She Can Kill (She Can Series) (13 page)

Movement in his rearview mirror distracted him. An SUV parked behind his sedan. Mike. The big cop got out of his car and walked up to the side of the Mercedes. Cristan lowered the window.

Mike pointed. “What are you doing?”

Cristan lifted a palm. “I wasn’t aware that it was illegal to park on the side of the road.”

Mike stared, clearly angry. “Diner. Now.” It wasn’t a request. “Sit with Sean. I’ll be along in a minute.”

The police chief walked away while Cristan debated ignoring his order. But curiosity, and his respect for Mike, won.

The Westbury diner was just a few blocks down the street. Cristan parked in the lot. The dinner hour hadn’t begun, and only two tables in the dining room were occupied. One of the patrons was Sean, sitting in the corner booth with his back to the wall. Cristan slid into the other seat.

“Mike is pissed.” Sean waved for a waitress.

She hurried over and poised her pen over her notepad. “What can I get you?”

Sean ignored the menu. “Coffee and a slice of cherry pie.”

“Just coffee.” Cristan had only been in the diner a handful of times. The restaurant was a local hangout, and the atmosphere felt intimate.

“Bring him a piece of pie, and the chief is coming.” Sean leaned back, draping one arm over the top of the booth.

“I’ll bring him the green tea he likes.” The waitress hustled away.

“No pie for Mike?”

Sean rolled his eyes. “Mike doesn’t eat food that has taste.”

“My time is limited today,” Cristan said as the waitress flipped and filled their cups. She brought them two slices of pie and utensils wrapped in napkins.

“Big plans?” Sean asked.

“I have to pick up my daughter at school.”

“I have two girls. Five and seven.” Sean dug into his pie.

Cristan ignored the slice of pie in front of him. “What is this?” He gestured between them.

Sean washed his pie down with a swallow of coffee. “Mike wants me to be your friend.”

Of all the answers, that was the least expected. “What?”

“He wants to know more about you, and he figures the best way to do that is by being friendly.” Sean dug his fork into his slice again. “Just so you know, I voted for asking a hacker friend to do an illegal background search. But Mike has all these moral dilemmas.”

“Ethics can be a hindrance,” Cristan said dryly.

“No shit,” Sean laughed. “It’s a good thing you and I aren’t overly burdened.”

A rush of cold air signaled Mike’s arrival. He slid into the booth next to Sean and stared at Cristan over the table. “You can’t park in front of Mitchell’s. If Troy sees you, he’ll flip.”

Cristan drank his coffee. “His truck wasn’t in the lot. Do you know where he is?”

“No, but I’m serious,” Mike said. “I’m trying my best to defuse him, but that won’t be possible if you’re poking him with a lit match at the same time.”

Cristan winced. Mike’s description was uncomfortably accurate. If Troy had seen him, a confrontation would have been inevitable.

“You really think he can be defused?” Sean asked. “Cause I think he’s gone bat-shit crazy.”

“You’re not helping,” Mike glared at Sean, then turned to Cristan. “What were you going to do if Troy came outside?”

Cristan set his cup in its saucer. “I don’t know, but I can’t stand by and let him harass Sarah.”

“Amen,” Sean said. “I’ve been telling Mike for years that we should take out Troy.”

Mike rubbed his forehead. “Please do not provoke Troy. Sarah is the one who will pay.”

“You’re right,” Cristan said. “I won’t provoke him.”

Mike scrutinized him, as if not sure how to assess his statement. “You give me your word that you’ll stay away from Troy.”

“I said I wouldn’t provoke him. But if he tries to hurt Sarah, I can’t promise anything.”

“Fair enough. I’ll hold you to that promise.” Mike tossed a few dollars on the table. “I have to go back to work.”

Sean waited until Mike had left the diner. Then he ate the last bite of his pie. “If Troy hurts Sarah again, I’ll help you dispose of the body.” Though his grin and tone suggested humor, his eyes were serious.

“I suppose it’s good to have friends.”

“Damned straight.”

But having an ally didn’t mitigate Cristan’s worries. Troy was unaccounted for. Who knew what he was planning?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“
Is it my imagination or is that dog barking nonstop tonight?” Sarah
placed a card on the Candy Land board and moved her piece to the
next purple square. Sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, she picked up her mug of lukewarm tea and sipped. Em crawled into her lap, and Sarah kissed the top of her head.

“Almost bedtime,” she announced, more than ready to climb into her own bed.

Kneeling on the other side of the coffee table, Alex swiveled her head to the cable box. Her lips moved as she read the numbers. “It’s not time yet.” Now that she’d learned to read the digital clock, there was no more scooting her off to bed as much as a minute early.

Ruff ruff ruff.
Bandit raced across the living room and leaped onto the back of the sofa, where he had a view of the street in front of the house.

