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“Are you sure?” she asked, but Doug could hear the relief in her voice.
“I’m sure.”
She heaved out a huge breath. “Thanks, Doug. And…I’m sorry for bothering you.”
“You’re no bother, Pixie,” he assured her sincerely. “Never think that.”
She gave a tense laugh. “I guess this is what friends do for each other, right?”
Doug didn’t know why that question instantly had him on edge, but it did. If he were honest, he didn’t like being lumped into the category of “friend”. He wanted there to be a whole new ranking in Pixie’s lexicon that described only him. Friend was too vague.Boyfriend…well, that was too much. He couldn’t stomach the more intimate term.
He realized Pixie was waiting for a reply, so he’d have to revisit this bit of screwed-up shit in his head, later, and find a designation that suited him.
“Yeah, Pix. That’s what friends do.” He almost choked over the word. “Now sit tight. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“An hour? Seriously? You’re going to break the speed limit?” she teased, a little color coming back into her voice.
“Damned right I am. There aresomeperks to being a cop, you know.”
“Well, if you must,” she acknowledged. “Just drive safely.”
“Always.” Doug hung up, but he felt like there was something else he should have said. How worried he was? A declaration of his regard for her…as a pal, of course?Gah!What was he thinking?
Don’t think, he admonished himself.
He let himself into Talia’s house, and immediately May began twining between and around his legs, vocalizing over the fact that her supper was late.
“Hold on, Miss May. I’ve got you.” He picked her up for a careful squeeze, avoiding her bandage, and got an immediate chin-butt, then chuckled as she squirmed to get down. He let her go.
He’d never had a cat before, but he’d come to like this independent little beast.
An hour later,he approached the street where Pixie lived with her parents. It was a fairly rural area; the hundred-year-old farmhouse—along with four others—all spaced a few hundred yards apart on an otherwise sparsely populated street. The five-house cluster backed up to farmland where a maze of twisting dirt roads cut swaths through the tall grasses. It wasn’t exactly the safest place on earth for the residents if someone wanted to stalk them.
Doug took advantage of the approaching dusk to turn off his headlights and slowly drive down the nearest, worn path. One that had a view of Pixie’s house.
Five minutes in, he hadn’t seen the white Chevy anywhere, but as he turned a corner to head back to Pixie’s his eyes lit on a patch of grass that had been crushed down.
“Fuck,” he said, putting his truck in park and getting out. It didn’t take a genius to see that a car had been parked there. And not just once. By the tire pattern, it looked like something that had happened not only recently, but frequently.
He pulled out his phone and hit Google, then placed his call.
“Skowhegan Police Department, Sergeant Gessup speaking. How may I help you?”
“Good evening, Sergeant. I was wondering if any of your detectives are still in?” Doug asked politely.
“May I ask the nature of your business, sir?”
It was a protocol Doug recognized.
“This is Doug Lumous. I’m with the patrol division of the Orono PD.” He identified himself, but didn’t linger on his credentials. “I have a friend…” God, did he stumble over that word again? “…who lives off Route 2.” He named the specificroad. “She called because she thinks she’s being stalked. When I came here to have a look around, I found a spot on a dirt road up behind her house where someone has obviously parked. I’m here now, and I have a perfect view of her house.”
“Okay. Let me connect you to Detective Roper.”
Doug only had to wait a few seconds before the next officer picked up.
“Detective Roper.”
Doug once again introduced himself, and started with an explanation of the stalking that had occurred earlier today in town.
