Rock Harbor Series - 04 - Abomination (25 page)

“One he’s been following so far,” she pointed out. “I was the first one he attacked, so does that mean I have the proud look?”

He pocketed his notepad. “The verses he left online when you disappeared indicate he thought of you as the proud look. And the one we think he took in your place also referenced the proud look.”

It wasn’t what she’d been expecting. Maybe Gideon’s hunt had nothing to do with her relationship with Will Donaldson. “If he took a substitute, why did he follow me here?”

“You seem to be special. You’re the only one he’s called taunting us about.”

“He’s called you about me? Why have you never mentioned it before?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Good grief, Nick! Don’t you think I deserve to know what he has planned? Do you think he plans to kill a few more and then come back for me?”

He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not inside his head, Eve. I don’t know what’s inside his warped brain, but I’ll protect you. Look, this is getting us nowhere. We’re getting more leads every day. We’ll find him.”

She didn’t argue, but she knew if they had a suspect, he would tell her. The police were as much in the dark as she was. A proud look. What had she done to make Gideon choose her to kill for that? If only she could remember.

She decided to let it drop for now. “I need to talk to Patti. Did you happen to see her when you were in town?”

“No, but we could call her at the hotel.”

Enduring the way she felt in his presence right now soured the appeal of having backup when she talked to Patti. Nick took the decision out of her hands by taking Eve’s elbow. “We won’t be long, Bree, if you don’t mind watching Keri.”

“We’ll be fine. I’ll just watch them play until they turn too blue from the water.”

Bree’s eyes held amusement, and Eve knew her friend guessed her dilemma. “I’ll be back in time to help with supper,” Eve said, walking quickly ahead to escape Nick’s hand on her arm.

His touch evoked a discomfiting warmth. She must be insane to have such a powerful visceral reaction to this man.

“I’ll drive.” Nick’s clipped voice stopped her as she reached the car.

She nodded and slid into the passenger seat. Every time they were alone together, he made her want desperately to remember the reasons they’d split up. On the surface, she could imagine nothing that would have driven her away.

He got in the other side and put the key in the ignition. With his hand on the key, he paused, then turned to look at her. “Whenever we’re together, I can feel your tension. I’m sure Keri can too. How do we resolve it?”

“I have no idea what there is to resolve,” she reminded him. “I’m sorry if being around me makes you uncomfortable, but we’re just going to have to put up with each other.”

“I didn’t say that! I want to be around you. You’re the one who keeps pulling away.”

“You expect something from me that I can’t give,” she whispered. “You want me to have some kind of response to you, to our past, but I don’t remember any of it. There’s a world of incidents that shaped our lives together, and I don’t have any recollection of them.”

He sighed and gripped the wheel with both hands. “I’m not making demands on you.”

“Not verbally. But in your attitude, your manner. There’s this whole undercurrent of expectation that I just can’t handle.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. I don’t know how to change it, since I do remember.”

He leaned over, and she smelled the spicy scent of his cologne. He touched her chin. “I remember the walks along Lake Huron when we were dating, the way you like to eat ice cream so slowly it melts before it’s gone, the way you look when you get out of the shower with your hair still damp at the temples. I can still smell the baby wash you use and the night cream you put on your face before bed. Your peach pajamas that make you look like you’re fifteen are still at the house. What am I supposed to do with all those memories, Eve? You tell me.”

She looked down at her hands, but the motion just pressed the flesh of her chin deeper into his fingers. “I don’t have any answers. Only questions. You said you wanted to start over, but it feels like you’re trying to pick up where we left off. I’ve forgotten the directions to that location.”

His hand dropped away, and she wanted to call back the warmth of his fingers. Fickle, fickle. No wonder Nick didn’t know which way was up. She didn’t know what she wanted herself.

“So we act like we’re strangers?”

She faced him then, chin up, anger chilling her words. “We
are
strangers, Nick. We only met a few days ago.”

The muscles in his jaw clenched. He faced the dash without another word and twisted the key in the steering column. The engine sprang to life, and he gunned the SUV away from the curb.

Eve leaned her cheek against the cool glass. Right now, she had to admit her attraction to the man. If she remembered all the history between them, maybe all she’d feel would be dislike. She’d never quite understood how love could turn to hate.

