Safe at Home (Warm Springs Trilogy Book 1) (19 page)

But, he was so amazing to look at. Even now, when he was dirty and sweaty from work. And his body…

“Sam, are you listening to me?”

“Oh yes, sorry,” she said snapping out of it. “I think you should definitely use the tile you were looking at last weekend in the master bathroom. It would give it good color.”

He studied her face. “You looked like you were a million miles away.”

“No. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Me either, Sam. You know that, right?” He took her hand.

“I know.” She moved her gaze from their joined hands to his face.

Something across the street caught her attention. She couldn’t explain what. It was more like a feeling, like being watched. Unwelcome eyes boring into her very core. She shuddered and then froze. Then with horror, she realized what she’d seen. It wasn’t something, it was someone. A face, hazily coming into focus from behind a cloud of smoke. Someone she’d never forget.

Her stomach sank and she blinked her eyes, sure it was just her mind playing tricks. A passing truck broke her view. Just as quickly as she’d seen him, he was gone. She forced back her dread. It wasn’t possible. It must’ve been her imagination.

“Sam, earth to Sam. Are you okay? Or am I just not that interesting today?” Spencer tried to play it off with a joke, but she could hear his concern.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat and looked at him. “I’m okay. I’m just not feeling well. I think I’ll go home and lay down.” She jumped off the back of the truck and gathered their trash. Was it possible he’d found her?

“Okay.” Spencer slid off the tailgate and helped her. “Do you want me to come with you? Can you get there okay?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just feeling a little off.” Which wasn’t a lie at this point.

“I’ll call you later and see if you’re feeling better. Get some rest.” Spencer closed her car door and took a step back.

As soon as the door closed her hands began to shake. She gripped the wheel tighter and stared down the road. Maybe her mind was playing tricks since she was starting to put the past behind her and move on. Maybe she wasn’t destined to be happy. She’d already had her chance.

She shook her head. This was crazy. She was in a remote town. She didn’t have her same cell phone anymore, no one knew where she was. And then Denise popped into her mind, but even she hadn’t known exactly where Sam was.

It’d been so easy to find her. He’d had a minor setback at the hotel, but it was nothing. Those old fools thought they were so clever playing dumb, acting as if they’d never seen her before. He knew good and damn well they had. It was the first hotel that came into view when you hit town and therefore the most logical place to stop.

He used his most charming smile. Showed a picture of Sam he’d taken from Denise’s apartment and acted as if he were trying to find his cousin. Where was the harm?

He stood across the street now, watching her. She would be out whoring herself in public. All up on some cowboy in the back of a truck. Eric inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill his lungs before tossing the butt on the ground and crushing it.

He had work to do. Sam didn’t have the same hollow look under her eyes anymore. She seemed happy and she didn’t deserve to be happy. The whore thought she could just leave. That would be the last stupid decision she ever made.

He disappeared around the side of a building and walked back to the edge of the trees where he’d left his car. She’d seen him. He was sure of it. He smiled remembering her reaction and started the car. She hadn’t forgotten him or the paralyzing fear he brought with him.

Spencer had a strange feeling there was something Sam wasn’t telling him. He knew there were things in her past that bothered her, but he was careful not to say anything to upset her. Plus, she didn’t even seem to hear what he was saying. Ever since the night they ate turkey sandwiches in his loft, the wall between them had come down.

He didn’t know exactly what had happened to make her change her mind and he didn’t care. He just wanted to be with her. Giving her space had nearly killed him and he didn’t want things to return to the way they’d been. Not now. Not when he was so close to having her, to being happy. He wandered back over to his makeshift workbench and turned on the saw, but his concern for Sam kept him distracted until the sun began to set and it was time to go home.

When Lieutenant Stephens and Detective Martin got back to the station, the information they’d been waiting for from the bank was sitting on Martin’s desk. Stephens took the initiative and tore open the FedEx package. He thumbed through the personnel files, each in blue folders with their names labeled on the top tab.

