Obsession (16 page)

Charlie’s voice caught with emotion when he continued to tell her that the Lord had put people in her life to help her with her current challenges and that, with faith, she could overcome all obstacles placed before her.

As soon as Charlie finished, Kendra looked up, her face streaked with tears. She offered him a watery smile and whispered, “Thank you.”

Charlie nodded, not trusting his voice as he stepped to her side.

Kendra reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “You know, it was really nice being able to ask for a blessing without having to pick up the phone first. I’ve always wondered what that would be like.”

Charlie looked at her a little confused before remembering that she had grown up without the priesthood in her home. “I guess that’s something I always took for granted.”

She nodded and gave him a sleepy look. “Good night, Charlie.”

“Good night.” He picked up the lantern and followed her to her bedroom doorway to make sure she could see okay. Then he moved into the next room and turned down his covers. He set the lantern on the bedside table and knelt down on the floor.

As he began his nightly prayer, he found himself plagued with old doubts and unresolved questions. He thought of the woman he’d planned to marry more than two years before and of the events that had transpired before he’d realized Lisa didn’t love him as much as she loved his social status. Even though he understood that all women weren’t like that, logic hadn’t helped him get past the hurt enough to start dating again.

His early years of dating had been so fun and carefree, and he desperately wanted to find someone he could be that way with again. And he found himself asking for guidance on what to do about Kendra. When he had blessed her, he knew that he had been put here with her for a purpose. Now he needed to know what that purpose was. His questions poured out, and he prayed that he would find the answers soon. He especially hoped that he could find a way to tell Kendra the truth about his being with the FBI.

When he finally ended his prayer, he climbed into bed beneath the stack of blankets, his thoughts once again dwelling on the intriguing woman lying in the next room.

Charlie slept restlessly and woke early with a new resolve. He needed to keep a professional distance between himself and Kendra. He kept letting himself get pulled into the illusion that life was normal and that they were both free to pursue a relationship, but as fascinating as he found her, Kendra was a target and the possible means to finding the man who was responsible for six murders. It was high time he get his priorities straight and stop letting himself get distracted.

The last thing he needed was to get attached to another woman who wouldn’t support his career choice. Kendra’s lifestyle would never mesh with his, even if she was willing to date an FBI agent. Her life was concerts and television appearances. His was stakeouts and court dates. And in addition to all of that, the very nature of his job—protection—didn’t sit well with her. It could never work.

Then he glanced through the open door of Kendra’s room, and he felt his heart melt. Her petite frame was buried beneath a mountain of blankets, and only her head was visible. She was turned toward him, her dark eyelashes contrasting against her porcelain skin. Sometime during the night, she must have gotten chilled because there was now a knit cap covering her head that hadn’t been there when they’d gone to bed.

He barely resisted the urge to move into the room to brush the hair off her cheek and feel the softness of her skin. His heart squeezed in his chest as he turned from her and forced himself to deal with the cold reality facing her. He moved to put another log on the fire before returning to the bedroom he had temporarily claimed as his own.

Instinctively, he flipped the light switch to confirm that the electricity was still out. He then retrieved his cell phone from the night table and checked the time. Seven thirty-five. He called Elias, keeping his voice low when he answered.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to let you know that we lost electricity up here yesterday.”

“Do you want me to send someone up there to pick you up? We can get ahold of a couple of snowmobiles if we need to.”

“Actually, the road’s closed at the main pass so even snowmobiles can’t get through,” Charlie told him. “Believe it or not, we’re doing okay so far. Kendra is staying over at my place, and there’s a wood stove here for heat and cooking.”

“You’re starting to sound like a Boy Scout.”

Charlie couldn’t help it. “Hey, I got my Eagle.”

“Figures.” Elias chuckled. “How’s the girl holding up? Any progress with getting her to consider protection?”

“Still working on it.” Charlie glanced at the door, realizing that Kendra could wake up any minute. “Any progress on that person of interest I mentioned?”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” Elias’s voice turned serious. “We can place Jed Burgess in California at the time of at least two murders so far.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Ray found hotel receipts lasting for about ten days each time,” Elias told him. “Both times, he left right around the time the victim was killed.”

“That’s crazy. I didn’t think it could really be him.”

“Sometimes these cases break more by luck than anything else,” Elias said. “Coramavich is heading up your way this morning to pick him up and bring him in for questioning.”

Charlie thought about the ex-boyfriend Kendra had mentioned. He moved to the door and looked out to make sure Kendra wasn’t in the hall. Then he closed the door and lowered his voice. “I actually have another name for you to check out. Steve DeFoe is an old boyfriend. Their break-up was two or three years ago. If it was three—”

“Then the timing could coincide with when the killings started.”

“Exactly,” Charlie said. “Anyway, assault charges were filed, probably in LA, right after the break-up. He got into it with one of the bodyguards.”

“We’ll check it out.” Elias hesitated a moment. “Do you have a way to charge your phone if the electricity doesn’t come back on soon?”

“Yeah, I have a car charger with me.”

“I still want you to check in with me every night.”

“That might be a bit difficult under the circumstances.”

“Night, morning. Whenever works. Just keep me up to date.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Charlie hung up and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he moved back into the hall and peeked into Kendra’s room once more. Suddenly, the challenge of dealing with their basic needs seemed like the easy obstacle facing him. Keeping his distance from the beauty lying a few feet away was the one he wasn’t sure he was ready for.

* * *

“Elias?” Ray Underwood put a hand on the doorjamb to Elias’s office and waited for his boss to look up. “You have a minute?”

“What’s up?”

“We’ve got a problem,” Ray began. “I just got a call from Coramavich. He can’t find Jed Burgess.”

“What do you mean he can’t find him? That town only has a population of about thirty during the winter months.”

