Chapter 4
FOUR
A deep chill sank into Della’s bones, sending an icy shiver throughout her body. This was bad. No one else knew about the letters. No one but Vaynes and whoever he’d had delivering them before he escaped.
And now she didn’t even have proof that they existed. That the threat was real.
But it was the missing hairbrush and picture that drove it home.
Vaynes was on the hunt, and she was the prey.
“You’re sure they’re both gone?” Officer Thomas actually looked slightly concerned as he studied her.
She could only nod. She clenched her jaw tight, trying to stop the tremor going through her.
She pointed to the empty spot where the snapshot of her and Lily at the lake had hung. The tacky putty she’d used was still there.
Officer Thomas leaned in, studying the door of the locker. “Okay, the missing photo is concerning. Why the hairbrush? Any significance?”
Della sank to the bench, closed her eyes. She didn’t want to remember.
But she had to. For Lily.
“Vaynes…he, uh, he had a thing for long hair. He would cut locks of Lily’s. I think he kept the hair as trophies, but they never did find where he had them.”
“Mmm. Someone could’ve borrowed it and not put it back. But”—he released a long sigh—“let’s see what security cameras caught.”
So he still didn’t believe her. She shouldn’t be surprised. “There’s no footage from inside the locker room. People change clothes in here.”
“We’ll look at the hallway footage, everyone going in and out. Are you certain the brush and photo were here when you started your shift?”
She looked him in the eye. “Positive.”
“All right. Let’s go view the footage.” He followed her out to reception, where Alice helped them access the video feed from this morning. She then left to give them privacy.
“Here you are, entering at 7:20 a.m. Let’s see who else enters the locker room.” Anthony hit play.
Della hoped it was a sick joke. A prank. She zeroed in on the screen, watching for anyone to go into the room after she’d exited at 7:28. If there was a reasonable explanation, she was all for it. But no one else went in.
Nothing.
“Play it again. Slower. Someone was in there.” She shoved the words out through her clenched teeth.
He went back and played the feed at a slower rate. “Nada. There’s no one that goes into the locker room after you.”
“I’m telling you, someone took the letters. Stole my hairbrush and swiped that picture. And they did it today, because it was all in my locker this morning.”
Anthony leaned back in the office chair, one eyebrow lifted. “How? There’s no proof.”
“Except my missing stuff!”
He nodded toward the screen. “Then tell me why I’m not seeing anyone going in or out of the women’s locker room.”
“I don’t know! That’s what you need to find out. Maybe the footage was tampered with.”
“Or maybe you’re scared. Stressed. Forgetting a few details like where you set your brush down. Either way, the footage doesn’t lie. There are no missing chunks of time. I watched the time stamp.”
“It’s him. It’s Vaynes. I don’t know how, but he’s been here. He’s messing with me. It’s all part of the game.”
Della paced, desperately trying to get ahold of herself. She couldn’t let him get away with this.
But Officer Thomas did not look convinced.
He stood and pulled out his phone. “I don’t know that Vaynes was here, but I’ll request his case file and see what I can find.
I’ll be here for the rest of your shift.
You’re safe. So try to relax.” He flashed a condescending smile at her.
“Where can I get some coffee around here?”
Sheesh, be a little more convincing, why dontcha? “The break room.”
Bryce Crawford stuck his head in the door. “Hey, Della. Patterson is asking for you. She’s in the storage room.”
Officer Thomas stood. “Yo, Crawford, what’s the coffee situation here? Decent?”
Bryce smirked. “Guess it’s your lucky day, ’cuz I just brewed a new pot.”
The guys walked off in the opposite direction. Della marched back toward the storage room. Basically, she was on her own. The police department had sent their token officer and figured that was enough.
Clearly, they didn’t understand the threat.
Amelia Patterson looked over from the fire extinguishers that lined the top shelf when Della walked in. “Did you find what you needed in the surveillance footage? Alice told me you were reviewing this morning’s recordings.”
Should she say something? She was still new to the job—the rookie, despite the fact she’d been here for months. She didn’t want to come across as a weakling. And chances were, if Officer Thomas didn’t believe Della, neither would Amelia.
Besides, if Vaynes was here, it was obvious who he was after. And if he wasn’t, she didn’t want to put everyone on their guard only to be the girl who cried wolf.
“It wasn’t what I thought, but it’s fine.”
“Okay…” Amelia paused, studying her for a moment. “So is everything still set for the toy drive next week?”
“Everything’s going as planned.”
“Good. We got another box of donations.” She pulled out a big cardboard box, a couple Nerf guns and Barbie dolls sticking out of the top. “They still need to be wrapped.”
“I’ll get to it.”
“Let me know if you need help. With anything.”
Della nodded.
“I mean it, Nixon. We’re here for you. If you’re having a problem, I want to help.” She paused, as if waiting for a response. “So, what’s going on that has you so jumpy? Is it something to do with the letter you had a few weeks ago?”
“It’s the whole escaped convict thing. It’s got me on edge.”
Understanding flickered in her lieutenant’s eyes. “Vaynes. I remember that case. I never put it together. But you were one of his victims, weren’t you? That’s why you have police protection?”
“Yeah. Though I’m not sure Officer Thomas is taking me seriously. We didn’t see anything on the surveillance, but I know someone was messing with my locker.”
“Have you talked with Penny Mitchell?”
“Bryce Crawford’s fiancée?”
“She was on the Sosa case last spring and almost died trying to capture him. Why don’t we bring her in? An extra pair of eyes couldn’t hurt. And if something is going down in our firehouse, I wanna know. We can put her private investigating skills to work.”
“Sure.”
They found Penny and Bryce in his office.
As the captain for the firehouse, the guy who reported directly to the chief, it was probably best Crawford was on board and informed about what was happening.
Della explained the situation to them, and Bryce bristled when she mentioned the missing items from her locker.
Penny’s usual smile fell into a tight-lipped grimace. “Well, he’s not going to take anything else. You don’t go anywhere alone, ’kay? Not even in this building. Is this why Tony is here?”
“Officer Thomas?” Della asked. “He’s my police protection, but I don’t think he’s convinced.”
“I know Tony. He’s a good officer. I’ll look into the case with him and see what I can do to help track down Vaynes.” Penny pushed off the desk she was leaning against.
Bryce stood too. “I’ll take a look around the perimeter. Penny’s right though. Don’t go anywhere by yourself.” He left the office.
Della took a full breath for the first time in days. Maybe she wasn’t quite as alone as she assumed. It certainly felt good to have her coworkers take the threat seriously.
Amelia studied her a second. “Why don’t we go wrap some of those presents? Might as well stay busy.”
Her smile was probably meant to be reassuring. But nothing could make Della forget that Jason Vaynes was on the loose and had her in his crosshairs.