jazz. Anything else on the other girls? Their last movements, the last people to talk to them, anything?”

“Not much, but I can fill you in when you come in tomorrow.” “I’m not going to be able to make it to the office tomorrow. Can you send me an email summary? It’ll come straight to my phone.”

“Sure, I can do that. Also, those handcuffs? We’re working on the online dealers, but so far nothing. And none of the field offices reported anyone buying cuffs in bulk.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that’s the way it would play out. You’re still a doll.”

Dakota hung up the phone and turned to find Connor still in conversation with Jenna. His voice sounded normal enough, but the white-knuckled grip he had on the device didn’t look good.

“It’s all right, Jenna. No, Sam’s going to be fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

He lowered the phone, jaw clenched, breathing accelerated. “What?”

Connor pinched his nose then said, “Jenna snuck out of the house two nights ago. Due to the odd hours Samantha and I keep, we don’t have the chime on the door activated.” Alarm systems allowed owners to choose whether or not a warning sounded when doors opened and closed. “But all of the windows of the house will set it off. The garage windows won’t.”

“So, she slipped out the door and then the garage window?” “Yeah. Obviously not wiring the garage windows was a gross oversight on my part. First call tomorrow will remedy that.”

“Let me guess, she didn’t shut it all the way on her return trip.”

“Nope.”

“I thought you guys were past all that sneaking out stuff.” Jenna had gone through a rough time last year. In an attempt to get her father’s attention, she’d excelled at rebellion, including sneaking out of the house on a regular basis. But they’d worked through their issues and had seemed to be doing great. Especially since Connor and Samantha’s wedding.

“I did too. She said she’d explain when she saw me, so it looks like a father-daughter conversation is a priority on the to-do list.” He sighed. “Although I have to be honest and say I don’t think it would have mattered if the window had been locked and wired. He would have figured out another way in.” He paced two steps forward, three back. “All right, so we know how the guy got in here . . .”

Jake nodded and slipped something else inside a plastic bag. Labeled it. Added it to his stash. “He took his weapon with him and went out the way he came in.” He pointed to the trail of blood that had dripped from the knife.

An officer stepped into the kitchen. “Excuse me, Dakota, Connor, may I have a word?”

“Sure.” Connor looked up. “You got something?”

“Yeah, maybe. One of the neighbors reported seeing a guy running through the neighborhood. Another one said a blue Honda sat across from his house for about an hour. Thought it was a little strange because it was parked in front of a house that’s for sale and empty.”

“Didn’t happen to get plates, did he?”

“Nope, of course not.”

Dakota tapped his lip. “Okay, we have more than we did five minutes ago. A blue Honda. Make?”

The officer consulted his notes. “Um, thought it might be an Accord.”

“What shade of blue?” Connor asked.

“He said it was a light blue. A car passed by on the street as he was looking out his window. The headlights flashed on the Honda for a minute, and the guy said he got a pretty good look.”

“But no plate.”

“No, sorry.”

“Did you guys check out the inside of the house?”

“Absolutely. Empty. With no signs of any recent occupants.” He flipped his notepad closed. “I also called the realtor and got her on the phone. She said the last time she showed the house was a week and a half ago. Her background check came back clean. Same with the owners who were transferred to Canada three months ago. They’re clean too.”

Connor nodded. “All right. Good job. We’ll just have to work with what we’ve got. It’s better than nothing.”

Dakota’s phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Jazz again.”

“Shouldn’t you be headed home by now?”

“Not if I want to keep up with everything. How’s Samantha?” He heard the subtle anger in her voice. “She’s hanging in there. Should be fine eventually.” If she didn’t lose the baby. But that wasn’t his news to share.

“Oh good. When I heard . . .”

“I know, Jazz, it’s shaken us all up.”

Jazz coughed and he wondered if it was to mask tears. Then she said, “I managed to track down Karen’s family. Anderson, South Carolina.”

“I thought they were in New Jersey.”

“They were, but when Karen went missing, they moved down here with their relatives to be close to the investigation. Even when the case went cold, they stayed. Made a life there.”

“About an hour away. I feel a road trip coming on.”

“I sent the directions to your phone. I also emailed you that other stuff. It’s not much. Some statements from possible witnesses. But the one thing that stood out was that two mentioned a blue Honda being in the area when Karen disappeared.”

Dakota went cold, chilled all over, then flushed hot.

This was their guy.

“Jazz, you’re amazing. I can’t tell you how much this helps. Now go home and get some rest.”

“Yes sir. On the way now.”

Dakota hung up. Turned to Connor and filled him in. “Feel like a drive to Anderson?”

Connor hesitated. “I don’t want to get too far from Sam.”

“She’d kick your tail if she thought you had a lead you didn’t follow up on because of her.”

A faint grin creased the corners of Connor’s mouth. “I know.” Then his eyes hardened. “But she’s my priority.”

“And she should be. I can handle it myself. You stay with her.”

Connor nodded. “Yeah. You go on if you want.” His phone rang. Dakota watched his friend’s face bleach white and he bolted for the door. “I’ve got to go. Sam’s started bleeding again and they’re having trouble stopping it.”

23

Blinking back tears and muttering pleading prayers, Jamie watched them wheel Samantha down the hall. Her sister had been sound asleep but had awakened with a gasp of pain in her abdomen. Suspicious, Jamie had jerked back the sheets to see a large circle of blood spreading quickly.

Bolting for the door, she’d grabbed a passing nurse who called in reinforcements. There was mention of an ultrasound, a D and C procedure, then Sam was whisked out the door, her hands in a protective cup over her stomach.

Sure that the baby was already gone, Jamie began praying for Samantha’s emotional well-being as well as a quick recovery.

At almost forty, she knew her sister had pretty much given up on the idea of having a baby, feeling she was too old. Jamie had laughed and began finding information about women having babies well into their forties.

And now to find out Sam had been so close . . .

She’d called Connor to give him the bad news. Now, guilt pressed in on her. Questions ate at her. Had there been any way to prevent this? What could she have done differently in order to make sure this guy didn’t attack her family? Why hadn’t Connor had someone watching his house? After all, they’d entertained the idea that someone might come after Jamie’s parents. They’d taken steps to protect Jenna.

Why not? Because she was a cop?

But they’d never considered he might come after Samantha.

Possibly. But also because Samantha had been the protection, not the one who needed it.

Jamie’s mind whirled in between her prayers. Left alone in the room, exhaustion dragged at her. The little bit of sleep she’d gotten on Dakota’s shoulder hadn’t been enough. Her head ached.

The door burst open and Connor flew through. “Where is she?”

“They took her to ultrasound and possibly . . . a D and C.” She held the tears in check.

He swallowed hard. “Okay, I’m going to go find her. You try to get some rest, she’s going to need you.”

Nodding, Jamie blew out a breath and watched the man who loved her sister beyond anything she’d ever seen, exit the door as fast as he’d entered.

Knowing there was nothing she could do but also knowing rest was out of the question, she settled on the cot to wait for Samantha’s return. Her eye fell on the nightstand. Slowly, she reached for the Bible, opened it up, and began to read.