Hold Back the Dark (20 page)

“And they didn’t?” He wanted so much to pull her back to him again, but realized that she needed the space between them to explain.

She shook her head. “They most certainly did not.”

“What was so different?” He turned onto his side and propped himself on his elbow to look more directly into her eyes.

“I was.” Aimee sat up, pulled the sheet up over herself, crossed her legs and sat tailor-style facing him. “I was frightened. All the time. The slightest change in our routine, the least noise, anything could send me into a panic attack.”

“That’s normal after an experience like that. You needed some time.” So the guy was a jerk. That was an explanation he could live with.

“That’s what we both thought, and Danny did his best to give me that time and make me feel safe. We stopped going out to dinner or movies or to hear music. That probably sounds stupid, but Danny’s the kind of guy who’s always the life of party, in a good way. To stay in our little cocoon day after day, night after night, was killing him.”

“He couldn’t wait it out?” Josh was liking this guy less by the minute.

“He tried. I did, too. But after the trial, I realized that things were never going to go back to the way they were.” She brushed the hair off his forehead. “I had changed too much.”

“So he left?”

“Or I drove him out.”

“And now?”

“In some ways, Danny leaving was what I needed to realize that I needed to get some therapy. To be honest, though, I don’t think my life will ever be the way it was again.”

Josh took Aimee’s hands in his. They were freezing, and he rubbed them between his to warm them up. “Why not?”

“I don’t trust my instincts the way I used to. I should have seen it coming. I should have seen how powerful his transference was becoming, and done something about it.”

Josh looked into her eyes and saw how much that confession cost her. He could understand. How would he feel if he stopped trusting his own cop instincts? “How often do clients turn violent like that?”

“Almost never. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have seen what direction Kyle was heading in. There’s other stuff, too.”

“What other stuff?”

“Why didn’t I realize that he was stalking me? The signs were all there. There were so many little things that should have tipped me off, and I missed all of them until after the fact.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s why we have that saying about hindsight being twenty-twenty,” Josh observed.

“I know. But the problem is, now I
always
think someone’s watching me. I get this sensation at the base of my neck. The hair stands on end and I’m convinced there’s someone behind me, watching and waiting and…” She shivered.

“Does it help that you were right some of the time? Kyle
was
watching you again.”

“I wish it did, but I can’t tell when I’m really in danger and when I’m not. No wonder Danny always looked at me like he felt sorry for me. I despise being a victim so much, and every time I looked into his eyes, it reminded me that that’s what I was now: a victim.”

“But that doesn’t have to be all you are,” Josh pointed out. “Being the victim of a violent crime does change people, but it doesn’t have to take over your life forever. You’re more than that. Any fool can see it.”

“I’m not sure Danny could see it anymore. Every time he looked at me, I think he saw me broken and bleeding on the ground. Every time I looked at him, that’s all I saw, too.”

“Then he’s an idiot.” Josh smiled at her. “Which is fine by me, because my mama didn’t raise no fools.” He put his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her toward him for another deep kiss.

I
t was very late when Aimee and Josh finally fell asleep, but Aimee still woke a few minutes before the alarm was set to go off. She shut it off before it could ring. Josh lay on his side, a possessive arm around her waist, pulling her close even in his sleep.

“You totally suck at sleeping in,” he murmured into her hair. “Do you always wake up before the alarm?”

“A lot,” she admitted. It felt so good to be held, to be sore in all the right places, to wake up with a man—this man—in her bed.

“Anything else I should know?”

“I eat cottage cheese out of the container, and leave my shoes all over the living room. What about you? Any confessions?”

“I sing in the shower.” He kissed her neck in just the right spot and she shivered.

“Do you sing show tunes? Something embarrassing?” She turned so she was nose to nose with him and kissed him. The stubble on his chin scraped her cheek and a tingle ran down her spine.

“No, my tastes run to seventies rock ’n’ roll. I do a fabulous rendition of ‘American Pie.’” He kissed her back, sucking her lower lip between his teeth.

“The long version?” Aimee hooked her leg around him and pulled their hips together.

“Depends on how dirty I am.” He rolled her onto her back, covered her body with his, and kissed her again.

They were busy long past the normal alarm time.

Josh was standing in her kitchen shirtless, making coffee. His wet hair gleamed and curled on the back of his neck, and she could smell his clean soap scent. Aimee let her gaze travel down the strong lines of his back, resting on the twin dimples just above the waistband of his jeans. “This looks like a scene from
Porn for Women,”
she said.

He turned, coffee carafe in hand. “Excuse me?”

She laughed at his bewildered expression. “You know that book, the one with all the hot guys doing the dishes and taking out the garbage? It’s been making the rounds.”

“Not at the police station,” he said, turning back to her coffee maker. “Am I doing this right?”

She came and stood next to him, loving the brush of his shoulder against hers and his heat. “Pretty much.” She took the carafe from him and poured the water into the well and hit the buttons to start the machine. She turned to find him looking at her, a smile on his face. “What?”

“You think I’m hot.” He chuckled.

