He listened to her slurp in a breath, and the sound almost made him smile. No wonder his friend had it so bad. The girl was goofy but adorable. And if his gut was telling him right, she was in trouble.

  “I don’t know. She just came into the office and pretended to ask for directions to the farmer’s market. And then she left.”

  “All right. How do you know it was her?”

  “Because I know!” she practically shouted. “This isn’t the first time she’s followed me. She broke into my apartment, and my car, and I’m pretty sure she’s Facebook stalking me—”

  Jacob jammed a palm over one eye, attempting to keep his head from exploding. “What? When did all this happen?”

  “Over the past week. I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if it was really her. I know it’s her now. She wears this perfume, and I can smell it, and—”

  “All right. Just stop. By no means are you going to be bait,” Jacob warned her. “But tell me where you are. If you’re correct that she’s been following you, you’re not safe, do you hear me? I’m sending an officer over there to be your protection.”

  “Fine, but seriously, Jacob. I can help. Don’t you want to catch her? I want to help catch this bi—”

  “No. I want you to be safe, first. Remember Linc? My best friend? The guy who cares about you? Do it for him.”

  Little Kylie Hatfield actually growled into the phone, and he imagined that she was giving him the finger.

  “You do what the officer says, got it?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “Hello? Kylie? Answer me.”

  She sighed, loud and long. “Whatever. I’m here at the farmer’s market downtown with Vader, but I was going to go back to my apartment in a little while. She was just here a minute ago, but now she’s gone.”

  Pulling out his notepad, Jacob tucked his phone between shoulder and ear. “Kylie, I need you to start at the beginning, and this time, tell me every damn detail.” He gritted his teeth. “Every single one.”

  He could practically hear her roll her eyes, but she did as he asked, walking him back to the beginning and her first call from Jessica’s sister. He took notes, had her repeat herself, wishing he had her in an interrogation room so he could throttle her for not disclosing some of this information sooner.

  “Stay there,” he said when she’d repeated the timeline twice. She then gave him her precise location. “Stay in a place where there are a lot of people, and don’t wander off under any circumstances. I’m sending someone now.”

  “Fine.”

  He sighed. That word never boded well when coming from a female’s mouth.

  “I mean it. Stay put, or I’m calling your boyfriend.”

  Kylie found her teeth clenching at Jacob’s tone. He sounded like his best friend. What was it about him and Linc, ordering people around like they’re dogs? Maybe he was in the military too. Maybe that was it. “Aye-aye, captain!” she practically shouted.

  “Bye, Kylie,” he muttered. From the tone, she thought he may have been rolling his eyes. “Stay safe. And call me if you need me.”

  He ended the call, and she glared at her phone. “Stay put?” Just to piss him off, she walked across into the crowd of people browsing the farmer’s market.

  She looked around, at all the pretty fruits and vegetables, trying to take her mind off her current troubles. She could have used…pretty much all of it, since her fridge hadn’t been stocked in, well, ever. Her way of cooking was usually running out, last minute, to get the ingredients she didn’t have. But she wasn’t much of a healthy veggies person.

  Not like Linc. His fridge was chock-full of vegetables, like a real adult’s. He had stuff in there she’d seen in supermarkets but never imagined real, sane people actually purchased. Kale. Eggplant. Zucchini squash. She’d thought that stuff was all decorations to make the produce aisle look more colorful.

  He obviously ate right. Took care of his body. Their bodies together was a study in contradictions: he was all hard, rigid lines, and she was soft curves. It’d been embarrassing, that one time he’d stayed over at her place when she had nothing but stale Frosted Mini-Wheats to offer him for breakfast. He’d declined.

  She approached the table of a woman selling peppers and tomatoes, hardly knowing where to start. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had this idea of her asking Linc to dinner and concocting this amazing, healthy stir-fry that would make him smack his lips and declare his undying love. Nice, in theory, but in practice? No. Bacon and scrambled eggs were the extent of her cooking knowledge.

