Alex kept up a steady stream of dialogue from the backseat on the way to the church Sunday afternoon. Shauna couldn’t have talked to Zach if her life depended on it. She’d been too rattled by everything last night. How could he continue to do such crazy things when Jack had died because of his love for adrenaline? She had kept to her room until time to leave for the funeral so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.
Only a few other cars were in the church parking lot when Zach parked the truck. Shauna let Alex out the back, then took his hand and went inside the old brick building. Organ music played, and she paused at the entrance to the sanctuary. Two closed caskets sat at the front of the church, and her gut tightened.
Zach motioned for her to go ahead into the main room. “People are starting to pour in. Do you want to stand by the casket to greet people or just have a seat in the front row?”
“I’m not their daughter. I think it would feel weird to act like I’m a family member. Let’s just have a seat.”
He nodded and guided her toward the front pew. What would people think if they knew she was their heir? Would there be jealousy? Probably. And why not? What right did she have to all Clarence and Lucy had worked their whole lives to earn? It felt wrong, but it was what they’d wanted.
She prayed for strength to endure the service without breaking down. People began to enter the church. Longtime friends, business acquaintances of Clarence’s, members of the book club Lucy had started, and even some friends of Darla’s filed past the caskets. Many stopped to speak to her, but luckily no one acted like she had any special right to grieve more than they were. Maybe they should have sat at the back. She would like to have seen everyone who came, just in case the killer was here.
Interior designer Ellie Blackmore stopped to hug her. “I’ve been praying for you.” They’d been friends ever since Ellie and her brother remodeled Shauna’s kitchen.
She thanked her, then hugged more people who stopped to say hello. As the service was about to begin, Shauna twisted in her seat and looked back. The sheriff and his wife were in the rear pew, and he nodded to her as if to reassure her that he had everything under control. She let her gaze wander around the sanctuary. Karl and his wife were just one row back. Nora’s face was swollen and red with tears. He had a welt on his arm that looked like a bee sting, and his face was red and blotchy too. But he’d come to show his love in spite of what appeared to be an allergy attack.
All of Zach’s employees were here, and she sent a timid smile to Valerie and her husband, Richard. Even Marilyn had shown up, but her eyes narrowed when her gaze landed on Zach. She could have sat with them, but being close to Zach would have been too much for Marilyn to handle. Kristy Gillings was back by the sheriff, and she sent a quick wave Shauna’s direction.
Shauna hadn’t thought her dad would attend, but he stumbled through the door. He’d even changed his clothes into an ill-fitting brown suit that was way too baggy on him. She motioned for him to join them, then scooted over so he could sit beside Alex.
“Thanks for coming,” she whispered.
“I liked them too.” Her dad’s voice was too loud in the space, and several people looked their way.
She touched his arm. “The service is about to begin.” He reeked of beer, but at least he’d made the effort.
As the pastor spoke of Clarence’s and Lucy’s faith in God and the way they cared about others, Shauna felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She desperately wanted to turn and see who was staring at her. The killer’s presence was as tangible as a touch, and she suppressed a shudder.
Zach glanced down at her with a question in his eyes, but she huddled to herself and didn’t say anything. He’d have no more way of identifying the killer than she did. Over two hundred people were here to say good-bye to the Glennons, and any one of them could be the evil smiling behind a mask.
The organ played at the end of the service, and she jumped up to turn around. Felicia beckoned to her. A sense of urgency flickered in Felicia’s dark-brown eyes, so Shauna threaded her way through the crowd.
Before Felicia spoke, the sheriff joined them with a thunderous expression. “Felicia, I told you to let me handle this.”
Felicia gave him a charming smile, then turned back to Shauna. “The state cops are coming to talk to you and Zach today.”
The sheriff put his hand on his wife’s arm. “They’ll be fine, honey. I already warned Shauna they were going to be investigated. In fact, I saw a squad car pull up a few minutes ago. You might as well get it over with.”
Shauna’s pulse galloped, and she looked out the windows toward the parking lot. The state police car was easy to spot. Two policemen stood watching the front door. She motioned to Zach. “We’d better go talk to them. I’ll have Marilyn take Alex home.” She stepped to her mother-in-law’s side and explained what was going on.
Marilyn went white. “They can’t suspect you!” Her gaze flickered to Zach, who stood behind her.
“They’re talking to everyone.” Shauna hurried out into the sunshine ahead of Zach.
