Page 24 of Once a Killer

Finally the car blocking the alley moved a little, and the SUV swung into the alley entrance. Sped up with a roar and turned down the next street.

“We gonna follow them?” he asked, leaning forward to keep an eye on the SUV. He loved turning the tables.

“No reason to do that,” she said. “We have what we need. With that plate number, either I or Mel can find out who that car belongs to.”

When the light changed, they turned onto the larger street and headed for his apartment. He glanced out the rear window. Saw no signs of the black SUV. No signs of it on any of the cross-streets they passed.

“We lost him,” Jameson finally said with satisfaction.

Bree shook her head. “No.Helostus. He didn’t want us to get his plate number. Especially didn’t want us to follow him.” She smiled grimly. “But you got the number, right?”

He waved his phone at her. “Right here.”

“Good. Let’s get home and pass that on to Mel. See what she can find out.”

“Feels good to have beaten him.”

She shot him another glance. “Only temporarily,” she pointed out. “He knows where you live. So this is just a reprieve.” A tiny furrow appeared between her eyes. “Your apartment lights on timers?”

“Yeah. They come on at the same time every night. Go off at the same time.” His mouth curled into a smile. “But even the best drapes and curtains will let a little light bleed through. So anyone watching will see the lights come on. Go off.”

“So a watcher might realize the lights are on a timer, but they wouldn’t be able to tell what time you arrived and what time you left. Unless they’re watching your garage and the alley.”

“Right.”

She nodded slowly. “You’re doing just about everything right. But that doesn’t matter. You’ll always be vulnerable on your way to the lab and on your way home.”

“At least we avoided a collision today,” he said.

“You know they’re not giving up,” she said, shooting him a glance.

“Of course they’re not. But it feels good to have defeated them today.”

Bree’s shoulders relaxed and she smiled. “Yeah,” she said. “It does.”

They reached his garage without spotting the SUV. The yard was clear, and so were the stairs up to his apartment. When they stepped inside, she closed the door behind him but didn’t lock it. Motioned him to stay there, took out her gun and disappeared around the corner into the bedroom area.

A few minutes later she reappeared, checked the living room, then returned to the kitchen, her gun once again hidden. “We’re clear. Go ahead and lock the door.”

He snapped the locks into place, one after the other. Checked the locks in the front door, but they were all still set. No evidence that anyone had tampered with them.

“I need a beer,” he muttered, grabbing one out of the fridge. He popped the cap off and tossed it into the recycling bin. “What’s next?”

“I’m gonna email this license plate to Mel, have her find out who the car belongs to. Get me a picture, if possible.” She wiggled her fingers at him. “Let me have that plate number.”

He handed her his phone, with the note page open, then said, “While you’re doing that, I have something I need to add to my program. Be right back.”

Ten minutes later, she’d emailed Mel with the license number, SUV description and asked for as much information about the car and driver as she could find. When Jameson walked back into the kitchen, Bree was just putting her computer away. “I emailed Mel,” she said. “Gave her the license plate number, make and model of the SUV. Asked for as much information about the car and driver as she could find.” She smiled. “And knowing Mel, that will be a lot of intel.

“Ready for dinner?” she asked, jerking her head toward the refrigerator. “Anything edible in there?”

“A few frozen pizzas,” he said.

“That’ll work.” She opened the freezer and took out two of them. “A pepperoni and a veggie. Which do you want?”

“Duh. The pepperoni,” he said.

“Should have figured.” She put that one and the veggie on the counter. Found a cutting board and a big knife, then cut both pizzas in half. Handed him half of each one.

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