She made a negating motion. No chance that any of those substances couldve been tampered with prepurchase, huh?
Amara...
Her sarcastic tone didnt quite mask the anger beginning to churn inside her. Its a fair question, Lieutenant. Were talking about street dealers, people who arent exactly pillars of the community. Are you saying that, given the right inducement, not one of them could or would have slipped a little extra something into the goody bags Chad bought?
The coroner is convinced it was
Yes, I heard that part. Accidental death.
Suicide.
It cost her a great deal to work up a smile. I guess well find out, wont we? She struggled to maintain her composure. I can read your face, Michaels. Youre going to tell me theres nothing you can do in terms of police protection. I mean, on the off chance the coroner is mistaken.
The detective regarded the toes of his scuffed shoes. Massive coronary for Harry. Private party for Chad. No one except the three of you and me heard Jimmys threat. The media would love to jump all over this, but they wont, because the powers that be are well aware of Jimmy Sparkss many and varied connections. Sure, the odd question is bound to surface, but theyll die as quickly as theyre born. After all, theres no evidence of wrongdoing in either case.
I suppose not. Well, then. Amara took a deep breath. At the risk of sounding paranoid, do you have any suggestions as to how I can avoid a date with the forensic team?
When he raised his head, the steely look in his eyes said it all. You need to disappear, he told her. Get out of the city and go someplace safe.
Safe. Great. She pressed firm fingers into her temples. Where?
Tossing a worried look onto the street below, Michaels pulled her away from the wrought iron railing. Your parents are in South America, arent they?
Central America. Theyre doing medical relief work, have been for the past two years. Mostly with children, Lieutenant. Im not taking this nightmare to them.
You have relatives in Maine, dont you?
What? Yesno.
Well go with the first answer. When the lights bobbed, he closed the French doors and pulled the curtains. Lets do it this way. You pack, make whatever calls you need to, and Ill drive you to the airport. He managed a feeble grin. If theres one thing Im good at, its shaking criminal tails.
Amaras mind swam. Surely Jimmy Sparkss family will have the airport covered.
Not in Jackson, Mississippi. I know this guy, Amara. It wont be a group hunt so much as a single-person stalk.
As in one person sent to make sure I choke to death on a bite of crawfish or drop dead on the sidewalk from a nonexistent blood clot thatll dissolve before... God, what am I saying? No, wait, what am I doing? She turned to face him. I cant endanger the lives of my family members. You know I cant.
You can, and you should. Most of those family members live in a spooky little town in a remote and densely wooded section of coastal Maine. Ravens Cove is your best and safest option right now.
She stared at him for five long seconds before countering with a flat Its Ravens Hollow, and I will call my grandmother. Ill explain the situation. But if shes the least bit hesitant, Im choosing another destination.
Deal. He ran his gaze over the ceiling when the lights bobbed again. Pack only what you need.
What she needed, Amara reflected, was a time machine. Unfortunately all she had was her iPhone, her grandmothers number and a waning glimmer of hope that shed ever see anyone in or out of Ravens Hollow, Maine, again.
Chapter Three
Ive already broken up two bar fights tonight, Chief, and the crowd heres spoiling for more. Jake Blumes tone, surly at the best of times, soured. Its gonna be a free-for-all by the time this two-town partywhich aint no kind of party, in my opinionplays out. Still three days to go and the hooligans on both sides are making their feelings known with their fists. His voice dropped to a growl. What do you want me to do about tonights ruckus?
McVey heard about half of what his griping deputy related. More important to him than a minor barroom scuffle was the TV across the room where the Chicago Cubs were cheerfully mopping up Wrigley Field with his beloved Dodgers.
Run, he told the slow-motion hitter whod just slugged the ball to the fence.
From a bar fight? Jake gave a contemptuous snort. This town aint turned me into a girl yet, McVey.
Talking to the television, Deputy. Disgusted by yet another out, McVey took a long drink of beer and muted the sound. Okay, which bar and what kind of damage are we talking about?