The policemen straightened as the two of them descended the church steps. The older one, a man in his forties with wings of gray at his temples, beckoned to them. “Ms. McDade, we’d like to speak to you. You too, Mr. Bannister.”
Zach put his hands in his pockets. “The sheriff told us you were out here. That’s why we came out.”
Vaguely aware of people filing past, Shauna stepped closer to the policemen. “I know you have to look at everyone, but neither of us had anything to do with their deaths. We loved them.”
The older man’s pale-blue eyes held no emotion. “You’re their heir, isn’t that right, Ms. McDade?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know about it until my attorney told me. They’d never said anything about it.”
“Hmm.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You were the last to see Mr. Glennon. I’d like you to go over everything that happened.”
She’d been over and over it so many times. She sighed, then told him everything she’d seen and heard. The other policeman pulled Zach off to question him as well. She didn’t think either of them were going to prove their innocence.
Kristy Gillings, dressed in a brown blazer and a matching skirt that stretched tightly across her hips, came across the churchyard. “The state police questioned you?”
Shauna nodded at the attorney. “They heard I’m the beneficiary. They were just asking me about my relationship with them.”
The wind whipped Kristy’s graying hair around her head. Her lips flattened, and she stared at the policemen. “Don’t ever talk to them without me present. It’s too dangerous.”
“You don’t think they seriously suspect me?”
“Innocent people are convicted every day. You’re an easy target. I’m going to speak with them and warn them not to speak to you alone again.” Her head high, she stalked toward the detectives.
The church bell tolled overhead, and tears burned her eyes. The killer was going to get away with it because the police weren’t looking in the right direction, and there seemed to be nothing she could do. What if their focus stayed on her? They could lock her up and leave Alex without a mother. She had no doubt Marilyn would take custody of him in a heartbeat, but what kind of life would that be for her little man to be raised without his parents?
He’d followed her for several days hoping he could get her alone so he could find out where she’d hidden his property. Monday afternoon his patience paid off, and he’d kept a discreet distance behind her as she’d driven out to her house. Once she was inside, he sneaked into the two-story outbuilding and up to the second floor. The place smelled of dust, grass, and lawn mower.
The window looking out toward the house was the perfect place to observe. The big windows flooded the interior with light, and he trained his binoculars on them. First he’d see if she’d hidden it anywhere, and if she didn’t lead him to it, he’d use a little . . . persuasion. He grinned at the thought.
His cell phone rang and he glanced it, his lips tightening. Getting away from her was going to taste as sweet as honey. She’d never see how it was her own fault, of course. She was dull and unexciting. Their sex life was practically nonexistent, and he’d had his fill of the way she looked past him. He’d become unimportant to her long ago.
Shauna shook her head at the destruction before heading down the hallway. Losing sight of her for half a minute, he picked her up again in the bedroom window. The dismay on her face sent a surge of pleasure through him. Maybe she’d think twice about sticking her pretty nose in other people’s business next time. He watched her pack some things in tubs. She didn’t seem to be searching for anything hidden, though, so now might be a great time to make her give it up.
He climbed down the loft ladder, then pulled a ski mask out of his pocket and jammed it over his head. He skirted the side of the house and headed for the back door. Some idiot had locked it even though he’d knocked out the glass. He reached inside and clicked the latch, then entered the kitchen.
He paused and listened. Faint noises came from the master bedroom, and he reached down his leg to release his knife from the sheath. His fingers grazed the leather. Empty. Where had he left his knife? Retracing his steps, he went back through the door and along the side yard. It wasn’t in the barn, so he returned to his vehicle. At first glance he didn’t see it, then he ran his hand under his seat. The sharp edge nicked his finger, and he bit back a yelp, then grabbed the handle.
He walked the other direction this time just in case she’d looked out the window and saw him retreating. He needed to catch her by surprise. His long stride ate up the distance to her truck, and he paused as he passed. He could hide in the backseat and grab her when she got in. After pausing to consider that option, he shook his head. Better to grab her in the house.
He slipped noiselessly through the back door again and listened like before. Perfect. She was still in the bedroom. He went to the living room and hid in the closet.
Zach would have a fit if he knew she was here. Shauna glanced out her bedroom window at the windswept yard and driveway. Another vehicle hadn’t passed this way since she arrived, and she’d parked her truck in the garage so no one knew she was here. After hearing Zach talk to Alex last night, she had an irresistible urge to go through Jack’s things. She’d had two hours before she needed to get home so the truck had practically driven itself here.
