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And though he wanted to hold her in his arms again, apparently everything between them was also just as it had been before that impetuous embrace outside the restaurant.
Except now she seemed to be avoiding his eyes.
Lucy stepped into the house with Sniper on a leash. “So everything’s good here?”
He nodded as he closed all of the shades, flipped on the lights in the kitchen, and put their restaurant leftover containers in the fridge.
She sent Sniper out into the backyard and came back in to pull her iPad out of her carry-on luggage. “Do you know your internet password?”
He rattled off a series of letters and numbers.
“I need to see if any of the shelters or online pet sites have come up with anything on Sniper.”
While she tapped on the keyboard attached to the iPad, Nick brought the pup back inside to feed him. Then he sat across the table from her, watching her expression change from hope to disappointment, then resignation. “No luck?”
“None.” She looked up at him with a hint of chagrin. “Though I have to admit I’m relieved, in a selfish way. He’s an awfully sweet boy. Maybe his owner isn’t a nice person and just let him run. I wish I could bring Sniper home with me.”
“If you can’t find his previous owners, there’s no reason you can’t. He’d need current health papers and a record of vaccinations, which you could get from Dr. Bailey, and you’d need a qualifying crate. But some airlines only allow a certain number of pets in the cabin, so finding an available flight could be a problem.”
Nick’s cell phone rang. He answered, then brought the phone to the table and sat down next to her. “It’s the police. They want to talk to each of us, so I told them that I’m putting this on speaker. I hope that’s all right with you.”
* * * *
AFRISSON OF DREADslid down Lucy’s back as she stared at the phone and imagined that it was a snake ready to strike.
But the deputy was brief and to the point. “There were few fingerprints other than your own at the Airbnb, so the suspect must have taken off his gloves just before leaving. They match those of a small-time Honolulu drug dealer with a long criminal history.”
Hope welled up inside her.
“Fresh blood spatters were collected from the cement sidewalk where he allegedly attacked you on the night of the murder,” the deputy continued. “So after we catch him, DNA matching can be done. I’m sending you a text with his photo after we hang up. His name is Willard Peel.”
“So you haven’t caught him,” Lucy said flatly.
“Investigators are following up on a number of leads, and all inter-island, Mainland, and European flights are being monitored, ma’am. It will be only a matter of time.”
“And the two ‘witnesses’ who claimed someone else was responsible for that murder on the beach?”
“They’ve admitted that they were mistaken. It was just too dark out there to be sure.”
Or they were paid to lie. “I’ve already given several statements to the police and told them everything I possibly could. Now I’ve got a potential family emergency back home and need to leave as soon as I can find a flight.”
She could hear the officer conferring with someone in the background, then he spoke into the phone. “That isn’t a problem. The attorneys might ask you to look over a six-pack of mugshot photos again, possibly in the company of your local police. Or ask for another statement.”
“What if there’s a trial?”
“In some cases, a witness can testify remotely. If testimony is needed in person, there are usually victim funds that will cover expenses.”
“Remote would be my preference if I have any choice. You have my email and home address. Once I get back home and replace my stolen phone, then the number I gave will be functional.”
A moment after the call was disconnected, a text came through with a photo.
Lucy stared at it with horror as the bits and pieces of every encounter—from the mug shot at the police station to the times this man had come after her—all came together with frightening clarity.
“When I saw his photo at the police station it made my stomach twist into knots, but I couldn’t be certain. But it’s him. I’msureit is.”
“At least now we know who to watch for.”
Her final decision took less than a millisecond. “Not for long.”
