AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I rolled my eyes. The typical don’t-criticize-my-driving guy response.
When we arrived at Casa di Rossi, cop cars were already outside with lights flashing.
I bailed and ran as best I could to the house in my heels.
Josh caught me before I reached the steps and bounded up them to reach the officer at the door. “We’re family.”
I followed Josh in.
“It’s him. I know it is,” Lara told the detective sitting with her, notepad in hand.
I tried to move closer.
Josh blocked me with an outstretched arm. “Let them finish.”
I wondered who Lara’shimwas.
The detective looked over his shoulder at us. It was Detective Beal from years ago—the last time the police were at my house. He smiled at me.
Josh wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me in. Did he mean to hold me close, or just keep me from barging forward?
I settled on holding me close. Up against his side, I absorbed a feeling of strength from him—solid, like leaning against an oak.
Beal turned back to Lara. “Did you see him place the note on the tree?”
“No,” Lara answered. “But it’s not Tanaka’s handwriting.”
Beal scribbled a note. “Mr. Tanaka? The man who lives out back?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see your neighbor…” He consulted his notes. “Lenz, on the property?”
Hugo Lenz? Our old neighbor?He’d left shortly after Vern was killed, and I had no idea he was back. He’d seemed weird years ago, but always in a harmless way.
Lara glanced at her shoes before answering. “No, but since he came back a few weeks ago, he’s always looking out his windows with his binoculars.”
“And what do you think the note means byhe knows what you did?”
“How should I know?” Lara nearly yelled in exasperation. “The guy’s a creeper.”
I knew what Beal was getting at, and it tore my heart out that he would dredge up the past after all Lara had been through. I tried to step forward to tell him what I thought of this line of questioning, but Josh tightened his grip against my movement.
Beal didn’t ask again and instead went over a dozen more questions about what Lara had done today and when, and our history with our neighbor.
All the while, Josh held me tightly against his side, his hand occasionally stroking my shoulder or upper arm.
I found myself reciprocating by snaking an arm around his waist and hooking my thumb in his belt. The tingles as we traded body heat made me miss a few of Beal’s questions and Lara’s answers. My heart rate had come down from panicked, but the closeness to Josh wouldn’t let it slow below excited.
Lara’s demeanor relaxed as Beal’s questioning went on.
She was safe, and that’s what mattered, but I was dying to see what this stupid note said. It was torture to be fifteen feet from her and not able to comfort her after what had obviously been a traumatic experience.
Beal stood. “That should do it for tonight.”
“Are you going to arrest him?” Lara asked.
Beal replaced his pen in his pocket. “I’ll talk to him, and we’ll process the note for fingerprints first.”
