Читать книгу Obsession & Eyewitness: Obsession / Eyewitness - Carol Ericson - Страница 15

THE SHAGGY MAN in the closet spread his arms wide and smiled. “Caught me.”

Michelle crossed her arms over her chest as if to ward off a blow or a bullet…or the man’s pungent odor. His hands were empty, but that didn’t mean anything. He could have a hidden weapon or he could strangle her with his bare hands.

She choked and spun around, colliding with Colin as he charged through the door, his weapon grasped in one hand.

He gripped her arm with the other hand to steady her. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

She thrust a shaky finger at the closet where the disheveled stranger still hadn’t moved. “He’s in there.”

Colin shoved her toward the door and strode toward the closet. He flung the doors wide and leveled his gun at the man slouching amid the dresses and skirts.

“Get out now and put your hands where I can see them. Call 9-1-1, Michelle.”

She patted the pockets of her shorts and dragged out her cell phone. While she breathlessly relayed the pertinent information to the dispatcher, the man in the closet inched a tentative foot forward.

“Be careful, Colin.” The fact that Colin had the man at gunpoint didn’t ease her fears.

Colin gestured with his gun. “Hurry up and keep your hands in front of you.”

The man shuffled forward a few more steps, his arms held out. He started whistling.

Michelle sucked in a breath. Was it some sort of signal? She dipped into the hallway and looked both ways.

The man stood before Colin and peered at him through a veil of stringy hair. His filthy clothes hung on his gaunt frame, his lips, still puckered in song, framed by a wild beard. He dropped his arms to his sides and his hands nestled amid the folds of his raggedy clothing.

Colin steadied the metal-gray barrel of the gun. “Put your hands back in front of you where I can see them.”

The man gave him a gap-toothed smile. “I had a gun once. Don’t have it no more.”

“Let me see your hands. Real slow.”

The man hunched his narrow shoulders and raised his arms again. He held his hands, tipped with dirty fingernails, in front of him where they trembled. “Is that what you want, boss?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Is this your house, boss?”

Colin’s jaw tightened. “No.”

“Not mine, either.”

“So what are you doing here?”

Michelle glanced at the time on her cell phone. The police had a mile to get here at high speed. Where were they?

The man moved his hand toward his face, and Colin’s finger tightened on the trigger.

He scratched his beard and turned his head toward Michelle. “I scared the pretty lady, huh?”

Michelle nodded, and her heartbeat began to return to normal. He seemed harmless enough now, but maybe Colin’s big gun had something to do with that impression.

Sirens wailed in the distance, and the grungy man swore. “You didn’t have to go and call the cops on me. I didn’t do nothing wrong. Just scared her. Wasn’t even trying. Heard her going through the rooms and figured I’d better wait it out in the closet. Didn’t know she’d go snooping in the closet.”

Colin narrowed his eyes. The hand on his gun seemed to relax, or at least his knuckles were no long the color of white marble.

Michelle shifted her gaze to Colin’s face. Was he thinking what she was thinking? This man with his long hair, overgrown beard and disheveled clothing didn’t fit the profile of Amanda’s killer. And he definitely wasn’t responsible for the murders in Vegas and San Francisco.

Colin repeated his previous question. “What are you doing in this house?”

Waving his arms at his sides, the man said, “It’s empty, isn’t it? I needed a place to crash.”

Several pairs of footsteps charged up the stairs. “Michelle? Roarke? You up here?”

Colin backed up to the door, keeping in front of her and keeping his gun trained on the homeless man. “In here.”

His own gun drawn, Chief Evans barreled through the door almost knocking Michelle’s shoulder. “Face down. Prone position.”

Colin lowered his weapon and shook his head. “I think he’s just a homeless guy camping out.”

Another officer had joined the chief and shoved the stranger onto the hardwood floor. The cop dragged the man’s arms behind his body and snapped a pair of cuffs on him.

The homeless man started whistling again.

“We’ll take it from here, Roarke. Looks like we just might have our man.”

Colin cleared his throat. “I think…”

The chief hustled the stranger past Michelle and Colin. “We’ll handle it.”

The man winked at Michelle as Chief Evans shoved him out the bedroom door. Another officer squeezed past Colin into the bedroom.

“Did he have a weapon? Did he hide anything in here?”

“We didn’t get that far. I think the dude’s just a homeless guy looking for some temporary shelter.”

“Chief thinks we just nailed Amanda’s killer.” The officer pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket. “I’m going to do a thorough search of the room. Thanks for your assistance. You can leave now. The chief knows you’re not officially on the Gunderson case, Roarke.”

Colin glanced at Michelle and rolled his eyes. “Come on.”

He steered her through the front door, which was now standing open. The curious folks from down the street gawking over Amanda’s murder site had shifted their attentions to Columbella House and the scruffy man now being stuffed into the backseat of a Coral Cove P.D. squad car.

Michelle gulped in a few breaths of salty air. “He’s not Amanda’s killer, is he?”