She craned her head to look out the window. One of her neighbors and his elderly golden retriever shuffled down the sidewalk.

“Shh,” Sarah said to the dog. “Goldie lives down the block. You’ve met her a hundred times.”

His barks changed to whines.

“My turn.” Alex flipped a card and counted the spaces on the colorful game board.

Sitting on Sarah’s lap, Em took her turn in what felt like the longest board game in the history of the universe. Normally, Sarah loved playing a game in the evening with her girls, but she couldn’t wait to close her eyes tonight. Her lids felt as heavy as garage doors.

From his perch on the back of the sofa, Bandit growled, stiff-legged.

“I win!” Alex shouted, sliding her piece onto the Candy Castle space and raising both arms over her head in triumph.

The digital clock rolled to eight o’clock. Thank God.

“Bedtime,” she said.

Alex gave the clock her full and intense scrutiny. “I have to put the game away.” She began to collect the cards, carefully placing each one on top of the last and lining up the edges with an engineer’s precision.

“I’ll get it,” Sarah said. Her eldest daughter was the queen of stalling. “You go pick out a book and brush your teeth.”

“OK,” Alex sighed. She got up and headed for their bedroom. “Come on, Em.”

Emma picked up her bedraggled blanket from the floor, hugged it close, and followed her sister in a sleepy gait. As soon as the girls disappeared down the hall, Sarah cleaned up the game. She collected the empty cookie plate and cups, brought them to the kitchen, and loaded them in the dishwasher.

“Mom,” Alex shouted. “Em frew up again.”

Sarah ran for the bathroom. Alex waited outside the door.

Emma sat on the footstool. “I’m sorry, Mommy. I missed.”

She certainly had. Sarah scanned Em’s pink kitten pajamas. By some miracle, they appeared clean. Sarah handed Alex the fruit-flavored toothpaste. “It’s OK, sweetie. Take your toothbrushes into my bathroom while I clean this up.”

The doctor had said Em’s nausea could continue for a few days. Sarah mopped the floor with paper towels and disinfectant. Shoving the soiled mess into a plastic bag, she collected the kitchen trash and went through the laundry room into the garage. Avoiding the stacks of still-f moving boxes, she went out the side door. She kept the garbage can on the side of the house, hidden from street view by a piece of while trellis.

“Hello, Sarah.”

Sarah jumped, her hand pressed to her chest. “Troy.”

He slouched against a tree. Inside the house, Bandit barked. Sarah glanced back. Mature trees and shrubs lined the side and rear of the lot, providing privacy from the neighbors.

“What are you doing here?” Shivering, she clutched the edges of her sweater together. Her free hand slipped into the front pocket and closed over the fob for the alarm system.

He pushed off the tree and took two steps closer. “I wanted to see if Em was all right.”

“You’re supposed to call,” she said.

“I didn’t think you’d answer.”

On that he was right. Her thumb found the oversized panic button on the alarm fob. How long would it take for the police to get here if she pushed it? Mike was at home. The only person in the station would be the dispatcher. Who knew where tonight’s single patrol car was right now?

Troy walked closer. Sarah backtracked toward the door, trash bag dangling from her hand like a white shield. Could she get into the house before he caught her? What did he want?

“I need to put the girls to bed.” Sarah moved sideways. “If you want to talk to Em, you can call her any night before eight.”

“I don’t want to ask permission to talk to my own kid. I don’t
want to talk to her on the phone either. I want to see them both every
day. I want to see you every day. Why did you do this to us, Sarah?”

“You know why.”

“You didn’t need to break our family apart.” His voice had that hollow, accusing tone that preceded anger.

“It wasn’t my fault, Troy.”

“Like hell it wasn’t.” He moved closer. Inside the house, the dog’s barking rose to a shrill, furious pitch. “You made me sign those papers.”

Sarah eased backward.

“I love you. I want you back,” he said. “I did everything you wanted. I gave up drinking. I go to AA. I even took that anger management class. What more do you want from me?”

Cold wind blew through the knit of Sarah’s sweater, chilling her. Clammy sweat broke out on her icy palms. “I’m going in now.”

“That’s not what I want to hear.” He let out a
Why do you make
me do this?
sigh. “If you don’t come home, I’m going to take the kids away from you.” Troy’s voice sharpened. “The PI was just the beginning. You have a choice. Come back home where you belong and be
the fucking good little wife I married, or you’ll never see those kids
again. Custody can be contested over and over. I’ll never let it go.”

Sarah’s heart slammed against her breastbone. She shuffled backward another step. Her back bumped the door, and her hand closed over the doorknob. She dropped the garbage bag, slipped into the house, and shut and locked the door. The alarm reset with a click of the fob. She might have talked Mike out of renovating the house, but when he’d insisted on installing a security system, she hadn’t argued.

