Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“He’s close by,” Caleb stated.
The room fell quiet at his words. Hernandez turned to Caleb. “You think so?”
Confidence lined Caleb’s face. “He has to be. We know from the email that he had planned to reunite with Marley soon, and he’s smart. He wouldn’t risk walking up to her door, not unless he knew for sure what the law-enforcement situation was.”
“He’d need to scout the area first,” Hernandez agreed.
“I think he’s doing more than that. He’s watching her. He knows she had another man over—” there was a slight crack in Caleb’s voice “—and in order to see that, he had to be close.”
A tremor ran along Marley’s skin. The notion that Patrick was lurking outside somewhere, watching her, was too frightening to contemplate. God, would she ever be rid of that man? She wished she’d never gone into his hospital room all those months ago, never agreed to that first date, never opened her heart to him.
“Okay, he can’t be next door, since AJ and I have occupied that space,” Caleb said in a brisk voice. He glanced at Marley. “How well do you know your other neighbors?”
Since he’d spoken to her directly, she had no choice but to meet his eyes. Damn. Why did he have to be so attractive? Her heart shouldn’t skip a beat anymore when she looked at him.
“Don and Melinda live in the house on the other side of mine,” she answered. “They have three kids, but they’re all away at camp for the summer. Next to them is Kim, she’s a widow.” She racked her brain for more names and faces. “Across the street is Mrs. White, she lives alone, kind of grumpy all the time but she can be sweet. I’m not sure about anyone else.”
“Do you know if any of the ones you mentioned are on vacation, like the Strathorns?” Caleb asked.
“I don’t think so. I saw Don and his wife the other day, and I saw Kim yesterday when I checked the mail.” She paused. “I haven’t seen Mrs. White in a few days, come to think of it, but she hardly ever leaves the house.”
Caleb and the other men sprang to action before she even finished talking. She tried to hide her admiration as she watched Caleb bark orders at everyone. “We canvass each house one by one, only the ones that have a direct visual on Marley’s. Teams of two. Hernandez, you’re with me. Officer Thompson,” he said to the thin, uniformed blond man, “you stay with Ms. Kincaid. Radio us if there are any disturbances.”
“Yes, sir.”
Marley’s chest tightened with alarm as Caleb and the others unholstered their weapons. What if they got hurt? What if Caleb got hurt? She wanted to urge him to be careful, but clamped her mouth shut. She refused to let herself feel anything for him. Besides, he was a trained government agent. He could handle himself.
Still, her heart thudded as she watched him disappear through the doorway, his strides long and determined.
Please don’t let him get hurt.
* * *
CALEB CROUCHED BESIDE the tall hedges of Lydia White’s two-story Victorian home, silently gesturing for Hernandez to take the back. AJ and the other agents, as well as two of Hernandez’s men, were already approaching the other houses in the vicinity, moving stealthily in the shadows.
With adrenaline coursing through his blood, Caleb held his Glock in his right hand and the radio in his left. He crept to the front door while Hernandez circled the house. As he reached the porch, his radio crackled and AJ’s voice came through. “Kim just let us in. Preparing to search the house.”
The radio went silent. Caleb stood in front of Lydia White’s door and rapped his knuckles on it. There was no doorbell, just a sign on the mailbox that said No Solicitors. He knocked again, but still no answer.
“Lydia White?” he shouted. “This is Agent Caleb Ford with the Drug Enforcement Agency.”
Nothing.
The radio came to life again. “Kim’s house is clear.” A moment later, one of Hernandez’s officers checked in. “Don and Melinda Levenstein’s house is clear.”
“Lydia White,” he said again. “With your permission, I’d like to search your house. There is a possible fugitive on the premises.”
He debated picking the lock when static hissed out from the radio. “Back-door lock’s been jimmied open,” came Hernandez’s grim voice. “I’m going in.”
The adrenaline in his veins flowed harder. No time to pick a lock. Instead, he kicked Lydia White’s door open with his heavy black boot and then he was in the front hall, shrouded by darkness. Holding his weapon, he moved through the shadows, clearing the living room and a small den, before rendezvousing with Hernandez in the hallway.
“Kitchen’s clear,” the detective murmured.
The two men headed for the staircase, Hernandez falling into step behind Caleb, letting him take the lead. You could say a lot of things about Hernandez, but Caleb felt good knowing the detective had his back. The two of them moved together as if they’d been a team for years, scouting the hallway, using hand signals to direct their movements. They found the bathroom and master bedroom empty, then crept down the carpeted hall toward the single door at the end of it.