Prime Suspect Read online

  Caleb had spent the time when the EMTs were examining his wound recalling everything he could. “Caucasian. A couple of inches shorter than me, I’d say around six feet. One-ninety, maybe two hundred, mostly muscle. Guy was strong as an ox.” It had taken all his strength to keep a grip on the struggling man, and Caleb was no weakling.

  “Any distinguishing features? Scars or—” the officer’s gaze slid over Caleb’s arms “—tattoos?”

  “Sorry.” Caleb shrugged. “He was wearing a black long-sleeved jacket and a ski mask.”

  “Did you get a look at the second man, the one inside the van?”

  He let out a laugh. “If I had, I wouldn’t have a goose egg on the back of my head.”

  Darcie winced before she spoke. “The driver was wearing long sleeves and a ski mask, too. But I only saw him for a second, too quick to even guess at height or anything.”

  “Did the witnesses see anything helpful?” Caleb jerked his head toward the small crowd that had gathered in front of the restaurant. The two men who had come to their aid stood among them.

  The second officer shook his head. “They said it was dark inside the van. They couldn’t see anything.”

  “And no license plate,” the first added.

  Caleb looked at Darcie. “Did you tell them what you told me about your apartment?”

  “Yes.” She cast a hurt glance toward the officer with the clipboard. “They think I’m paranoid.”

  The policeman gave her a kind smile. “Entirely understandable, after what you’ve been through.”

  Caleb couldn’t believe his ears. “But what about the man she saw earlier, the one from Indiana? And her apartment being searched?”

  Yes, he’d been doubtful of Darcie’s suspicions before, but surely this attack proved something was going on.

  “With no sign of entry and nothing missing?” The officer’s skeptical expression said it all.

  Caleb directed a question to Darcie. “Did you tell them about the murder victim we found this afternoon?”

  The officer answered. “Yes, sir, she did. And we will definitely give Detective Samuels a report of tonight’s incident. If he thinks there’s anything connecting the two, I’m sure he’ll contact you.”

  The second officer spoke, “We were just about to tell Ms. Wiley that we believe tonight’s attack was random.”

  Caleb threw up a hand in the air, flabbergasted. “I don’t believe this. She’s telling you she thinks someone has been stalking her, and then she’s jumped in a dark parking lot. How could this be random?”

  He replied in a calmly rational tone, “Maybe you don’t watch the news, sir, but there have been several attacks recently that match this M.O. Women alone at night, getting into their cars. A dark van and two men. Most of the victims have been found dead, their bodies violated and then strangled.”

  Caleb sobered at the words. Had he stopped Darcie from suffering the same horrible fate?

  * * *

  The officer’s words sent a chill straight through Darcie’s core. A strangled squeak escaped from between her clenched teeth. She’d seen a news report about that a few days after moving to Atlanta.

  She looked at Caleb. “What if you hadn’t been here?”

  “Don’t think about that. I was here.”

  He moved a step closer to her. For a moment she thought he might put an arm around her shoulders. The thought both comforted and frightened her. She had no desire to get close to this man, or to any man. But Caleb had saved her life.

  “I think we have everything we need.” The police officer closed his notebook. “If we have more questions, we’ll be in touch.”

  With a nod, both men headed for their police cruisers, leaving her alone with Caleb. Darcie found herself suddenly shy.

  “Thank you for coming to my rescue.” Simple words, but she meant them from the bottom of her heart.

  “Thank the Lord I was still here and had the windows down in the truck so I heard you shout. God’s fingerprints are all over that.”

  God’s fingerprints? She bit back a bitter laugh. That sounded like something Mama would say. God didn’t concern Himself in the life of Darcie Wiley. The multiple disasters of today were proof of that, not to mention the past few years. How Mama continued to believe in a loving God after all the suffering she’d been through, Darcie couldn’t imagine.

  But Caleb obviously believed, so out of respect for him she changed the subject. “Shouldn’t you be going to the hospital?”

