Page 132 of I'm Watching You

The Guardian cupped her chin in his calloused hands and moved his lips up to her ear. ‘I won’t have any trouble snapping your delicate wrist in two with my machete blade.’

Tears ran down Kendall’s face. She shook her head. This couldn’t be happening.

The Guardian got behind the wheel of the van and fired up the engine. He calmly merged into traffic as if he had all the time in the world. ‘I never thought I’d kill a woman. It just seemed wrong in so many ways. But then I saw that broadcast of yours today and I knew you would be the exception to the rule.’ He chuckled. ‘I never have liked you. And you know, from the moment you started covering this story, I knew we’d clash. I just knew it.’

Her mind tumbled and her muscles went slack.

‘Look at the bright side, Kendall. You’ll be headline news tomorrow when they find your body.’

Lindsay sat in her car, a suitcase packed and sitting on the passenger seat. Zack was wrapping up details at the town house, and then he was going to escort her to Ruby’s. She’d agreed that she couldn’t stay in the town house. In fact, she doubted she could ever live there again. And Zack had understood that she felt uncomfortable at hisfolks’ place. They’d compromised. She was staying at Ruby’s.

Before she headed out she wanted to touch base with Nicole. She called her at the Kiers’, and spoke to Eleanor briefly before Nicole picked up. ‘Nicole?’

‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Nicole’s voice sounded stronger, as if she’d gotten some sleep.

‘Been better. But I’m hanging tough. I wanted to let you know that I’m staying at Ruby’s tonight. I’ll drive out to see you in the morning.’

‘Sounds good.’

‘Hey, have you run that test yet?’

‘No. I’ll do it first thing in the morning.’ She sighed. ‘Pregnancy is a problem I don’t want right now.’

‘One step at a time.’

Nicole hesitated. ‘I dreamt about Richard again. I can’t help but think that he’s close.’

Lindsay thought about Claire. She chose not to tell Nicole. ‘Stay close to the Kiers. They’ll keep you safe.’

‘Thanks.’

‘I’ll call you in the morning.’

‘Good.’

Lindsay rung off and dialed Sam’s number. He’d have the results of the bloodwork by now. His phone rang five times and then went to voice mail: ‘This is Dr Sam Begley. Leave me a message unless this is an emergency. If it is, hang up and call 911.’

‘Sam, this is Lindsay. Where are you? Call me. I need to talk to you.’

*

‘Detective Warwick, this is Rio from San Francisco.’ Warwick glanced at the clock on his desk. It was ten here so it was seven in the evening on the West Coast.

‘Were you able to find Braxton?’

‘My partner and I went to his house. He’s gone. According to his secretary, he filed a flight plan to Vancouver. He has businesses up there. Airport records show that he did file the flight plan.’

Warwick closed his eyes and pinched the edge of his nose. He was bone tired. ‘Did you find him in Vancouver?’

‘Not yet. But we’re in contact with Canadian authorities. I’ll let you know as soon as we find him.’

‘If you even get a whiff that he’s headed east call me. Anytime.’

‘Consider it done.’

‘I don’t know anything about Braxton. What’s your gut reaction on this one?’

Rio sighed. ‘He’s a tricky bastard. Looks clean and acts clean but it didn’t take much digging to find out he came up hard. When he was seventeen he killed a man. Because he was under eighteen, he got off with time in juvenile hall. He was linked to other violent crimes but nothing ever stuck. I wouldn’t put anything past him.’

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