  Even so, she ended up buying an entire bag of vegetables, spending over forty dollars on the entire haul. Maybe she’d get a bottle of wine, and she could give Linc a real welcome back with some five-star healthy dish she found on allrecipes.com. They could have a real date, not just an unplanned sleepover.

  She smiled at the thought as her phone buzzed with a message.

  She lifted it up and saw a notification that Sam Donovan had replied. He hadn’t written anything. He’d just attached a photo.

  Kylie opened it eagerly, and her stomach dropped.

  It was Linc, sitting at a dark bar beside a dark-haired woman.

  Me?

  But when had Kylie ever…?

  No. She didn’t wear dresses that bared that much skin. She didn’t have that much cleavage, either. And due to a nervous habit of chewing on her nails, she’d never had a manicure like that.

  The woman who was not her had her arms all over Linc. And from the expression on his face, he appeared to be into it.

  She stared at the picture, wondering who the woman was. She’d never seen her before. She was older and sophisticated, and beautiful, and…she probably knew how to cook kale. His dog-loving soul mate. Damn her.

  A strange feeling settled over her, like she was being watched. Pocketing her phone, she looked around. The place was crowded with people, but no one appeared to notice her, red-faced, shaking, in the middle of her minor mental breakdown.

  Linc, the motherfucker. She’d never been someone who easily trusted men. Maybe because of her father. She’d always had pretty low expectations for the men she ran across. Until now, Linc had pleasantly surprised her.

  She should’ve known it was all an act.

  Linc must’ve thought he was some heartbreaker, some big deal, the way that woman was hanging all over him.

  But she didn’t get heartbroken anymore.

  She got pissed.

  31

  By Monday Linc was done with hotels. Done with not being at his house on the mountain. Done with talking about everything canine, yet not having a single dog within the vicinity. Done with all of it.

  When he’d woken early that morning, he felt like he’d been run over by a car. Every part of his body was sore.

  Then he remembered that he almost had been run over by a car.

  He’d landed wrong on his shoulder when he dove onto the hood of that other car. The alcohol in his stomach had prevented him from having any nightmares, as it usually did, but by that morning, he had a raging hangover in addition to the overall soreness. He missed home. His dogs. Kylie.

  Luckily, today was ending early, and he’d be able to get back on the road after dinner and be home by late in the evening. To prepare for that happy event, after he’d finished showering and changing into his suit that morning, he’d packed everything into his travel roll, eager to leave. He’d left everything at the door, ready to pick up as soon as the final dinner ended.

  But even that didn’t seem quick enough.

  By lunch, he had been itchy as hell, wanting to leave. His eyes kept drifting to his phone.

  He’d told Kylie that he wasn’t big on texting or calling. But just this once wouldn’t hurt. He could make the excuse that he was checking in on the case.

  He lifted the phone and dialed.

  She answered just when he thought it would go to voicemail. “Linc,” she said. Her voice sounded strangely distant.

  “Kylie. How are you?”

  “Fine.”

  Wow, they sounded like strangers. This wasn’t the Kylie he knew. She never gave one-word answers, even when she was pissed. The woman on the other side of the phone had no life, no…spunk. “Are you sure? You sound strange.”

  “I’m just wondering why you called. I thought you didn’t do that. Isn’t it against your code?”

  All right. Maybe that was it. He took a deep breath. “Yeah, well. Thought I’d check in and see what was going on with the case. Everything okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  Okay. Another one-word answer. Now he was getting worried. He wracked his brain trying to think of something else to ask her, but she spoke first. “How’s the conference?”

  “Good. Ending today. I’ll be home tonight. It’s boring as hell. Can’t wait to get home.”

  She let out a loud snort. “Boring? Didn’t seem that way to me.”

  He wasn’t sure what she meant by that, since he hadn’t told her much about the conference at all, but he let it slide. “Yeah. Well, it’s a good way to get in touch with people I haven’t seen in a while and keep up on the industry, but I’ve had my fill. I’m ready to get out of here.”