  “Nah. All I need’s a couple of aspirin and a good night’s sleep. I’ll be fine.” He pulled the disposable ice pack away from his head and rewrapped the bloodstained cloth around it. At least the bleeding had stopped.

  “A good night’s sleep?” Darcie shook her head. “Good luck with that. I doubt if I’ll get any sleep tonight. I might as well not even try.”

  The look he gave her was full of compassion. “Tell you what. Why don’t you stay with a friend tonight? Tomorrow I’ll install a dead bolt on your door and we’ll get some boards or something to secure your windows. That’ll make you feel safer.”

  Would it? She didn’t think she would ever feel safe again.

  But it was a nice offer. She managed to give him a grateful smile. “I’d appreciate that. I—” She closed her mouth. Those officers thought her paranoid. Earlier Caleb had said much the same thing.

  “You what?”

  Something in those blue eyes compelled her to speak. She drew a breath and looked away.

  “I know it sounds nuts after what those police officers said about other women being attacked, but I can’t help it. I think those men in the van are somehow connected to everything else that happened today. The murder at the Fairmonts’. My apartment being searched. That spooky guy from Indiana.”

  When he did not reply, she risked a glance at his face. His head was back, his gaze focused on the dark sky. As his silence drew on, she found herself growing anxious to hear his thoughts. Maybe he would say something comforting, something to convince her that she was wrong. She wanted to be wrong.

  He finally said in a soft, low tone, “I think you’re right.”

  Not the response she’d hoped for. “You do?” Fear crackled in her voice.

  He released a sigh and nodded. “It’s too much of a coincidence for all those things to happen on the same day. In the same week, even. I don’t believe in coincidences. They have to be connected.”

  As his words sank in, a feeling of dread stole over her. She folded her arms tightly and clutched at her sleeves with suddenly moist palms.

  “Then that means tonight’s attack wasn’t random. They were trying to kidnap me. Maybe even—”

  Her throat closed on the words as the horror of the unfinished sentence struck her with the force of a tsunami. Maybe even kill me. An image of Jason Lewis’s dead, unseeing eyes rose in her mind, along with an equally troubling thought. They’re still out there. And they will try again.

  FIVE

  “Call a friend,” Caleb advised. “You don’t need to stay alone in that apartment tonight, and you’re too shaken to think clearly.”

  She looked absolutely terrified, her eyes large and round above cheeks that shadows made hollow. “I don’t have anyone to call. I just moved to town last month. I—I’m all alone.”

  The urge to gather her into a protective embrace was swift and almost overpowering. Caleb rejected it by shoving his free hand in his pocket; the other was still occupied in holding the ice pack to his throbbing head. Maybe it was he who was too shaken to think clearly. For one moment, he’d been on the verge of offering to take her home with him. That thug’s hammer must have scrambled his brains after all.

  Lord, what’s going on here? Besides being inappropriate asking a woman to spend the night alone in my apartmen
t, that’s dangerous territory. She needs help—that’s obvious. But I’m not the guy to help her. I already told You, I’m not going there again.

  “I should get a hotel room somewhere. I don’t have a lot of money, but anything would be better than spending another night in that place.” A shudder rippled through her delicate frame.

  Relieved, Caleb nodded with vigor. “That’s a good idea. I’ll follow you there and make sure you’re safe.”

  The moment the words left his mouth, he knew they were wrong. She’d been through a horrific day, one that would send most people to a psychiatric ward, and he wanted to tuck her in a hotel alone? She would no doubt relive that attack over and over through a sleepless night. Nobody should be alone at a time like this.

  A solution occurred to him. She might not have friends, but he did. “You know what? Scratch that. Let me make a call. I have a couple of friends who might be willing to help you out for a day or two.”

  Hope sprang into her eyes, but in the next moment her shoulders slumped. “It’s not only me. I have Percy, too. I can’t leave him alone in his crate for several days.”