Colin wandered to the side gate, grabbed the top and leaned forward, peering at the path that rambled to the beach. “No.”

“Maybe—” Michelle twisted the arms of the sweatshirt that she’d wrapped around her waist “—he’s mentally ill. He could’ve been on his way to Columbella, stumbled across Amanda getting in her car and just gone off.”

He turned his head and raised one brow. “Did that guy look capable of attacking someone the way Amanda was attacked?”

“You mean sneaking up on her and slitting her throat.” Michelle kicked at the weeds clinging to the gate, sending puffs of dandelion floating through the air.

He brushed the back of his hand along her fingers where she’d hooked them, like claws, onto the chain-link fence. “I’m sorry.”

She sniffled and blinked. “No. He didn’t look capable of kicking a cat. He’d fall over. But that’s not going to stop Chief Evans or Mayor Davis from railroading this guy. He’ll be languishing in some jail cell just in time for the summer tourists to start flooding Coral Cove.”

“That’s stupid.” His fingers curled around hers. “If they’re that shortsighted, they just might allow the real killer to walk. And maybe strike again.”

Michelle shivered. “You think I’m on his list?”

“I know you graduated the same year as the other women.”

“The three murders could be completely unrelated—a coincidence.”

“And the petals?”

“The petals.” The terror from this morning when she’d seen the rose petals on her porch punched her in the gut. She sagged.

“Let’s get out of here.” Colin peeled her fingers from the gate and laced his own with hers.

They skirted the lingering knots of people in the street and Michelle tugged on his hand. “So which is it, Colin? Do you believe the killer scattered those petals on my porch or do you believe some innocent bystander carried them there on the bottom of his shoes?”

Colin wanted to reassure her, drive the fear from her big, brown eyes, but he couldn’t lie to this woman. He couldn’t pretend that she didn’t face some danger from this wily killer.

“If it’s the former, I’ll make sure he never gets that close to you again.” He tightened his grip on her hand.

A bicycle wobbled down the street between pedestrians, and the bespectacled rider raised his hand in salute. Michelle waved back, and Colin blew out a breath. What now? Couldn’t he ever get this woman alone? He had some more reassuring to do.

The cyclist pulled up beside them and shoved the glasses up his nose. “Michelle, are you okay? I heard what happened this morning and that it happened right outside your front door.”

The man lurched off the seat of his bike, straddling it with his feet planted firmly on either side. His gaze dipped to their clasped hands, and Michelle disentangled her fingers from Colin’s.

“It was horrible, Alec. I can’t believe it happened. I can’t believe Amanda’s gone.”

Alec extended his hand to Colin. “I’m Alec Wright.”

“I’m sorry.” Michelle tilted her head toward Colin. “This is Colin Roarke. Colin, this is Alec Wright. We teach at the high school together.”

For a skinny guy Alec had a strong grip. Then Colin noticed Alec’s legs encased in Lycra bicycle shorts and realized the guy was wiry, not skinny. But he still wore Lycra bicycle shorts. “Good to meet you.”

“I’ve seen your name all over the school. Yours and your brother’s. Kieran, right?”

“Right.” At the mention of his brother’s name, Colin’s face tightened. Would it always be this way? Would he ever be able to think about his brother without this pain shooting into his gut?

Alec’s eyes widened behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “I—I’ve seen your names on a lot of trophies in the trophy case.”

Colin shrugged. “Don’t know why they don’t replace those old things with new trophies.”

“Because they’re school records.” Alec cocked his head at Colin as if studying some strange specimen.

“Whatever.” The guy annoyed him. He needed to take his Lycra and ride away.

Michelle drew her eyebrows over her nose. “If you have some time this weekend, Alec, maybe you can look at my laptop for me. I have a couple of questions about my email.”

“Yeah, sure.” Alec blushed as red as his bike. “Give me a call. I’d be happy to help.”

Of course he would. The guy had a crush on Michelle as far as he could stretch his stretchy pants.

“Nice meeting you.” Colin jerked his thumb toward Michelle’s house. “We gotta…”

“Oh, sure. Oh, yeah. I’m glad you’re okay, Michelle. Sorry about Amanda.” He clambered onto his bike and headed toward the coast highway.

Colin squinted after him. “Didn’t sound sorry about Amanda.”

“He and Amanda never got along.” She dug her hands into her hips. “What is wrong with you? Did you take an instant dislike to Alec or something? He’s a nice guy and a good teacher.”

“I didn’t like his bicycle shorts.”

Her chocolate-drop eyes studied his face. “You didn’t like that he mentioned your trophies—yours and Kieran’s.”

He didn’t like that he’d mentioned Kieran, period.

He shrugged. “Don’t know why they keep those things around.”

They’d been walking and talking and had wound up at Michelle’s front door. She unlocked the door and shoved it open. Colin didn’t even wait for an invitation as Michelle stepped across the threshold, still talking.

“You should be proud of those trophies. Heck, if the school gave trophies for academic excellence, I wouldn’t mind a few of those scattered around with my name on them.”

