“So the man who kidnapped Diana is after me.”
“It appears so.”
“And he’s likely the same man who followed me in the stairwell last night.”
“Yes.”
“But I’ve never met Ed Dryden. If he’s behind this, why would he be after me?”
“Diana isn’t the only one who fits the description of his first victims.” Bryce’s tone was quiet and matter of fact, but the fear running under it was unmistakable.
The same fear that hummed in her ears. She didn’t have to try too hard to conjure up the photos Sami Yamal had shown them. The young blond coeds. Dryden’s blond wife—a woman who looked just like Diana, just like Sylvie. “I’m going to go back to Diana’s apartment.”
“I thought we agreed to stay at the hotel.”
“You and Perreth must have agreed. I didn’t.” She started toward the ER exit. “I’m not going to hole up in my hotel room and wait. I need to find Diana, and the only way I can do that is to look.”
“I think Perreth has a point. The hotel is the safest place.”
“When did you start listening to Perreth?”
“When he said something that made sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me. We only scratched the surface of what we might find in Diana’s apartment. What if there’s more?”
“Don’t you think the police would have found it last night?”
“Perreth was looking for something to prove she and Bobby were having problems. I’m betting there is a lot he didn’t think was important.”
He frowned, as if he wasn’t buying the argument.
“I’m not just going to sit around while Diana is still out there somewhere.” She started for the exit. “You don’t have to go with me, if you don’t want.”
“Of course, I’m going with you.”
It didn’t take long to make the drive to Diana’s apartment. Sylvie pulled Diana’s key from her pocket and fitted it into the lock. Tumblers aligning, she turned the knob and pushed. The door swung open.
A yelp rang from the kitchen. Louis Ingersoll stared at them, eyes wide.
“What are you doing?” Bryce demanded.
“Nothing. I mean, I’m watering the plants.” He held up a small pink watering can for proof.
“How did you get in here?” Sylvie asked.
“Diana gave me a key. I take care of the place for her when she goes away.”
Bryce stepped toward Louis. “She didn’t go away, Ingersoll. She was kidnapped. Only yesterday. I’m sure the plants aren’t dry already.”
“I just wanted to do something for her.”
Sylvie had to admit Louis was a little pitiful in his crush on Diana, but this seemed way over the top. “Are you sure you aren’t just snooping around?”
Once again, Louis held up the watering can.
She shook her head. “Why are you really here, Louis? Or would you rather we called the police and you can explain it to them?”
“I swear, I’m not here for any reason. I’m just trying to help. I’m just trying to find her.”
“You’re trying to help by looking through her things?” Sylvie said.
Louis glanced from her to Bryce and back again. “Well, isn’t that why you’re here?”
He had them there.
“There’s a big difference,” Bryce said. “Sylvie is Diana’s sister. What are you, Ingersoll? Her stalker?”
“You can’t think that I did anything to Diana. I would never hurt her.”
Bryce let out a sigh. “That’s what all stalkers say.”
“I’m not a stalker. I watch out for her. That’s all.” He looked to Sylvie. “You’ve got to believe me.”
Somehow, she did believe him. Louis no longer seemed as sweet to her as he had at first, but she couldn’t help but feel he was telling the truth. And besides, if the same man that kidnapped Diana was after her, she’d seen him. Not his face, but his body. And he was a little too tall and much too broad-shouldered to be Louis. “If not you, who?”
“Who is stalking her?”
She nodded. “Who kidnapped her?”
“I don’t know.”
Bryce took another step forward. He pulled his cell phone from his belt. “You’d better start thinking before I punch in 911.”
“There was this guy…”
“Are you making this up just to keep me from calling the police, Louis?”
“No. I swear. There was this guy who kept asking her out. He wouldn’t leave her alone. She mentioned him once. I think it was someone she worked with at the university.”
Sylvie glanced at Bryce. “Professor Bertram?”
“I don’t know his name,” Louis said. “But they were working together on the Ed Dryden stuff. The stuff I was helping her with. But I thought he’d finally left her alone when she got engaged to the cop. That’s what she told me when I asked her about him. But then about a week ago…”
Bryce leaned forward. “A week ago? What happened?”
“It was weird. I didn’t know Diana was busy. I went to the door to knock, and I accidently heard him.”
“What did you hear?” Sylvie asked.
“He was upset. Crying.”
Bryce scoffed. “You must have accidently had your ear pressed against the door.”
Louis threw up his hands. “He was really loud, like sobbing. I didn’t have to try very hard to hear him.”
Sylvie and Bryce exchanged looks. She nodded for him to continue with his questions while she focused on Louis Ingersoll’s eyes, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.
“Are you sure it was the same guy who was asking her out?” Bryce asked.
“No.” Louis returned Bryce’s gaze, his voice steady. “But I know the guy who was crying was from the university. I asked her after he left. She said it was someone she was working with on the Ed Dryden research project.”
“And that’s all she said?”
“Yeah. She didn’t want to talk about it more than that. Said it was private.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
He shrugged, seeming self-assured, even smug. “Didn’t think of it until now.”
“Did you tell this to the police?”
“Like I said, didn’t think of it. You’re the one who brought up stalking,” He said to Bryce. “So I got to thinking, maybe that guy was stalking her. Maybe he was sobbing because of her upcoming wedding.”
Sylvie brushed the hair back from her face. Was that possible? Could Professor Bertram have been stalking Diana?
Sylvie thought of Mrs. Bertram, her divorce from her husband, the reluctance with which she’d opened the door. Maybe fear wasn’t the reason she didn’t want to face Sylvie. Maybe the real reason was that Sylvie looked exactly like Diana, the woman her husband was obsessed with.
She glanced at Bryce.
He nodded, as if he’d read her mind. “Let’s go see Bertram.”
Diana
The shadows in the room grew until there was nothing but darkness. Diana was starving, her throat dry.
He’d left hours ago…
Or had it been minutes?
Diana tried to withdraw into her thoughts, her memories. For comfort. To pass the time. But she couldn’t seem to focus on happy times. She’d try to relive road trips with Bobby and wedding planning with Sylvie, even the beautiful but cold house she grew up in, yet her mind would stray to awful images, some she wasn’t sure were even real.
Her father reaching under her skirt and pinching her inner thighs until they were purple with bruises. Then laughing and daring her to tell.
The contempt on Mother’s face when Daddy left. Contempt for her.