Malevolent (17 page)

Emma shuddered and crossed her arms across her chest. “Could she identify him? Has she been awake?”

“She’s been awake, but her vision was too blurry to see him, and the painters didn’t get a good look either given the bad lighting.”

“Damn. I know, given her job, she probably isn’t popular with a lot of people, but this seems sort of extreme.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, until I realized it wasn’t about her job.” Shaye held out her hand, exposing a square of cloth with jagged edges. “I found this in her purse.”

Emma frowned. “I don’t understand…”

“It’s a decorator’s swatch.”

“No!” Emma’s hand flew over her mouth and she took a step back, as if the cloth were going to attack her. “Oh, Shaye, I am so sorry. I never thought…you have to stop now. Stop working the case.”

“And leave you with no one? I don’t think so.”

“But you never signed up for this, and your mother definitely didn’t. If anything happened to either of you, I don’t know how I’d be able to live with myself.”

“Nothing is going to happen,” Shaye assured her. “My mother will go home to top-of-the-line security and given who she is, probably a police guard.”

“But you won’t.”

“I’ll probably stay with her for a while—at least until she’s able to move around well.”

Emma shook her head. “It’s not good enough. As long as you leave Corrine’s house to work on my case, you’re still at risk. You see firsthand what he’s capable of. Why is this happening?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Shaye placed her hand on Emma’s arm. “I mean that. I’m going to figure this out.”

“What about the cops?” Emma said. “You have the decorator’s swatch. Corrine was attacked and it was planned. Surely they can’t ignore all that.”

“No. They won’t ignore it.”
 

Emma studied Shaye. “You don’t sound convinced.”

“I’m convinced they’ll investigate Corrine’s attack. I just don’t know if they’ll agree with our take on why. My mother makes a lot of enemies with her work. This thing with your stalker is a big unknown and a leap.”

“That he would go from me to your mother?”

Shaye nodded.

“Damn it. He’s got us right where he wants us. We know it’s him, but other people might not believe us. The people we
need
to believe us might not.”

“Don’t worry about the police. I’ll handle that end of things. Just worry about yourself. Did you have any problems changing hotels?”

Emma shook her head. “I drove around for a while. No one could have followed me without me noticing.”

“Good. Did you sleep?”

Shaye’s worry was genuine, and Emma considered lying because the last thing she wanted to do was give the young investigator something else to be concerned about. But she knew the dark circles under her eyes were a dead giveaway.

“Not really,” Emma said.
 

“I know it’s hard, but try to get as much rest as you can. I need you strong. Is everything else all right? No more problems with the car? No random items appearing? No old acquaintances contacting you out of the blue?”

Emma frowned. “Not really. I mean, when I got to the hospital today, I ran into a guy I dated through high school, but he was carrying flowers, so he must have been here to see a patient.”

“Why did you end the relationship?”

“I got my scholarship in Dallas and he was staying here. And I wasn’t invested in the relationship enough to attempt a long-distance thing.”

“And he was okay with that?”

Emma hesitated. “He was hurt, at first, but by the end of summer, he seemed fine. We hung out at parties a couple times and he helped me pack to move. We lost touch the first year of school—you know how busy it is—but I can’t imagine our meeting was anything but coincidence.”

“Probably. What’s his name?”

“Stephen Moore. His family is a fairly prominent one…his father is an attorney.”

Shaye nodded. “I know the family a little by reputation. They’ve been involved in some of Corrine’s charity events. Did he ask you out?”

“No. I mean, not really. He gave me his card and told me to give him a call sometime so that we could catch up.”

“I’m trying to place him, but can’t. What does he look like?”

“Funny you should ask. That was one of the things that surprised me a little. He didn’t look like he did in high school. He used to have longer light brown hair that swept back on the sides sorta wavy—the preppy boy look. Now his hair is maybe a half inch long and a lot darker. But then that happens with age, right?”

“Lots of times,” Shaye agreed. “I can’t remember him, but then, I’ve met so many people at Corrine’s events, there’s no way I could recall them all.”

Emma frowned. “You don’t think…”

“I’m sure it’s fine. He acted normal, right?”

“Yeah. He seemed surprised to see me. Told me he was sorry about what happened with David. I imagine he saw it on the news along with everyone else in New Orleans. He seemed like he did in high school. Older, but the same.”

“Good. Let me know if anyone else surfaces.”

Emma nodded and looked over at Corrine. “Does she need anything?”

“The nurse gave her pain meds and said she’d probably sleep for a while.”

“Okay, but if you need anything, have them page me. I’ll be on until eleven.”

Shaye nodded and Emma exited the room. So many thoughts ran through her mind that it made her head ache. That night when she was hiding in the secret room, she’d thought nothing could be worse than the fear and terror she felt looking through that hole in the wall and seeing something—someone—that couldn’t possibly be. But this slow, deliberate attack on her and now Shaye and her mother was like picking at a scab with alcohol-soaked fingers.
 

Who could possibly hate her so much that they would go to all this trouble? And why? Over her killing David? That didn’t make sense. David didn’t have anyone close enough to him to go to such an extreme. No family. No close friends. At least, that’s what he’d said, and she’d seen no indication that he was lying.

But then, she’d seen no indication about a bunch of things.

###

He flipped back the lever and removed the third mouse from the trap. There was never a shortage of vermin here. That’s what Mama had always said, but then, to Mama, everything was vermin, even if it walked on two legs. He dropped the mouse in the bucket with the other two and rubbed his ankle before rising. It always ached when it rained, along with his shoulder and hands. Damaged bones didn’t much like the rain and humidity in New Orleans.
 

