Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (24 page)

“How do you know Savannah?” I asked. My stomach clenched, and the hairs stood up on my arms.

“I teach one of Savannah’s classes…well…substitute teach. Right Savannah?”

“What class?” I broke in before she could say anything. I hated thoughts of her talking to him at all and didn’t want this creep anywhere near my daughter.

“Science.”

“Oh. So you’re a substitute teacher? How long have you been doing that?”

“Hmm…” he said, calculating the time. “Just about six years.”

The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and a chill ran down my spine, but I tried to keep a pleasant smile on my face. “Really? That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it keeps me out of trouble.” He smiled, thinking how ironic that statement was. “Have you decided if you want to use my company’s marketing plan yet? I know I could set up something nice for you.”

“Uh…not yet. I’m still thinking about it.”

“Well, let me know if you do.” He smiled, thinking this little meeting had worked out perfectly. Glancing between me and Savannah, the similarities between us stood out. “Wow…you two sure look a lot alike. Now that I see you together, I can see the resemblance.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We get that a lot.”

When I didn’t continue, he decided it was time to leave. “Well…I’ll let you go. It’s been nice seeing you again. Bye Savannah.” He gave her a quick wave, which Savannah half-heartedly acknowledged, and turned back toward his car.

I left my window down and concentrated on his thoughts, needing to pick up something useful before he got in. He was happy he’d scared me, and a rush of anticipation swept over him. Not long now, and I’d be his, then…

His door shut before I could pick up anything else, and my heart raced. I blinked and glanced at Savannah, giving her a weak smile. She was thinking that she didn’t like Mr. Hanley much and was glad he was just a substitute teacher. He was too friendly, and it made her uncomfortable, especially since he seemed to pay more attention to her than anyone else in the class. He kept staring at her and it had kind of freaked her out these last few days.

Alarm prickled over my skin. “How long has he been substituting?” I asked.

“Since Wednesday.”

He’d been there for three days? I’d only talked to Sean at his office on Monday, so how the hell had he managed to get a substitute teaching position at my daughter’s school so fast? “What happened to your real teacher?”

She shrugged. “I think he got sick or something.”

My mouth went dry, and sudden fear made it hard to swallow. This was not how I expected things to happen. Not at all.

“Can we go now?” Savannah asked, wondering why I was staring at her with a crazy look in my eyes. I was just sitting there with the car running. What was wrong with me? That thought pretty much came from everyone in the car.

“Of course,” I responded, and put the car in gear. As I drove the kids home, a tide of mounting anger rose up inside of me, and I knew I’d shoot that crazy son of a bitch myself before I let him harm my daughter. Whatever he had planned for me would be nothing compared to what I had planned for him.

By the time Savannah and I entered the house, I had calmed somewhat…mostly for her sake, and showed her the other things I bought in Seattle. Josh came home soon after that and I told them both all about Pike Place Market and the other things I’d seen. Talking to them helped me feel better, especially when Josh told me his version of the swing catching on fire.

I left soon after for the grocery store, deciding to wait for another time to drive by Sean’s house. For some reason, I just didn’t want to leave Savannah for that long. I quickly stocked up on everything we’d run out of in the last few days, and made it to the check-out without buying anything that wasn’t on my list. That had to be some kind of record.

As I waited, the candy bars tempted me and I contemplated buying a couple. Two for a dollar was a pretty good deal, and I’d been so good. Just as I reached for one, I picked up a stray thought about me and goosebumps broke out on my arms. It was Sean, and he was thinking I had certainly bought a lot of food, but I was finally done and it was time to put his plan into action. His thoughts abruptly stopped so that had to mean he’d left the store. I glanced around but couldn’t see him anywhere. Did that mean he was waiting for me in the parking lot?

