Unforeseen Danger (31 page)

Love,

E.S.

The words filled Nikki with revulsion, tangible evidence of her betrayal.
 
She had lied to Jake and had convinced this man to leave his wife, the man who was now stalking them.
 

The initials weren’t lost on her either.

E.S.

It had to be Evan Stephens.
 
That’s why he acted so proprietary.

He had plenty of time to leave the party and break into their house, since they only lived ten minutes away.
 

Nikki shoved the note back into her pocket when she saw Jake emerging from the manager’s office.
 
She’d already decided not to tell him about it yet, too afraid of how he’d react, and she wasn’t going to tell Matt about it, either.
 
Not until she had a chance to confront Evan Stephens herself.

***

They gathered at Catherine’s the next day to celebrate Zeke’s birthday and discuss plans for a Thanksgiving dinner.

“There’s only one thing that could make this Thanksgiving better.”
 
Catherine smiled at
Nikki .
 
“If we could only hear the pitter-patter of little feet running around…”

Nikki happened to be looking at Eliot as Catherine spoke and she saw him blanch.
 
He excused himself from the table to get a drink.
  

“Real subtle, Mom.”
 
Jake shook his head and grinned, oblivious to Eliot’s reaction, but Nikki wondered.

November 17

Jake waited until Catherine arrived before he left for work.
 
As he kissed Nikki goodbye, he said, “Oh, by the way, if you need me, dial my cell phone.
 
I’ve got to go onsite today, so I won’t be in the office after nine.”

Nikki set the alarm, a plan forming in her mind.
 
Jake wouldn’t be around today, so this might be the perfect opportunity to confront Evan Stephens.

Her plan dismayed Catherine.
 
Nikki didn’t tell her about the note, only relayed what Stephens had said the night of the party.

“Nikki, dear, call Matt and let him handle it.”

“Catherine, I don’t know for sure that Stephens is the one,” Nikki protested.
 
“What if I’m
wrong,
and he’s just a jerk?
 
It could cost Jake a job if I bring the police into this.”
 

Her mother-in-law still didn’t look convinced, so Nikki tried another tactic.
 
“What if Jake finds out what I think, and goes after Stephens?
 
You should’ve seen his face that night in the library.
 
He was ready to kill him.”

Her lips pursed, Catherine acknowledged the truth in her statement, but added, “Nikki, I’m just not comfortable with it.
 
Even if you meet him in a public place, he could have a gun in his pocket and force you to leave with him.”

“I think you’re being a little melodramatic, Catherine,” Nikki said with a gentle smile.

“If he’s crazy enough to do all these other things, you can’t predict what he’ll do if cornered,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
 
“The only way I’ll go along with this is if you let me bring Matt along.
 
We’ll stay out of the way, but be close enough to help if you need us.
 
Matt won’t say anything if I ask him not to.”

“Yeah, he’s
kinda
got the
hots
for you, doesn’t he?”
 
Nikki teased.

“Nicole!”

Nikki managed to get through to Evan Stephens without giving her name, and he seemed pleasantly surprised by her lunch invitation.

“Jake’s meeting a new client today, and I hate to eat alone,” she said.
 
“Meet me at the Fiesta Cantina at
11:30
.”

“I don’t really like
Mex
—”

“Don’t be late,” Nikki commanded and hung up in his ear.

Matt managed to commandeer a back booth that gave him an open view to Nikki without revealing himself to Stephens.
 
Nikki guessed he chose this restaurant because it was so dark.
 
Catherine sat with him, wearing a large brimmed hat he could duck behind.

“Remember, Nikki,” he told her for the third time, “if you need me, all you have to do is reach up and push your hair behind your ear.
 
You do that, and I’ll be right beside you.”

Nikki nodded and smoothed her hands over the red tablecloth.
 
Matt had also equipped her with a mini-recorder, to have proof if Stephens admitted anything.

“Jake would kill us if he knew this was going down,” Matt grumbled.

Stephens arrived promptly at
11:30
.
 
His chubby face was flushed, and he preened like a peacock, patting his brown hair as he spoke.

“Nikki, I must say, I was a little surprised when you called.
 
I was afraid I upset you at the party…”

 
“Sit down,” Nikki said in a cool voice she barely recognized.
 

He hurriedly plopped down across from her.
 
The waiter brought their water and chips.
 
Nikki thanked him, but her eyes never left Stephens’ face.

“Evan—” she paused.
 
“I can call you Evan, right?”
 
He nodded, looking eager to please.
 
“You know I’ve been having trouble with my memory?”

“Jake told me,” he said.

She leaned forward.
 
Although much of this was rehearsed to throw him off-balance, the ice in her voice was real.
 
“I don’t like games.
 
I want to know what you meant by mauling me, and acting like you had the right.”

“About that…”
 
Evan shifted.
 
“I had a little too much to drink, and you are a truly beautiful—”

“You said I was no fun anymore, that I used to be a lot friendlier,” she interrupted, and could tell he was thrown by her
demeanor
.
 
“What did you mean?”

“Nothing, Nikki, honest!” he said.
 