This pull she felt toward Zach had to stop, and the best way to put an end to it was to remember what she had with Jack. Nothing could replace that. It had been a once-in-a-lifetime love, something most never even experienced once, let alone a second time. It wouldn’t be fair to another man to constantly compare him with Jack.
Not even a good man like Zach.
She turned from the window and surveyed the bedroom. It was still a disaster with clothes strewn all over the floor and the contents of the drawers upended and trampled. Stuffing from the mattress littered the carpet like snow, and nausea burned in her throat when she opened her closet. She hadn’t been able to put Jack’s things away, and the intruder had yanked all of his clothes off hangers and left them on the floor. Many had knife cuts in them.
She shivered and looked out the window again. Something made her shudder, but she hadn’t seen anyone on the drive out here, so her fear was groundless. It was probably from the destruction all around her.
She pawed through the clothes and found Jack’s favorite blue sweatshirt. She held it to her nose, and her eyes filled at the familiar scent of his cologne. It was a zip-up hoodie, and he often slipped this on to run outside, then hung it back up when he came in. But a year later it was beginning to lose its familiar aroma. What would she do when it was gone?
Maybe she should pack most of the clothes away in a plastic tub for Alex to keep. Sealing them up might preserve the scent of Jack’s cologne. She’d kept two tubs in the closet in the spare room, but she found them upended in the middle of the floor. She carried them back to the master and began to fold his shirts and jeans and tuck them away.
Shoes went in the other tub, then miscellaneous things like his hunting and climbing clothes. By the time his side of the closet was empty, both tubs were filled to the top. She couldn’t bring herself to put away the sweatshirt. It was her solace in the middle of the night, and her comfort when grief swamped her. It might never leave this closet.
She hugged it to her chest and felt something hard in the pocket. Frowning, she thrust her hand inside. Jack’s iPhone lay in her hand, an item she thought had crashed on the rocks when he died since it had never been found. Her heart sped up as she stared at it. It was like holding a piece of her husband in her hand.
She settled on the edge of the ruined bed and tried to turn it on. Dead, of course. Carrying the phone with her, she went to the office and plugged it in. She moved torn papers from the chair and settled at the desk, then waited a few minutes to power it on while it continued to charge. He’d never set up a password, just like she didn’t have one on her phone, so the icons flashed up right away.
It felt a little like Christmas as she stared at it. Where should she go first? Pictures, messages, or e-mail would be a little like talking to him. She touched the Messages icon, and a small picture of her was at the top of the list. A message from her was the last one he’d had up.
Her eyes welled when she read it. Where are you? I’m getting worried.
That had been the last message she’d sent before she got the call from Zach. But why hadn’t she heard it go off here since he didn’t have his phone with him? She checked the phone and found the sound turned off. Hitting the back arrow, she looked to see what other text messages he’d gotten in that last week. One from his mom, several from coworkers, then an odd number she didn’t recognize. It didn’t even have enough digits to be a phone number, and it had no name attached to it.
She opened it with a touch. There was only one message.
Meet me at the old fishing shack. If you want your wife and son to live, you’ll have it with you.
Her breath caught in her throat. What kind of warning was this? She stared hard at the date. Two days before Jack’s death. What was this all about, and could it have anything to do with the person who was after her now? Her head spun as she tried to wrap her thoughts around this threatening message. And it was threatening. There was no other way to take it.
What could it all mean? Her heart continued to thud in her chest. The ruin of the life they’d had together was in the destroyed possessions scattered all around her. Was that why the intruder had done this—to show her he could take Alex’s life the way he’d taken Jack’s?
She dropped the phone as if it had grown fangs and hugged herself. What should she do? The sheriff ought to know for sure, so she would have to come clean about being here in the house alone. She rose and gathered up the phone and charger.
She froze at a noise outside the office. It sounded like someone crunching glass underfoot in the kitchen. She bolted down the steps and ran for the front door. Was the closet door opening? She didn’t wait to find out but slammed the door behind her, then threw herself into her vehicle. Her hands shook as she started the truck and backed out of the driveway. She’d tell the sheriff first, then confess to Zach she’d been to the house.
A headache began to throb at her temples. Who had been in there?