Tri Me (Primrose, Minnesota, Book 4) (2 page)

Alex nodded, still not quite sure she should continue.

“You’ll have to give us a little more than that,” Marnie drawled.

“Long story short, some crazed woman wants to kill me.”

Alex moved her gaze around the suddenly silent table. For at least three long seconds, not one of the twelve eyelashes blinked and every one of her friends stared back with a look she interpreted as sheer horror.

“My sentiment exactly,” she mumbled.

Dara spoke first. “Are you sure?”

She reached into her purse for her cell phone, pushed the voicemail icon, and then handed the phone to Dara.

Seconds later, the blood left her friend’s cheeks as she returned the phone. “Oh, Alex.” Dara rubbed her hands across her forehead. “Do you know her?”

“No. Do you have a contact who can trace the call?”

“I take it she blocked the number.”

“Of course.” She glanced at the call history for at least the hundredth time. “Private number.”

“As far as I know, a call can only be traced from a number. Unless –“ Dara paused to tap her chin with one finger. “It’s possible to trace the signal from your phone back to the tower that sent the signal in the first place.”

“That would give us a phone number?”

“No, but a location.” Dara gave her a lopsided grin. “I may have just found my next bestseller.”

“Not again,” Marnie groaned. “I nominate Alex as your sidekick this time.”

“May I listen?” Liberty reached for the phone. Alex re-dialed and handed it to her.

Bri folded her arms and rested her elbows on the table. “Is there a reason for this woman’s anger to be directed at you?”

“Obviously I’ve offended her. How, I have no idea.”

“Most usually, a man is involved.”

“I haven’t dated since Dara was questioned for murder – the first time.”

“Was he married?”

“What? No, Bri! He was free as a bird and it was once.”

“Why?”

“Does that question have any relevance to why this woman wants to kill me?”

“No, I’m just curious.”

“Nice try, but my warped brain is closed for evaluation.”

“Is this the only message?” Liberty pulled back the phone from her ear.

Alex sighed. “No, it’s the third.”

“Geez, Alex! Way to keep us in the dark,” Marnie scoffed.

“Until the third, I didn’t really pay much attention.” She glanced back at Liberty. “Just press the icon and then tap
one
to listen.”

Dara cleared her throat. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this but you need to call Jackson, Alex. You could be in serious danger.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

Again, the silence at the table was deafening.

Marnie released a heavy sigh. “Thank goodness.”

“I know when to give in, guys.”

Liberty passed the phone to Bri. “Your turn.”

“What’s your professional opinion, Dr. Hartwell?”

“She’s angry, no doubt, and I’m with Bri. I’d guess there’s a man involved.
I know who you are
indicates to me that she’s taken measures to discover your identity. And, she proves it when she addresses you by name. Blocking her number gives her a feeling a power and allows her to confront you without immediate repercussions.”

“Oh, there will be repercussions,” she mumbled.

Bri passed the phone back to her. “Passive aggressive, that’s for sure. She threatens you anonymously to avoid exposing her actions to the man involved. It doesn’t make much sense to anyone else, but although she wants you out of the way, she won’t risk losing him in the process.”

“Makes sense to me.” Marnie shrugged. “She’s afraid he’ll discover what a raving lunatic she really is and run for the hills. Who’d blame him?”

“Not me.” Dara cocked her head to one side. “Her
women like you
comment tells me she not only knows you, Alex, she knows things about you. She’s done research which makes her feel in control.”

“You sure you don’t want to join our practice, Dara?” Liberty grinned. “I’ll have to take maternity leave at some point.”

“Yeah,” Bri agreed,” and your
research
with Mace will help you with Liberty’s patients.”

Dara giggled. “I’m hardly a therapist, let alone a sex therapist.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t have any of those patients at present.” Liberty stuck her tongue in her cheek. “Unless Alex has some intimacy issues she needs to discuss.”

“No I don’t, thank you anyway.” She lifted her wine glass and drained the contents. “So now that we all agree this woman is a crazy lunatic with both anger and control issues, I guess I need to go home and call Jackson.”

Twelve eyebrows lifted in unison.

“Yes, I said
Jackson
.” She grinned as she hooked her purse on one shoulder and slid from the booth to stand. “I’ve been reminded he’s not a detective anymore.”

“I’m right behind you.” Dara stood next to her. “I left Jackson in charge of dinner. If you call him, someone has to feed Mace.” Dara gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll follow you.”

Alex pushed a sudden wave of panic to the side, torn between the comfort behind Dara’s gesture and putting her friend in a potentially deadly – literally – situation. Then again, someone had to call the police. She deliberately stepped in front of her friend – just in case the crazy woman made an appearance – and led the way to the exit and finally outside.

“You like him,” Dara said as they walked toward their parked cars.

“Who?”

“You know who.”

Alex stopped beside her white, two-seater Mercedes and followed the advice she gave most clients. Never admit anything. “I like lots of people.”

“Sometimes you take your job way too seriously, Alex. You know darn well I’m talking about Jackson.”

Again, she practiced skillful evasion. “He’s an excellent investigator.”

“Uh-huh, one you’d like to interrogate in a nice big warm bed.”

“You really do have a way with words.”

“I think you know him better than you let on.”

“What makes you think so?”

“The googly eyes you gave each other during my interrogation for starters. Add that to a day off, a coffee date, and the two wine glasses on your coffee table and I’m ninety-nine percent sure the two of you have spent some time together.”

“Your math skills are impressive.”

“Oh come on Alex, you forget I’m a psychologist before a romance novelist. Your body language alone gives you away.”

