A High-End Finish(54)

“And if it was deliberately cut?”

He rubbed his jaw as he considered. “Then I would say someone is out to hurt you. There’s a small chance it might not be the same person who killed those two men, but I’m betting it is. He also managed to get access to your garage, which I imagine you keep locked most of the time.”

“I do.” I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Why was this happening to me? “Okay, so you’re telling me that the same person is either setting me up to go to jail or doing me favors or trying to kill me. Or all of the above.”

“I’ve managed to frighten you and I’m sorry, Shannon.”

“Yeah, me, too. He sounds schizophrenic.”

“It’s definitely not a normal scenario.” He stood and slipped his jacket back on. “Look, I can’t promise you round-the-clock protection, but I can try to schedule a cruiser to drive by every hour or so. In the meantime, I would strongly suggest that you find someone to stay here with you or else pack a bag and go to a friend’s house for a few nights.”

“My dad lives in his RV and he usually parks it in my driveway, but he’s been away for the past few days, fishing.”

“Until he gets back, I’d like you to take those extra precautions.”

I shifted my gaze from his to the windows overlooking my familiar view of the safe, quiet street I’d grown up on. After a long moment, I looked back at Eric and nodded. “Believe me, I will.”





Chapter Ten


Lizzie offered to spend the night at my place, but I told her I didn’t want to take her away from Hal and the kids.

“Why do you think I’m offering?” she said, annoyed that I didn’t understand her ploy.

“Oops.” I laughed. “Sorry.”

Jane jumped in. “It’s all right, Lizzie. I’ll be staying with Shannon for as long as necessary.”

“Thank you,” I said, having already planned for her to stay. Jane had become almost fanatical in her determination to keep me safe. I got the feeling that she was more worried about me than I was about myself, which was pretty darn worried.

“But I could stay, too,” Lizzie said. “We could have a slumber party.”

I gave her a big hug, but in the end she went home to her darling family, while Jane and I ordered Chinese food and watched one of Jane’s favorite old romantic comedies. We laughed, we cried, and if we’d only had more time, we would’ve painted our toenails and braided each other’s hair. It was girls’ night, for sure.

Thursday morning after breakfast, Jane still wasn’t keen on leaving me alone in the house. But since I knew she had an appointment with her landscaper, I insisted that she go home.

“I can cancel the appointment,” she said. “You and I can stay here and play cards or . . . something.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll be fine by myself. I’ve got a bunch of things to do today and besides, nothing’s going to happen to me in broad daylight.”

“But Eric said—”

“I know what he said and believe me, I appreciate his concern. I’ve already seen a cop car drive by a few times this morning, so I feel safe right now.”

She glanced out the window. “I’m uneasy about leaving you here alone.”

“I’m a little anxious myself, but I’ll be okay. When I asked you to spend a few nights here, I didn’t expect you to stay twenty-four hours a day.”

She fiddled with her purse strap, unsure of what to do next. “I feel guilty leaving you.”

“No guilt allowed,” I said, grabbing her for a quick hug before nudging her toward the door. “You have your own life, and you need to get that garden whipped into shape if it’s going to look good by the grand opening.”

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

I walked with her out to her car. “I’ll be sticking close to home today.”

“Can I give you a ride anywhere?”

“No, thanks,” I said easily. “I plan to clean up the garage. It’s got that black dust everywhere from the fingerprinting. And then I thought I’d better go through my tools. Make sure nothing else is missing.”

She grabbed my arm. “Oh, God, Shannon.”

“Yeah, I know.” If I found more tools missing, I was going to call the police right away.

With a heavy sigh, she climbed into her car. “Okay. I’ll be back sometime later this afternoon.”

“Thanks, Jane.” I watched her drive off, then went back inside the house. I called Penny at the bank to beg off meeting her at the gym.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. I’ve just got something I’ve got to take care of at home.” I didn’t feeling like sharing the details with everyone in town.

“That’s a drag,” she said. “Maybe we can make it sometime this weekend.”

“I’m determined to get there tomorrow. Do you think you’ll be there?”

“Tomorrow’s Friday,” she mused. “Yeah, I might be able to make it.”

“That would be great,” I said. “If it turns out you can’t, we’ll do it another time. Otherwise, I’ll see you there around five.”