She merely stared at him, watching him squirm until he said, “Okay.
 
I knew you couldn’t remember things, so I thought I’d insinuate that maybe we had something going, just to see if you were open to the idea.”

“Do you make a habit of trying to take advantage of women young enough to be your daughter?”
 
Nikki snapped, and then took a sip of her water.

“No, I – wait a minute!” he exclaimed.
 
“I know what this is about!
 
I heard you’re having problems with some guy.
 
Surely you don’t think it’s me?”

He stared at her incredulously, and she shrugged.
 
“I swear, Nikki, it wasn’t me.
 
I don’t know what’s been going on with you two, but I just got back in town the day of the party.
 
My wife and I flew to
Paris
for her niece’s wedding on the ninth.
 
If anything happened during that time, I have an alibi.
 
I’ll show you the stamps on my passport if you’ll follow me back to the office.”

“Maybe I should just ask your wife,” she suggested.

Evan Stephens grew pale.

“That’s not necessary, is it?
 
The only thing I’m guilty of is hitting on a pretty woman at a party.
 
I’m no stalker.”
 
His beady eyes darted frantically around the room, seeking escape.

Regretfully, Nikki believed him.

How she had hoped to wrap this up today!
 

If Stephens was telling the truth, which could be easily verified, he couldn’t have broken into Catherine’s car and he couldn’t have returned the globe.
 
Somehow she couldn’t picture this fat, balding man breaking into anything easily.
 

“You could’ve hired someone to do it,” she said, but she didn’t really believe it as the words left her mouth.
 
He was too nervous, too scared.
 
The man who was stalking them was cold and calculating.

Nikki looked at Stephens with unbridled contempt.
 
He was pathetic.
 
She would’ve imagined it would take more to intimidate such a high profile businessman, but he was quaking in his five hundred dollar shoes.

“If you leave now, I won’t tell Jake, or your wife, what happened at the party,” she said.
 

Evan nodded and threw a twenty on the table before making a hasty retreat.

“He’s not the one,” Nikki announced glumly, as Catherine and Matt joined her.
 
She played the tape for them.
 
Matt leaned back with a sigh, lacing his hands behind his head.

“I think you’re right, but I’ll check out the
Paris
thing anyhow.”
 
He gave them a conspiratorial wink and said, “The
chimichanga’s
great here.
 
What do you ladies say to lunch, especially since Mr. Stephens has so generously contributed to the bill?”
 
He waved the twenty like a flag.

Jake came home that evening with bad news.
 

“I have to go out of town in the morning.
 
It’ll just be an overnight thing, so I’ll be back sometime Wednesday afternoon.
 
The guy I met with today wants me to fly to
Kentucky
with him to meet with his partners.”

“It’s okay,” Nikki said.
 
“I’m sure Catherine and Zeke will let me stay with them until you get back.”

“I don’t like leaving you.
 
I’d take you with me, but I’m afraid I’ll be too busy to be much company.”

***

Even though Jake called her twice after he arrived at his hotel, Nikki missed him terribly.
 
She lay awake in Catherine’s guestroom that night, unable to sleep with Jake so far away.
 
As she stared at the ceiling, puzzling over the letter she’d found in her pocket, she had a horrible thought.

What if it was Eliot?

Eliot Simms, with his blonde good looks and old money, certainly seemed a more likely suspect than Evan Stephens.
 
He was married and somewhat older than Jake.
 
He was someone Jake considered a friend, and someone who could’ve easily gained access to their home.
 
Nikki prayed it wasn’t true, because she knew Jake loved Eliot like a brother.
 

He reacted so strangely when Catherine talked about babies at Sunday dinner.
 
Was it because he hated the thought of her and Jake having a family together?
 

She knew it was vain to think that Eliot was so recklessly, helplessly obsessed with her, but she couldn’t think of another man with those initials.
 
The more she thought about it, the more it tormented her.
 
He was at the house when she found the globe, could’ve slipped it in under her nose.
 
And the fire…he arrived right behind them.
 

Eliot made perfect sense.

Although the thought, and all its implications, terrified her, Nikki knew she had to find out.

Tuesday afternoon presented her with the perfect opportunity.
 

Nikki sat on the couch, listlessly channel surfing, when the doorbell rang.
 
She jumped up and went to the front door.
 
Her pulse tripped when she saw Eliot standing on the front steps, but she quickly opened the door and invited him in.

“Is Dad here?” he asked.
 
“I called his office, but they said he already left for the day.”

“He told Catherine he was going to the club to play bridge after work,” she said.

Eliot glanced around.
 
“Where
is
Catherine?”

“Gone to the store.”

“What?
 
She left you here alone?”

Nikki swallowed.

I’m so stupid
, she thought.
 
I am alone, and I just let in a man I suspect of murder.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself.
 
Catherine would be back soon.
 
And she really did need to talk to Eliot alone.

Nikki made a show of looking at her watch.
 
“She should be back anytime now.
 
Meanwhile, could we talk?”

She wasn’t sure if it was her overactive imagination or not, but she thought she saw a shadow of apprehension cross his face.

“Sure,” he said.
 
“What do you want to talk about?”