Had she felt hatred, loathing the man who had shared her bed and her life? If so, maybe she didn’t want to remember.

Nick parked the SUV outside the small hotel. The small neon sign read “Rock Harbor Inn.” Bree had told Eve that the building was a French trading post in the town’s glory days in the 1800s. Her gaze swept the vehicles parked in the lot, but she didn’t know what Patti was driving.

“Let’s see if she’s here,” Nick said, opening his door.

Eve’s legs felt heavy. Confrontation seemed unpleasant, though she knew it was necessary. She was willing to do anything to avoid baring their many problems in front of a strange judge.

Nick’s fingers touched hers, then he drew away and an impassive expression replaced the concern that had flickered in his eyes. No doubt he was trying to honor her request to forget their past. She tried to feel gratitude for his effort, but a chill swept through her, and she had to resist grabbing his hand and hanging on.

She could tackle this. Lifting her head, she walked briskly toward the entrance. Nick reached for the door, but she jerked it open herself and stepped inside. The air smelled fragrant with some kind of spicy candle. The warm colors of the interior added to the welcoming aura.

The clerk at the desk put down her magazine and smiled. Before she could ask how she could help them, Eve stepped to the desk. “Is Patti, uh . . .” She glanced at Nick.

“Patti Ostergard.” He supplied the name with a quick glance.

The clerk wiggled the computer mouse, looked at the screen, then reached for the phone. “Who should I say is here to see her?”

“Her sister,” Eve said.

The clerk paused with upraised brows. She looked as though she wanted to ask why Eve didn’t know her own sister’s name, but she dialed the phone anyway. “Ms. Ostergard? Your sister is in the lobby.” She listened. “I’ll tell her.” She hung up the phone. “She’ll be right down.”

Thank you, God.
Eve had been afraid Patti would refuse to see her. “Thanks.”

“Sit down over here.” Nick walked toward a seating area with a sofa, two chairs, and a coffee table. “I’ll run across the street and get you a peppermint latte.”

Eve took the terra-cotta-colored sofa while Nick darted out the door. Through the big windows, she watched him jog across the street. A large vase of flowers on the coffee table hid her from the lobby. Her sight of the elevator was unobstructed.

Her fingers tapped on the chenille fabric until she realized what she was doing and stilled her restlessness. Classical music played softly from hidden speakers, and she found herself humming along. What was the song? Bach’s Mass in B Minor
.

A smile lifted her lips. She remembered the title! Maybe she should listen to more classical music. Her fingers tapped out the melody. Could she play the piano? She’d have to ask Nick.

Sitting here was driving her crazy. Was Patti deliberately keeping her waiting? She stood and stretched and walked through the lobby toward the restroom. Stepping into the bathroom, she ran a comb through her hair and slicked on some lipstick. She went into a stall for paper to blot it. She heard the door open.

Steps moved across the tile. They were heavy for a woman, and Eve turned her head from her downward position and caught a glimpse of movement. A hard hand shoved her, and she nearly toppled into the toilet. Her stall door slammed shut, and she caught a glimpse of a man’s shoes under the door. A finger poked through the broken lock hole and held the door closed.

“Don’t think you’ve escaped me, Eve,” a harsh whisper said. “Our fun is about to begin. Only your sacrifice will accomplish its purpose.”

Eve shrank away from the door. Her tongue worked, but only clicking sounds emerged from her dry throat. Her gaze stayed on the man’s finger. She glanced at the toilet. She could climb on top of it and look down on him, see his face. Or she could slide under the sidewall to another stall and run out.

But her limbs refused to connect with either idea. Then the finger disappeared, and she heard his steps run across the floor. The door whooshed open, and she felt the emptiness of the room.

She threw open the stall door and ran to the exit. The hallway was empty.

Still shaking, she walked on wobbly legs back to the sitting area where Nick stood holding two lattes, looking around for her.

He saw her and started toward her. “What’s wrong?”

“Gideon was here.” She collapsed onto the sofa.

“What?”

“In the bathroom. He trapped me in the stall.” She told him what Gideon had said.

“Did you see him?”

“Just his shoes. And his finger.” Hysterical laughter bubbled in her throat.

