AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When she refused, he lifted her chin with his thumb. She blinked, trying to keep the moisture that threatened to spill over from her eyes.
“I want you to be safe. Period. You’ve been a huge help today. In so many ways. If you’d rather come with me tomorrow, I’d love it. But if you feel uncomfortable or threatened and want to come back here, just say the word. You and Nora come first.”
“Okay,” she whispered, her heart pounding faster than the swirl of the ceiling fan above her.
“Good,” Lewis mumbled. “I don’t need two women fussing over me all damn day. At least one of you will be out of my hair.”
Marie rose to her feet, crossed the room to Lewis’ side, and grinned. “The last place I want to be is out of your hair. I’m glad you’re okay.”
Lewis lifted the side of his mouth in a half-smile and placed an old, weathered hand on hers. “Back at ya, girl. Now get some rest. Who knows where that grandson of mine will drag you off to?”
Bidding them both a goodnight, she scooped up Nora and escaped to the spare room with a delicious image of exactly where she’d like Owen to drag her. After settling Nora and resting her in the portable crib, she slipped between the cool cotton sheets. Her eyes drifted shut and a smile lifted her lips. Her life might be a world class disaster, but Owen waited in her dreams to whisk her off her feet and kiss away every bit of fear that clung to her.
If only her dreams stood a chance at becoming reality.
14
The next morning, Marie stepped out of Owen’s new cruiser onto the side of the road. Water splashed up her bare calf as she unbuckled Nora from her car seat in the back of Owen’s new cruiser and settled her into the wrap on her chest. Street parking was the only option in the old section of the city. Well, besides the narrow gravel driveway that was already occupied.
A chill swept over her, and she covered a blanket over Nora’s head. The assault of heavy rain had dropped the temperature, and she wished she’d grabbed a hoodie when they’d left the house after breakfast. Owen hurried to her side, and they ran across the small patch of grass to the old Victorian house that had been converted into two apartments—one resident on top and one on the bottom.
Erica Zyler had resided in the bottom apartment.
Marie followed Owen to the narrow porch at the front of the house. Water dripped from the ends of her hair. She rubbed her hands up and down Nora’s back. The sound of cars behind her whooshing through the soon-to-be-flooded street worked her nerves as Owen unlocked the door.
“How do you get to the upstairs apartment?” she asked, glancing around.
“There’s a staircase around back. I bet it leads to another door that goes into the house. I’m not sure how long the house has been a duplex, but the owner would have had to renovate to make it work.” Owen tipped his head toward a metal box on the far end of the porch, protected from the elements inside a screened enclosure. “Like that. Normally a fuse box would be in a basement, but I’m guessing the landlord needed to access it without going into either apartment, so he had an electrician wire it out here.”
Marie spared another glance over her shoulder at the metal box, and then stepped through the door as soon as Owen disarmed the alarm and swung it open.
Heavy rain splattered against the window of the living room. Thunder boomed and shook the glass, causing the lights Owen had just turned on to flicker. Marie slipped off her saturated flip-flops and stepped further into the empty apartment.
Soft carpet cushioned her feet, and she curled her toes against the cozy material. She studied the room. Framed pictures of laughing women and mismatched knick-knacks like elegant candlestick holders beside a ceramic unicorn showed a resident with a fun sense of humor who spent time choosing the things she placed in her personal space. A thick gray blanket hung over the edge of the cream-colored sofa. Pink running shoes lay scattered by the front door.
A jolt of sadness shook Marie’s already trembling legs, and she leaned against the back of a tufted armchair in the corner of the room. Erica Zyler would never curl up under the blanket or run in her favorite pair of tennis shoes again.
“Are you all right?” Owen placed a hand on her shoulder and dipped his chin, the lines on his forehead expressing his concern.
Marie shrugged and held her daughter close. “Being in her apartment and knowing she’ll never come home is sad.”
Another crash of thunder rumbled through the apartment, and a flash of lightning sparked outside the window. Marie jumped and rubbed a hand over Nora’s back.
Owen squeezed her shoulder, moving his fingers against the tight muscles in her neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about what it’d be like for you to come here. It is sad, but hopefully we can find something that will bring Erica justice. If you want, you can sit and wait for me to comb through everything.”
Marie sucked in a deep breath and gathered as much courage as she could. “I want to help.”
Owen nodded and pulled a pair of gloves from a small duffle bag he’d laid at his feet. “I have clearance to be here as the lead investigator, but you should put these on. Try not to move anything. If I see something I need your input on, I’ll let you know. Stay close and tell me if anything jumps out at you.”
Marie nodded. She wasn’t a police officer, so there wasn’t much else she could do. Heck, she wasn’t sure if she was even supposed to be here, but Owen going off to investigate without her wasn’t an option any longer. Not when Bill’s whereabouts were a complete unknown and he’d already come after her twice.
“I want to do a quick walk-through first. Chances are what I want is on a computer somewhere, but you never know where else people might put something...or what else might be helpful in tracking Bill.”
Marie followed behind Owen as he went from room to room, checking stacks of papers and glancing between pages of books. She swept her gaze along every cluttered surface they encountered—the kitchen table, the bathroom counter, the nightstand in the bedroom. Erica left evidence of a woman who led a full life, as well as a messy one. No dust or dirt lingered around the space, but Erica clearly wasn’t one who believed everything had a proper place.
Once Owen surveyed the apartment, he circled back to the small bedroom at the end of the hallway. The apartment didn’t boast of a designated office space, but a sleek laptop buzzed on an antique desk tucked between the side of the unmade bed and the wall.
Marie fought the urge to pull back the light blue duvet and fluff the eyelet lace-covered pillows. Instead, she stood behind Owen as he perched on the edge of the bed and lifted the top of the laptop.
