Experiment in Terror (Koehler Brothers Book 1) (13 page)

“I’m glad. I liked them, too. You seem very close to them.”

“I am. Probably comes from being an only child.”

They drove back to Amanda’s place in a comfortable silence and when they pulled up in front of her house, Matt didn’t offer to come in as she hoped he would.

“Don’t you want to come in for coffee?” she asked.

“No, as much as I would like to, I had better get back to Denver. I need to pull some paperwork together for my meeting in the morning.”

Amanda was disappointed. She felt sad their day was ending. She loved being with him-his sense of humor, his smile, his consideration-all wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

She had been hoping he would come in and they could continue where they left off as Matt had suggested earlier. But she knew they had stayed at her parents’ much longer than either of them had expected.

Matt accompanied her to the front door, and when she turned to tell him goodnight, he took her in his arms.

“I wish I had more time,” he said, looking down into her upturned face. “I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the day. I enjoyed meeting your parents and I loved the biking. Call me when you want to go again.”

“It has been wonderful, hasn’t it?”

“Don’t forget to call me in the morning as soon as you check your calendar to see if you are free tomorrow evening.”

She assured him she would and waited for his kiss. When his mouth touched hers, it sent shivers of desire racing through her body. Raising his head, he gazed into her eyes for a long moment before he once again reclaimed her lips.

Amanda called Matt as soon as she checked her calendar the next morning. “I’m free tonight,” she told him.

“Good. Do you like to dance?”

“I love to.”

“Let me pick you up and I’ll take you to the Sundance Pub.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun. It’s been absolutely years since I’ve gone dancing.”

Amanda asked how his early morning appointment had gone and after talking for a few minutes, they hung up. Amanda could hardly wait for evening to come.

Her anxiousness to see Matt that evening made the day drag, but it was finally time to leave work and she hurried home to shower and dress. She debated what to wear.

She finally settled on a red one-piece dress that fitted snuggly around the waist and then flared out around the knees. She knew it showed off her figure to good advantage and would be great for dancing. She loved to dance and was glad Matt had suggested it.

After showering and washing her hair, she blew it dry. Putting on moisturizer, she applied a light touch of makeup and was ready to go.

When the doorbell rang, she hurried to answer it. Matt’s face lit in a smile as it always did when he saw her. He wore a gray suit, white shirt, and gray and red striped tie.

Each time she saw him, her feelings for him seemed to grow stronger. She felt like a breathless girl of eighteen as she stepped back and motioned him to come inside. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“Wait.” He stopped her with a hand on her arm. The invitation in his eyes was hard to resist and she moved willingly into his arms.

They talked nonstop on their way to the restaurant and right through dinner. When they had finished with their meal, Matt asked her if she was ready to get out on the dance floor. She nodded her head eagerly and followed him. When he turned and took her in his arms, she had the strangest feeling, as though she had come home.

“I’ve always loved to dance,” she murmured, as his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer.

They danced to several songs. She felt as though she were floating. She felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head and she wished the music would never stop.

“One more.” Matt smiled down at her. “And then we need to leave. I have to head for Colorado Springs early in the morning.” 

Amanda tried not to feel disappointed that the evening was about to end. An alto sax moaned out the music, the sound low and sexy, and a warm feeling filled her body, as he pulled her closer.

Matt leaned to whisper something in her ear. She was startled.

Had she heard him correctly? Had he said what she thought he had ?

She couldn’t be sure, so she made no response. The song ended and she followed Matt off the floor. As they left the restaurant, he reached for her hand and wrapped his warm fingers tightly around hers as they strolled to his car.

They were both quiet as they drove to Amanda’s house. But it was a comfortable silence. When they reached her house, Matt stepped out to walk her to the front door.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Matt told her as they reached the door.

“Please, do,” she said as she took out her keys.

As she turned to thank him for the evening, he gathered her into his arms and lowered his lips to hers. She was shocked at her own eager response. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said again, as he ended the kiss.

As she readied herself for bed, she mused over Matt’s murmured words on the dance floor. She wished she had heard more clearly. Perhaps, she should have asked him to repeat them.

She hoped she had heard him correctly. The words seem to repeat over and over in her mind.

This guy’s in love with you.

Chapter 13

Amanda mused over what she was sure Matt had said to her when they were dancing.
Was it possible that someone could fall in love that fast? In only a matter of days?

While she knew she was strongly attracted to him and there appeared to be a strong chemistry between them, she didn’t know if it was love. She had to admit she couldn’t recall ever feeling about someone the way she felt about Matt. Not even in the beginning of her relationship with Eric, her ex-husband.

She loved his sense of humor, his consideration, and the way his eyes always lit up when he saw her. She couldn’t help but feel relieved that her parents liked him. Their opinion met a lot to her. She never again wanted to feel the estrangement with them she had felt when she was married to Eric.

As she rode her bike to work, she continued to think about Matt. During the day, she had trouble thinking about anything else and she knew even after being together only a few times, she was going to miss him dreadfully while he was gone.

