Twilight at Blueberry Barrens (Sunset Cove #3)(69)

“So we’re back to square one.”

He nodded. “Wang told me he feels it’s related to Heath trying to find out who framed Wang for the murder charges he faces. I decided to have Heath’s backup hard drive shipped to me. He’d replaced his computer at the office and put the old one in a storage shed our uncle kept. I’ve been looking over his new computer files and found nothing conclusive, but there might be something on the other hard drive. My uncle is shipping it out today.”

She leaned her head against his chest. “Maybe we’ll get to the bottom of who killed them, and you can move on.” It was time to tell him her news as well, though the timing couldn’t be worse when he was worried about getting to the truth.

She pulled away and stared into his face. “The more I’ve thought about it, the more convinced I am that whoever is watching me might be the person I saw the day Heath and Melissa died. What if he thinks I can ID him?”

“Whoa, where did this come from? You’ve been thinking it was your uncle who broke into your house.”

She exhaled, hating to admit her desire not to face the truth. “I was up a lot last night thinking about it. Uncle Paul might have broken in, but he wouldn’t have put the chocolate in the picnic basket. He wouldn’t have taken the pictures or put that X on your face in the photo. He couldn’t call and breathe in the phone. Someone is trying to terrorize me, and I’ve tried to pass it off as Uncle Paul. I don’t believe it is any longer, not after last night.”

His expression changed from indulgent to alert as he listened. “So you think maybe both of these cases are linked somehow?”

She shook her head. “I think it’s a stalker, and I’m his current victim. He has to be stopped. I called the sheriff while you were gone.”

He stared down at her with a question in his eyes. “Did the sheriff have any news?”

Her pulse throbbed in her throat at the thought of his reaction. “That’s not why I called. I told him I want to be a decoy and lure the guy into the open where they can catch him.”

His hands went to her shoulders, turning her to face him. “Wait a minute, that’s way too dangerous, Kate. The guy’s unpredictable, and I doubt he’ll act like you expect him to. Let the sheriff catch him. They’ve got all their resources on finding him and will nab him soon.”

“He was near the girls! I can’t sit back and let them be in danger. If I don’t do this, I’ll have to quit taking care of them so they’re not in the line of fire.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want you to be his next target either.”

“We will catch him. Nothing can go wrong.” She told him the plan she’d devised. “Danny was hesitant at first, but I told him he could put his best deputies on it, and he’ll be there himself. Luke will be just offshore with some Coast Guard buddies. Kevin will be only a few feet away and will be watching from a tree stand. I’ll be surrounded by law enforcement. I’ll have my pepper spray in my pocket, too, and my gun. I’m not going in there unarmed.”

“What if he smells a trap?”

“I did some research on serial rapists and killers. They often fixate on a subject and imagine there is some kind of personal relationship. I think he’ll be all too willing to believe I reciprocate his affection. They are highly egotistical. I think this will work.” She put more confidence in her voice than she felt. In truth, her knees shook at the thought of facing him on that lonely stretch of rocks, but she couldn’t see any other way of making sure this was over.

A new life awaited her, but only if she could remove the threat to the girls. And she was willing to do most anything to have a stab at what beckoned.





THIRTY-TWO


Such an idyllic scene with the blue water pounding against the rocks. The vegetation along the pink-granite cliffs was thick enough to hide an elephant, and no one could see him from here. His lookout was at the top of Sunset Cove, and he focused his binoculars on the people boarding the boat. Claire, her husband, Luke, and Newham with his entourage of the children, the dog, and Kate. Everyone in one place, all nice and tidy.

His skin felt like a thousand spiders were crawling over him, and he shook himself. This place was getting to him. If he didn’t get word soon, he was going to leave this place he was beginning to hate. Even the bars were few and far between out here, and forget about finding a strip joint. He itched to cut loose and have some fun, and it was beginning to feel like he was in purgatory.

He laid down the binoculars when his cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He straightened after a glance at the screen. “Yeah, Boss. You have good news for me?” His pulse ratcheted up at the thought of ending this.

“If by good news you mean do you get to go home, no. Not yet. But I’m ready to give the go-ahead. But first, intercept a package being delivered tomorrow. Destroy it, then eliminate Drake Newham, Claire Rocco, and Kate Mason. And you might as well wipe the slate clean and get rid of the kids. It’s less messy that way.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear a second. Did he hear that right? Frowning, he put the phone back to his ear. “The kids? I didn’t think that was ever on the table.”

“Well, it is now! I didn’t want to have to do it either, but leaving them is just going to create more headaches than I want to deal with. Make it look like an accident. Be creative. Take them all out at once.”