“Yeah, but with the electricity out up there, a lot of the locals have left town.”

“What about his parents’ place?”

“They were home, but he wasn’t. His mother said he headed up to Flagstaff for a few days to visit some friends. She said she didn’t know where he was staying. It’s hard to say if she was covering for him or not,” he told him. “When they checked out his place, the truck registered to Jed Burgess wasn’t there, but his snowmobile was. Odds are he didn’t go up the mountain in his truck since the road leading up to where Charlie is staying is still impassible.”

“Did they check out the road?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah, and they said there wasn’t any possibility of anyone making it past there until they get a plow in from Flagstaff to clear it out.”

“When’s that supposed to happen?”

“End of the week at the earliest.”

Elias shook his head and muttered, “Great.”

“Do you want me to call Charlie and let him know that Jed Burgess is still at large?”

“No, he’s got enough to worry about.”

“What about the other guy, DeFoe?”

“We pulled the arrest report. The incident happened three months before the first victim was found.”

“Do you really think it could be him?” Ray asked skeptically. “If it is, that would mean that Kendra is the person the Malibu Stalker has been obsessing over this whole time.”

“It’s definitely a long shot, but right now, we’re chasing anything and everything.”

“So we’ve got two suspects,” Ray said.

“Three if you include Zack Prescott, the dancer that the LAPD questioned. They’re still checking out his alibis,” Elias told him. “The LA office is doing a work up on the ex-boyfriend. They should have enough data to pick him up for questioning within the next day or two.”

“They checked out the computers of the six victims. None of them had spyware like the program that was running on Kendra Blake’s laptop.”

“Maybe the spyware isn’t related to the murders,” Elias considered. “We still aren’t sure the bombings at Kendra’s concert and Joslyn’s photo shoot have anything to do with the serial killer.”

“I know. Right now, everything is just speculation,” Ray said.

“Stay on top of it,” Elias ordered. “William Blake is understandably concerned about his granddaughter, and I’d like to have some solid news to give him the next time he calls.”

Ray nodded somberly. “Yes, sir.”

* * *

Sterling Blake paced the room repeatedly, his hand in his pocket, his fingers wrapped around his cell phone.

“Honey, you’re going to wear a path on that carpet. Come sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down. I can’t believe we haven’t heard anything from her.” Sterling had pulled in a few favors to postpone the filming of his new movie, but he knew he only had a few more days before he would have to go back to work. At least the movie was nearly finished. Three or four more days of shooting at the studio, and then he could refocus on what was really important right now. Finding his oldest daughter.

“Your dad said she called him a few days ago.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Of course I’m worried, but she’s a smart girl. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“Why did she turn to my parents for help instead of us?”

Monica Blake tilted her head and gave him a knowing look. “What would you have done if she’d called us?”

“You know exactly what I would have done.” Sterling stopped pacing long enough to face his wife. “I would have traced her call and sent the Parsons to bring her home.”

“Like I said, Kendra is a smart girl. I’m sure she knew what your reaction would be, and she obviously isn’t ready to come home yet.” She pushed a strand of her dark hair back behind her ear. “If you keep forcing all this security on her, you’re going to drive her away.”

Sterling barely heard his wife’s concerns. Instead, his mind was already mulling over possible options. “Maybe I should see if Alan can set up a trace on my parents’ phone.”

“Sterling, stop. If she needs our help, she’ll call.”

“I hate not knowing where she is or how to get in touch with her.”

“I know.” Monica stood up and crossed the room to lay a hand on his arm. “But for now, we have to accept that she’s a grown woman and that she can take care of herself.”

“If anything happens to her . . .”

“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” she assured him. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out to make sure she stays safe.”

Sterling nodded slowly. “Actually, I do have an idea.”

* * *

Kendra rolled up the sleeves of the sweatshirt Charlie had lent her and started rinsing the dinner dishes as Charlie picked up a dish towel beside her. She smiled down into the sink, amazed at how easily they had fallen into a routine. The electricity had been out for four days, and somehow, Charlie had made the inconvenience an adventure. He included her in his numerous self-imposed chores, from digging his car out from under the snow to cooking meals and keeping up with the fire in the stove. They played games during the day and spent their nights talking in the dark. They had even started reading the scriptures together each morning.

Most of all, Charlie talked to her. Really talked to her. She couldn’t remember anyone taking the time to get to know her like this or anyone who wanted to know more than what was right on the surface. He asked questions about her, her past, and her plans for the future. He was also genuine when he talked about his own family and about the various challenges they’d faced in the past.

In just a few short days, Kendra already felt closer to him than anyone else besides perhaps her grandparents and her sister. Even her own parents probably knew less about her hopes and dreams for the future than Charlie did now. She supposed part of that was because they shared the same religious beliefs, including a desire to someday marry in the temple.

It was odd, she realized, that she had been so desperate to find some time alone, and yet, now she couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to not have Charlie to talk to, to confide in.

She wasn’t quite sure how to define their relationship. Friendship, certainly, but perhaps the beginning of something more. Whether Charlie would ever act on that something more was the real question. Ever since he brought up the Malibu Stalker, he had been oddly careful not to touch her beyond a brotherly pat on the shoulder or an occasional brush of their hands.

At first, she thought she had misinterpreted his interest. She had been so sure he’d been about to kiss her that night, but since then, there were times she thought she had imagined that tender moment together. Then she would catch him looking at her, and that warm rush would wash over her again.

She had wanted him to kiss her, a fact that still surprised her. So much time had passed since she’d dated, certainly a lot longer than the tabloids would have led people to believe. Now she hoped Charlie would act on the attraction that continued to spark between them.

In fact, she found herself torn between hoping the electricity wouldn’t be restored so she would have the excuse to spend more time with Charlie and wanting the power to come back on so she could once again enjoy the many luxuries it provided.