Page 65

“I think I know,” Seth replied. A deep frown tugged his dark brows closer together. “Early yesterday morning I went down to the barn to work for a couple of hours, and I accidentally left the back door unlocked. I knew I smelled something odd in the hallway last night.”

“Did it smell like pears?” Dallas asked.

“Maybe something like that,” Seth said in obvious surprise. “I thought it was just something in Suzanna’s perfume. So, what was it?”

“Acetone,” Dallas replied. “Easy to buy and highly flammable.”

“Can we get back into the house today?” Seth asked.

“Yeah, it’s cooled off enough, but don’t move or touch anything related to the fire before an insurance adjuster comes out to look at it. But I’m not finished talking about the acetone.”

What now? A new knot of anxiety twisted in the very pit of Suzanna’s stomach. Dallas leaned forward in the chair and looked at each of them intently. “Down by the tree line in your backyard, we found a couple of empty bottles of acetone. We immediately fingerprinted them, and when we ran them through the system, we got a hit.” His eyes appeared to brighten. “Suzanna, we now have the person I believe was your attacker behind bars.”

She leaned forward eagerly. She had hoped this time would come, and a wave of deep relief rushed through her. “Who? Is it Ray?”

“No, it’s Eva Dayton,” Dallas replied.

She stared at him in stunned surprise. Eva Dayton? She had been the person who had run her off the road? The person who had attacked her with a knife? “Are you sure she’s really the guilty person?”

For the first time since he’d arrived, Dallas smiled. “I’m one-hundred-percent positive. We executed a search warrant at her house early this morning, and in the garage was a black four-door sedan with front-end damage. We also found a large butcher knife, and it is now at the lab to see if traces of your blood are found on it. All the evidence points directly to her. Suzanna, your ordeal is over, and you should be safe now.”

She still found it hard to believe that Eva had tried to kill her. Why? Because she hadn’t liked what Suzanna had told her about Holly’s social skills at the parent-teacher meeting?

“What about Holly? If Eva is in jail, then where is her daughter?” Suzanna asked with concern.

“Right now, she’s with neighbors while we work to find her father,” Dallas replied. “We’re hoping he’ll step up for her and take her in.” Suzanna’s heart ached for the little girl whose life would never be the same. In the end, Holly was just another victim in all this. “Did Eva tell you why she did all this?”

“No. I couldn’t get a clear answer from her,” Dallas replied.

“Can I speak with Eva?” she asked.

Dallas looked surprised and then frowned. “I suppose that could be arranged. When would you want to do that?”

“As soon as possible…right now if it can be arranged,” she replied. The only way Suzanna would believe that the attractive brunette was behind all the attacks on her was if she could confront Eva herself.

“Okay, if you’re sure you want to do this, then you can follow me to the police station right now,” Dallas replied.

“I’ll go with you,” Seth said. “All I need to do is call Lydia to come stay with Sammy.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” she said firmly to Seth. “I’ll be fine going alone. In fact, I prefer it that way.” While she would have loved Seth’s support, it was time she stood on her own once again.

“Seth, there are a couple of my officers at your house, and I’m sure I’ll see you later,” Dallas said as he stood. Suzanna and Seth rose from the sofa. “Ready?” he asked Suzanna.

She nodded. “All I need to do is get my purse.” She hurried to her bedroom and grabbed her purse from the top of the dresser. Thankfully Seth had managed to retrieve both the purse and her notebooks. Despite her wiping them all down, they still smelled faintly of smoke. She then went back down the hallway, where Dallas was waiting.

“Are you sure about doing this?” Seth asked, his eyes filled with a wealth of concern.

“I’m positive. This is something I have to do. Don’t worry, I’ll be just fine, and I’ll see you back here later.” With that, she followed Dallas out the front door.

She still had the rental car since there had been no opportunity to go car shopping. That was one of the first things she’d take care of now that she finally had her life back. A rush of emotion swept through her at the thought that her ordeal was finally over.

As she followed behind Dallas’s patrol car, once again she tried to wrap her head around the fact that her wicked boogeyman had been Eva. Why? She knew Eva was a disgruntled parent, but she hadn’t realized it had gone that deep.

She needed to talk to the woman to assure herself that the bad guy really was her. If she hated her so much as Holly’s teacher, then all she would have had to do was wait five months and the school year would be over and Holly would have been moving into Boone’s classroom.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the police station, where Dallas led her into a conference room with a long table and seating for four.

“Sit tight and I’ll bring her in,” Dallas said. He left the room and closed the door behind him.