  He’d forgotten about the dog. One of those pesky little balls of white fuzz Mrs. Fairmont raised. Caleb heaved a sigh. Even though he wasn’t much of a dog person, he couldn’t condemn one of God’s living creatures to days alone in a box.

  “Lauren and Brent don’t have a dog, so I’m not sure what they’ll say. All I can do is ask.” He slid his cell phone out of his pocket, but paused before punching in the number. “Don’t worry, Darcie. We’ll help you. I promise.”

  * * *

  Alone in her car, Darcie kept glancing in the rearview mirror. As he promised, Caleb’s pickup stayed right behind her the entire way. She forced herself to look at him, and at the road—not compulsively search the surrounding cars for signs of creepy men or a dark van.

  Her thoughts returned again and again to the attack. With no effort at all she could feel a strong arm grab her from behind, a calloused hand clamp over her mouth. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch, and she punched the radio button to drown out her thoughts. But no matter how loud she cranked the volume, her mind refused to release her from its morbid review of the day.

  Maybe she should call Mr. Fairmont and ask him to help her. He was out of town, but surely Aaron Mitchell knew how to get in touch with him. Whatever the nature of his past relationship with Mama, maybe he’d take pity on her and—

  She jerked upright in the seat. What was she thinking? This whole nightmare started because she’d called Mr. Fairmont to ask for a job. That call was a mistake, and she would not make matters worse by repeating it.

  With Mama gone—she blinked back tears at the sudden grief that washed over her—there was only one person she could depend on. Herself.

  A glance in the mirror showed her Caleb’s pickup still directly behind her. Streetlights reflected off the windshield, making it impossible to see inside, but he was there. Could she trust him?

  In some ways, yes. She could trust him to be honest. To be kind. To help her out of a quick bind. But trusting someone and relying on someone to solve her problems were two very different things. Reliance made a person vulnerable. She’d never been vulnerable to a man in her whole life, and she couldn’t afford to start now.

  No, the only thing she could do was leave Atlanta. Go someplace no one knew her. Another big city, perhaps, where it was easy to get lost in a crowd. Chicago. Yes, that’s what she’d do. She and Percy would quickly and quietly disappear.

  When they approached her apartment complex, she signaled her intent to turn, satisfied when Caleb’s blinker came on as well. He followed her through the parking lot, around the first row of apartments to her building in the back of the complex. She pulled into her space and was relieved when Caleb parked behind her. He hopped out of the truck and approached her car.

  “Is that your place?” He pointed to the door in front of her.

  “Yes.”

  He held out a hand. “Give me your keys, and you stay here. Lock the door. I’ll take a look inside. If you see anything suspicious, lay on the horn.”

  At least he was taking the situation seriously. Unable to muster a smile, she nodded her thanks as she handed over the keys and then closed herself in. The locks engaged with a click that sounded loud in the silent car. She watched as his large, muscular frame lumbered down the short sidewalk and climbed the concrete stairs in front of her apartment. When he pushed the door open, he paused, his head cocked to listen. Muffled through the car’s glass, Darcie heard Percy’s shrill bark from inside. Then Caleb entered.

  What an odd feeling, knowing a strange man was wandering through her house, looking in her bathroom, her bedroom, her closet.

  After a few moments that seemed to stretch into hours, he reappeared in the doorframe and waved for her to come in. A breath she didn’t realize she’d held whooshed out of her lungs. Thank goodness there were no attackers in her apartment, waiting for her to come home.

  As she stepped out of the car, the door to the apartment next door opened. Sloane appeared, the light from inside the apartment reflecting warmly off of her blond hair. She started down the porch stairs but stopped when she caught sight of Caleb.

  Darcie hurried up the sidewalk. “Hi, Sloane. Don’t be afraid. This is my friend, Mr. Buchanan.”

  My friend. I didn’t know him until a few hours ago, but he’s my only friend. How sad is that?