Its the Red Eye in the Hollowa town Im still trying to understand why were working our butts off to cover so its police chief can sun his sorry ass in Florida for the next couple weeks.
Mans on his honeymoon, Jake. Amusement glimmered. The noveltyll wear off soon enough.
His deputy gave another snort. Said one confirmed bachelor to another.
I was never confirmedand that was a ball, he told the onscreen umpire.
Look, if Im interrupting...
Youre not. McVey dangled the beer bottle between his knees and rubbed a tired eye. I assume the damage at the Red Eye is minimal.
As bar fights go in these parts.
Then give whoever threw the first punch a warning, make the participants pay up and remind everyone involved that its you whos on duty tonight, not me.
Meaning?
Youve got a shorter fuse, zero tolerance and, between the towns, six empty jail cells just begging to be filled.
Good point. Jake cheered up instantly. Can I threaten to cuff em?
Your discretion, Deputy. After youre done, head back to the Cove. Ill be in at first light to relieve you.
When he glanced over and saw his team had eked out two hits, McVey gave his head a long, slow roll and sat back to think.
In the fourteen months since hed arrived in Ravens Cove, hed only had the dream five times, which was a hell and gone better average than hed had during his six years with the Chicago Police Department or the nearly eight hed put in in New York. At least once a month in both places, hed found himself up in a smoke-filled attic while a woman he still couldnt place told him she was going to screw up his memories. Not that hed given up city life over anything as nebulous as a dream. His reasons had run a whole lot deeper.... And was that a floorboard hed just heard creak upstairs?
With the bottle poised halfway to his mouth, he listened, heard nothing and, taking another long swallow, switched his attention back to the TV.
A third run by the Dodgers gave him hope. A screech of hinges from an interior door had him raising his eyes to the ceiling yet again.
Okay, so not alone. And wasnt that a timely thing, considering hed received two emails lately warning him that a man with secrets should watch the shadows around him very, very closely?
Standing, he shoved his gun into the waistband of his jeans, killed the light and started up the rear stairs.
Standing, he shoved his gun into the waistband of his jeans, killed the light and started up the rear stairs.
The wind that had been blowing at near-gale force all day howled around the single-paned windows. Even so, he caught a second creak. He decided his intruder could use a little stealth training. Then he stepped on a sagging tread, heard the loud protest and swore.
The intruder must have heard it, too. The upstairs door that had been squeaking open immediately stopped moving.
Drawing his weapon, McVey gave his eyes another moment to adjust and finished the climb. He placed the intruder in the kitchen. Meaning the guy had the option of slinking out the way hed enteredthrough the back dooror holding position to see what developed. Whatever the case, McVey had the advantage in that hed been living in the house for more than two weeks and had committed the odd layout to memory.
Another door gave a short creak and he pictured the intruder circling.
The anticipation that kindled felt good. Sleepy coastal towns worked for him on several levels these days. Unfortunately, as action went, they tended to be...well, frankly, dead. Unless you counted the increasing number of bar fights and the sniping of two local factions, each of which had its own legend, and neither of which was willing to admit that both legends had probably been created by an ancientand presumably boredEdgar Allan Poe wannabe.
Another blast of wind rattled the panes and sent a damp breeze over McVeys face. It surprised him to see a light burning in the mudroom. Apparently his intruder was extremely stupid, poorly equipped or unaware that hed broken into the police chiefs current residence. The last idea appealed most, but as it also seemed the least likely, McVey continued to ease through the house.
He spotted the shadow just as the windhe assumed windslammed the kitchen door shut. The bang echoed beneath a wicked gust that buffeted the east wall and caused the rafters to moan.
Shoving the gun into his jeans, he went for a low tackle. If the person hadnt swung around and allowed a weak beam of light to trickle through from the mudroom, he would have taken them both hard to the floor. But his brain clicked in just fast enough that he was able to alter his trajectory, snag the intruder by the waist and twist them both around so only he landed on the pine planking.
His head struck the table, his shoulder the edge of a very solid chair. To make matters worse, his trapped quarry rammed an elbow into his ribs, wriggled around and clawed his left cheek.