Nick sat beside her and shoved the coffee into her hand. “Take a sip. You’re shaking. I’ll go look for him.”

“No!” She grabbed his hand. “Don’t leave me.”

“He’ll get away, Eve.”

“He already has.” She sipped her latte. “He wanted to scare me, not hurt me. Not yet.”

“I want him.” Nick walked to the window and looked out. “Just tourists out there. Any one of them could be Gideon.” He took out his phone and dialed. “Fraser, come to the Rock Harbor Inn. Gideon was here and threatened Eve.” He closed his phone and joined her on the sofa. “You’re safe now.”

She leaned against his strong shoulder. “How do we catch him, Nick? He never seems to make a mistake.”

“He will.” Nick pressed a kiss against her temple. “Where’s Patti?” He hesitated. “I wonder if she has some connection with him. She’s taking a long time. Maybe to allow him time to threaten you.”

“She’s my sister, Nick.”

“She’s not a good person. I think you’ve figured that out by now. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

Eve shuddered. “I don’t believe she’d do something like that.”

“You don’t remember all the things she’s done. She stole our VCR and sold it for drugs once. She’s capable of anything, especially when she’s high. I’m going to have Fraser check her out.”

Eve nodded. “This was a mistake to come here. She probably won’t listen anyway.”

The light on the elevator flickered from floor 4 to 3 to 2. Without realizing she’d moved, Eve was standing with her hands clenched together. Fear gripped her throat, suffocating terror like she’d felt in the car before Bree had found her.

Nothing here should evoke this kind of terror. She forced her gaze to sweep the lobby, but the elevator drew her back. The danger would come from there. Flashes of memory assaulted her: the dark hallway of a familiar building, the scent of peanut butter, a weightlessness of white feathers.

She stumbled back against the sofa, then put down her latte before she could drop it.

Nick sprang to his feet. “Eve, what is it?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “The elevator . . .”

He turned to look at the elevator as the doors dinged and began to open. Eve saw a flash of red, the color of blood. Her vision wavered, and she whirled.

Nick grabbed her arm and hauled her to his chest. “It’s okay,” he murmured in her hair.

Though the safety of his arms calmed her, Eve pulled away and turned her head to the elevator door. Her sister stepped out, wearing a red sweater. Eve peered past Patti, but the elevator doors closed on an empty space. Why was her heart rate still ratcheted up to Mach speeds?

“Eve?” Patti cast an uneasy glance around the room. “You look like you’re about to faint.”

“I . . . I’m fine.” Eve sank onto the sofa, the flashes of insight gone. She felt stupid. There was nothing here.

Patti advanced into the sitting area. “What do you want?”

Eve tried to collect her scattered thoughts. “I’m your sister, Patti. I’d like to be your friend too.”

“Yeah, right. You don’t even remember me.”

Eve chose to believe the hurt in Patti’s blue eyes was genuine, and she reached for her sister’s hand. “Sit down a minute.”

Patti sat on the sofa’s edge beside Eve. “Spit it out and let’s get it over with.”

“Give her a break, Patti,” Nick said. “You don’t have to prove you’re a hard case.”

Eve waited for the explosion, but instead Patti laughed. “I’ve always liked you, Nick. You don’t pull any punches.”

Eve rushed in to take advantage of the broken ice. “Patti, we both only want what’s best for Keri. I’d like to see us work together to resolve this.”

“Like we’d ever agree to what’s best for Keri.”

“Would you like to see her? Come to dinner tonight?”

Patti stared at her. “You’re serious?”

“My mom’s veal stew has been cooking all afternoon,” Nick said.

Patti’s face relaxed. She twisted a lock of lank hair between her fingers. “You know to get me where it hurts, Nicky.”

“It’s her favorite,” Nick told Eve with a smile.

A flare of resentment made Eve grit her teeth. Her ex-husband knew her own sister better than she did. And how had he even remembered that sweet little detail? Patti had been gone for two years.

“How about we head over there now?” Nick stood and put his hands in his pockets.

Patti rose and looked down at Eve. “Okay. But no pressure.”

Eve’s gaze locked with Nick’s. She knew he planned to try to see if Patti had anything to do with Gideon.