  Rather than fear, the girl’s face reflected only curiosity. She said in a clear voice, “Hello, Mr. Buchanan.” Without waiting for a response, she turned to Darcie. Excitement bubbled in her voice. “I’ve been watching for you to come home. Look what I have!”

  Darcie realized she held something in her arms, something white and fluffy. At first glance she thought it might be a stuffed animal. But then it moved, and she realized it was a tiny white dog. “Percy?” She shook her head, confused. How could that be her dog, when she could hear Percy barking his head off inside her apartment?

  Sloane giggled. “No, but she looks like him, doesn’t she?” She stooped and set the little dog on the grass. With a bark that sounded more like a squeak, it pounced on her shoe and began tugging at her laces.

  Darcie knelt down beside her and held a hand out toward the puppy, who sniffed and gave an experimental lick. “She looks just like him, only smaller. She must be younger.”

  “Mom says we’re gonna take her to the vet tomorrow and he’ll be able to tell us how old she is and if she’s healthy, on account of sometimes dogs in the Humane Society are sick.” A delighted giggle escaped the girl’s lips when the puppy left Darcie and returned to her shoe. “I don’t think she’s sick, though. I think she’s perfect. I knew the minute I saw her that she was mine.”

  Caleb made a noise in his throat. Darcie looked up at him and he glanced at his watch, a clear sign that they needed to get going. She straightened. “I think you’re very lucky to have found her. What’s her name?”

  Sloane scooped the dog up and buried her face in soft puppy fur. “Purdy. I named her after Percy, sorta. They can be best friends since they live right next door to each other.”

  “I’m sure Percy will be thrilled to have a best friend.”

  Except that Percy isn’t going to live here anymore.

  With a final wave, Sloane scooped up the puppy, skipped up the stairs and disappeared inside her apartment. Darcie went to her own door, and Caleb stepped aside to let her pass.

  He jerked a nod toward the cartons piled in the corner. “Those the ones you think were searched?”

  “Yes. See the corner of that quilt hanging out? It wasn’t like that this morning.”

  “Hmm. I’ve got a buddy who used to be a cop. Maybe he can take a look around and see if there are any other signs we could use to convince the police.”

  Now tha
t she was here, the apartment held an unspoken threat. Darcie scrubbed down the hair on her arms, which stood at attention. The sooner she got away from here, the better.

  Percy’s barking became frantic. Poor little guy. He wasn’t used to being in his crate when she was home. She stooped down and released the latch, then stood back while he celebrated freedom with his customary race around the room. When he finished the third circuit, he ran to her, rose to place a front paw on her shin as if to say, “Hey! Long time no see!” and then immediately tumbled across the room to Caleb. The big man looked down with a bemused expression while Percy inspected his shoes and the cuffs of his pants. The incongruous sight of the towering, muscular man looking down at a dog that barely stood taller than the tops of his boots brought a smile unbidden to Darcie’s face.

  “Let me grab a few things. It won’t take but a minute.” She headed down the short hallway to her bedroom, leaving Caleb in Percy’s capable hands...er, paws.

  * * *

  For a woman, Darcie sure traveled light. Either that, or she didn’t care much about material things, an attitude of which Caleb approved. Still, it seemed odd that all of her personal items for a short stay fit in a smallish duffel bag while the dog traveled with half a pet store.

  He secured the dog’s stuff—a bag of food, packages of treats, a cushioned bed, a grocery bag full of toys and an electric water bowl that flowed like a fountain—in the back of the pickup. When he started to lift the hard plastic crate and its canine occupant into the truck bed, Darcie stopped him with a look of pure outrage.

  “What?” he asked, crate in hand.

  “Percy can’t ride in the back. He’ll catch a cold.”

  Caleb bit his tongue on a comment about the pleasantly warm Georgia night. Instead, he opened the cab door and set the crate on the middle of the bench seat. At least it was a small dog. Back on the streets of Vegas he’d seen rats bigger than Percy.

  “There.” He straightened and turned to her. “Is that everything?”