She flushed. “Oh, the words that slip out of our mouths when we’re not properly caffeinated. Go put a shirt on.” She threw a dishtowel at him.

“In a minute.” He pulled her to him for a long, slow kiss that had her whole body tingling.

Then the doorbell rang.

Josh released his grip on her a little. “Expecting someone?” he asked, his face serious.

She clunked herself on her forehead. “I forgot to call Simone. We run together almost every morning.”

Josh frowned. “Does she always come at the same time?”

“Pretty much.” Aimee started toward the door.

Josh took hold of her arm and pulled her behind him. “Let me answer it.”

She looked at the grim set of his jaw. “Seriously, it’s just Simone. She has the code for the security door downstairs.”

“Seriously,
if you have a routine that you do every day, it makes it very easy for anyone who’s watching you. Kyle is clearly escalating things and may be looking for an opportunity to get a lot closer to you. Leaving your house at the same time every day is practically an invitation. Having someone let themselves in at the same time every day is an engraved invitation.”

Aimee felt the blood leave her face. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She hadn’t just endangered herself with her stupidity, she’d endangered Simone, too.

Josh brushed the hair off her face and kissed her forehead. “Varying your schedule should be one of the first things you do. We can talk more about it later. Now, please, let me get the door.”

Aimee hovered behind Josh, feeling foolish and afraid as he opened the door. It was almost worth it, though, to watch Simone’s eyes open wide at the sight of shirtless Josh.

“Simone?” he said, looking back to Aimee for verification.

She nodded. “Simone.”

“And you are?” Simone asked, stepping inside without taking her eyes off Josh.

Josh stuck out his hand. “Detective Josh Wolf. Sacramento PD.”

Simone shoved past him to Aimee. “Are you all right? Did something happen?”

“Kyle left a calling card here last night. I found it when I got back from your place.” Her throat clogged at the thought of the little decomposed body in front of her door.

“A calling card? What kind of calling card does a sick psycho stalker leave?” Simone asked.

“In this case, a dead puppy,” Josh said.

Simone’s face went white. “You poor thing! You should have called. I would have come right over.”

“It was fine—I called the cops and they got here right away. On the plus side, I finally found a use for those candles Jane pushed me into buying.”

“Don’t joke. This is serious.” Simone threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

Aimee took Simone’s hands. “I know it is, and it’s under control. Josh is going to pick Kyle up today.”

Simone turned to look Josh up and down one more time, then looked back at Aimee. “The Sacramento PD sends detectives to spend the night at your house?”

“It’s the deluxe stalker service. You can sign up for it online,” Aimee said.

“I’ll go gather my things,” Josh said, and slipped past them to the living room, gently brushing Aimee’s shoulder as he went past.

Simone followed Aimee into the kitchen. “Detective Hot Stuff really spent the night here?” she asked in a whisper.

“Detective Hot Stuff?”

“What do you want me to call him? Officer Cutie? Sergeant Honey Buns?” Simone plopped down in a kitchen chair.

“How about Detective Wolf? Or even Josh?” Aimee poured a cup of coffee for Simone and got the half-and-half out of the refrigerator.

Simone shook her head sadly. “You have no imagination. Did he spend the night here?”

Aimee smiled and didn’t say anything.

“You dog! You’ve totally been holding out on me!”

Josh came back into the kitchen, shirt on. “So what exactly do you ladies have planned for this morning?”

“The usual,” Simone said. “Five miles through Capitol Park.”

“Any chance I could talk you into taking a different route or going to a gym?” Josh asked.

“Neither of us belongs to a gym,” Aimee said, sitting down next to Simone.

“We could go back to my place and run that route in the park that we’ve been meaning to try,” Simone offered, sipping her coffee.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Josh said. “And after that?”

Aimee frowned. “Probably some more time with Taylor’s file. I need to figure out what that pattern means.”

“Have you considered that it could be nothing more than that? Just a random pattern that she draws? Elise draws spirals on everything.” Josh sat down next to her.

Aimee shook her head. “It’s got to be more than that, just like Elise’s spirals are probably more than that.”

“Like what, besides the fact that she gets bored easily?”

“Spirals mean advancement, progress. I’m guessing Elise is an ambitious woman.” Aimee smiled at him.

“You’d be right about that.” He got up from the table. “Okay. Look into the symbols, but try to stay out of trouble, okay?”

“Hey, Sean.” Sarah smiled up at him as he walked into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and working on her daily Sudoku.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and pouring himself a cup. He looked out the kitchen window. The sky was blue, the trees waved a little in the breeze; all in all, it was pretty much a perfect spring day. He’d had a good meeting the night before. He’d also tossed those blood-spattered shoes into a Dumpster behind a busy Starbucks. Maybe he could put the ugliness of what had happened to Stacey and Orrin behind him. Maybe there would be no more nasty little surprises waiting in closets or garages or under bushes. Maybe he could move on.

There was still Taylor to consider, but he’d find some way to make amends to her. She’d need help now that her parents were gone. Maybe he could help her. Maybe she’d be grateful enough to keep what she knew to herself. That wasn’t so far-fetched.

