Chapter 11 #3
It was hard to believe that the beautiful, witty and intelligent woman was in love with him.
Even though the thought sent a small streak of jealousy through him, he hoped eventually she would find a man who she loved and who loved her back without reservation.
She deserved that. And he couldn’t give it to her.
By the time dinner was ready, a bit of a depression had settled on Seth’s shoulders.
He talked and joked through the meal, but beneath his facade of normalcy he fought against an unexpected unhappiness that had reared up inside him.
And it was all because Suzanna had told him she was in love with him.
It was all because he had no intention of returning that love.
They finished eating and then moved into the living room, where Sammy kept them entertained by trying to teach Lady to sit on command.
Seth felt a little better as he watched and laughed with his son.
Sammy was what was most important, and Seth reminded himself of that.
He was making the choices necessary to ensure Sammy remained mentally and emotionally okay.
After Suzanna left, father and son would go back to being a family of two with a dog added in.
It was what was best for his son, and that was all that mattered.
By the time Sammy went to bed, Seth felt more centered and at peace. He and Suzanna had just gotten settled in to watch television when a knock fell on his front door.
He jumped up, went into the kitchen to grab his gun and then answered. It was Dallas. Seth greeted the lawman and gestured him to the sofa next to Suzanna.
“I was out this way on another matter and figured I’d stop in to check on things,” he said.
“Nothing has happened since I saw the face peeking in my window,” Suzanna said.
“I guess in this case no news is good news. I wanted to let you know that Boone had an alibi for the Peeping Tom incident. He was at Murphy’s until about midnight, and he was seen by dozens of people there.
Ray had no real alibi for the Peeping Tom event.
With all the attacks, his alibi has been the same.
He was home by himself and didn’t see or talk to anyone. ”
“Do you believe he’s the person responsible for the attacks?” Seth asked.
Dallas frowned. “To be honest, I don’t know. It would be nice if he had some sort of real alibi so he could be taken off the suspect list, a suspect list that I might add is very short.”
“If he does get cleared, then you have no direction in which to lead the investigation,” Suzanna said, obviously disheartened. “That will be the end of the suspects.”
“You thought there was enough to mention Ray’s name to me in the first place,” Dallas said. “Right now, he stays high on my suspect list unless you’ve thought of somebody else we need to investigate.”
“No.” Suzanna shoved a strand of her hair behind her ear. “There is nobody else.”
Dallas stood. “Then the only thing I can tell you right now is to continue being wary of everyone.”
“And that means remaining here,” Seth said to her.
Dallas looked at Suzanna. “So far, no harm has come to you here. I would think twice about going back to your house, where you’ll be alone and far more vulnerable.”
“In other words, if it works, don’t fix it,” Seth said.
“That’s about the sum of it. And now I’ll let you two enjoy the rest of your evening,” Dallas said.
“Thank you, Dallas,” Suzanna said.
“Don’t thank me until we have your bad guy behind bars,” he replied.
“I’ll be right back in,” Seth said to Suzanna and then stepped outside the front door with Dallas. “I kind of feel like we’re in a pressure cooker and something bad is going to happen very soon that will blow the lid off all this.”
Dallas nodded. “I wish to hell we would have caught the perp the night he attacked her with a knife.”
“How are things going with the scarecrow murders? Are you any closer to catching that creep?”
Dallas frowned again. “Unfortunately, no. He’s like a damned ghost. He kills women, dresses them up and abuses their bodies by sewing their mouth closed and stealing the eyeballs and manages not to leave anything of himself behind.”
“That’s tough,” Seth said.
“Yeah, so right now I have two frustrating cases on my desk…the scarecrow killings and Suzanna’s attacker. I’d be happy to get a win on either case.” He released a deep sigh. “In the meantime, you continue to be on guard here until we get a break in the case.”
“She’s getting anxious to get back to her own house and her normal life,” Seth said.
“Hopefully that will happen very soon,” Dallas replied. With that, the two men said goodbye, and Dallas headed to his car in the driveway.
Seth went back inside and relocked the front door. He then sank down in his recliner and gazed at Suzanna. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She released a deep sigh. “Yeah, I’m all right. Things had been going better between me and Ray, so it’s hard to believe he would have a part in any of this. But lately I’ve noticed an inner anger in him that makes me a bit uncomfortable. I guess I need to watch out for him.”
“It’s got to be tough to go to work every day and think that your coworker might have tried to kill you,” he said.
“It is tough. I don’t want to believe that about Ray, and yet there’s a part of me that doesn’t quite trust him.”
“At this point I don’t think you should trust him at all. Don’t get caught in a supply closet with him and don’t trust him if he says he needs your help carrying things out to his car.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You’ve really thought about this.”
He nodded. “I have. I worry about you when you’re at school and out of my sight.”
“I appreciate that,” she replied. “But I have kept Ray at arm’s length during the days, and I will continue to do so until I have answers.”
“Hopefully those answers will come very soon,” he replied. “In your heart of hearts, do you believe Ray is behind all this?”
A tiny frown danced across her forehead. “I just don’t know. The only thing I’ve ever done to Ray is turn him down when he asked me for a date. You wouldn’t think that would warrant what’s happened to me.”
“Maybe he’s obsessed with you. Maybe he feels like if he can’t have you, nobody will,” Seth observed.
Her frown deepened. “That’s a creepy thought.”
“There are creepy people out there, and if you watch the news, you’ll see that unrequited love can be a motive for murder,” he replied. “Isn’t something like that what drove that creep to set the bakery on fire?”
“Are you trying to make me feel better? Because if you are, it’s not working.”
He laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“I think on that note, I’m going to head to bed.”
“I’m ready to head that way, too.” He grabbed his gun off the end table next to him, and then together they headed down the hall.
When they got to her room, he caught a whiff of a strange scent. “Do you smell something odd?”
She paused a moment and then shook her head. “No. Why, do you?”
He sniffed the air. “I thought I did, but I’m not so sure now.” Maybe the odd scent was a note of her perfume he’d never noticed before.
“Good night, Seth,” she said.
He wanted to kiss her. His desire to take her into his arms and take her mouth with his beat in his heart and flowed through his veins.
“Good night, Suzanna,” he said as she stepped into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
With a deep sigh, he headed into his own room.
He definitely couldn’t kiss Suzanna anymore.
He couldn’t wrap his arms around her and hold her sweet curves against him.
He couldn’t do anything like that anymore because she was in love with him and he didn’t want to give her any false hope about a lasting relationship with him.
Then there was the fact that he was on edge about Suzanna’s safety.
Each day that went by with nothing happening only made him more anxious.
Something was coming. There was no doubt in his mind that another attempt on her life was in the near future.
He just hoped when the danger came, he would be there to make sure Suzanna survived.