Rachel unwrapped her sandwich, lifted it to her mouth and took a bite, then sighed. After chewing and swallowing, she said, “Delicious.”
Dean opened both potato chip bags. “I tracked down the man who owned the bow that was used in Jake’s murder.”
“You did?”
Dean nodded. “Patrick Dewey moved his family to Salem nineteen years ago. I phoned his home today, right before I went out to pick up our lunch.”
“And?”
“I spoke to his wife, Marilyn. She said Patrick died a couple of years ago.”
“Hmm…too bad, but I don’t suppose he could have told us any more than he told the police twenty years ago. He reported the bow stolen a week before Jake was killed.”
“Yeah, and the only reason we know it was Dewey’s bow is because he registered it with the manufacturer right after he bought it. They keep a record of the serial numbers for the warranty registration.”
Rachel nibbled on her potato chips. “I saw a report where my father interviewed several bow hunters who lived in the area, but none of them, including Dewey, knew Jake or his family.”
“Yeah, and besides that, they all had alibis for the night Jake was killed.”
“You really did go through all these old files, didn’t you?” Rachel sipped on her Diet Coke.
“A few years after I joined the force, I asked permission to take a look at the Cupid Killer files,” Dean said. “It wasn’t that I actually thought I could find anything your dad and his partner missed. I was curious. You know, because the victim was Jake and because of how things happened. I think Jake’s murder affected all of us in some way or other.”
“Mmm…” Rachel washed down the bite of sandwich in her mouth with another sip of cola. “Sometimes, I think the reason I went into law enforcement after college, other than the fact I wanted to follow in Dad’s footsteps, is because of what happened to Jake.” She looked directly at Dean. “Is that crazy?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m the wrong person to ask. I figure the way Jake’s murder hit all of us so hard is one of the reasons I joined the Portland Police Bureau.”
“It seems you and I have a great deal in common, don’t we?”
Dean reached out and brushed a stray curl off Rachel’s cheek and moved it behind her ear. Their gazes connected and held for a heart-stopping moment.
“Too bad we didn’t realize that years ago,” she said.
“Better late than never.”
Oh, no. Those pesky butterflies were doing a jitterbug in her belly again. Every time Dean looked at her as if he wanted to kiss her, she felt the kind of rush that comes only with falling in love. But she wasn’t falling in love with Dean, was she? Not Dean McMichaels! Of all the men on earth, why him?
It’s just good old-fashioned lust, she told herself. You haven’t been with a man in a long time and you’re horny. That’s all there is to it. You need to have sex.
Did that mean she should have sex with Dean?
“So, we’re on for tonight,” Dean said.
“Huh?”
“You haven’t been listening, have you? Where did you go just then?”
“Nowhere. Just woolgathering.”
“Were you thinking about Jake?” Dean pulled away from her and sat back in his chair.
“What? No, I wasn’t thinking about Jake. Actually, I was thinking about-” Are you out of your mind? You can’t tell Dean that you were thinking about having sex with him, to use him to scratch an itch.
Dean glared at her.
“I was thinking that we should pick up a bottle of wine to take to Kris and Ross’s tonight.”
Dean gave her a skeptical look. She knew he didn’t believe her.
“No problem. We can pick up a bottle on the way there.”
Rachel laid her hand over Dean’s. “I haven’t been carrying a torch for Jake all these years. After I moved to Chattanooga with my mother, I got on with my life and I hardly ever thought about Jake.”
“You didn’t ever think about me either, did you?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. Every once in a while.” She punched him playfully on the arm. “I thought about how you were always giving me a hard time.” The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could recall them and rephrase that statement.
Dean grinned. “Interesting choice of words.”
She blushed. Heavenly days! “Don’t read anything into them,” she told him. “They were just words.”
“If you say so, but you’ve got to wonder…”
“I’m not finishing that sentence for you.”
“All right,” he said. “I’ll finish it. You’ve got to wonder what it would be like if we hooked up, did the horizontal”-he lowered his voice and added-“had sex.”
“Even if I might be curious, that doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into bed with you,” she whispered. “Believe it or not, there are still some women in this world who do not have casual sex, and I’m one of them.”
“If we ever had sex, it wouldn’t be casual.”
Before she could respond, Officer Ray Middleton approached them, calling out to Dean as he walked toward Rachel’s desk.
“Hey, Dean, that eyewitness from the Henderson case showed up early,” Officer Middleton said. “He’s pretty nervous, so I thought it best to come tell you and not make him wait too long. He might bolt.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Dean said, then turned to Rachel. “See you later.”
He winked at her again.
And her insides quivered.
Kristen crinkled her nose with worry as she spoke to Lindsay Farrell, who had telephoned while she was in the middle of setting the table in Ross’s apartment dining room. Their daughter Lissa was at a friend’s house studying, so dinner tonight would be a foursome.
“Look, Linds, I’d like nothing better than to cancel the reunion, but Rachel and I are a majority of two,” Kristen said. “Even Mandy, who’s as nervous as a cat these days, says we can’t let some nut job dictate what we should and shouldn’t do. The others agree, so the reunion is still on.”
“I had planned to come in early,” Lindsay said. “And we still might, if-”
“You and Wyatt?”
“Yes, Wyatt and I. Who would ever have thought that we’d wind up as a couple? But then again, who would have believed that we had a one-nighter in high school that resulted in a son who is now nineteen?”
“Why didn’t you tell me or tell Rachel? We might have been able to help you.”
“What could either of you have done?” Lindsay asked. “You were both teenagers, too, and would have agreed that my giving my baby away was the only thing I could have done.”
“I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you, knowing he was out there somewhere. Lissa tries my nerves, but the thought of having no choice but to give her up at birth-”
“If Wyatt and I can work things out with Leo-you know, the three of us figure out what kind of relationship we each want-then I’ll get a second chance with my son as well as with his father.”
“Linds?”
“Huh?”
“Stay safe, will you. Okay?”
“I will. You, too.”
“Not knowing where he or she will strike next is the worst part,” Kristen said. “Ross is so concerned about me that he’ll barely let me out of his sight. And Mandy’s husband is talking about hiring a bodyguard for her. And even Rachel, who’s a trained professional, carries a gun, and knows karate or one of those martial arts, has Dean looking out for her.”
“Are they together now?” Lindsay asked. “Once again, who’d have thought it-Dreamy Dean and our Rach. She was always hung up on Jake.”
“Yes, she was, just as you and I were.”
“We were fools, weren’t we?”
“Yes, we were, but we were just kids who didn’t know any better.”
“Kris, please keep me posted on what’s happening.”
After she replaced the phone on the cradle, Kristen finished setting the table, then went into the kitchen to check the roast in the oven.
If she had her way, they would cancel the reunion, but then again maybe the others were right about not giving in to pressure, not allowing their fears to dictate their actions. And who was to say that if they canceled the reunion the threats would stop? If the person who was behind the child’s arrow stunt, the notes, phone calls, and break-ins had killed Aurora and Haylie, they could strike again at any time. But without proof that Aurora’s death was not an accident and with such damning proof that the homeless bum killed Haylie during a robbery, there was no way to definitely connect either crime to what had happened to Lindsay in New York. Nor could their deaths be connected to what had been happening with her, with the other committee members, and with Rachel.