“I’ll take the first one for Samantha Parker and you look over the one for Janice Johnston.” Martin held out his hand. “Be thorough, I don’t want to miss anything. I know there’s something in here we can use.”

“Got it. I’ll check in with you later to go over what I find.” Stephens took the file and headed to his desk. He couldn’t agree more with Detective Martin. There was a piece to the puzzle that they didn’t have yet, but they were close, he could feel it. There were too many coincidences.

Half an hour later, after reading Janice’s yearly job evaluations, Stephens found the personal information pages, which were also updated yearly. These pages included the names of all of her dependents, emergency contact information and home address. He missed it at first, but when he took a second look, he saw that when she’d first started working at the bank she had two dependents. The most recent page only showed one. She had two sons, not one. Something else caught his eye, and he was out of his chair so fast it rolled and hit the neighboring desk.

“Detective?” He knocked and entered Martin’s office. “I have something you’re going to want to hear.”

“Take a seat and let’s see what you’ve got.” Martin pushed his file aside to make room.

Stephens sat down and opened the folder to show Martin the personal information pages. “You see, sir, she had two sons, but one was much older than the other. He aged out of being a dependent. She couldn’t put him on her insurance at the bank anymore after he turned 22. What’s even more interesting is that his name is Eric.”

“The same name that was given to us by our convict friend.” Martin let out a whistle.

Stephens nodded. “Exactly, sir.”

Martin turned to his computer and typed in Eric’s name. Stephens came around the desk so he could read over Martin’s shoulder. First, he read through the charges that landed Eric in jail. Then, he read through the list of names of those who’d testified against him at his trial. The list included their murder victim Denise Daniels. Stephens’ heart beat faster.

“I think it’s time we paid a visit to Janice and her son.” Martin hit ‘print.’

Stephens straightened. This was it.

Chapter 24

Sam spent the entire afternoon convincing herself she was letting her imagination get the best of her. How would he have found her? Besides, she didn’t know for sure he was the one who’d killed Denise. A wave of sadness washed over her, taking all her energy with it. Sam’s mind continued to race as she dropped onto the couch. She knew there would still be issues to deal with when she decided to move on. She could try to put the past behind her, but every now and again, she’d turn around and it’d be there.

Spencer called her just as he promised he would. She knew she’d worried him, but she’d needed the time alone to calm down.

“Hey there. Feeling better?” Spencer drawled in her ear.

She grinned. “Yes, thank you. Sorry, I left so suddenly.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to check in before I head over to the bar to catch the game with Jake and some friends, but if you need me, I can be there in two minutes.”

“Maybe if there were no stop signs,” Sam teased.

“I’ve never had much use for those.”

“I bet.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “You guys have fun. I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight.” There was a pause. She didn’t know what else to say, but she didn’t want to hang up.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” His words were the promise she needed to hear.

“Goodnight, Spencer.”

“Goodnight.”

With a sigh, Sam hung up the phone. Her mood and heart lifted. He was amazing. Her eyes popped open and she called him back.

“You okay?” he asked without saying hello.

“Oh yes, but I forgot something,” she paused.

“What’s that?”

“I wanted to invite you to go to Earl and Betsy’s with me for dinner this weekend. That is, if you’re not busy.”

“No, sounds great.”

“Okay, well, sorry to call you again. You can go have fun now. I promise not to bother you anymore,” she said.

“Sam,” he said in a tender voice, “you could never bother me. Besides, I have Jake for a brother and no one can annoy someone as much as Jake.”

Sam laughed. “Well then, goodnight again.”

Stephens knocked on the apartment door. They could hear the television and the car registered to Janice was sitting at the bottom of the stairs in the lot. While they waited for her to answer the door, two men sitting outside the apartment on the first floor and a woman carrying a load of laundry into her apartment two doors down from Janice’s watched them. The woman gave them a second look and then disappeared into her apartment.

This was the sort of area where cops stood out and were not likely to make many friends. The deadbolt clicked on Janice’s door.

