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That gave her a tiny lift of hope. He was right. But no matter what, she’d pay to have the locks changed. Now, today, even if that cost extra.
A security system would be reassuring if she intended to stay any length of time...but she didn’t. Of course, she couldn’t tell the detective she planned to disappear as soon as she could.
“Yes, all right,” she said, realizing Renner was probably waiting for a response. “Do you know any more?”
“I haven’t made an arrest, if that’s what you’re asking.” He spoke curtly, betraying frustration. “Which means I’d like to sit down with you again, Ms. Boyd.”
Her throat constricted. Could she hold him off long enough to make preparations for starting over again?
Did she have a choice?
“I suppose you’ll find me there. If I pack up and check out right away, I won’t have to pay for another night here.”
“Then I’ll meet you at the house.”
Just to make her day better.
Setting down the phone, she bent to kiss Jacob. “We’re going home, kiddo. You finish putting your puzzle together while I pack.”
He lifted his head. “Hot dog?”
“You’re hungry?”
He nodded vigorously. Hot dogs were his current favorite food, although mac and cheese was right up there, too. While staying here, they’d eaten makeshift breakfasts in the room, gone out to lunch each day and used room service for dinner. Darkness felt too dangerous; they were safer staying behind locked doors.
Fortunately, she was pretty sure there were hot dogs in the freezer at home. “We’ll have lunch. Maybe a hot dog.”
It didn’t take her ten minutes to throw everything into the suitcase. Jacob was fascinated by the lobby attendant who insisted on taking both the suitcase and potty seat out to her car.
In the past year, he’d gone through a stage of being painfully shy with everyone for no discernible reason, just recently becoming more curious and ready to grin at complete strangers. Maybe earlier she’d infected him with her tension, and as she felt safer his confidence returned. Kids undoubtedly reacted to their parents’ subtlest cues.
She locked the car even before she started it, as she always did. As she drove out of the lot, she craned her neck trying to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Disconcerted, she saw that Jacob, too, was turning to look around.
With this being a working day, there wasn’t much activity. From what she’d been told, tourist season didn’t really boom for another week or two, once schools let out. You wouldn’t know that looking at the windsurfing business next door, though. She knew vaguely that they rented small boats as well as windsurfing equipment. Like much of the rest of June, today was sunny but still chilly, and she could see multicolored sails swelling with the wind out on the choppy water. If someone over there was keeping an eye out for her, she’d never be able to pick him out.
She was quite sure nobody followed her home—but then, Richard or anyone he hired wouldn’t have to follow her to know where she was going. Leaving their stuff in the car, she carried Jacob inside, setting him down on the sofa with his blue bunny.
“Wait right there for me,” she said sternly.
He bounced on his butt. “Hurry, Mommy.”
Battling extreme reluctance, she steeled herself to look in the kitchen. She couldn’t let Jacob see the blood...
But the vinyl floor was spotless. No dead body, no blood.
Well, she’d known the body would be taken away, but she didn’t think police officers would clean up crime scenes.
Helen stared. Squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. Still clean. She’d scrub the floor herself once Jacob was napping, just to be sure, but somebody had done this for her.
Thinking of the man who managed to be both unrelenting and occasionally thoughtful, she had a good idea who’d done it. The kindness weakened her, even if he’d been thinking about Jacob and not her at all.
“I want hot dog,” her son reminded her.
Helen laughed. “Okay, okay!”
She raced through the house, looking in closets and pushing the shower curtain aside before dashing out to get their bags. She didn’t see a soul. Everyone must be at work, and even Iris’s car was missing.
