Page 52 of Dark Terror
“Oh jeez,” Harry said.
Cara jumped away from him, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink. “Ah…”
He slanted a glance at Harry. “You should knock or something, partner.”
“Like I’m going to knock on the walls in my own home.” She eyed the stove. “When’s dinner going to be ready? I’m hungry.”
“In thirty minutes. You want to help?”
“Me?” She pointed a finger at her chest.
“Right. What was I thinking? You live off sugared cereal and PBJ sandwiches. The only thing in your refrigerator is beer and milk for your cereal.”
“So sue me.” She grabbed Cara’s hand. “If you stay in here, he’ll never finish dinner. Come on, I have some more serial killers to tell you about.”
Cara groaned. “Can’t I watch a ball game while you’re silently reading that creepy stuff?” She glanced over her shoulder with a please-save-me look on her face.
Smiling, he shrugged.Sorry, he mouthed. Neither woman would admit it, but they were grudgingly becoming friends, which made him ridiculously happy.
From the moans of both women with each bite, his dinner was an obvious success. Harry’s moans did nothing for him, but Cara’s? Good thing the table was hiding the evidence of what those sounds were doing to him.
His phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket to see Captain Scanlon’s name on the screen. “Hey, boss. What’s up?” He listened for a few minutes, then said, “We’re on the way.”
“What?” Harry asked as soon as he disconnected.
“An anonymous tip was called in, and the boss lady wants us to check it out.” He glanced at Cara. “I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to leave.”
“Is it something to do with the murder?”
It was. “I don’t know yet. Just keep the doors locked and don’t go out while Harry’s gone. In fact, I’ll take Cricket for a quick walk so you don’t have to.”
“What’s the tip?” Harry asked after they left Cara safely locked up.
“The caller claims to know who killed Sheri Carstad. Said it’s a drifter who goes by the name of Ramsey. Supposedly Ramsey told our caller that he needed money so he could buy some booze. The story is that he didn’t mean to kill the woman in the park, but that she didn’t have any money on her, and he got mad. And then she started screaming, so he stabbed her to shut her up.”
“Then her murder had nothing to do with blackmail?”
“If it’s true. According to the caller, Ramsey’s a regular at the homeless shelter downtown.”
He hadn’t told Cara what the caller had said because he didn’t want to get her hopes up that the case was solved. And his cop instincts, honed over the years to filter out bullshit, weren’t ready to buy the story. The murder still felt personal and not something a wino trying to steal a few bucks would do.
The lead had to be checked out, though, and if they were lucky, they’d have their killer behind bars tonight.
* * *
Slumped down in his car, he waited for the two cops to leave. It had been ridiculously easy to find a way to send them off on a wild-goose chase. As far as he knew, there was no Ramsey at the homeless shelter, but by the time the detectives figured that out, it would be too late for Little Miss Nosy.
Finding her had been a piece of cake. All he’d had to do was stake out the library, then follow the cops after they’d picked her up. When they’d taken her with them to the police department, he’d almost left. He hadn’t, though, and had ended up wasting most of his day as he watched for them to come out. His time was valuable, and the longer he’d been forced to wait, the angrier he’d gotten. But his patience had paid off, and now he knew where she was.
An annoying voice in his head was trying to tell him that he should go home and forget she existed. The odds were that she hadn’t seen him well enough to identify him, and the more time that passed, the more likely they’d lose interest in solving the case. If they had any evidence that pointed at him, they would have arrested him by now. The only thing that could tie him to Sheri’s murder was the knife, and that was at the bottom of a lake.
As smart as it would be to let it go, he just couldn’t. And if he’d fixated on Cara Jenner and seeing her die at his hands, it was her fault. Just like it had been Sheri’s mistake to try and get her greedy hands on more of his money. He only had to be smart and not leave any evidence that would come back to him. Even better if the police found evidence that pointed to someone else.
In considering how to remove Ms. Jenner from the picture, he’d come up with a brilliant plan, one that had an added benefit. Everything he deserved would be his soon. It was time to set things in motion.
* * *
After Gabe and Harry left, Cara set about cleaning up the kitchen. Cricket sat at her feet, staring hopefully up at her. She knew she shouldn’t give him a taste of people food, but she couldn’t resist those begging brown doggy eyes.
