Malevolent (10 page)

A tiny bit of panic left Emma’s eyes and she nodded. “Then let’s go inside and take a look at these samples,” she said in her regular voice and glanced over Shaye’s shoulders.

Shaye heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a tall, heavyset woman, probably in her thirties, walking with a cane. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her makeup was a little too dark for the middle of the day.
 

“Patty.” Shaye watched as Emma forced a smile and waved her hand between the two of them. “This is Patty. She lives in the neighborhood and is my Realtor. This is Carla. She’s one of the decorators I’m going to talk to about updating a few things in the house before I get it on the market.”

Patty stuck her left hand out to Shaye. “My right side doesn’t cooperate as well,” she said as Shaye shook her hand. “I’m glad you’re thinking about doing some updating. I wouldn’t put too much money into it, though. The house is going to bring a great price simply because of the condition it’s in, but a little updating to the kitchen and the master bathroom wouldn’t hurt.”

Emma nodded. “I’m going to talk to a couple of people, then if you have time, I’d like to get with you and see what you recommend.”

“Of course. Just let me know when you’re ready. Me and the house aren’t going anywhere. It was nice to meet you, Carla.”

“You, too,” Shaye said and followed Emma up the sidewalk and onto the front porch.
 

“MS,” Emma said. “It’s heartbreaking. She can’t be much older than I am, but she can’t walk without a cane. Yet every day she gets a mile in. Most able-bodied people don’t bother to walk at all, and she’s out struggling for every step.”

“That’s tough,” Shaye said as she watched Patty slow down to cross over a section of broken sidewalk.
 

Emma pushed the door open and they stepped inside. “Do you want something to drink?” Emma asked.

“That would be great.”

Emma waved Shaye toward the back of the house. “The kitchen is this way. I have no idea what I’ve got in the refrigerator, so we may have to settle for water.”

“That’s fine.” Shaye followed Emma down the hallway to the kitchen and took in the small room while Emma dug around in the fridge.
 

“Do you keep a set of spare keys for your car somewhere?” Shaye asked.

“Yes. In the drawer next to the sink. Why?”

Shaye pulled open the drawer and pushed the stuff inside around, looking for a car key. “Because he couldn’t open the hood of your car without one. There’s no key in the drawer.”

Emma whirled around. “He must have taken it when he broke in.”

“Probably so.”

The window over the sink was closed but the curtains were open, and Shaye could see the nosy neighbor as he stepped outside and peered toward Emma’s window. Shaye lifted her hand to wave at him and he hurried off to the other side of the lawn.

“That’s Mr. Abshire,” Emma said. “He doesn’t miss much.”

Shaye turned around and took the can of diet soda that Emma offered her. “Was he standing in his front window waiting for you to pull up?”

“Probably. If he wasn’t so old, and was remotely sneaky, I’d think
he
was the stalker.”

Shaye smiled at the thought of the man she’d just seen—who had to be eighty years old if he was a day—sneaking into Emma’s house. “He’d never make it up those narrow stairs. And if he did, going back down them would get him.”

Emma nodded. “True. Aunt Margaret moved to the bedroom off the kitchen the last couple years she was living. It’s tiny, but the stairs got to be too much for her. I was terrified that she’d fall and no one would be around to help her.”

“I suppose Mr. Abshire wasn’t as nosy when it was only your aunt here to spy on.”

Emma smiled. “Oh, Mr. Abshire would have totally hooked up with Aunt Margaret if she’d given him the time of day.”

Shaye was glad to see Emma smile. She’d been worried that being in the house would make Emma even more panicked than she was when she’d arrived, but she seemed to be relaxing some with their casual conversation. Unfortunately, Shaye needed to get down to business.

“Is it all right if I look around?” Shaye asked.

“Of course.”

Shaye opened her duffel bag and pulled out a small tool set that she tucked into her back jeans pocket, then grabbed her cell phone from her purse and left both bags on the kitchen table. “I’m ready for my grand tour.”

Emma guided Shaye through the downstairs rooms. Shaye took pictures as they went, not because she spotted anything of relevance but because you never knew when something might become relevant. Her goal was to keep Emma from returning to the house until the stalker was apprehended. The windows were all intact and showed no signs of tampering, just as Jackson Lamotte had said. Not that Shaye had doubted him, but she wouldn’t be doing her job if she didn’t check herself.
 

They headed upstairs and into the master bedroom with its connected bath. Emma showed Shaye the bathroom window she’d left open and the tree branch outside that could have been used for her escape.
 

“Is the alarm box in the master bedroom closet?” Shaye asked.

“Yes.” Emma opened a door and Shaye entered the small walk-in and opened the panel on the security system box.
 

“I looked at it that night,” Emma said, “and it all looked fine to me, but I’ll be the first to admit I have no idea what I’m looking at. The cop who searched the house looked too, but he didn’t mention anything being wrong.”

Shaye pulled the tools out of her back pocket and went to work on the electrical outlet that held the power adapter. “He wasn’t looking as closely as me.” She worked the electrical plug out from the wall and held it up for Emma to see. “It’s not wired.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “But isn’t there a battery for when the power goes out?”

Shaye nodded and lifted the battery out of the security panel box. She pulled the right battery terminal off and looked at it, but it appeared okay. When she pulled the left one, it snapped off completely, leaving small bits of a clear plastic substance in her hand.

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“Superglue. He broke the terminal and glued it on to make it look like it was still connected.”

The bit of color that had returned to Emma’s face, left. “But how did he get inside the house to begin with? I changed the locks.”

“If someone has the right tools and knowledge, they can pick a lock. What did David do in the military?”

