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Zoe sighed. “Have a seat, Officer Woods. It’s a long story.”
The officer perched on the edge of a chair on the other side of Zoe’s desk and pulled out a small notebook. Zoe stared at the floor for a long moment, organizing her thoughts. Finally she looked up and said, “My father was killed by a home invader twelve years ago. The intruder’s name was Ethan Davies. He was a high school classmate of mine, and he was obsessed with me.”
She swallowed. “He was committed to a psychiatric facility thirteen years ago. He’s been free for eight years, and I’ve heard nothing from him. But I got this package today.”
She used a pen to nudge the unwrapped package, the silver shoe gleaming in the light, toward Officer Woods.
Zoe stared at the shoe for a moment, then looked away. “After the trial, one of the detectives took my mother, my sister and me aside. She told us to move. Get away from Illinois. She told us that Ethan had sworn that if he couldn’t have me, no one else could. She told my mother she was doubtful that five years in the psychiatric facility would cure him of his obsession. He wasn’t going to let me go. When he was released, he’d come after me. So my mother moved all of us to Seattle and we changed our last name.” Zoe’s breath shuddered out. “I’ll always be grateful she got us out of Illinois.”
After she finished the story, the officer looked up. “May I see the charm he sent you?”
Zoe nudged the wad of bubble wrap across her desk toward the officer. She studied it for a moment, then looked up. “Are you sure it’s the same one you had on your bracelet?”
“No,” she admitted. “I didn’t pick it up. I didn’t want to disturb any fingerprints on it. But there was a scratch across the sole of the shoe. I got it caught in a door when I was a kid, and I could never polish it away.”
Woods scribbled something in her notebook. “You say he was released from the facility eight years ago?”
“Yes,” Zoe said. “I haven’t heard from him until this arrived today.”
Woods looked up from her notebook. “Any other information you can give me about Mr. Davies?”
Zoe shook her head. “I haven’t seen him or communicated with him since he killed my father. He was eighteen years old, and I haven’t seen him since the hearing when he was committed to Middleton for five years of treatment.”
“My orders were to take you home and search your house. Ready to go?”
“I will be in a minute.” Zoe shut down her computer and slid it into its case. Then she gathered her notes about the program she was working on and shoved them into her briefcase, along with her computer. Knowing she might not be back here for a few days, she looked around her office, wondering what else she might need. When she saw nothing, she lifted the briefcase, picked up her purse and nodded at Woods. “I’m ready.”
As they stepped out of her office, Zoe leaned over Janet’s desk. “I have to go home,” she said quietly. “I’ll probably be WFH for a day or two. Call me if anything urgent pops up. Or if there are any problems you can’t solve.”
Janet nodded. “Will do, boss.” Her gaze flickered between Zoe and the officer. Back to Zoe. “Everything okay?”
“No. It’s not.” She wanted to tell Janet that nothing was okay. “But I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, I’m keeping Officer Woods and I don’t want to take anymore of her time.” She cleared her throat. “No one gets into my office, okay? In fact, lock it and keep the key with you at all times.”
Janet’s eyes widened. “That sounds… that sounds serious.”
“It is serious,” Zoe replied. Then forcing herself to smile, she said, “I know you can keep everyone in line. Keep the business running. Please don’t tell anyone that I left with a police officer. You know how the rumors will fly.”
“I won’t say a thing,” Janet promised.
Zoe looked around the outer office, wondering how long it would be before she was back at her desk.
Realized it didn’t matter. Ethan Davies was in Seattle. He’d sent her the shoe from her bracelet.
Clearly, he was still obsessively focused on her. Thirteen years hadn’t changed anything.
Shivering, Zoe followed Officer Woods to the elevator and stepped inside.