Colin laughed, rubbing the last of the kinks out of his neck. “You were a brain, weren’t you?”

She stuck out her tongue. “Go ahead. You can say it. I was a nerd, complete with glasses and braces and bony chest.”

As if pulled by a magnetic force, his gaze dropped to the gentle curve of her breasts beneath her cotton T-shirt. By the time he’d trained his eyes back to her face, a rosy blush had claimed her cheeks.

“The years have been kind.”

She giggled and spun around. The compliment had made her uncomfortable. A truth smacked against his forehead and made its way to his lips. “You played up the nerd persona in high school, didn’t you? Because of your mom.”

She froze and her back stiffened. “That’s ridiculous. Why would you think any high school girl would want to be a geek?”

“Any high school girl who had a hootchie-cootchie mama.”

Her eyes flashed fire as she turned on him. “You’re… you’re…”

“Despicable.” He’d been so excited to discover something about Michelle, so intrigued to have chipped through her cool exterior, he’d lost all sense of social etiquette. “I’m sorry, Michelle. I had no right.”

She blew out a breath and dragged a hand through her thick hair. “No. You’re right. I wanted to put as much distance as possible between me and my mom. I didn’t want people thinking I was anything like her.”

Her dark eyes pooled. He preferred the fire. In two strides, he was at her side. He slid a knuckle beneath her chin and a tear dangled on the end of her long lashes. “I’m an idiot.”

Her lush lips trembled into a smile. “You’re an astute idiot. The only person I’d ever admitted that to was Amanda.”

The tear dripped onto her cheek, and he halted its downward path with his thumb. “I’m going to find this guy, Michelle. And he’s not some whistling homeless dude.”

Sniffling, she pulled back her shoulders. “I—I might have another clue.”

“Something you remembered?” He stepped back from her warmth, squashing his desire, shelving it…for later.

“Emails.”

“Emails?”

She ducked around him and headed for her kitchen table. “It actually occurred to me before, but I was too embarrassed to tell you about it. But now that my pathetic insecurities are out in the open, I may as well lay it all out there.”

She didn’t have the corner on pathetic insecurities.

“Has someone been threatening you?” That’s why she was calling in the help of the bicycle geek. The fact that she’d planned to open up to Alec before him irritated the hell out of him.

“Sort of… I don’t know.” She hovered over her laptop, clicking keys on the keyboard. “Darn. I should’ve been saving them.”

He joined her at the table as she scrolled through her inbox. “What did the emails say?”

“I was too chicken to open them.” She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “But the subject line said, Like mother, like daughter?”

“That sounds like a threat to me. Or at least harassment.” He sat in front of the computer and opened her Deleted Items.

“Don’t bother. I did a hard delete and sent them to cyberspace oblivion.”

“Do you think Bicycle Boy can help?”

She huffed and punched him in the arm. “He’s a good guy.”

“I hope he knows how to retrieve those messages.” He rubbed his biceps where her delicate hand had nailed him. “Do you know if Amanda had been receiving any emails? Any threats?”

“She didn’t mention anything to me.” She hugged herself and wedged a hip against the kitchen table. “Amanda didn’t have any enemies.”

“Had she been on any dates since the separation from her husband?”

“No. She talked a good game, but she missed Ryan.” Michelle’s face tightened and she pursed her lips. If she was going to burst into tears, he had a strong shoulder.

Her cell phone played some hip-hop song and Colin raised his brows.

“I like to keep current with the kids.” She answered the phone and moved to the window.

Colin clicked around Michelle’s computer as she talked in a low voice across the room. He’d have to give over to Alec’s computer skills and hope the guy knew what he was doing and could retrieve those messages. Maybe someone was trying to scare Michelle, put her on edge. Killers played games, especially the smart ones.

“That was Chief Evans. He wants to see me this afternoon. You, too.”

“Is he still convinced he has his man?”

“He wouldn’t go into it with me.

“Any luck?” She pointed at the laptop screen.

“No. I’m going to have to defer to Alec. Dammit.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know why you took an instant dislike to Alec. He’s harmless.”

Harmless is not the way Colin would describe the way Alec had looked at Michelle. Did the woman have no clue how sexy she was? She’d probably be uneasy to hear herself described as sexy…thanks to that mother of hers. Hootchie-cootchie mama. What had he been thinking?

“I hope Mr. Harmless can get those emails.”

“They may be nothing, Colin, totally unrelated to Amanda’s…death.”

“Anything out of the ordinary needs to be examined.” He smacked his forehead. “I completely forgot.”

“What?”

He shoved his hand into his pocket to dig out the chain he’d found in the basement at Columbella House. He dangled it from his finger. It was a bracelet.

“I found this in the basement right before you screamed bloody murder. Do you recognize it? Is it Amanda’s?”

Michelle fingered the bracelet and the charms hanging from it. She plucked one charm out from the rest and squinted at it. Then she dropped her hand as if the charm had scorched her.