“He was infantry, but he trained to repair their trucks and other equipment.”

Shaye nodded and made a mental note.

“Why would that matter?” Emma asked. “I mean, we’ve agreed that it can’t be David…”

Shaye placed the battery back in the panel and closed it. “No. But it’s probably someone who knew him.”

“Someone who might have the same skill set. I see.”

“Have any of David’s coworkers or military buddies shown up?”

“I was just thinking about that last night, but the answer is no. I’ve only met a handful of people that David knew, so it wasn’t like I was close with any of them. I assumed it was because of the way he died. I mean, what do you say to the widow who killed her husband?”

“Probably not ‘can I have your number’?”

Emma stared at her for a moment, then broke into laughter. She laughed so hard she stumbled backward into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, tears streaming down her face. Shaye stepped out of the closet and closed the door behind her, happy that Emma enjoyed her joke. Eleonore had used the same ploy so many times in therapy when things got difficult for Shaye to handle. This was the first time Shaye had tried it herself.

Emma finally regained control and wiped her eyes with her fingers. “Oh my God. I needed that so badly. I can’t even remember the last time I laughed. I mean really laughed.”

“Have you thought about talking to someone…I mean, about all of this?”

“Yes. And I will.” Emma looked up at her and smiled. “You’re a good person, Shaye. I know my discernment hasn’t been all that great recently, but I’m sure I’m right about you.”

Shaye felt a blush creep up her neck. No matter how much Eleonore had worked with her, Shaye still found compliments uncomfortable. On one hand, it pleased her to know she was appreciated, but deep down, there was some dark part of her that whispered that she didn’t deserve them.
 

“I’m glad you laughed,” Shaye said. “I would have had to return the retainer if you hadn’t.”

Emma smiled, then sobered. “Do you think it means something that none of David’s coworkers or old military buddies contacted me?”

“No. I was more interested in if someone had. Staying away seems normal under the circumstances.”

“And if someone had gotten in touch?”

“If it was a simple ‘sorry and let me know if I can do anything,’ then I still don’t see any cause for alarm. But this guy is playing with you, and sitting down with you for coffee would be another ego boost for him.”

“Oh. That’s a horrible thought. I’m glad they all stayed away.”

“Me too, but if anyone shows up, you let me know.”

Emma nodded and rose from the bed. “Let’s go look at my old bedroom.”

They headed down the hall and into the bedroom that Emma had occupied as a child. Emma opened the closet door and pushed the clothes aside to show Shaye the panel at the back. Shaye got on her hands and knees, slid the panel back, and peered inside.
 

The room was narrow and dark, and Shaye imagined Emma huddled in the far corner, hearing the whistling on the other side of the thin plaster wall, her pulse racing. If hiding in this room had been the only thing that could save Shaye from an attacker, she probably would have died. Even now, her breathing was somewhat shallow.
 

She backed out of the closet and looked over at Emma, who was fingering the edge of a lamp. “Is it supposed to be for winter storage?” Shaye asked.

“I don’t really know. I found it when I came to live with Aunt Margaret. She’d only recently moved in and didn’t even know about it.” Emma gave her a sad smile. “I was only five when my parents died and I came to live here. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. How many kids had a secret room in their closet?”

“Narnia.”

“Exactly. Except no cold and no witch. I used to crawl inside and stay there for hours, reading books with a flashlight. Even though Aunt Margaret never had children, somehow she knew to leave me alone when I was there. That somehow I felt safe, and inside the closet, I could work things out.”

“You’re lucky you had your Aunt Margaret.” Something Shaye knew firsthand.

“Extremely lucky.” Emma looked back at the closet and frowned. “But now it doesn’t feel safe. I mean, it saved my life, but I didn’t feel safe in there. I was scared to death. I can’t even imagine crawling back in there.”

Shaye knew exactly how Emma felt and didn’t blame her one bit. “Let’s see the rest of it and get out of here.”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

They finished with the upstairs, then Shaye checked out the backyard and immediately saw what Jackson had meant when he said an intruder would have left prints if entering through the back of the house. The giant oak trees created shade over a good two-thirds of the backyard, leaving much of the ground bare. There was no way to approach the house from the back without creating evidence of passage.

As Shaye exited the house, she caught sight of something sitting on the steps leading up to the front porch. She walked over and saw it was a card in a bright pink envelope. She picked it up and checked both sides, but didn’t see anything to indicate who the card was for. Behind her, Emma closed and locked the front door and Shaye turned around.

“I found this on the steps,” Shaye said.

Emma turned and looked at Shaye’s outstretched hand. Her eyes widened and her hand flew up over her mouth. “It can’t be,” she whispered. “Open it.”

Shaye opened the envelope and pulled out a birthday card. Before she even opened it, she already knew who it was from.
 

Happy Birthday, my darling. David

“He was here,” Emma said. “I told you he’s following me. There’s no other way he could have found me at the repair shop.”

Shaye frowned and stuffed the card back in the envelope. “Can I keep this?”

“Yes, please. I don’t ever want to see it again. I don’t want to see any of that stuff again.”

Shaye slipped the card in her duffel bag. There was really little purpose in keeping it, except that she didn’t want Emma to have to deal with it. The likelihood of finding a print for the stalker was low. He had been clever so far, so Shaye couldn’t imagine him slipping and leaving a print on the card. And the card would have been handled by any number of store employees and however many people pulled it off the shelf to look at it, then put it back.

“Stay calm,” Shaye said. She looked up and down the street, but didn’t see anyone holding an “I’m a stalker” sign. Still, leaving the card on the porch steps when they were inside was brazen.

Unless he’d had someone else do his dirty work again.