Flashback (Kendra Michaels #11)

“It seemed more specific than that, but he didn’t quite know. He kept asking what I gave you. I think he may have been referring to that garrote I found at Chloe’s house and gave Breen right before I came here.”

“You think you may have been followed today?” Breen said.

“I’m not sure. But I don’t see how else he could have known that. Or that I’d be coming here.”

Perry nodded. “Well, thanks to you, he gifted us his DNA. Did you find anything else here?”

“No. It’s funny, but there’s something that this place has in common with her sister’s. There’s absolutely no evidence, no scrap of paper, nothing, that they were investigating the Bayside Strangler murders, even though we know it has consumed their lives for years.”

Perry shrugged. “Maybe it all went into the files.”

“Maybe.”

“In any case, maybe you shouldn’t go anywhere you might ordinarily be expected.”

“Like my home? My job?” She shook her head. “I can’t just walk away from my entire life. Certainly not my career.”

“I understand. But until we know who this is and what he’s after, you need to be careful. Do you need a ride?”

“No. I’m parked on the street.”

“Let one of our men walk you to your car.” Perry gestured toward one of the uniformed police officers. “Can’t be too careful…”

Can’t be too careful.

Detective Perry’s warning was still ringing in her ears during the short drive back to her condo. Lynch would certainly concur, she thought wryly. Paula Chase was dead, the Morgan sisters were missing, and she’d almost been thrown out a fifth-story window. Yeah, a little caution was in order.

Kendra received a call from Olivia two hours later. She was obviously not pleased. “I believe you’d better come home,” she said curtly. “I don’t know if I can handle this mess.”

“Mess?” Kendra stiffened. “What kind of mess? I don’t remember any mess in your life that you haven’t managed to handle since we met as children at the academy. What’s different about this one?” Then her thoughts were immediately flying to the death of Paula Chase. “Where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m not the issue here.”

“Then what is the issue?”

“You. Were you just not going to tell me that you were attacked tonight?”

“How in the hell did you know about that?” It suddenly dawned on her. “It was Lynch, wasn’t it? I can’t believe he called you.”

“It wasn’t Lynch. It was your police sketch artist friend.”

“Bill Dillingham?”

“He’s here in the building. Some of his buddies on the force told him about what happened to you tonight. He’s feeling guilty about getting you involved in this case. I think he wants to stand watch in front of your door. He went to your unit, and when he found out you weren’t home, he looked for you here at my place.”

Kendra shook her head. Between Lynch’s sources and Bill’s, she couldn’t make a move without everybody knowing about it.

“Olivia, I’m fine.”

“How do you know? You didn’t even go to the hospital.”

“You know that, too? Jeez, I may as well walk around twenty-four seven with a Ring camera strapped to my head.”

“Not a bad idea.” She added crossly, “And where is Lynch?”

“Lynch is in Switzerland saving the world,” Kendra said. “And he doesn’t owe me anything. I keep telling you that. We both run our own lives. I’ll be back at my condo in thirty minutes to handle your ‘mess.’ Which I can’t see can be laid at my door. Never mind. I’ll see what’s going on when I get there. Okay?”

“Okay,” Olivia said. She was silent a moment. “It’s only a mess because I care about you and I felt helpless to do anything for you. See you when you get here.” She hung up the phone. Which left Kendra frustrated and confused and tempted to call her right back and make her explain in detail. This wasn’t like Olivia at all. Her friend was one of the most clever and capable people Kendra knew, and she’d had to be. She’d had to cope with being blind since she was a small child and had still managed to set up and run a successful business. Olivia made sure everyone knew that there was nothing she wasn’t capable of handling. She would never admit to a weakness unless it was one she could overcome. So it might be that she had another agenda in mind and was using the excuse as a subterfuge. There had to be another reason Olivia was so upset. She had mentioned Lynch specifically, and that might be one key. Olivia liked Lynch, and she appreciated his protectiveness and expertise.