Officer in Pursuit (11 page)

“Do me a favor,” he said.

“What?”

“Don’t tell Liam and Henry about all
this. They’ll never let me live it down.”

No way did he want them to find out
he’d finally gotten a 24 hour block of alone time with Kerry and it
had led to her rejecting him.

“My lips are sealed. Guess I’ll see
you this weekend?”

He nodded. “I still get to walk you
down the aisle, right – you’re not gonna kick me to the curb for
Liam’s brother?”

“No, he’s been paired with Alicia’s
cousin. I wouldn’t dream of rearranging the wedding
party.”

“Good. Although if you had ditched me,
I could’ve slipped Alicia’s cousin a twenty to casually mention to
you how great it was to walk down the aisle with me.”

“Guess I’ll just have to judge that
for myself.” She flashed him a quick smile.

“Hey, you aren’t the jealous type, are
you? ‘Cuz if you were, a wedding reception would be a great
opportunity for me to try and drum up a little attention from the
other female guests and make you realize how bad you want me after
all.”

Her lips curled into what he could
only describe as a smirk. “I don’t think of myself as jealous. You
could give it a try though – maybe you’ll meet someone you really
like.”

“Fat chance – I’m not giving up on you
that easily. In fact, if I do meet someone I’ll make sure to reject
her dramatically while you’re looking, just to prove how devoted I
am to you.”

“Now that’s just cruel.”

“All’s fair in love and
war.”

She rolled her eyes and glanced toward
her car.

“See you Saturday,” he said, gripping
the nylon strap of the gym bag he’d taken to jiu-jitsu, the one
that held his half-dry boardshorts and rash guard. “Drive
safe.”

“Goodbye.”

He watched her walk away, a restless
feeling deep in his bones. He didn’t want her to leave. Eventually,
there’d come a night when she wouldn’t.

At least, that’s what he had to tell
himself in order to make letting her walk away bearable.

* * * * *

“I hate to make you late,” Kerry said.
“Thanks so much.”

“No problem,” Sasha replied. “I’ll be
there in ten minutes. I just have to get turned around.”

“All right. See you in a few.” Kerry
ended her conversation with Sasha and shoved her phone into her
pocket, where she’d be able to reach it if she needed it. Just as
quickly, she hurried back inside her house and locked her front
door, her chilled fingers trembling and slipping against the
bolt.

She knew she should call the police –
report what’d happened. But if she waited for an officer to show up
and talk to her, she’d be significantly late for work. After taking
the day before off in order to be with Grey, she didn’t want to
push the envelope.

She’d talk to the police after work –
maybe Jeremy would come by again.

At least this time there’d been an
actual crime, so she wouldn’t look completely crazy.

She shivered in the early morning
chill that’d entered the house with her. She welcomed the cold –
the chance to pretend that all her shaking was due to the cool
air.

Of course, it wasn’t. She might not be
crazy, but she was half-panicked. Her nerves felt frayed at the
ends, and her stomach churned, making her regret her scrambled eggs
and black coffee breakfast.

Someone had slashed her car’s tires –
all four. She’d walked out of the house two minutes ago and had
been about to climb in when she’d noticed the way her tires looked
half melted against the gravel. There was no question about it: the
vandalism had been deliberate, and it had occurred sometime last
night, after she’d driven Grey home.

The revelation inspired a
million unnerving what-ifs, but one scenario stood out above all
others: what if it’d been
him
?

What if her ex-husband had come to
haunt her at last, to do all the terrible things he’d promised he
would?

CHAPTER 9

“
What’s up with you two
arriving in the same car?” Alicia stood in Wisteria’s foyer, her
arms full of what looked like a couple dozen yards of black
tulle.

Kerry’s stomach knotted up even more
tightly. “Sasha gave me a ride to work this morning. I had car
trouble.”

Alicia frowned. “Hope it’s not
anything too bad. Something went wrong with my car’s air
conditioning a few weeks ago and it cost me four hundred dollars to
get fixed. Too bad it couldn’t have waited a month or two to crap
out, once it cooled down around here.”

“Someone slashed her tires,” Sasha
said.

Alicia’s eyebrows shot straight up to
her hairline. “What – who?”

Kerry shook her head. “I have no
idea.”

Or rather, she hoped to God that the
idea she had was all wrong, a mere byproduct of three years of
constant fear.

“That’s awful – did they get all four
tires?”

“Yeah.”

Alicia winced. “That’ll cost as much
as my air conditioner repair to fix. Sorry, Kerry. Are you sure you
don’t know who might’ve done it?”

Kerry shook her head. “No. Anyway,
your wedding is in a couple days – you have bigger things to worry
about than my tires.”

It was a convenient excuse to change
the subject.

Alicia flipped her head in a way that
sent a lock of hair flying into one of her eyes. “Don’t be
ridiculous,” she said as she hurried to brush it away, “planning
weddings is what I do. I’ve got everything perfectly under
control.”

Sasha stepped forward and
grabbed a handful of the black tulle Alicia was holding. “I
hope
this
isn’t
for your wedding – it looks like something the bride of
Frankenstein would wear.”

“Thanks.” Alicia grinned. “It’s for
the fall festival – it’s supposed to look spooky. Faye said that
since so many people already think this place is haunted, we might
as well give them what they want and play up the creepy factor a
little.”

“That fire must’ve untwisted
Benjamin’s panties,” Sasha replied. “He never would’ve allowed
anything remotely spooky to happen here a year ago.”

Alicia shrugged. “We lost a lot of
business during fire repairs, which basically screwed us out of
revenue for the last leg of tourist season. We’ve gotta recoup
somehow. Besides, with the haunted house running next door, we’re
perfectly set up to snag people. They have to drive right past
Wisteria to get to the farm, and this place is a lot more
Halloween-y looking than an old barn.”

