“You don’t look fine.”
“Thanks.” She laughed without humor and glanced down at her white hands grasping the edge of the counter.
“I just meant that you look pretty shook up. Those letters would get to anyone.”
“Do you really think she’ll write again?” Lucy asked and prayed he’d say no.
“Yes. It might be better to give me your key and I’ll go to your PO box. You won’t even have to see the letters. Think about it.”
Lucy had always thought she was so brave. So smart. At that moment, she didn’t know what she was anymore. She just knew that her life no longer felt like her own.
“Okay.” She still had her purse on her shoulder, and she reached inside and pulled out the key to her PO box. She took it off the ring and turned to face him. “Could you do me one favor? Would you bring the regular mail to me?”
“Sure.”
She placed the key in his palm and his hand closed, trapping her fingers in his warm grasp. She glanced up to his face. His gaze touched her forehead and cheeks, then landed on her mouth. He was looking at her as he’d looked at her before. This time she knew that the desire she thought she saw there was an illusion.
She pulled her hand away before she could give in to the illusion and sink into something bigger and stronger than herself. “Do you think she knows where I live?”
He raised his gaze, and his brown eyes looked into hers. “Your phone number is unlisted and there isn’t enough personal information about you on the Internet to lead anyone to your door. Since she sent the letters to your PO box instead of to your home address, my guess would be no.” He shoved the key into the front pocket of his pants. “But I’m not going to take a chance with your life.”
That almost sounded like he cared. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and looked down at her ring-toe sandals. Lucy would rather not take the chance either, but she wasn’t quite sure why he cared. Oh yeah, she was now valuable to his case.
“We’ll increase police patrol in the area, and I’ll check on you as much as I can. We can install a security system and lights. And I know cops who work security when they’re off duty. They can stay with you if you’d like.”
She shook her head, and her gaze slid a few inches from her sandals to the toes of his brown loafers. She had enough family and friends in the area that she didn’t need strange men in her house.
He placed the tips of his fingers beneath her chin and brought her gaze up to his. His light touch seeped into her, spreading warmth down her neck and into her chest. Once again she had to fight the urge not to lean into him and hang onto something stable in a life that was quickly unraveling around her.
“Tell me what you want.”
So many things. None of which he could give her. Except, “The security lights sound good.”
“I’ll get that rolling as soon as I leave. We’ll get them working on it tomorrow.” He dropped his hand to his side. “What about today?”
“I’ll go stay with my mother. Tomorrow I’ll have one of my friends stay with me here.”
“One of the writers?”
“Yeah.” He’d remembered. A few days ago she would have thought that meant something. Now she knew better.
“We’re going to get her, Lucy. I promise, but until then, don’t go anywhere alone if you can help it.”
She wanted to ask him when he thought this whole thing might be over, but she knew he couldn’t give her an answer.
“Keep that stun pen and pepper spray handy.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and he almost smiled.
It didn’t occur to her until much later that night, when she was lying in her old bedroom at her mother’s, to wonder how Quinn knew she carried pepper spray.
Chapter 12
Wazcookin: Seeks Hunk
of Beef Cake…
“Oh my God!”
“Lucy, come look at this.”
“What now?” Lucy shoved the carafe under the iced tea maker and moved to the back door. She rose on tiptoe behind her friends, who were all crammed in the doorway looking out at the electrician in her backyard.
“Not every man can make Carhartts look that good,” Maddie said, her face glued to the glass.
The man in question bent at the waist and pulled something from the bed of his truck. His brown Carhartt work pants molded to his hard behind. His name was Randy, and Quinn had sent him to Lucy’s house that morning.
“He must do special butt exercises,” Adele speculated.
“Squats,” Clare added. “I wish he’d bend over.”
Maddie nodded. “Yeah, maybe I’ll go throw a dollar on the ground and see if he’ll pick it up.”
Lucy dropped back on her heels. “You’re all perverted.” As one, they turned, and three pairs of eyes looked at her as if she’d just sprouted a horn in the middle of her forehead. Lucy held up her hands and backed away. “I’m just saying he’s young.”
“And?”
Good Lord, she was starting to sound like Quinn. “I don’t know.” She placed a palm on the side of her face and shook her head. “I think I’m losing my mind.” She turned and walked back into the kitchen. After everything, she still preferred to look at Quinn’s behind. Yeah, she was losing it, all right.
Concerned, her friends followed. “You’re under a lot of stress.” Clare reached into a cupboard and pulled out four glasses. “And we’re supposed to be here helping you out, not eyeing the workman.”
Adele placed ice cubes in the glasses, and the four friends sat with a pitcher of tea at the kitchen table and discussed Lucy’s problem. Lucy had spent the night before with her mother and probably would again before the nightmare was over. But she always felt like a kid when she stayed with her mom, and she did not want to camp out there.
“I just hate being scared,” she said and raised a glass of tea to her mouth. She took a drink and added, “I’ve always seen myself as a strong person. Someone who could take care of herself in every situation.” She set the glass on the table. “Someone fearless in the face of sinking ships or shark attacks, but this psycho woman scares me.” She shook her head as the sound of a power tool made its way inside. “Yet, at the same time, I don’t know if I even should be scared. I haven’t been threatened, and this woman is killing men. Not mystery writers.”
“Yet.” Maddie pushed her glass aside and placed her forearms on the table. “A serial killer has contacted you, and you have to take it very seriously.” Maddie knew that of which she spoke. She talked to serial killers all the time.
“I am taking it seriously. It’s just that I wonder if I’m being paranoid,” Lucy replied.
“Not everything is a paranoid delusion.” Adele stirred her ice cubes with her finger. “Sometimes freaky things do happen.”
“What has Dwayne left on your porch now?” Clare asked.
“One sock and my Some Bunny Loves You coffee mug.”
“What a weirdo.”
“That’s creepy.”
“You actually have a Some Bunny Loves You coffee mug?”
By the time the pitcher of tea was finished, the four women had decided that Lucy would take turns staying in their homes or they would stay with her in her house. They assured her that it was no imposition, but she knew it was. She just hoped that Quinn caught Breathless sooner rather than later.
Adele rose from the table and grabbed the empty pitcher. “I volunteer to go first,” she said as she moved toward the sink. As she passed the back door, she glanced outside. Her feet stopped, and she took a few steps back. “Whoa Nellie.”
“What’s Randy doing now?” Lucy asked.
“It’s not Randy. Someone new has come to play.”
Clare rose and joined Adele. “Now that’s a gorgeous chunk of hunk.”
Lucy and Maddie stood and joined their friends. “That’s a cop,” Maddie said. “I can tell by his bulge.”