Panting, she went into the house and searched for her cell phone. Spying it on the coffee table, she grabbed it. Her shaking fingers wouldn’t cooperate with the touchpad numbers.

Damn it!

She stopped, lowered the phone, and took three deep breaths.
She was inside. The doors were locked. The dog had stopped barking.
Troy was probably gone. He’d made his point and scared the hell out of her. There was no need for him to stick around any longer.

“Mommy?” Em called.

“I’ll be right there.” She called Mike, who said he’d be right over, then she went into the girls’ room, an explosion of pink and white ruffles and stuffed animals. Sarah sat on a chair between the twin beds and read
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
. Em’s eyes drooped, and she drifted off before Sarah finished, but Alex’s eyes were wide open when Sarah turned off the light and left the room.

Sarah spied headlights just in time to scoop up Bandit and head off a barking frenzy. “Shh. It’s just Mike.”

She let Mike in and handed him the dog. Bandit’s whole body wagged as Mike rubbed his head.

“Uncle Mike.” Alex bolted from the doorway.

Mike set the dog down and caught Alex. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

She grinned. “Uh-huh. Can you read me a story, pwease?” Alex faked a lisp and batted her brown eyes at him.

Laughing, he hugged her and set her down. “Maybe if you’re real quiet and stay in your room while I talk to your mommy.”

“I will.” Alex nodded. “I’m not tired. I’ll be awake.” She ran back to her bedroom.

Sarah led the way into the kitchen. “Coffee?”

Mike shook his head. “No. Tell me what happened.”

Sarah turned on the countertop TV and lowered her voice as she told him about the two encounters with Troy.

“You need a restraining order.” Mike frowned. “You’ll have to come to the station tomorrow and sign a complaint. Then you’ll have to go before the judge on Monday.”

“Who turned me down last time.”

“Last time Troy hadn’t done anything like this, but now he’s stepped over the line. This is harassment,” Mike said. “Did you call your attorney?”

“I called him on the way back to the inn this afternoon to tell him about the investigator.” Sarah rubbed her temple. “I guess I’ll be calling him again tomorrow morning. I’m supposed to work tomorrow.”

“I thought you were off on Saturdays?”

“Not this week.” Sarah had traded days with the weekend sous chef for a court appointment the previous Monday.

“You can come to the station anytime, but I don’t have any control over the judge’s schedule.”

So Monday would be a problem as well. Jacob would not be pleased. Any proceeding at the courthouse involved several hours of waiting. She had to keep her job to keep her kids. But she might lose her job protecting her kids.

“Thanks, Mike. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Sarah said.

“I wish I could do more.” Mike stood. “Keep the alarm on. Call me if anything spooks you.” His gaze went to the dog sitting on his foot. “Or him. Do the kids know?”

Sarah shook her head. “I didn’t want to scare them. They have to go with Troy again on Tuesday.”

Though the thought terrified her, legally, there was nothing she could do.

“Who’s watching them tomorrow?”

“Mrs. Holloway has someone coming to her house tomorrow, so the kids are going there, but it’ll be hard on Alex to be cooped up another day.” Em needed rest, but Alex had the energy of a squirrel on Red Bull.

“Before Monday, you should let the daycare center know what’s going on. You’ll need to tell Mrs. Holloway too.”

Everyone in town would soon know the dirty details of the Mitchell divorce.

“You know you and the girls can always come and stay with us.”

“I know. Thank you. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.” She’d struggled hard all winter to establish her independence, and she didn’t want to backtrack. But if she thought the girls were in danger, she could be packed in minutes.

Mike headed for the hallway and whispered for Alex. The dull thud of bare feet on carpet confirmed Sarah’s prediction about her oldest’s ability to stay awake. She heard Mike’s deep voice in the living room reading to Alex. Her mind conjured an image of Cristan reading to Lucia as a baby. Men could be wonderful fathers. Sarah just hadn’t picked the right one.

Ten minutes later, Mike sent Alex off to bed. He leaned down to kiss Sarah on the cheek. “Ethan’s on patrol tonight. I’ll have him drive by a few times just in case Troy decides to come back.”

“Are you going to talk to Troy?”

“Yes,” Mike said. “Stay safe.”

“Wait.” Sarah pulled out her phone. “He sent me some texts. You should read them.”

Mike took her phone and scrolled through the messages. “Don’t erase these. In fact, save them as screenshots and print them out. Make a copy for your attorney and one for me.”

“OK.” She nodded, then locked up behind him. She scanned her house. It felt smaller with the blinds adjusted to block prying eyes. A sense of claustrophobia closed down on her. She might have left Troy, but he’d still managed to make her feel vulnerable.