Maybe when this was over, he’d leave. This time for good. He’d almost gotten away once, but then the pull of Mama brought him back home.
 

Home.

It was supposed to mean something good. But home had never been good for him. Because Mama was there.
 

There to remind him every day of his failure as a man. There to remind him every day that women weren’t to be trusted. There to remind him that if he didn’t listen to Mama, he’d turn out to be a loser like his dad.
 

A dead loser.

He picked up the bucket and headed out of the shack. There was work to be done. The private investigator would be suitably distracted with her mother. If he wanted to, he could take Emma tonight and leave New Orleans tomorrow. But then all the fun would be over.
 

He smiled and started whistling.

Maybe just a little while longer.

Chapter Thirteen

Emma wasn’t sure how she did it, but she managed to finish her shift without falling apart or falling asleep. More importantly, all her patients received the care they deserved despite her inability to think about one thing for more than a minute at a time. She covered her mouth with her left hand and yawned while clocking out with her right.
 

“You’re still not sleeping.” Clara’s voice sounded behind her and she jumped.

She turned around to see the older woman studying her. “What’s got you so jumpy?”

“Nothing. Everything. Corrine Archer was admitted to the ER today. Someone attacked her.”

Clara nodded. “I heard as soon as I came on shift. Dropped by for a peek, but didn’t want to disturb her or her daughter. They were both dozing.” She narrowed her eyes at Emma. “It’s upsetting, but with the kind of work Corrine does, I’m surprised something like this hasn’t happened before now. You want to tell me what’s really bothering you?”

“It’s my fault!” Emma blurted it out before she could change her mind.

“Unless you pushed Corrine down those stairs, I don’t see how.”

Emma glanced over as another nurse entered the break room. She motioned Clara away from the computer and waited until the other nurse had finished clocking in and left before speaking again. “It’s because I hired Shaye.”
 

She told Clara about Shaye’s visit to the house and her disguise, then about the decorator’s swatch in Corrine’s purse.

Clara’s eyes widened and Emma could tell she was unnerved. “You’re going to tell the police about this, right?”

“It’s not for me to tell.”

“The hell it isn’t! You’ve got to give them information so they can get this guy.”

“What information do I have? That the same guy the police don’t think is stalking me is the person who set up Corrine? Besides, if I tell the police something, they’ll go straight to Corrine with the information.”

“You’re darn right they will. You want to tell me why they shouldn’t?”

“They should, but that puts Shaye in a really bad position, and I can’t do that. I’ve already brought enough trouble to her.”

Clara’s expression cleared in understanding. “Shaye doesn’t want Corrine to know her attack was about her taking your case.”

“She didn’t come right out and say it, but if you were Shaye, would you want Corrine to know?”

“If I intended on sticking with the job, I suppose not. But Corrine needs to know that she’s still in danger.”

“Given her injuries, she’s not going anywhere for a week or better. Shaye assured me that Corrine’s house is like Fort Knox and she’d have a guard. But if she knew Shaye was in danger…”

“She’d try to help because when it comes to Shaye, Corrine has no boundaries,” Clara finished and sighed. “I know you’re right, but it feels wrong.”

“I’m going to try again to get Shaye to tell the police.”

“I think that’s a good idea. I don’t suppose you can convince her to drop your case. Not that I’m wanting you without support, mind you, but I think we both know this man after you is too big a problem for someone as inexperienced as Shaye to handle.”

“Don’t you think I know that? I already tried to talk her out of it, but she insists on sticking in. She claims that at this point, her pulling back probably wouldn’t change things.”

Clara frowned. “She may be right. You’re not dealing with a normal mind. Whoever is doing this is very disturbed. He may not stop until he feels his house is clean.”

Emma shook her head, frustration overwhelming her. “I just wish I knew why. Why is all of this happening?”

Clara leaned over and gave her a quick hug. “I think when we know the answer to that question, we’ll know who he is. You be safe. And do your best to get some sleep. Are you still at the hotel?”

“Yes.” Emma didn’t go into changing hotels and the incident with her car. Clara was already worried enough.
 

Clara nodded. “I’m praying for you. Hard. And I believe you’re going to be fine. You’ve just got to stay strong.”

“I will. And thank you. If you’re praying, then I know God’s listening.”

“Really? How is that?”

Emma gave her a small smile. “He’d be afraid not to.”

Clara smiled. “You get out of here and get some rest.”

Emma headed down the hall for the security office to get Jeremy. He must have been watching the hallway monitor because he was waiting for her at the door. “You ready to go home, Ms. Frederick?”

It wasn’t home. At this point, Emma wasn’t certain anything ever would be again.

“Yep,” she said. “You ready to escort me to my car?”

“I am always ready for the company of a lovely lady. Just don’t tell my wife.”

Emma smiled. “You’re wonderful for a girl’s ego. Let’s do this.”

They headed out the emergency room doors and across the parking lot. Emma had parked as close as possible, but the handicapped spots and those designated for emergency personnel took up a good portion of the front of the lot. Her car was midway down under a light post. The lot was well lit, but the surrounding area wasn’t. Danger might be lurking in the shadows of the hedges lining the right side, in the spot on the sidewalk where illumination from the streetlights didn’t quite meet, across the street in the half-empty building.
 

She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. It was at least ninety degrees out and humid, but she couldn’t ward off the chill that ran through her. And she knew without a doubt that his eyes were on her. Somewhere in the dark. Close enough to see her.