Page 102 of I'm Watching You

‘Hey, Lindsay, what was that in the newspaper? It looked like a severed hand.’ The voice belonged to Kendall Shaw. She stood at the edge of the yellow tape with her cameraman. ‘Your friend sending you tokens of his affection?’ Lindsay ignored the question and turned from the camera. Zack and Warwick refused to comment.

Kendall was patient as she watched the maintenance man move away from the cops. The guy looked pale and upset. He’d seen something. She turned to Mike. ‘Stay put. I want to talk to the maintenance man.’

‘Whatever.’

Kendall cut through the growing crowd of curiosity seekers and made her way up to the guy. She thought about tossing him one of her smiles but decided she needed to be more subtle with this guy. She’d play it concerned. ‘Hey, are you all right?’

‘Not by a long shot.’ With a shaky hand, the guy reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pack of Camels. He pulled one out and lit the tip. Smoke billowed around his lean face as he puffed.

‘What’s got you so spooked?’

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her through the haze. ‘You’re a reporter.’

She smiled. ‘Yeah.’

‘You’re with Channel 10?’

‘I am.’ She moved closer to him and gently laid her hand on his shoulder. ‘Can I get you anything?’

‘A six-pack of beer?’

She lifted a brow. ‘It can be arranged.’

He shook his head as he took anther drag. ‘God knows I deserve a drink. But the property management firm will fire my ass if I drink on the job.’

She held out her hand. ‘I’m Kendall Shaw.’

He took her hand and held it gently. ‘I know. And I’m Steve Hess.’

‘Nice to meet you, Steve.’

He moistened his lips. ‘I watch you onTVa lot. You’re good.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Every time I see you, I wonder why you’re not in a bigger city.’

She grinned. ‘From your lips to God’s ears.’

He chuckled, and with a hand that still shook a little, he took another drag off his cigarette.

‘You see my piece last night?’

‘Naw. I ended up working overtime in a flooded unit. Fucking pipes burst.’

If he was a Lindsay devotee it was better he hadn’t seen the piece. It had stirred quite a buzz. And she’d gotten just as many negative e-mails as positive. ‘I hear you’re the one who called the police for Lindsay.’

‘I was in my truck across the street when I heard her scream. She was so freaked out.’

Kendall decided to play a hunch. ‘It was bad for you too, wasn’t it?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I still think you could use a drink. After what you saw, I can’t imagine any boss would deny you a stiff one. They don’t pay you enough to see what you saw.’

A sigh shuddered through him. ‘Jesus, it was a mess.’

He was a volcano ready to erupt. He just needed a nudge and someone to listen.

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