A Silent Terror (14 page)

Getting emotionally involved with someone who needed protection – from him. Not a good idea. He’d learned his lesson the hard way. If you cared about someone, you wanted to protect them.

And if you failed, sometimes that person died. He couldn’t take that chance with Marianna. There was no way he’d live through something like that a second time.

Things had gone well on the trip to Beaufort for the funeral, thank goodness, but he’d been tense the entire time. When his boss had informed him that he was going to be responsible in making sure nothing happened to Marianna on that trip, he’d told his boss he wasn’t a bodyguard. His boss countered, “No, you’re a homicide detective. Make sure we don’t wind up with another homicide to our caseload.”

The thought of Marianna ending up like Suzanne had sent him racing to her side – even if he didn’t want the load on his shoulders.

And in spite of the reason he’d been there, he’d enjoyed the time with her. And he had to admit, in different circumstances, he would have already asked her out and been anxious to get to know her.

Like you’re not now?

Refusing to answer himself, he finally arrived at her door, his hand raised to knock, when he heard, “And that’s the way we’re doing it. If you don’t like it, there are several other schools here. Go work in one of them.”

He barely had time to move out of the way before a short slender figure barreled from the room. She saw Ethan standing there, gasped and flushed a bright red. “Excuse me,” she muttered, then disappeared into the next room down the hall.

Ethan made his way into the classroom where Marianna stood, hands on hips, lips pressed tightly, flames spitting from her dark eyes. Oh, man, she was beautiful.

When she turned that gaze on him, he wondered if he should take cover or run. Thankfully, her eyes softened, sparking something he couldn’t identify but definitely wanted to explore. “Problem?”

Marianna mumbled something under her breath. It sounded…Italian.

“Come again? English or sign language, please. I don’t do Italian.”

A smile peeked at him from the corners of her lips. Then she sighed. “I just don’t know why that woman has a problem with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“She was line when we first started working here, but obviously I’ve done something to warrant her wrath. Now she’s blatantly hostile I may have to report her to my supervisor if this continues.”

Warning signs flashed in his brain. “Did she know Suzanne?

Would she have any reason to want you out of the picture?” Marianna blanched. “No, in fact I never once considered it.”

“I’ll do a little background checking.”

She came around the desk to shut the door. “You had something to

tell me?”

“Where’s your assistant?”

“She called in sick today.”

“So, no interruptions, good. Okay, here’s the deal. The DNA from your house matched up with someone in the system.”

With eyes wide, her jaw dropped, then snapped shut. “Who?”

“Gerald Chambers.”

“Who’s that?” She cocked her head to the side as though the action would help her to think.

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

A hand slapped to her forehead as she walked in a little circle, processing the information. “Gerald Chambers. Gerald Chambers.” Dropping her hand, she shook her head. “I’ve got nothing.”

Frustration ate at his gut from the inside. “I thought for sure you’d recognize his name.”

“No. I sure wish I did, though.” She tapped her chin. “I also probably need to mention that I think someone was hanging around my house last night.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I couldn’t decide if it was really someone wanting to cause more problems, or if it was one of Alonso’s friends trying to get him in more trouble.”

“It doesn’t matter, Marianna. I need to know these things. Now it’s too late for me to do anything about it.”

She dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He reached out a finger and lifted her chin. “It’s all right. But next time…”

Julie popped her head around the door, catching Marianna’s attention. Guilt pierced her. She’d been so wrapped up in trying to figure out who had killed Suzanne and who was after her, that she’d been neglecting her good friend. Pulling away from Ethan’s sweet touch, she said, “Hi, Julie. Come on in.”

“I can come back later if you’re busy.” Julie’s eyes said that “later” would include a grilling. Marianna waved toward Ethan. “This is the detective investigating Suzanne’s murder. Ethan O’Hara, this is Julie, my friend and fellow teacher.”

Ethan held out a hand and Julie shook it. “So, you’re the reason I haven’t seen much of Marianna, huh?”