“Really. How?”

“When you speak his name, your eyes sparkle like there’s glitter on your eyeballs and your voice releases a perfect
Marilyn Monroe
imitation.”

She grinned at her friend’s amazing attentiveness to detail. Except, Dara failed to mention the electric tingle that climbed her spine and the distinct pound in her heartbeat when he focused those deep, dark eyes on hers. Alex shifted slightly. There was absolutely no way her friend could observe that – could she?

“Besides,” Dara continued, “you wouldn’t be so agreeable about calling him if you didn’t.”

Dara was good. Real good.

Still, she stood behind her reserve. “I suppose I could just file a police report.”

“Yeah, let me know how that works for you.” Dara cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West as she gestured with her head across the lot. “I’m parked over there. Give me a minute then lead the way.”

Once seated in her car behind tinted windows and locked doors, Alex managed to relax somewhat as she grasped the steering wheel with one hand and jammed the key into the ignition and turned it with the other. As the engine roared to life, she gazed out the windshield into the dark Minnesota sky and tossed her decision to call Jackson back and forth in her mind. Detective or not, the sexy, dark-haired knight wouldn’t hesitate to come to her defense with his steel sword poised to kill – and what an impressive sword he sported.

That thought made her pause. Since when did she ever refer to Jackson as
sexy
? More importantly, what did his
sword
have to do with anything? She released a long, irritated sigh and shook her head as if worms squirmed in her ears. At least she hadn’t voiced the thought aloud when Dara interrogated her.

She had been totally honest when she agreed with Dara about seeking his help. Even so, there were things about him her girls did not know; things she was not ready to disclose.

The sound of a honking horn caused her to jump as she glanced into her rearview mirror. Bright headlights nearly blinded her as they flashed from low to high several times. Her cell phone rang.

With shaking hands she palmed the phone, immensely relieved to see Dara’s number displayed on the screen. She barely had a chance to connect the call before her friend spoke.

“Get the lead out! There’s a killer loose!”

“Thanks for reminding me,” she mumbled.

“Any time. Now, let’s go!”

Alex disconnected and tossed the phone back into the passenger seat, annoyed that she’d allowed this anonymous she-devil to toy with her emotions. No way would it happen again. She refused to become a victim and if her stalker had a problem with that, Alex wouldn’t hesitate to show her just how very good she was at proving a point. She’d aced Intimidation 101 and the numerous people who attempted to cross her could vouch for her expertise. No, psycho-woman didn’t stand a chance.

She shifted the car into gear and then drove out of the parking lot with Dara’s car almost glued to her bumper. Thankfully, the three-minute drive took just that and she parked in the driveway, safe and sound. She left the car to see Dara parked at the curb in front with the driver’s window down.

“I’ll watch you go inside. Do you have your phone in your hand?”

She held up her hand to show her friend that, yes, the phone was present.

“What about your stun gun?”

“Dara, please.” She released a hearty laugh. “You’ve done way too much research.”

The petite brunette shook her head while her green eyes glowed. “Nuh-huh. Get the weapon, Alex.”

Knowing that her friend happened to be almost as stubborn as she, Alex reached into her purse, branded the weapon and then activated the charge. The rapid succession of
click-click-click
filled the silence that surrounded them.

“Good.” Dara nodded at the house. “Call me from inside.”

“Dara—”

“Or I’ll call Jackson myself.”

“Okay, okay.” Alex raised her hands in surrender then turned and walked the distance from the driveway to the front door. The absolute last thing she needed was an angry Jackson and his posse of testosterone-driven alpha minions knocking down her front door, demanding an explanation of why she wasn’t the one to make the call.

She jammed her key into the lock and pushed open the door, the comforting ringing of the alarm system welcoming her home. She punched in the security code to quiet the alarm, closed the door, engaged the deadbolt, and dialed Dara.

“I’m in, Tonto.”

Her friend’s giggle provided even more comfort. “Okay, Lone Ranger. Call Jackson. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

Alex disconnected the call and then slid a finger across the phone’s screen to locate Jackson’s number. Her finger shook slightly as she held it just above the digits. Maybe she could get around Dara’s threat – surely the other woman wouldn’t call Jackson just to make sure she followed through. Would she? She scoffed at that ridiculous thought; of course Dara would rat her out. With good intentions, of course.

With a hard sigh, she pressed the link for Jackson’s number and waited for him to answer.

“Stewart.”

“Jackson, I need help.”

“Alex?”

“Yes Jackson, it’s Alex. Do I need to formally introduce myself next time?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been marked for murder.”

***

She tapped her freshly-manicured fingernails against the steering wheel, angry that an opportunity to confront her target had evaded her yet again. She didn’t expect girls’ night out to end earlier than usual. Impatience made her tap harder. Previous observation revealed Alex led a rather boring life, Thursday nights at Hannigan’s the obvious highlight. So, how did the crafty witch manage a secret rendezvous?

She squeezed the wheel harder with both hands. Although the answer wasn’t entirely clear, evidence proved Alex was a participant in the sordid love triangle. It had actually been quite easy to discover her identity; the numerous phone calls provided just the information she needed. One short search on Google and an anonymous phone call of her own gave her an arsenal of ammunition. Yet, rather than charge in like a raging bull, she decided to use a different strategy. Wait her out.

Alex wouldn’t win this time. No, she’d worked too long and hard to cement her current position and Alex was far from woman enough to take it away. She glanced out the windshield at the two women walking across the parking lot and swallowed the bad taste in her mouth. Alex had managed one more night of freedom but time was ticking and the odds were not in her favor.