Having someone worry over her was nothing new. But having someone like Noah worry was very new. It should feel constricting. Debilitating. But it didn’t. It felt warm, welcoming, like a cozy fire on a cold day.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I was talking to the real Buckland’s boss.”
“I know. Olivia told me.”
She pressed her face harder against him. “What could make him hate you so much, hate Looey so much? My God, Noah, Looey’s probably dead.”
“I know,” he whispered. “We’ll figure it out. Until then, you don’t leave my sight.”
“Okay.” She held on to him until Olivia came into the hall and cleared her throat.
“He wants to talk to you, Noah,” she said. “Come on, Eve, I’ll get you that coffee.”
Noah rested his hands on the rail at Hunter’s side. “You don’t look too bad.”
Hunter was lying back, eyes closed. “If it had been Eve in that car, she would be dead. She doesn’t have the strength in her hand to have fought with the wheel.”
Noah blew out a breath. “I know. I also know Olivia’s a damn good cop. She’s on it.”
“Last night I asked Eve if anybody’s looking at this guy for the Shadowland murders. I said the timing was too coincidental. She said it was in your mind.”
“It is. And I know it’s in Liv’s, too. We’ll be working this together.”
“Well, here’s another piece. I just told Olivia. Monday night when you came by, I’d put in those baby monitor cameras.”
“The pink ones. I remember.”
“Eve thought it was because of the Shadowland thing, that I was being overzealous. I didn’t tell her this, didn’t want her to worry any more than she already was. She told you she’d been having issues with her landlord?”
“She said her roof leaked.”
“Yeah, well, he’s pretty much let the place go to pot. When I first got there, when I was waiting for her to come back? I went up on the roof to check out the damage. The holes I found were man-made.”
Noah stared down at him. “You think her landlord’s behind all this?”
“God, I don’t know. I almost didn’t say anything because it sounds so crazy.”
“No, it’s good you did,” Noah said. “Olivia and I will check it out.”
“Olivia said Eve would get police protection.”
Grimly Noah recalled the terror that had ripped him inside out until she’d answered her phone, until he’d heard her voice. Known she was all right. “Yes.” Me.
Hunter met Noah’s eyes with his open one. “Other than you?”
“Yes. If that’s what she wants. Otherwise, it’ll be me.”
“Okay. I told her to give you a chance, but I want it to be her decision. I don’t want her to feel for-” Hunter froze. “What is this ring?”
Noah looked down at his own right hand on the side rail. “My college ring. Why?”
“I never saw his face, but I saw his hands. I looked over as he was coming up on me and I saw his hand on the steering wheel. He had tinted windows on the sides and back, but not on the windshield, so I could see him. Just barely.”
Noah’s pulse jolted. Something they could use. “I take it he wore a ring like mine.”
“Yeah,” Hunter said grimly. “Just like that one.”
“It’s a common design, but a place to start. I’ll tell Olivia and see where we end up.”
“Excuse me, Detective.” A nurse pushed in front of him. “Mr. Hunter has to go up to get his CAT scan now. You can wait in the waiting room.”
“Okay,” Noah said, then leaned over the rail. “Don’t worry. She’ll be safe with me.”
Eve handed Noah a cup of coffee from the vending machine when he rejoined them. “Extra sugar. Probably not sweet enough, but the best you’ll get from a machine.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Come on, let’s find a place for the three of us to talk.”
“Eve,” Olivia started when they’d found a quiet corner of the waiting room, “I know you think he’s got Noah in his sights and you got in the way, but we have to look at the possibility that you could be the target.”
“Look at it all you want,” Eve said. “It’s not me.”
“Still,” Noah said, “we want you to make a list of everybody that might want to hurt you or has a grudge against you. Include your landlord.”
Eve’s eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding. Myron Daulton? If David said that, he hit his head harder than we thought.”
“You’re blocking Daulton from selling that building and making a bundle,” Noah said.
“I know, but…” Eve sighed. “Okay, I’ll make a list. But that guy posing as Buckland is not Myron Daulton, I can tell you that right now. Myron’s about fifty and built like Homer Simpson. What about prints? Did you get any from what I gave you?”
“He’s not in the system,” Olivia said. “We ran the prints on that business card and the copy of that old photo you brought me, Eve. They matched prints we found in Looey’s place, so we can put him there, but no match in AFIS.”
Noah’s brows shot up. “You were busy today,” he said to Eve.
“I’ve had my moments,” Eve said dryly. “I want to know why he impersonated Looey to start with and if this is personal about you, Noah-which it is-what did you do to this guy? Or what does he think you did? I’ve seen a killer bent on revenge up close, and this guy was all about revenge. About showing you up and making you pay.”
“You and Jack should go back through your old cases,” Olivia said. “For the record.”
“If Jack and I arrested him, he would have shown up in AFIS.”
“Not if he was a juvenile at the time,” Eve said. “Or the revenge is for someone else.”
Olivia and Noah shared an amused glance. “You want my job, Eve?” Olivia asked.
Eve smiled sadly. “You have no idea how much. But bum hand, so no can do.”
Olivia patted Eve’s knee. “It’s overrated. And you can’t chase your own demons. You gotta be satisfied with chasing everybody else’s.” She looked back at Noah. “It’s almost time for Abbott’s five o’clock meeting. What should we do with Eve?”
“She has to come with us,” Noah said.
“Excuse me,” Eve said. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here, with David.”
“The doctors won’t let you stay with him,” Noah said. “They’ll watch him overnight and they’ll make you leave. Plus you’re having dinner with me.”
Night off. Callie. “What about my friend, Callie? He has her cell phone number. He may know where she lives.” She heard the panic in her voice and swallowed it back.
Olivia frowned. “How did he get her cell phone number?”
“Jeremy Lyons. He didn’t believe me yesterday morning so he told the reporter-guy how to get in touch with my friends, who’d give him the real story.”
“Where’s Callie now?” Olivia asked.
“Taking my shift at Sal’s.”
Olivia nodded. “Then she’s safe where she is. I’ll make sure the word gets out that if he shows up at Sal’s, they should keep him there. I’ll have someone escort her home. As for you, we’ll leave you here if you do not leave the waiting room. We’ll give hospital security a copy of the artist’s sketch, so they’ll be watching for him.”
“I’ll stay here where it’s safe,” Eve promised. “I’m not stupid.”
Wednesday, February 24, 4:55 p.m.
“Is Eve okay?” Jack asked when Noah sat next to him at Abbott’s small round table.
He and Olivia had arrived for Abbott’s five o’clock update to find everyone already gathered around the table except for Ian, who was in the middle of an autopsy.
“Yeah. She was here at the time, actually,” Noah answered, “working with a sketch artist to identify the guy who’s been impersonating Kurt Buckland.”
Jack’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “Somebody’s been impersonating Kurt Buckland? When were you going to tell me this?”