“Did you call her?”
“Yes. She said she was fine. They were all at the pool.”
“I think you should follow your gut.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “Thanks, love.”
“You’re welcome.”
He drove fast to Juliet’s house in a suburb of Rockford. When he reached her street, a car came racing toward him. It was going so fast, Oliver had to swerve off to the side of the pavement to avoid getting hit. It whizzed to the intersection where it turned left—never slowing down.
He drove the rest of the way fast, bolted out of the car leaving his door open and hurried around the house to the pool. He stopped at the gate and took a deep breath. Both boys were in the shallow end and Juliet sat on the steps watching them swim. The gate creaked when he opened it.
“Hey there.” He tried to calm his heart rate but it wasn’t easy.
When she got a good look at his face, she stood and crossed to him. She was wearing a pretty aqua bathing suit and a canvas hat. “What’s wrong?”
“I, um…” He raked a hand through his hair “Like I said on the phone, I had a bad feeling about you.”
“Do you want to tell me specifics?”
“That something was wrong. Or maybe that you were in danger.”
“You can see I’m fine. Why don’t we sit?” She called out to the boys. “Tommy, Billy, Uncle Oliver’s here to talk to me. We’re going to sit in the shade.”
“Hi, Uncle Oliver,” they said together.
“Hey, guys.”
He and Juliet sat. “Talk to me.”
“I was with the twins when I got a sinking feeling in my gut. I knew inherently it was about you.”
“Again, I’m fine.”
“Yeah, but on the way down your street some guy in a black sedan was going so fast toward me, I had to pull off the road. He whipped by me and turned at the intersection.”
“Oh, dear. I wonder if the girl down the street has a new boyfriend. Her choice in guys isn’t very judicious.”
“I guess it could be that.”
She stared out at the water.
“Do you think we should call Marshall?”
“I suppose we should. He was miffed that Juliet and Scarlet didn’t contact him about the medallion guy. But let’s ask him not to call all the others.”
He took his phone. “I’ll do it.”
Clicking into his cell, he phoned the number Jeff had given them. “Captain Jeff Marshall. Leave a message or call the central line if it’s an emergency.”
“Hi, Jeff. It’s Oliver Ricardi. Could you get back to me as soon as possible?” He disconnected.
Juliet sighed deeply. “I guess we wait.”
Oliver grasped her hand. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m staying until we talk to Jeff.”
“I want you to.” She stood, grabbed a vibrant print cover up off the chair and slid it over her suit. “I’ll go inside and get us some water. Then you can tell me all about the twins.”