She did manage to get Kathy Chambers called and was delighted to hear how excited she was to be coming into Creations For You as an artist. They set a time for Kathy to come in, sign the contract, and see her assigned space, which Amanda told her it would be in one of the jewelry cases.

Amanda had lunch with Charlie at Paradise but she didn’t tell her what Matt had whispered in her ear and she wondered why. She had told her about everything else. But for some reason, she wanted to keep it to herself until she was sure.

Charlie detected that Amanda was a little down and commented on it.

“You’ll probably think I’m being silly,” Amanda said. “But Matt has gone to Colorado Springs for a few days and I’m missing him already.”

“You’re in love.” Charlie couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh really, Charlie. Don’t be ridiculous. I hardly know him.”

Charlie merely raised her eyebrows as she took another bite of her salad.

“I’m not sure how I feel about him,” Amanda said slowly, and then asked, ”Do you really think it can happen that fast?”

“With some people it does. Haven’t you heard of love at first sight? With other people it takes longer, like it did with me. In the beginning, I had so much to work through with the bad feelings I had toward Sloan, it took me a little longer. And when it did, it was like a thunderbolt out of the blue. Remember the fashion show he and I took part in? It hit me as we were walking back up the ramp together.”

Amanda smiled. She remembered talking to her friend when Sloan started pursuing Charlie and knew she had mixed feelings about him. At the time, she had thought Sloan had too much going against him for Charlie to ever fall in love with him. His reputation as a playboy. The fact that he had been her ex-husband’s attorney and had cost her the custody of her four-year-old son. The accident when her ex-husband was killed and her son was injured. But in spite of all that, they had fallen in love and were now happily married.

When Amanda went back to her office after lunch, Matt called her to tell her he had arrived in Colorado Springs and had finished his first meeting. Now he was going into another one, so he had only a few minutes to talk.

“I miss you,” he said before he hung up.

“I’m glad,” she said, not wanting to admit how much she missed him.

His call cheered her up somewhat. The day passed slowly and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was the way it was going to be the entire time Matt was in Colorado Springs. Disgusted at herself, she went out into the store and finding a few customers browsing, she decided to help out for a few minutes before going home.

When she had finished with the last customer she went into her office before leaving for the day. Deciding she would listen to music on the way home, she pushed the ear buds into her ears, plugged the other end into her smartphone, and donned her helmet. As she passed through the store, she waved goodbye to the staff on duty for the evening.

It didn’t take long to reach the Creek Path. It was starting to get dusk. She hadn’t realized it was so late. But no worry. The Boulder Creek Killer was in jail.

She had entered a short tunnel that went under one of the streets, when a man stepped out of the shadows. She slammed on her brakes.

“That was a dangerous thing to do, stepping out like that,” she said as she dismounted from her bike.

“Walk along with me,” he ordered, waving a knife at her.

Amanda’s heart began to pound. This area of the path was deserted, she realized with a shiver of panic. Her stomach clenched with fear as questions rushed through her mind.

Would someone hear her if she screamed? If she did scream, would he stab her with his knife? Was there anyway she could dial 911 on the phone in her pocket?

By this time they were out of the tunnel and she could see the man clearly. She almost gasped as she recognized him. Aaron Griswold. There was no mistaking him. With those bottle-cap lenses in his glasses and his shaven head, she would know him anywhere. She was glad Gary Kaufman had sent her a picture. At least she knew who she was dealing with. But knowing only made the knot of fear in her stomach grow larger. She felt panic like she had never known before.

What had happened? He was supposed to be in jail
.

Should she let him know she had recognized him? She decided she would play it by ear. Surely he wasn’t going to rape and kill her this time of day. It wasn’t yet totally dark. There were several paths down the hill from the University and students would be coming down them.

“Put your bike over there under those bushes,” he said, waving at some nearby shrubs. “Leave your helmet with it.”

Knowing how dangerous this man was, she did as she was told, shaking so badly it was all she could do to wheel her bike off the path.

After that was accomplished to his satisfaction, he said, “Give me your cell phone.”

She removed the earbuds with trembling fingers and handed them to him, along with her cell phone. He immediately turned her phone off, tossing it, along with the ear buds into a patch of weeds.

Wave after wave of fear flashed through her.
What was his plan for her? Where were they going?
She decided she would find out all in good time and the best thing was to keep quiet and not upset him in any way, but she was more frightened than she had ever been in her life. He motioned her to start walking and she accompanied him down the trail, frantically looking around to see if there was some way she could escape her captor. She knew that was probably a false hope. She was sure there was no way she could out run him.

How had he gotten out of jail?

Matt would be incredibly upset if he knew. But what was the likelihood of that, with him in Colorado Springs? Now she no longer had her cell phone, even if she had found a chance to call him. Icy fear gripped her as she realized she was now out of touch with everyone she knew.

They rounded a corner, and Griswold motioned to a parking lot off to one side of the path. He took her arm and led her to a white car and opened the door on the passenger side and said, “Get in.”

As she did so, she looked around, hoping to see someone. She couldn’t believe there wasn’t a soul in sight. What was the chances of that happening this time of day?

