Fatal Vendetta

Even if she looked composed on the outside, he was pretty sure she was in a wrestling match with deep fear on the inside. Her fingers were cool to the touch as she gave him only a passing glance.

At the door, she fumbled through her clutch for the keys. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. She turned to face him.

“Thank you, Zach.” She reached up and touched his face. The brush of her hand on his cheek was so fleeting he thought he might have imagined it. The sudden heat on his face and the tight throat told him he hadn’t.

“No problem, Betsy.” The remark was intended to put distance between them. Her touch and his response to it caught him off-guard. They were still working on becoming friends, right? Nothing more. “I’ll let you know what the cops find out.” He’d do anything to pull her from the pit of angst she must be in. “You going to be all right?”

“I really just want to go into my house, lock the doors and not think about this right now.”

He understood all too well needing to block out everything.

She stepped inside and shut the door. He hurried back to his car. The best thing for dealing with his rage over what had happened to her was to do something. He pulled away from the curb and headed toward the police station.

He pulled his phone out. A text had come in from one of his fireman friends about a house fire. Let someone else get the story. He needed resolution for Elizabeth, or he wouldn’t be able to sleep either.

He dialed the personal number of the detective who would be handling the search at the golf course.

Glenn picked up on the second ring. “Zach.”

“Anything?”

“We’ve searched the grounds and the surrounding woods but we didn’t find anyone. There were a lot of people leaving the ball. He could have just gotten in his car and driven off before we had a chance to detain and question people.”

He squeezed the phone a little tighter. He really had hoped for an end to all this. “I’ll try to talk her into coming in tomorrow to make a statement.”

“She can do that. But there is zero evidence,” said Glenn.

Zach’s stomach tightened. “What happened tonight must be connected with her abduction.”

“Maybe, but we need evidence. Did you see the guy?”

“No, he ran off by the time I got to her.”

Glenn took a moment to answer. His voice dropped half an octave. “A television reporter like that is used to lots of attention.”

Zach gritted his teeth. “She’s not like that. She wouldn’t make something like this up.”

Glenn took a moment to answer. “We’ll focus our energy on the previous kidnapping. We have something to work with there. I don’t know what tonight was about.”

His jaw clenched. He didn’t want to get into an argument with his friend. “I just need you to do your job.”

“You know we will, but we can’t put man hours into investigating an attack with no leads. Bear in mind that I am sure Elizabeth Kramer has some major PTSD going on from the abduction. That kind of thing can mess with your head.”

PTSD. There were those letters again. Now he and Elizabeth had that in common. Prayer was the only thing that had kept him from spiraling down to a place where he’d lost all perspective. “She’s not safe until this guy is behind bars. That’s all I’m saying.”

“We are doing everything we can,” said Glenn.

Zach hung up. He checked his texts again. Maybe he could still make the fire. A text had come in from Elizabeth.

Someone is in my house.

* * *

Elizabeth had changed out of her ruined ball gown when she detected a smell in her bedroom that seemed foreign—a woodsy, damp smell. Her breath caught. Had a man been in her bedroom while she’d been changing in the bathroom?

Her gaze darted around the room. One of her coats had fallen on the floor, and the chair by her makeup table was askew, but it was the lingering odor that made her heart pound. She couldn’t take any chances. She grabbed her clutch and slipped into a closet.

Zach was probably not far away. She texted him.

While her heartbeat drummed in her ears, she listened. Had the culprit just been here and left or was he still in the house? The smell was so strong.

She heard noise in her office next door. It could be her cat.

Was she losing her mind? Was she just imagining things? It wasn’t a chance she was willing to take.

She thought she heard a door easing open.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Please, let that be Zach.

She checked her phone again. He hadn’t replied to her text. More footsteps. She pressed her back against the closet wall. The clothes shielded her. But if someone wanted to find her, they could.

“Elizabeth.” Zach’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Relief filled her. She leaned forward and pushed open the door. He hurried toward her from across the room and gathered her in his arms.

How easy it was to fall into his arms. Embarrassed, she pulled free of the embrace and looked up at him. “Did you see him?”

“No, but let’s search the house together.” He moved toward the bedroom door. “What tipped you off?”

“A smell in my bedroom.” The moment she said it, she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

He stared at her a moment too long.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“It doesn’t sound like the police are actively investigating what happened at the country club.” He pressed his lips together. “They just don’t have that much to work with, but they are all over the abduction.”

So now the police thought she was some kind of unstable nut job crying wolf. “I know someone was in my bedroom.” She kept her eyes on the floor as doubt filled her mind.

He touched her hand just above the elbow. “I believe you. Do you have a back door?”

She appreciated the vote of confidence from Zach, but wondered if he had some doubts, too. She led him through her office to the back door. Now she was beginning to wonder if her own fear had made her smell something that wasn’t there. She didn’t like the way the stalker was able to mess with her mentally even when he wasn’t around.

Zach stepped outside. “This door was locked?”

“Both doors were.” She leaned to look at the door handle. It didn’t look like it had been forced. She let out a heavy sigh. “Nothing.”

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