Page 43 of I'm Watching You

‘Steve Hess. I manage this property. Everything all right?’

Zack watched Lindsay smile at Steve. She had resented his interference about the key but seemed to appreciate Steve’s protective tone.

‘It’s fine, thanks,’ she said. ‘Did you want to tell me something?’

Steve was distracted by Zack and Warwick’s presence. ‘Oh, I was just headed into your place to check theACunit. You said it wasn’t working well.’

‘Did I?’

‘You put in a maintenance request about three weeks ago.’

She smiled. ‘Right. Thanks. Do you mind if we do this another time?’

‘No problem. Oh, and the cable guy came by to check on your television. Your reception is all cleared up.’

‘Thanks,’ she said.

Steve’s gaze flickered between the cops. ‘Why the police escort home?’

Lindsay unlocked her front door. ‘There was a little trouble at work today. It’s nothing to be worried about. Detective Kier is just being extra careful.’

Steve’s smile turned brittle. He didn’t seem to like cops. ‘Tax dollars at work.’

‘Something like that,’ Zack said. ‘Can you tell me anything about the power outage this morning?’

Steve rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. ‘It was a real mess. The whole east side of the development was out from about midnight last night to eight this morning.’

At least Lindsay hadn’t been lying about that. ‘What happened?’

‘Transformer blew late. It took Virginia Power until this morning to get it up and running.’

‘Does that happen often?’

‘Been fifteen years since the last transformer blew and that was in an electrical storm,’ Steve said. ‘Must have been some freak power surge.’

An outage caused Lindsay to be late to work. Across town Harold was murdered. The two incidents weren’t necessarily related, but that didn’t mean they weren’t.

Zack glanced back at Warwick, still positioned by the car. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

Warwick pushed away from the car. ‘No rush. I have a few more questions for Steve.’

Zack left the nervous maintenance man with Warwick and followed Lindsay inside her town house. She flipped the lights on. The ticktock of clocks jived with the hum of theACunit.

He saw far enough into the town house to see a floral couch. The pillows on the couch were straight and neatly fluffed. If the outside was cookie cutter the inside was vintage Lindsay. The clocks, the restored secondhand furniture, and the stacks of books were all her. The place smelled of linseed oil, which, he remembered, she used to dust her furniture.

Standing this close, he caught the soft scent of her soap. He’d forgotten how good she smelled.

Lindsay lifted her gaze and for a moment a connection sparked between them. She sensed it as much as he did. He leaned forward, testing. She drew back.

‘Mind if I have a look around?’ he said.

She blocked his path. ‘As a matter of fact I do.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t want you here.’

His gaze narrowed. ‘What are you hiding?’

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