The farm was a stretch of unused land
that bordered Wisteria. The old farmhouse there – much smaller than
Wisteria – was too dilapidated to allow people inside of, but
apparently the barn was in better condition. For a week at the end
of October, it would function as a haunted house, complete with
costumed actors.

Wisteria’s ‘fall festival’ on
Halloween night would be a more understated affair – cider, food
vendors and game booths set up on the lawn in front of the house.
Probably, most people would stop by on their way to or from the
haunted house, hoping to catch sight of a real ghost.

The thought reminded Kerry of what
she’d seen on her way into the house, of what she saw every
day.

“Kerry,” Alicia said, “will you be
running one of the game booths?”

“No, actually, Faye asked me to run
the cider table.”

“Oh. I don’t know who’s running all
the game booths then – I think we’re a little short on staff. Faye
said something about needing volunteers, but I don’t know if we
actually have any.”

“I wish I didn’t have to work that
night,” Sasha said. “I’d rather be at the festival, in costume,
than in the kitchen. I bet I can talk Henry into volunteering to
run one of the games though.”

Alicia nodded. “That’s a good idea. If
he’ll do it, I bet Liam will too. And then, we might as well ask
Grey.”

Kerry’s heart skipped a beat at the
sound of Grey’s name. The surge of guilt that followed was instant,
a sense of shame sparked by the realization that she still craved
his presence, despite what she’d said to him.

Unfortunately, the conversation proved
to be circular; in no time at all, they were talking about Kerry’s
ruined tires again.

Alicia acted shocked when she found
out that Kerry hadn’t filed a police report yet.

“Don’t worry,” Sasha said, “I’ll help
her with it when I take her home this evening.” She turned to
Kerry, hands on her hips. “And you’re staying at my place tonight.
Don’t argue – you were white as a ghost when I showed up this
morning, and I don’t want you to be alone. After everything that
happened this summer, we should play it safe.”

Kerry was torn between relief and
embarrassment. “What about Henry – won’t he mind?”

Sasha’s place was now Henry’s place.
She’d moved into his house a few weeks ago. As she’d put it, there
hadn’t been any point in them paying for two beds when they only
used one.

“Of course he won’t. If anyone will
understand the need to be extra-cautious, it’ll be him, believe
me.”

Although Henry was an extremely
careful person, Kerry wasn’t so sure he’d be happy to hear about
the little slumber party Sasha had just improvised.

Still, she didn’t turn Sasha down.
Call it cowardice, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.
The incident with the tires had shaken her more than even Sasha
realized, though she was glad not to have to admit it.

“I appreciate it,” she said. “Just
make sure you tell him I’ll be there, won’t you? I don’t want it to
be awkward when he comes home and sees me in his house.”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Of course I’ll
tell him beforehand. Since he drives right by the grocery store on
his way home, I’ll ask him to pick us up some wine, too. I have
lemon tarts in the fridge that I just made yesterday – we’ll have a
girls’ night, to take your mind off the whole tire thing. It’ll be
fun.”

Kerry tried to sound enthusiastic
about the prospect, although her reply came out sounding
half-hearted, even to her. Not for the first time, she wished she
could be more genuine, like Sasha or Alicia – that she could convey
her gratitude and happiness without exposing the depth and ugliness
of her fears.

As usual, Sasha seemed undeterred by
Kerry’s comparably lackluster attitude. “Fantastic. I’ve been dying
for someone to watch a good movie with. Henry never thinks comedies
are funny.” She waved a hand. “I mean, he watches them with me, but
he never laughs at the good parts. It’s kind of depressing, sitting
there cracking up on your own. Makes you feel a little
unhinged.”

“You think I’m a step up from him,
humor-wise?” Kerry asked, genuinely surprised. She knew no one saw
her as the fun friend in their little group.

Sasha pursed her lips. “Yeah, I
do.”

“I guess I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

Sasha just grinned. “I’ve gotta get a
start on today’s prep work, or I’ll have to serve peanut butter and
jelly sandwiches for lunch.”

“Oh God,” Alicia said, glancing at the
clock on the foyer wall, “I can’t believe what time it is. I need
to get to work too.”

Kerry looked in the direction Alicia
was staring and was stricken by a fresh wave of guilt. “I’ll see
you guys at lunch time.”

Sasha marched out of the house, headed
for Harvest at Wisteria. Alicia left in a sweep of black tulle and
Kerry hurried up the stairs, where she’d start her day as head
housekeeper by freshening up the house’s empty guest
rooms.

As she took the stairs two at a time,
there was a spring in her step that hadn’t been there when she’d
walked in. For once, she wouldn’t fall asleep alone, watching the
shadows on her bedroom ceiling and bracing herself for the sound of
a bang at the door, or breaking glass. For just one night, she’d be
able to relax.

If she hadn’t been half-heartsick over
having to turn down Grey, she would’ve been downright
cheerful.

* * * * *

“What are you gonna do after work?”
Grey sat at a round, vinyl-topped table in the break room, sipping
a cup of the world’s worst coffee.

On either side of him, Henry and Liam
were doing the same thing. The little table was like a piece of
doll house furniture – it hurt Grey’s back when he leaned over to
put his elbows on its surface. Why the prison administration
tortured its officers with such crap coffee and flimsy furniture
was beyond him.

“Nothing special,” Henry
said.

“Wanna come over to my place and work
out?” Grey held his breath and knocked back the last of his coffee.
The chunky grounds hit the back of his throat and almost made him
gag.

“All right,” Henry said.

“Let me lay down some ground rules,”
Grey said. “You’re spotting my bench press first, and if you leave
before I finish all my sets, you’re dead to me.”