Читать книгу In The Arms Of The Enemy - Carol Ericson - Страница 13
ОглавлениеCole dumped his umbrella in the backseat and slicked back his wet hair. He’d have to look elsewhere for Johnny Diamond’s killer. One of the Realtors in town had mentioned a new single female renter at one of the cabins.
He took one last look at Caroline’s door. He was relieved she wasn’t connected to Diamond, but disappointed that he didn’t need to spend any more time with her.
She sure as hell didn’t want to spend any more time with him. After her experience with her husband, she must hate all men. He could understand that, but hell, he didn’t hate all women after his own experience. But then his wife had just cheated on him, not given him a shiner.
A yellow oblong appeared on the porch and it took him a minute to realize that Caroline had opened the door. Had she changed her mind about him and wanted to invite him in for a drink? A guy could hope for the best.
As he squinted into the darkness, she flew off the porch and disappeared. Had she fallen?
He opened his door and peered through the sheets of rain at Caroline scrambling in the mud on the side of the short walkway to the porch, which she’d obviously missed.
“Caroline?” He slammed the car door and jogged toward her, leaving the umbrella behind in the car.
She looked up at him, her face pale, her eyes huge.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” He crouched beside her and hooked his hands beneath her arms, pulling her up.
She stuttered through chattering teeth. “Someone...s-someone was in my h-house.”
A shot of adrenaline coursed through Cole’s body. “Someone’s there now?”
“I—I don’t know.”
He pulled her onto the porch. “Stay here.”
His hand hovering over the gun in his jacket pocket, he crept into the house. He blinked. It didn’t look like there was a thing out of place. He’d expected chaos.
He moved silently across the wood floor, leaving a trail of puddles in his wake. He poked his head into the kitchen in case someone was crouched behind the counter that separated kitchen from living room. He couldn’t detect any disturbance in this room, either.
He edged down the hallway and checked both bedrooms, including beneath the beds and in the closets, and even swept aside the shower curtain.
What had given Caroline the idea that someone had broken into her place? All the doors and windows were intact.
He zipped his pocket over his gun and returned to the porch, where Caroline was hugging the wall. “It’s okay. There’s nobody here.”
He put his arm across her shoulders and felt the vibrations from her trembling body. He nudged her into the house and shut the door behind them.
“Can I get you something? Hot tea? A shot of whiskey? Both? You’re wet and muddy.”
She stared at him with wide eyes, her arms folded across her stomach. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. “Was it you?”
Her soft words punched him in the gut. “Me? What?”
“Did you break in here to search through my things? To frighten me? To...to—” she waved her arm up and down his body “—to do this?”
“I don’t understand.” He stepped back. “Do you think I’m working for your husband or something?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m not. I’m...not.” He couldn’t tell her about his mission here. He was doing this investigation on his own dime, anyway. He just wanted to reassure her. He wanted to snap his fingers and dissolve the fear that rimmed her eyes.
“I swear I don’t know your husband, but from what Linda told me he sounds like a jerk. Look...” Cole ran a hand through his damp hair. “My stepdad used to knock my mom around. I’d never help out anyone who hurt women or children. Never.”
Caroline’s mouth softened and her lashes fluttered. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be. Just know I’m not on your husband’s side. I don’t even know your husband and wouldn’t want to, except to plant one on his face.”
She pulled her shoulders back. “Okay. It wasn’t you.”
“Of course not.” Cranking his head from one side to the other, Cole asked, “How’d you know someone had been in here? Looks neat to me.”
“I’m very particular. I can tell.”
“Maybe Linda came over. She lives in the duplex next door, right? Maybe she had to get something or was going to leave something for you?”
Caroline shook her head and the droplets from her hair rained down on the floor. “Linda wouldn’t do that. Someone was in here.”
“And you think it was your ex or someone he sent?”
Her gaze dropped to her fingers, twisting in front of her. “Maybe. I suppose it could be a thief.”
“A very neat thief.”
“A thief who didn’t want to be discovered.”
“But one totally unaware of your super detection abilities.” Cole smiled like an idiot, wanting to touch her, but afraid he’d send her over the edge. “You need to get out of those wet clothes. And the mud. You should see the mud.”
“I dropped my dinner just inside the front door. I’m going to take a hot shower and curl up with my sweet potato fries.”
“Do you want to call the police?”
“No!” A red tide washed over her cheeks beneath the mud smears. “I have no proof anyone was here. The sheriff’s department would put me down as a lunatic.”
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine. Linda should be home soon. I’ll ask her if she was here. Maybe you’re right.”
“I can stay while you shower. I mean, wait in here.”
“Really, I’m okay. I’ve been on edge.” She breezed past him and picked up the bag of food on the floor, and then opened the front door. “Thanks for coming back and helping me. I feel like a fool.”
“I wasn’t going to leave you flailing around in the mud.”
She rolled her eyes. “That bad, huh?”
“You were scared and had a fall.” He put his finger to his lips. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Good night, Cole.”
“Good night, Caroline.” He left the house and waited on the porch as he listened for the click of the dead bolt.
Jamming his hands in his pockets, he put his head down and walked briskly to his car, keeping to the paved walkway.
He started the engine and cranked on the heat and defroster full blast. Blowing on his hands and rubbing them together, he eyed Caroline’s duplex over the steering wheel.
Had he miscalculated? Would her ex really travel across the country to stalk her, or more unbelievably, send someone else to do it? How had she been so sure someone had broken in? Was it paranoia or was she really expecting trouble? And from what quarter? An abusive ex-husband, or from someone equally as dangerous? A drug trafficker looking for his money?
Cole felt a stab of guilt that he’d circled back to his original suspicions. He’d put those to rest after talking to Linda Gunderson, and what earthly reason would Linda have to lie for a complete stranger? To fabricate a whole life for this stranger?
Money? Timberline Treasures hardly looked like a bustling, profitable enterprise.
He threw the rental into gear and backed out of the driveway. Maybe Caroline had paid Linda to claim her as a cousin. Linda told a mighty convincing story.
As he watched Caroline’s porchlight fade into the darkness in his rearview mirror, he set his jaw. There were too many puzzle pieces that didn’t fit. Caroline Johnson hadn’t quite convinced him that she wasn’t the woman with Johnny Diamond.