I chewed on my bottom lip, wishing I knew what his plans were. He wouldn’t do anything stupid in the parking lot, would he? I knew he’d taken Darcy while she was getting into her car, but that was in a parking structure with no one around. This was different. Still, I was grateful I had my stun flashlight in my purse. He wasn’t going to get anywhere near me without getting zapped.

My shopping cart was full, and I rolled it in front of me like a shield toward my car. Knowing something was going to happen at any moment put me on edge, and I listened to thoughts so hard that I passed up my car and had to backtrack.

Still hearing nothing, I began to unload my groceries. Where was he? What was he planning? Someone with a quiet mind walked past me and then stopped.

“Shelby?” Sean said. “Whoa, this is nuts. Twice in one day.”

With my heart pounding, I turned to face him. “Wow, it really is nuts. In fact, it’s so nuts, it almost looks like you planned the whole thing.” That startled a laugh out of him, so I continued. “I’ve never seen you at this grocery store before. Do you live around here?”

“Not close, no,” he answered, thinking I was quick, and he’d better tell me something I’d believe that was close to the truth. “But it’s near the school, so I thought I’d grab a few things on my way home. Here, let me help you with that.” He took the sack from my arms and began unloading the rest of my cart for me. With his help we got done quickly, and he closed the trunk with a smile. “I’ll take your cart back for you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Sure. See you around.”

As he pushed my cart away, I picked up that he was pleased he’d startled me, although my comment about him planning the meeting concerned him. Why would I say something like that? I was definitely not like the other women. I had a lot more spunk. In a way it was worrisome, but it also gave him something to look forward to.

He could take his time breaking me. I’d probably scream a lot. And all that screaming would make it even sweeter once I started to beg. Good thing he’d sound-proofed the room. He hadn’t been back for a long time, so he should probably drive out there and open some windows. Maybe put out some air freshener. The smell should be gone by now, but he didn’t want the odor to be a distraction. He’d go home, grab something to eat, and drive straight there. It wouldn’t take long, and then he’d be back in time to get everything else ready. If it all worked out the way he’d planned, he’d have me there by tomorrow night.

My breath caught, and I jumped into my car and shut the door before he noticed me watching. I swallowed, and my fingers shook as I locked the doors. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I tried to think though the panic and calm down. I knew his plans. That was good. Now I just had to decide what to do about them.

What were my options? Since I didn’t know where this ‘place’ was, it might be a good idea to find out. From how he thought about the smell, I could only surmise that the other bodies were there. So finding the place with the bodies would certainly be enough to get him arrested. But to find the place, I’d probably need to follow him.

There was no way I was going alone and, since he knew my car, I needed to call someone else and get them to drive. Once we found the place we could watch until he left, and then go take a look to see if the bodies were really there. Then I could call the police to get a search warrant and arrest him.

Out of Ramos, Chris, and Dimples, the person I really wanted to call was Ramos, but I was afraid he’d just shoot Sean. Then Sean wouldn’t get arrested and we’d have to cover up the shooting, which probably meant not involving the police, and the cases would remain unsolved. I couldn’t let that happen.

Chris would probably freak out and tell me not to go. I also didn’t want to think about him bringing his gun and shooting Sean either. Dimples had a gun and was the police, so he was the logical choice, but I wasn’t sure he’d go for the breaking and entering part. Still, I felt that I should at least call him first, knowing that whomever I called, they had to act fast. I pushed speed dial for Dimples’ number and pulled out of the parking lot. Sean had just left, and if I was going to get to his house in time to follow him, I couldn’t wait around.

I debated following him right then, but decided to go home and dump the groceries first, counting on the kids to put them away for me. Now if only Dimples would pick up. The call went to voice mail and I hit the steering wheel with my palm. Damn! I left a message to call me and put a call through to Ramos, figuring that somehow, I’d just have to make him do what I wanted. His call went to voice mail too and I swore again. Leaving a message to call me, I hung up just in time to pull into my garage, and ran into the house.