Flushing, Marianna met Ethan’s amused gaze and shook her head He grinned, shallow dimples peering out from the beginnings of his semipermanent five-o’clock shadow. “I’ll never tell.”

“Come on, Julie, you know how the gossip vine gets going around here. Don’t add to it, okay?”

Julie turned serious. “You know me better than that.”

Relieved, Marianna gave her friend a gentle smile. “I know. Sorry, I just…”

A grin cut a path on Julie’s expressive, almost pretty face. “No explanation necessary. Not to change the subject, but I just stopped by to see if you were interested in going to lunch.”

“Not today, thanks.” Marianna wanted to spend as much time as possible working on figuring everything out. She refused to admit that she hoped Ethan would suggest eating somewhere.

Julie gave a small salute, then signed behind Ethan’s back, off to the side where Marianna could see, “He’s cute! Definitely a keeper, but if you don’t want him, throw him my way.”

Trying to act as if she hadn’t caught every word, Marianna turned an innocent gaze on Ethan – who had a smirk on his face and was trying not to blush. “What?” she asked. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he knew what Julie had said.

“Guess she forgot about the mirror on that wall over there.”

Marianna whirled to look and realized he had seen everything Julie had said. She slapped a hand to her head again and groaned. Oh, brother.

Ethan let out a laugh loud enough for her hearing aids to pick up, and she rolled her eyes.

Still chuckling, he reached out to grip her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go eat.”

Ethan drove them to a nearby restaurant, still chuckling. He had enjoyed the lighthearted moment, glad to have seen Marianna flustered, embarrassed and able to laugh at herself – and him. It was a side of her he found extremely attractive and wanted to see more of.

While they ate, they bounced ideas off each other. Marianna insisted she had no idea who Gerald Chambers was or why he would be in her house. Ethan knew Catelyn was busy scouring every resource she had in order to find out everything there was to know about the man. Hopefully, she would call soon with some news. In the meantime, he would enjoy a few stolen moments with this intriguing woman he was coming to care for a lot.

“Cigarettes,” Marianna murmured.

“Huh?”

Staring down at her plate, fork held midair, she didn’t hear his confused response. He reached out and tapped the hand with the fork.

She jerked, looking up, eyes unfocused. He tapped again, absentmindedly noticing the fragility of her slender hand and the silky softness of her skin. He cleared his throat. “What about cigarettes?”

Marianna blinked, focused in on him, eyebrows shooting up. “He smelled like cigarettes.”

Senses sharpening like a dog on the trail, Ethan leaned closer. “The man who attacked you?”

“Yes, cigarettes and – ” she closed her eyes, forehead creasing in concentration “ – something else.”

“What? Think.” With eyes still closed, of course she didn’t hear his insistence.

Then she opened them and sighed. “I just can’t think of what it was.”

“Was it body odor? Some kind of food?”

She gave a negative shake of her head with each question. “No, it almost smelled like cologne, but I don’t think it was. It was…it was…something I recognized but can’t put a name to.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know. It’ll come to me. And probably when I least expect it.” A quick glance at her watch had her sighing. “I guess I’d better get going. I have to be back for an afternoon in-service training session.”

Ethan stood, regret filling him. Each time they were together, he noticed he wanted more moments. The time always flew when they were together and it constantly surprised him when it was time to part ways. “Come on, I’ll take you back. Keep thinking about that smell, okay? And if you can put a name on it, text me.”

She nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

Marianna stood, stretching the kinks from her frame. The in-service training had been informative, and any other time she’d have been interested, but today she couldn’t focus. No matter, it was finally over. Now she’d have to deal with the issue that had been on her mind since last night before she could look forward to the thought of seeing her younger sister, Catherina, who was flying in from New York tonight.

Alonso refused to leave her thoughts all day.

She had to know why his fingerprint had been found on her newly detailed car when there shouldn’t have been any fingerprints at all, not even from the guys who’d cleaned it; she knew they wore gloves to protect their hands from the constant exposure to the harsh chemicals. Her prints were probably on the driver’s door, handle and the back door since she’d gone out to her car after the guys had finished working on it only because she’d needed to change out of her teaching clothes into the clothes she wore for coaching.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t come up with a good explanation for Alonso’s print to be there.

