Scared To Death (Live to Tell #2)(22)

“I don’t know. I’m not saying it’s them. It could be anyone. It’s no secret around here who we are. Maybe someone saw the coverage on TV or in the paper about Garvey Quinn and Jeremy, and decided to look us up.”

She might have a point. Sensational stories like theirs must bring all kinds of kooks out of the woodwork.

Still, he shakes his head, unable to grasp—or maybe, accept—that one tragedy could possibly beget another.

“So what do we do?” he asks her. “Call the police? Even though Roxanne will have to know, and something like this…”

He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. She knows.

Something like this could destroy their fragile new family. If the agency decides it’s in Renny’s best interest to remove her from their custody, they’ll lose her forever.

It happened to Todd and Zoe Walden, for a far less compelling perception of threat. The agency zoomed in and snatched away their daughter without warning, almost as if…

She’d been kidnapped. Or had died. One moment she was there, a part of Todd and Zoe’s lives; the next, she was gone.

Brett can’t let that happen to his own family. It’s absolutely in Renny’s best interest to stay with him and Elsa; her parents. They would never let anyone harm her. Ever.

But if Elsa is right, then what is he supposed to do to keep Renny safe? Hire a private, armed bodyguard until they figure out what the hell is going on?

Yeah, right. Like that would escape Roxanne’s attention the next time she pays one of her unscheduled visits—which, come to think of it, is long overdue. She’s going to pop up any second now.

So, no bodyguard, no police. No proof, even, that this is real. But Brett will be damned if he’s going to take a chance with his kid’s life.

“I know what we can do,” Elsa tells him. “We can go see Mike, and tell him about what’s going on.”

“Elsa, that’s—”

“If you don’t come with me, then I’m going myself. With Renny.”

“You’re going to just show up there? Why can’t you call?”

“I’ll call and tell him we’re coming, but we need to go in person.” She holds out the Spider-Man figure. “We have to show him this. Maybe there are fingerprints or something.”

“I don’t know…”

“Brett, if we don’t do anything, and something terrible happens, I couldn’t live with myself.”

Looking at her, he realizes she means it. He managed to keep her from taking her own life once before. Next time, he might be too late—for her, and for Renny.

“Okay,” he tells her. “Let’s go.”



Caroline Quinn’s bloodcurdling scream seems to reverberate even after she’s been hustled off to a back room by the mortified Starbucks manager.

Amid the chaotic mass exodus of rodent-fearing customers, a skittish employee quickly gathers Caroline’s scattered belongings and expensive leather shoulder bag and disappears into the back room as well.

God only knows what’s going on back there. Is she crying hysterically? Threatening a lawsuit?

How I’d love to slip back there to see what’s going on. Do I dare?

A quick glance around reveals that the hipster baristas behind the counter are probably too caught up in rehashing the rat event to notice the lingering customer who’s reluctant to trail out the door after the others.

Still…no matter how tempting it is to get another glimpse of the stricken Caroline, it would be foolish to risk arousing anyone’s suspicion.

Then again, who would ever imagine that the rat didn’t find its way into her bag on its own, but was planted there by a human hand?

Why would anyone want to scare the living daylights out of a beautiful young girl?

Why, indeed.

It was supposed to be enough just to shake them up, to see them suffer, the way Jeremy had.

Somehow, though, it isn’t nearly enough.

Now that the line has been crossed…

Now that I’ve felt human blood on my hands…

Now that I know what I can do…

This is only the beginning.

Back out on the street, a quandary: where to go next?

Find a concealed spot nearby and watch for Caroline to emerge? Head back to the alley across from the Quinns’ building?

Now that there’s been contact, though, why bother? It’s only a matter of time before the apartment itself will be accessible, and then—

A sudden pocket vibration suitably curtails the thought.

That can mean only one thing…

Frustratingly, the glare of the midday sun obliterates the small screen. But a few steps away, beneath the shade of a bodega awning, the alert is instantly visible.

One of the Cavalons’ vehicles has just traveled beyond the designated area.

No question, now, where to go next.

They’re heading north.

And so will I.





CHAPTER FOUR




The drive up I–95 through Rhode Island and Massachusetts is long and silent, other than the necessary calls Brett has made to—and received from—the office. There’s much to be said, but Elsa and Brett don’t dare say it in front of Renny.

Maybe it’s better that they can’t talk right now. Elsa didn’t miss the dubious expression on Brett’s face back there in the gas station parking lot; she knows he isn’t entirely taking her seriously. She doesn’t have the energy to argue with him now. All that matters is that they tell Mike what’s going on.