  “Hmm. I’ll bet.”

  That didn’t sound like a good “hmm.” That sounded like she was silently judging him. And since when did Kylie ever do anything silently? “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yep. Never better.”

  He waited for more, but there was no more.

  Was she still holding a grudge that he’d had Jacob nudge her off the case? In fact, he was surprised she’d let the case go. Maybe that was it. Maybe she hadn’t let the case go and didn’t want to let him know. Whatever it was, something was not right. “Then, I’ll see you? Maybe tonight?”

  “Not tonight. I’m having a really busy day filing and typing, so I need to get a good night sleep so I can file and type some more tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” He sucked in a breath. “Hey, Kylie—”

  “I’ve got to go. File and type, you know.”

  He frowned. “All right. Bye.”

  “Bye.” And she ended the call.

  What the fuck? Was Kylie Hatfield actually giving him the silent treatment? For what? He had to admit, coming from her, the silent treatment was damn effective. He ended up staring at his phone, feeling like he’d just been shit on.

  The rest of the conference went by without any excitement. He kept an eye out, and a couple of times saw women that looked like Simone, but each time, it wasn’t her. After the closing reception, he made it out to his car in the parking garage in one piece, then got on the road. His GPS said he’d arrive home by ten that night.

  When he was on the interstate, he called Jacob to get the latest on the case. “Hey,” he said to him when he answered, the call going through the truck’s speakers. “How goes it?”

  “Your dogs are doing fine. Spent a couple hours with them this morning,” he said. “You still coming back to town tonight?”

  “Yeah, I’m on I-40 right now. Should be home in another few hours.”

  “Bet you can’t wait to get home. Huh?”

  “Yeah. Tell me about it. Fucking conferences.”

  “They suck for sure, but I wasn’t talking about that. That girl of yours sure is a handful. After the stunt she pulled, I’m surprised you didn’t ask me to keep an eye on the dogs and her.”

  The back of Linc’s neck prickled. “What’s that supposed to mean, buddy?”

  “I just mean that the powder keg’s about to blow,” he said, his voice low. “And she’s the one with the spark.”

  Now, he was confused. “What are you talking about? What is she doing now? She took herself off the Jessica Hilyard case…didn’t she?”

  Jacob laughed. “You really think she’d do that? That girl sticks herself to trouble like a fly sticks to shit.”

  “I don’t know if I want to know what that means.”

  “All I’m saying is, she’s going to be in my Great American Novel. I may even make her the main character, after this last stunt she pulled. The woman is either crazy or suicidal. Or both.”

  Linc’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Wait, what? Back up. Start from the beginning. Did you find the person who killed Brandon Dunstan?”

  “No. But we’re getting close. Seems that our killer is a serial killer. A bit of DNA evidence showed up on the body that links to unsolved murders in other states. From what we’re seeing, it’s a woman who kills young women and assumes their lives for a time, before moving on.”

  Linc gripped the steering wheel tighter. “And don’t tell me. It’s Sara Dumfries, right? The roommate Kylie met?”

  “Yeah. Looks like it. We’re pretty sure her real name is Sophia DuBois, and she’s killed at least three people that we know of.”

  “Fuck. And Kylie’s still messing around with it?”

  “I’ll say. She called me yesterday to tell me she thinks the woman has been following her around.”

  He didn’t speak. One hand on the wheel, he used the other to vise his temples with his fingertips. “What?”

  “Yeah. You heard me. She actually wants me to use her as bait to catch this woman. I told her by no means.”

  Bait? What was she, out of her mind? At least his best friend was making sense by telling her no. If the serial killer didn’t get to her first, he was going to kill her. “What the fuck,” he breathed.

  “So…you didn’t know any of this?”