And that worried her.

Pulling the BlackBerry from her clip, she texted Alonso. “Hey, I need to talk to you. Do you mind meeting me at home?”

While she waited for his response, she climbed into the compact rental. The insurance company would have an estimate on the cost of repairs for her damaged car at the beginning of next week. Until then, she had to make do with the rental.

Settling in, she buckled up and reached for the buzzing BlackBerry attached to her belt. Alonso responded, “Busy right now. C U later.”

The brush-off. Lips tight, aggravation with her brother gripping her, she muttered, “Oh, you’ll see me later, all right. You’ll be lucky if you don’t see me with my hands around your neck.”

Instead of typing that message and having him refuse to even answer her, she punched in, “I need to see you now, please. If you’ll meet me up the street at McDonald’s, I’ll buy. And give you an extra twenty for your trouble.”

“See you in ten.”

Bull’s-eye. She’d targeted his weakness – money – scoring a direct hit…another reason for more worry. She just prayed he didn’t let that influence him into making some stupid, possibly life-threatening decisions.

Although if what she needed to talk to him about was any indication, her worries had already come to fruition.

Pulling into the restaurant parking lot, she dodged mothers and toddlers, teens and ball teams, to make her way inside.

Alonso stood in line waiting to hand the cashier the order he’d already written down. The restaurant was located near the deaf school, and the McDonald’s staff were accustomed to deaf customers, which made the process of ordering and collecting food easy.

She joined him in line, noticing once again how tall he’d gotten. Her baby brother had grown into a man. He even needed a shave. Alonso shared her dark eyes, but instead of the straight, heavy hair she’d inherited from their mother, he had the thick curls of their father.

He saw her and signed, “Can we make this fast?”

“What do you need to do that’s so important?” she signed back.

“Nothing.” He rolled his eyes, then turned to gather his food.

Marianna bit her lip. His attitude continued to worsen each time she saw him. She wished she could pinpoint the reason why.

But first she needed to know why his fingerprint had been on her car.

Sliding into the booth opposite Alonso, who’d already dug into his fries, she rested her head on her hands and said a short, silent blessing.

When she looked up, Alonso was staring at her, a faint flush on his cheeks. “Sorry.”

Marianna shrugged, knowing it would do no good to lecture him.

That would only drive the wedge deeper. “That’s between you and God.”

“So, what do you need to talk to me about?”

Changing the subject. An avoidance tactic she recognized, but an effective one. “Why was your fingerprint on my car the day it was vandalized?”

“What?” he demanded. “What are you talking about?”

Marianna’s heart sank.

Because for a brief moment she’d seen a mixture of surprise and guilt flash in his dark eyes before he slid his gaze down to his remaining food.

Under the table, she gave his foot a light kick. He looked up at her – reluctantly. His defiance speared her. Slowly, she signed. “What did you do, Alonso?”

Jumping to his feet, he knocked the empty tray from the table, drawing startled stares from the other diners.

“Nothing. I didn’t do anything, so stop accusing me!”

Shouting in sign language was just as effective as screaming at the top of one’s lungs using vocal chords. Large, exaggerated signs, hands slapping together furiously to emphasize words, his facial expression, body language – all of it hollered his involvement in the vandalism of her car.

He stomped from the restaurant, leaving his uneaten food on the table and forgetting to remind her that she still owed him twenty dollars.

Sickness filled her because she knew one thing for certain: Alonso had trashed her car. Now, she had to find out why.

And she needed Ethan’s help to figure it all out because she no longer felt safe being alone with her brother.

Shudders racked her as one last horrible question filled her mind: Had Alonso known she would be attacked in the gym that day and allowed it to happen?

Ethan paced his office, staring at the phone on his desk. Another Friday night working had produced no results. Marianna lingered in his thoughts, and several times he’d had to force himself not to text her and ask her to meet him.