Page 70 of K-9 in Pursuit

“You can do whatever you want after we’re done with you. But don’t go too far.”

CHLOE ACHED ALL OVER. Her hands hurt. Her head hurt. And her throat burned as if she had swallowed acid. She tried to sit up further in the hospital bed and focus on Detective Renfro in the chair beside it. The bags under his eyes seemed even heavier and he looked as exhausted as she felt. She had spent the last hour going over the events of the evening, croaking out the answers to his questions about Theresa Douglas and Sharee and Brian. “Theresa admitted to me she killed Sharee,” she said. “And then she attacked me. She took the scarf from around her neck and started choking me.”

Renfro consulted his notepad. “Ms. Douglas says Brian Weeks attacked her. When the first deputies arrived on the scene, he had her on the ground in the alley.”

“He must have been trying to save me,” Chloe said. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes at the thought. “I was already unconscious by then, but I had called Brian and left the call open in my pocket, so he would hear what was going on. He obviously got the call and found us in that alley and stopped her from killing me.”

“And you think Theresa Douglas wanted to kill you because of the photographs of her family your sister took?” Renfro asked.

“She thought the photos were of her husband and Sharee together. Or maybe of Sharee alone, meant to tempt Cameron Douglas into a relationship with Sharee. She had never seen the photos and had imagined the worst about them.”

“When we interviewed the Douglases, they both said Theresa was home with her children and her sister when your sister was murdered,” Renfro said. “Her sister confirmed this. We even found a neighbor who was sure she had seen Theresa with the children in a neighborhood park the evening Sharee was murdered.”

“Theresa said she and her sister were close and would do anything for each other,” Chloe said.

“They’re also twins, did you know that?” Renfro said.

“She said something about that.” She tried to read the expression on his face. Was it less accusatory? “Her sister could have worn Theresa’s clothing and answered to her name and the neighbor wouldn’t have known the difference,” she said.

“Maybe.” Renfro checked his notes again. “Did she say anything about Brian Weeks’s ski glove?”

Chloe frowned. “No. She never mentioned the ski glove.”

“We’re trying to figure out how the glove got in that alley,” Renfro said. “With Brian Weeks’s and Sharee’s DNA on it.”

“I think Sharee took the glove from Brian,” Chloe said. “I think she had it in her pocket when she was killed. It could have fallen out in her struggle with Theresa.”

“And what led you to this conclusion?”

She explained her theory about the glove. “It’s the kind of thing I think Sharee would have done,” she concluded.

Renfro made a note. “We’ll look into it.”

“What did you do with Theresa? Are you going to charge her?”

“They have her at the station, questioning her. She’ll likely be retained in custody.”

“Where was she staying? We looked and looked and couldn’t find her?”

“She was in a vacation rental outside of town, registered under a fake name.”

“Where’s Brian? And Daisy! He had his dog with him.”

“We took the dog to the station. She’s safe. Brian is at the station, too, giving his statement.”

“When can I see him?”

“After he gives his statement, he’s free to come here.” He stood. “If you think of anything else that could be relevant, give us a call.” He laid a business card on the table beside the bed, then left the room.

Chloe lay back, tears leaking from her eyes, even though she didn’t want to cry. Standing in that alley, hearing Theresa say all those terrible things, had been like losing Sharee all over again. The panic that had paralyzed Chloe when Theresa wrapped the scarf around her throat had been the same panic Sharee had known in the last moments of her life.

A knock on the door brought her out of the spiral of dark thoughts. “Come in,” she said, and wiped her fingers beneath her eyes.

But the tears poured all over again when Brian stepped into the room. Sobs shook her and he rushed to gather her close. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re safe now.”

“I thought they arrested you,” she said. “I told them you saved my life but I wasn’t sure they believed me.” She studied his face. He looked the worse for wear—uncombed hair, unshaven jaw.

“They had me in cuffs, but only until they got everything straightened out,” he said. “I guess when they showed up tonight they found me on top of a woman in an alley, with a second woman unconscious nearby, and they thought the worst.”