  Linc gritted his teeth. “Unfortunately, it seems Kylie’s been keeping me in the dark. Because she knows I’d be fucking pissed. The last I heard was when you told me that Jessica’s boyfriend had been murdered.” He jammed the heels of his hands on the steering wheel, wishing he could go faster than the eighty-five miles per hour the traffic allowed. “Does she even fathom how much danger she’s in?”

  “Relax. I’ve got a police officer on her. I don’t want to be taking any chances with her life.”

  Linc let out a breath, trying to calm himself. “Well, thank god for that.”

  “Yeah. This killer is really a piece of work. The chances she’s been taking? She’s been playing games, almost like she wants to be caught. She showed up at Kylie’s work yesterday, asking for directions.”

  Linc frowned. “But yesterday was Sunday.”

  “I know. Kylie had been walking Vader and passed by Starr Investigations and noticed the door was open. Went inside to see if Greg Starr was there and the woman appeared at the door.”

  Linc shook his head, trying to make everything make sense. “What the—?”

  “And Kylie seems to think that she might have broken into her apartment too. She seems convinced that she’s the killer’s next victim.”

  His heart about stopped. “You’re not serious.”

  “Yeah, and Linc?” Jacob paused. “I’m not entirely convinced she’s wrong about that.”

  Fuck. Holy fuck.

  And Kylie hadn’t said a word of that to him. She probably loved that. She probably got off on having the attention of a serial killer. It was like she had absolutely no clue about what could happen to her. This woman, whoever she was, was mentally ill. If Kylie took a chance like that, there was no telling…

  It suddenly hit him.

  The woman at the bar. The car that had nearly smashed into him.

  “Uh, Jacob? You have any idea what this woman looks like?”

  “Nah. She impersonates the woman she kills, though. She’s good with disguises. So probably around the same height, same build as both Jessica and Kylie? Pretty average. All of the victims we think she’s targeted are similar in that way.”

  The woman had been so stuck on him. So eager for him to fuck her. He’d blown it off because that kind of shit never happened to him. But a serial killer?

  What if he’d taken her up to his room? Would he have ended up like Brandon Dunstan? “She was in Raleigh, at the conference,” Linc told his friend. “I’m pretty positive. She tried to pick me up in a bar.”

  “You serious?”

  “Yeah. And then she nearly ran me down with her car in the parking garage after I turned her down.”

  “Holy shit, really? Can you describe her?”

  “No. She was in a disguise. She looked like a prostitute version of Kylie. But it makes sense. So you think she’s trying to target Kylie next? What are you doing with that? To keep her safe?”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’m coordinating with the Asheville city police to stay on her. There’s no way this chick’ll be able to get her hands on your girlfriend.”

  Somehow, that didn’t satisfy Linc. He pressed down on the gas. “Hey. I’m going to call Kylie now. Can you check with the officer who’s watching her? Just to make sure everything’s okay?”

  “Will do, brother.”

  He hung up and quickly punched in the call to Kylie, putting the phone up to his ear this time.

  It rang once and went straight to voicemail.

  Shit. Of course she wouldn’t answer him now.

  He ended the call and threw his phone down on the passenger seat and gunned the accelerator to ninety.

  32

  Kylie poked her head out the door and looked at the husky young officer standing on the front stoop of the Starr Investigations’ office. It was raining, and he was standing right under the awning, getting soaked. He stared straight ahead, like he was really intent on something across the street.

  “Hey,” Kylie said to him. “You don’t have to stand there motionless, Calvin. I’m not the Queen of England.”

  He turned to her. Despite the water droplets all over him, he was as dry as stale bread. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m just doing as I’m told.”

  Ma’am. God, that made her feel old. But she guessed to him, she was old. He probably wasn’t a day over twenty-one. He still had the acne scars to prove it. “Why don’t you come inside. Greg says you can. We have donuts. The dinner of champions.”

  He gave her a doubtful look. She could tell “no thank you, ma’am” was fighting its way out of his mouth, so she cut him off.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27