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She looked up to find James and Cole standing in the doorway. Her pulse did that funny little rhythm thing it had decided to do every time James showed up. James. Not Cole or any other man. Just James.Stop it.She cleared her throat. “Hey. Any luck with Mr. Williams?”
“Not really,” he said. “He just managed to confuse us even more.”
“And I didn’t hear anything that I thought needed attention.”
“Ready to head to your locker?”
“Ready.”
She said goodbye to Jared and led the way to her locker. Cole and James stood guard at the door while she spun the combination lock, then lifted the little metal piece to pull open the door. She reached for her bag, then stumbled back, a small scream escaping.
James raced over. “What?”
She pointed and he sucked in a swift breath.
A small black coffin lay on top of her bag, and a dead mouse rested on the satin lining. A small black rose lay beside it and a note pinned to the raised coffin lid glared back at her. “You can’t hide where I won’t find you. I’m back. Like a cat with nine lives. I have eight left. How many do you have?”
JAMES PULLED HER AWAYfrom the locker, feeling the shudders rippling through her. Tears glittered in her eyes, but something else did too. A new look that said she was close to being done. At theend of her rope. And yet ... determined too. He led her to a bench positioned between the two rows of lockers. It reminded him of his high school track days.
She sat on the bench, placed her elbows on her knees, and leaned forward, dropping her chin to her chest. “It’s not him,” she said, her voice low. “It’s not.”
“Lainie...” James didn’t know what to say because he wasn’t sure of anything at this point.
Footsteps sounded and a man in his midsixties rounded the end of the lockers. “Lainie?”
She sighed and closed her eyes for a brief second before she stood and turned. “Hi, Dr. Maloney.”
“Are you all right?” Genuine concern glinted in his green eyes.
Lainie shrugged. “I’m okay. Dr. Maloney, this is Detective James Cross and Detective Cole Garrison. Guys, this is my supervisor, Dr. Maloney.”
The men shook hands, then Maloney turned to Lainie. “I hear you’ve been having some trouble.”
“Yes. And now it’s followed me here in a very terrible way. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorryfor you. I know this isn’t your fault, but I’m going to recommend you take a few more days off and see if the police can catch this person. Don’t worry, your job is safe. Now it’s time to make sureyou’resafe.”
She nodded, and James had a hard time controlling his urge to reach for her and wrap her in his arms.
The man patted her on the shoulder. “This too will pass, Lainie,” he said.
“I know. Thank you.”
James’ phone buzzed and he read the text from Caitlyn Evans, the analyst.
Got that video footage you wanted of the tires being switched in the hospital parking garage. Looks like the guy is about six feet tall, slenderbuild. He’s got on sunglasses and a baseball hat, black sweatpants, and solid colored T-shirt. Never got a good look at his face. I’m sure that was intentional. Don’t know what you might find on it, but here you go if you want to try.
Seconds later, the video came through. He’d watch it with Lainie as soon as they had a spare minute. Leaving the locker with the CSU team, they made their way through the hospital, heading for the exit, when someone called Lainie’s name. She turned and James recognized Kenzie King. The woman, dressed in her SWAT gear and carrying a backpack, approached. “Lainie? I thought that was you.”
“Hey, Kenz, what’s going on with you? Why are you here?”
“Had a call and one of the guys got grazed by a bullet. He’s fine, though.” Her eyes slid past them to Cole, who’d been standing there in silence. “Cole.”
“Kenzie.”
The coolness in his friend’s tone surprised him.
Kenzie turned her attention to Lainie. “I wanted to ask about the glamping trip.”