When he walked around the car, should she make a run for it?

It was as though he read her mind. Once she was seated in the car, he said, “Now move over behind the steering wheel. I want you to drive.”

“But I don’t have my driver’s license with me.”

“Then be careful. If you do anything to call attention to us, I will sink this knife into your heart.” His voice was absolutely emotionless and it chilled her to the bone.

Awkwardly, she climbed over the console and settled in behind the steering wheel. Aaron slipped into the passenger seat and shut the door. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he took out a solitary key on a chain and handed it to her.

Amanda took the key and started the engine. Since there was no one parked in front of the car, she put the car into drive and slowly accelerated.

“Which way?” she asked, as they reached the street.

“Take a right and go down to 30
th
Street and take another right.”

Following his instructions, she reached 30
th
Street and after taking a right, drove until it dead-ended into a major thoroughfare with several eating establishments. He motioned her to take another right and she stared wistfully at the restaurants. She hadn’t realized she was so hungry. This adventure should have made her lose her appetite. Instead, it appeared to have given her one.

“I’m hungry. Have you had your dinner yet?” she asked, in a friendly voice, hoping to buy herself more time.

“No.”

“I have some money in my pocket. We could stop and get something.”

“If we see one of those fast-food restaurants, we’ll go through the drive-in.”

That’s better than nothing
.
Was he going to take her somewhere to rape and kill her?

She tried to keep from trembling as fearful images took form in her mind. If he was, he had certainly changed his modes operandi from what she had understood from the news, which had been confirmed by Matt. In the past, he had always left their bodies where he had raped and killed the girls on the Boulder Creek Path. She tried to calm her feeling by wondering
, why would he let her eat if he was just going to kill her?
None of this made sense. But then, she didn’t have the mind of a serial killer.

“There’s a McDonald’s.” He pointed. “You can go through their drive-in.”

She put on the turn signal and when the traffic had cleared, she made a left-hand turn into the fast-food restaurant.

“What do you want?” Amanda asked as she stopped in front of the speaker.

“I’ll take whatever you’re having.”

She studied the menu for a minute, trying frantically to think of a way to escape. When nothing came to her, she ordered two hamburgers with fries and a drink for both of them.

“Do you have enough money?” Aaron asked.

“I have some bills in my pocket, which should cover it,” she said as she drove forward to pay and pick up their order.

“You’re short a dollar,” the clerk said.

“Really? I’m sure I gave you enough,” Amanda said, trying to buy some time. “Please count it again.”

The young man did as she asked. “I need another dollar,” he said firmly.

“That’s all I have,” she said, hoping he would read the desperation in her eyes and do something. Call his supervisor, or ask for the food back. Anything to keep them there.

“Here’s five,” Griswold said, leaning across her to give the young man the bill.

Change was made and their order handed out to them. Amanda slowly accelerated, and then stopped in the parking lot.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I can’t eat and drive, too,” she replied. “I don’t know about you, but I hate eating cold food.”

He said nothing more and they both unwrapped their sandwich. Amanda felt much better after eating. Ready to deal with anything Aaron might throw at her.

Should she jump out of the car and make a run for it?

“Don’t try it,” he said, as though reading her mind. His voice was quiet, but it held a subtle threat.

A flicker of apprehension coursed through her and she felt momentary panic as she waited for him to give her directions.

“So where are we headed?” she asked.

“Table Mesa Drive. It will take us up to NCAR,” he replied.

What on earth?

She knew the street that went up to the building, which sat on a hill outside of Boulder, dead-ended at the parking lot for the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The only reason people who weren’t employees went there was to hike the trails that led up into the foothills above Boulder.

Although panic continued to riot inside her, she decided not to ask any questions. She would find out soon enough what his plan was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Wasn’t ignorance supposed to be bliss? However, that didn’t seem to apply in this case.

Matt had just turned his cell phone back on after a meeting with a group of Colorado Springs policemen. Heller’s number flashed on the screen.

“Koehler,” he said, punching into the phone.

“Matt.”

“What’s up, Chief?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Heller said.

“What is it?” Matt asked. His stomach began to churn as he heard Heller’s next words.

“Aaron Griswold has escaped.”

“How did that happen?” he asked as anger knotted inside him. “I thought this new jail was state of the art.”

“It is. But he was being arraigned in court today. They had just arrived at the courthouse. Somehow on the ride from the jail, he was able to escape from his handcuffs and as one of the guards opened the car door, he overpowered him, took his gun, shot the second one, and got away. Heads are going to roll on this one.”

Matt’s heart sank. All the work he and Karen had done had been for nothing.

“I’m down in Colorado Springs working with their police department on a case, but if you need me, I’ll come back up to Boulder.”

“Let’s wait and see what happens. Maybe we can somehow catch him without your help. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Please do. Catching that killer meant a lot to me. I sure hate to think of him running around loose.”

Heller assured him he would be in touch as soon as he knew something.

“Do you think it’s possible that he’s gone back to the Boulder Creek Path, looking for another victim?” Matt asked.