He sat down across from Sarah and took the front section of the newspaper.

“Have you been outside yet?” Sarah asked.

“Nope, I just got up. It looks gorgeous out.”

“It is, but…”

Sean looked up. She was biting her lower lip, something she did when she was nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“You know that tree you planted for me? The crape thing?”

Sean nodded. “The crape myrtle. Did I put it in the wrong place? I can still move it, or get you a second one.”

“No, it’s great where it is. Or was. Someone dug it up last night.”

Sean set his coffee mug down with great care. Keeping his voice calm, he asked, “Why would someone do that?”

She shook her head, her big caramel-colored eyes wide. “I have no idea. They didn’t even take the tree. They left it lying there next to the hole.”

“Was there anything in the hole?” Sean asked.
Easy. Don’t sound concerned. Breathe. Once. Twice. Again.

Sarah’s brow furrowed. “Just dirt. I didn’t look all that close. Do you think we ought to call the police? I mean, people shouldn’t be allowed to come on someone else’s property and dig up their trees.”

Sean swallowed hard. “Oh, it was probably some neighborhood kids playing a prank.”

“What kind of prank is digging up a tree?” Sarah still looked confused.

Honestly, that was her natural state. She was sweet, but not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. She didn’t need to be. Not for Dad.

“A stupid prank.” Sean bit the inside of his cheek. Had someone seen him when he’d planted the tree? Had they seen what he’d left in there? Oh, Jesus. Had his father seen? “What did Dad say when you told him about it?”

“I haven’t told him yet. He’d already left for the gym when I saw it. I figured I’d tell him when he got home.”

Sean’s mind raced. There was still a way out of this. “Let’s not bother him. You know how stuff like this upsets him, and he’s got so much on his mind right now, trying to figure out what to do with the business now that Orrin’s gone. I’ll replant the tree. He’ll never even have to know that it happened.”

Sarah frowned for a minute and then nodded. “I don’t like to lie to your dad, but not saying something isn’t exactly lying. Maybe it
would
be best not to get him all riled up. Thank you, Sean. I never know what to do about stuff like this. You and Carl are so good at knowing what to do, and taking care of it.” She reached across the table and put her hand over Sean’s. “I feel so lucky.”

Sean forced himself to smile back at her. “Me too.”

He fled the kitchen as soon as he could without arousing any suspicion. Although what it would take to arouse Sarah’s suspicion, he couldn’t say. She was trusting to an extreme, and took everything at face value.

The only person who could possibly have known what was under that tree was his father. But why would he have dug it up? Why would he take that kind of chance? And if he had, what had he done with it?

Sean sat on his bed and bumped his head against the wall softly, as if it would help him think. Who else could have seen him? Surely not Thomas. Besides, the little guy couldn’t dig the damn tree up. And definitely not Sarah.

Which brought him back to his father. If there was anyone who wouldn’t want to expose what Sean had buried there, it would be Carl. They hadn’t spoken of it. Years of shared secrets tied them together. This was just one more—but one that could unravel their lives if someone picked too hard at it.

It was okay. He’d had his father’s backing before and he had it now. He might not always understand his dad, but he loved him.

So it must have been an outsider. The idea that someone had watched him and unburied his secret made Sean’s stomach heave. Who could have done such a thing?

One thing was clear: whoever it was had to be as sick and twisted as Sean was.

The poor bastard.

Josh called Elise on his way to the station and filled her in on the dead puppy, and on Aimee’s suspicions that Taylor had been sexually assaulted and that it was all tied together. He did not tell her about where he’d spent the night.

But Elise was nobody’s fool. Outside the station, she looked him over, sniffed, and said, “That’s the same shirt you wore yesterday, isn’t it?”

“I haven’t had time to do laundry.”

She sniffed again. “And that isn’t your usual shampoo I smell, either.”

“I like to try new things.” He opened the car door for her. “Can we go show this photo lineup around now? Or do you want to check to see if I have on clean underwear?”

“Far be it for me to advise you on matters of personal hygiene.” Elise slid into the car. “But a woman notices these things. I’m just telling you.”

When he got in the driver’s side, she asked, “Where are we starting with your lineup?”

“I figure we can start around Aimee’s office building, then its parking garage.” Josh started the engine and reversed out of the parking space.

“Aimee?” Elise asked. She hummed a little tune to herself.

Josh ignored her and pulled onto Freeport.

“What?” he finally asked.

“Yesterday she was Dr. Gannon. Now she’s Aimee all of a sudden. I had no idea that a dead dog was the way to your heart. I would have told Jane Burton that months ago.”

“Who’s Jane Burton?”

“The blonde with the overbite over in dispatch. She was asking if you were single, and I don’t think she was looking to help you fill out your W-2, if you know what I mean.”

Josh cast his mind through the women over in dispatch and tried to remember a blonde with an overbite. “Do you mean the one with the crossed eyes? Who looks like a Siamese cat?”