“Yes?” A lady peered out a crack in the door without unhooking the chain lock.

“Are you Janice Johnston?” Stephens asked.

“Yes, who’re you?”

“I’m Lieutenant Stephens and this is Detective Martin. We wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your son.”

“My son is dead,” Janice replied in a coarse whisper.

“Your son Eric, ma’am. This won’t take long,” Stephens said as patiently as possible.

She let out a heavy sigh and let them in the apartment. The two men surveyed the room and took a seat on the couch. The reclining chair that held Janice seemed worn from constant use. Stephens continued to scan the room while Martin flipped open a notepad and started asking questions.

The place was filthy. The old television’s volume was turned down low. What looked like months’ worth of junk mail and bills were strewn about the coffee table. Stephens checked out the mantel above the gas log fire place. It was covered with pictures, all of them of the same little boy. There was one from a birthday party and another showing a toothless smile. Stephens thought of his own nephew and couldn’t imagine losing him. He’d already seen enough cases during his few years on the force involving children to know everyone handled it differently. This was clearly a woman who couldn’t let go.

“Ma’am, when’s the last time you saw Eric?” Martin asked.

“I don’t really know. Maybe a couple of days.” Her eyes drifted to the television for a moment.

“Did you know he missed his meeting with his parole officer? There’s going to be a warrant for his arrest issued if he hasn’t made contact by the end of the day.” Martin wasn’t trying to scare her unnecessarily, but he needed to make her focus on the conversation. She didn’t seem to care and he was losing his patience.

“I didn’t know about his missed meeting, but Eric’s a grownup. He can handle his own affairs.” Her voice was vacant, much like her face.

“Ma’am, do you know where your son might go? Does he have a girlfriend?” After an entire minute passed, Martin took a deep breath and was about to ask his questions again when Janice spoke in a whisper.

“I don’t know where he is.” She lit a cigarette and glanced at the mantle. “You know, he’ll never know what it’s like to have a girlfriend.”

Stephens realized as she looked at them briefly, that she was no longer speaking of Eric. Her mind had wandered back to Jason.

“He’ll never get to do anything a little boy should do.” Her eyes traveled back to the television.

The officers exchanged a glance. They weren’t getting anywhere, so they stood and thanked Janice for her time.

“If Eric contacts you, give us a call.” Martin handed her his card. She took it and set it on the cluttered table before following them to the door. They stepped outside into the clean air and she closed the door behind them, without another word.

“That went well.” Stephens’ voice rang with sarcasm.

“I wonder what it must’ve been like for a guy to watch his mother disappear like that.” Martin said to himself. Then he looked at Stephens over the roof of the car. “Would it be enough to make you bitter? Would it make you angry enough to want to hurt or even kill someone?”

Stephens pondered over what Martin said as he got into the cruiser. “Yes, I think it could. Plus, there are too many coincidences here. Both men involved in the attempted robbery are dead. He’s missed his meeting with his parole officer. His first since the murder of Denise who, as it turns out, testified against him.”

“Let’s say he’s on some sort of revenge killing spree. Who would be next?” Martin asked.

“The only person still alive from the night of the attempted robbery is Samantha Parker.”

“We need to find her,” replied Martin, “and fast.”

He was getting bored. The entire week had been spent following her back and forth from home to the shop, from the shop home. That’s all she did. She’d at least been more interesting in Chicago. He sneered. Maybe she’d be more interesting when the fear returned.

He was still trying to decide how he wanted to proceed. The same guy she’d been with in the back of the truck had been over to her house a couple of times. He might be a good place to start. There was always the shop itself, but breaking a bunch of old shit just didn’t have much appeal. Not after Denise.

The blood, the tears. Even when he’d dreamed of how it would be to finally end Denise’s life, he never imagined it would feel so satisfying. He could only imagine how good it would feel to torment Samantha, for hours or days if he was lucky. Would she beg? Would her tears and pleading ignite his rage or erase it? He smiled again and took another drag, exhaling slowly.