“Hey guys. I need your help…right now! Hurry! This is important.” They both came running, which kind of amazed me, and I popped the trunk open. “Get the groceries inside and put them away for me. I’ve got an emergency!” While we ran back and forth, I put in another call to Dimples. It went straight to voice mail, so I didn’t bother to leave another message. Then inspiration hit, and I called Geoff Parker. He was a retired cop…he’d be home, and he probably still carried a gun. Even better, his house was in the same direction as Sean’s.

“Hello?” Geoff answered.

“Geoff! It’s Shelby Nichols. I know who did it and I need your help. Can I come over right now and pick you up?”

“Uh…um…sure.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything when I get there. We’ll need to take your car…oh…and don’t forget to bring your gun.”

I disconnected and set the last of the groceries on the table, then turned to my kids. “Thanks for putting these away. I’ll explain everything later.” I ran back to jump in the car and noticed Savannah’s eyes wide in alarm and Josh’s mouth hanging open. They’d heard the gun part and didn’t like it one bit. “I’ll be back soon…don’t worry.”

I made it to Geoff’s house in record time and pulled to a stop. To my relief, he was ready and waiting in his car. This might just work. I pulled the door open and jumped inside. “Thanks so much! Here’s the address. Do you know where it is?”

“Yeah, it’s not too far from here.” He backed the car onto the street and we took off. “So what’s going on?”

I explained everything I knew, even telling him that I was Sean’s next victim. “I tried to call Dimples, but he didn’t answer his phone, so I’m really grateful you’re coming with me.”

He nodded, thinking I was a little nuts to follow the guy in the first place, but if what I said was true, it was probably the only chance we’d get to find where he took the women. “Okay,” he said. “We’re almost to his house. You’d better duck while I drive by. If his car is still there, I’ll pull over down the road a bit and we can wait.”

As I nodded, my stomach clenched with anxiety. I hoped we hadn’t missed him, but at the same time, I kind of hoped that we had.

“Okay, there it is.”

I squeezed down into the foot area and held my breath. Geoff casually glanced down the drive and kept going. “We’re in luck. He’s just putting some things in his car, so he hasn’t left yet.”

Closing my eyes, I swallowed my fear and stayed out of sight. Geoff pulled into a driveway about three houses down, and turned off the engine. “We’ll just wait right here for him. As long as no one needs this driveway, I doubt Sean will notice us sitting here. You can probably get up now. Just lean over when he passes.”

“Okay.” I unfolded my legs and sat back on the seat. Geoff kept watch, hardly taking his gaze off the house. He was thinking he didn’t want to miss this opportunity and was grateful I’d called him. He’d forgotten how exciting it was to be on the hunt and hoped this wasn’t all a big mistake.

“So how did you know it was him?” he asked.

“Well…a lot of it was through my premonitions, and the rest was hard work.” I sure hoped he’d buy it, since that was the most I could say. “I have to admit…I was pretty upset that he was teaching at my daughter’s school. I still can’t figure out how he managed that.”

Geoff narrowed his eyes. “You know…that might be the link. I think one of the missing women was a school teacher. The others could have had children at the schools where he substituted, or had some other connection to them. That could be how he picked his victims and gained their trust.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “There’s probably someone he knows in the district that’s more than willing to let him substitute in any class or school available.”

“I agree…wait…here he comes,” Geoff said.

I ducked down and froze in my seat. Once Sean passed, I sat up and Geoff started the car. As he pulled out of the driveway, he was thinking how quick his training had kicked in, even though it had been a few years, and how much he enjoyed being back on the job. He didn’t think he’d missed it until now. In some ways he hadn’t, but catching this bastard was different. It was still hard to believe that I’d figured it out so fast, and he wished I would have been around before he’d left the department. But at least I’d cracked the case wide open now.

Geoff kept two to three cars between us, keeping Sean in sight. We followed his car to the freeway and I was grateful Geoff was at the wheel, expertly maneuvering between cars without following too closely for Sean to notice.