Page 30 of K-9 in Pursuit

“I want to know if he ever saw those photos Sharee took of him and his family. Darinda and my dad never mentioned anything like that. I never saw anything in the newspaper articles I read. Did she try to blackmail him? Or maybe she threatened to tell his wife?”

“Do you not believe his alibi?”

“I don’t know what to believe. I… I guess I want to know how disturbed Sharee really was. If she threatened Douglas, maybe she threatened someone else. And that person may have decided to shut her up for good.”

“He probably won’t talk to you,” Brian said.

“He might not. I won’t know if I don’t try. But first I have to find his number.”

“He’s still a teacher, right?”

“As far as I know.”

“Maybe the school has a directory.” He pulled out his phone.

Less than a minute later, they were looking at the staff directory for Sharee’s former high school. “No phone number,” Brian said.

“But there’s an email.” She pointed to the address next to Cameron Douglas’s name. Her heart raced, and her stomach swam, but she wasn’t going to let herself chicken out. She took out her own phone and typed an email:

My name is Chloe Anderson. Sharee Anderson was my sister. I know about the way my sister harassed you and I don’t want to cause you any more trouble. But now that Sharee is dead, I have so many unanswered questions. I’m worried she targeted someone else and it cost her her life. If you would be willing to talk to me, just for a few minutes, I promise I won’t contact you again.

She added her phone number, hit Send, then looked up at him. “Now all we can do is wait.”

“I hope you find out something that helps.”

She could tell he didn’t think she should contact Douglas, but he hadn’t tried to talk her out of it. Instead, he had helped her. Supported her. She had heard there were people in this world like that. Too bad it took her sister’s murder for her to find one.

BRIAN DIDN’T LIKE the idea of Chloe contacting Cameron Douglas. If the man had anything to do with Sharee’s death, she ought to stay far away from him. But it wasn’t his place to tell Chloe that. She thought the man would give her some answers, while Brian foresaw only more hurt. Despite the things she might have done, he didn’t think Sharee was an evil person. She was just a mixed-up kid. One who pushed too hard and went too far. Chloe’s last memories of her sister shouldn’t be more stories of wrong choices and poor decisions.

But Brian had no control over the things Chloe learned or how she learned them. As an adult, she could do as she pleased. All he could do was stand by her. The way she stood by him, when so many people in town thought the absolute worst.

She closed the door of the supply closet and turned off the overhead lights, leaving only the soft illumination from a pair of lamps flanking the front desk. Her face half in shadow, she looked exhausted. About like he felt. Sleep remained elusive when so many worries clamored for attention.

“I’m going to stop in at the deli and grab something to eat,” she said. “Do you want to join me?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” He didn’t want to leave her so weary and sad. He didn’t want to leave her at all, really.

Daisy waited outside while they ordered their food, then joined them on the heated patio where they ate beneath the glow of a propane heater. A few people glanced their way but said nothing. “I’m not sure it’s doing your reputation much good to be seen with me,” he said. “Everyone in town knows I’m the top suspect in a murder.”

“I don’t care what people think.”

“That’s rare. Most of us think about it too much.”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She pulled a pickle from her sandwich and ate it, then said, “Sharee didn’t care about people’s opinions, because she always assumed they were positive. She told me once that everyone liked her. That she was the most popular person she knew.”

But one person hadn’t liked her, Brian thought.

“What did you think of Sharee?” Chloe asked. “I mean, before she started, well, stalking you.”

“I thought she wanted so much to be liked and admired,” he said. “She came across as happy and confident but I think deep down inside, she was unsure of herself. She was young and impatient for a life she didn’t have yet, so she tried to make people like her. She wanted to make them love her.”

She stared at him. “You saw all that?”

He shrugged. “People who are really secure don’t have to try so hard. And like I said, Sharee was young. I know at that age I had no idea how to act. I settled for being super nice to everyone so they’d like me. Most of the time it worked and before I knew it, my personality was pretty much set.”

“Don’t knock it. The world could use more nice people.”

“Except now people think I’m a pushover. I’m not. But I still think it’s good to be nice when you can.”