He caught the raised hand before it could do any serious damage and, using his body weight, reversed their positions. Knock it was all he got out before his instincts kicked in and he blocked the knee that was heading for his groin.
Jesus, enough!
Teeth gnashed and with pain shooting through his skull, he brought his eyes into focus on the stunning and furious face of the woman from his nightmare.
* * *
FEAR STREAKED THROUGH Amaras mind, not for her own safety, but for that of her grandmother whod lived in this house for close to seventy years.
Although she was currently pinned to the floor with her hands over her head and her wrists tightly cuffed, she attempted to knee him again. When that failed, she bucked her hips up into his. If she could loosen his iron grip, she might be able to sink her teeth into his forearm.
Ill kill you if youve hurt her, she panted. This is about me, not my family. You of all people should understand that.
He offset another blow. Lady, the only thing I understand is that you broke into a house that doesnt belong to you.
Or you, she fired back. You have no right to be here. Wheres my grandmother?
I have every right to be here, and how the hell should I know?
Her heart tripped. Is shedead?
What? No. Look, I live here, okay?
Unable to move, Amara glared at him. Youre lying. I spoke to Nana last night. There was no mention of a man either visiting or living in her home.
He lowered his head just far enough for her to see the smile that grazed his lips. Maybe your granny doesnt tell you everything, angel.
Thats disgusting. She refused to tremble. Have you hurt her?
I havent done anything to her. I dont eat elderly women, then take to their beds in order to get the jump on their beautiful granddaughters.
Thats not exactly reassuring.
Yeah, it really is, Red.
When her eyes flashed, he sighed. Red... Red Riding Hood. Now, why dont you calm down, well back up a few steps and try to sort this out? My names Ethan McVey and I
Have no business being in my grandmothers house.
Youre gonna have to get past that one, Im afraid. Truth is I have all kinds of business here. He shifted position when she almost liberated her other knee. As far as I know, your grandmothers somewhere in the Caribbean with two of her friends and one very old man whos sliding down the slippery slope toward his hundred and second birthday.
His words startled a disbelieving laugh out of her. Nana took old Rooney Blume to the Caribbean?
Thats the story I got. No idea if its true. Her private lifes not my concern. You, on the other hand, are very much my concern, seeing as youre lying on my kitchen floor behaving like a wildcat.
Nanas kitchen floor.
Rents paid, floors mine. Sos the badge you probably failed to notice on the table above us.
Doubt crept in. Badge, as in cop?
Badge as in chief of police. Ravens Cove, he added before she could ask.
The red haze clouding Amaras vision began to dissolve. You said rent. If youre a cop, why are you renting my grandmothers house?
Because the first place she rented to me developed serious plumbing and electrical issues, both of which are in the process of being rectified.
Why a laugh should tickle her throat was beyond her. Would that first place be Black Rock Cottage, rebuilt from a ruin fifty years ago by my grandfather and renovated last year by Wrecking Ball Buck Blume?
Thatd be it.
Then Im sorry I scratched you.
Does that mean youre done trying to turn me into a eunuch?
Maybe.
As reassurances go, Im not feeling it, Red.
Put yourself in my position. My grandmother didnt mention a Caribbean vacation when I spoke to her yesterday.
So, thinking she was here, you opted to break and enter your grandmothers home rather than knock on the door.
I knocked. No one answered. Nana keeps an extra key taped to a flowerpot on her back stoop. And before you tell me how careless that is, mines bigger.
To her relief, he let go of her wrists and pushed himself to his knees. He was still straddling her, but at least his far too appealing face wasnt quite so close. Your what?
Omission. Nana didnt mention an extra key to you, and she didnt mention you to me. She squirmed a little, then immediately wished she hadnt. Uh, do you mind? Thanks, she murmured when he got to his feet.
Id say no problem if the damn room would stop spinning.
Still wary, Amara accepted the hand he held down to her. Would you like me to look at your head?
Why?
Because you might have a concussion.