Chapter 26 #2
The reminder that Michelle’s parents had divorced a few years after the accident saddened Carly. Their marriage hadn’t survived the loss of their only daughter. “Well, I can’t wait to see you. It’s been too long.”
“Yes, honey,” Mrs. Townsend said. “Yes, it has. Michelle would be delighted to know you’re finally marrying Brian.”
“I think so, too. You didn’t call before, did you? A few minutes ago?”
“No, why?”
“I had another call that I missed.”
“No, it wasn’t me. Listen, I’ve got to run, but I’ll see you very soon.”
“Looking forward to it.” Carly closed the phone and sat perfectly still with the note staring up at her.
“It wasn’t her before?” Brian asked as he flipped open his own cell phone to call his father.
“No.”
“Hang on, honey. We’re almost there.”
They met Michael at a park-and-ride lot in the south end of town. When they pulled in, he got out of his car and approached the passenger side of the SUV.
Opening the door, he stared at the note for a long moment before he used tweezers to put it in an evidence bag. “You didn’t touch it?” he asked Carly.
“No. It fell from my cell when I opened it.”
“I’d like to also take your purse to be analyzed for prints. We’ll do it as fast as we can.” When Carly nodded in agreement, he slipped the small purse into a larger evidence bag.
“What about her phone?” Brian asked.
“That, too,” Michael said, holding open another bag for Carly to drop the phone into. “Has your purse been unattended recently?”
“Not that I can think of, but my mind is racing right now.”
Michael reached out to put his large hand over both of hers. “Take a breath, honey, and try to think. Were you in a restaurant and left it at the table to go to the restroom, or in a store—”
“I went to Miss Molly’s this morning to get coffee,” she said as she suddenly remembered. “I took money with me but left my purse at home.”
“Where were you?” Michael asked his son.
“In the shower.”
The statement hung over them.
“Jesus Christ,” Brian muttered. “He was in the apartment while I was in the shower?”
Carly whimpered as she looked at Brian. “I didn’t even think to lock the door because I was coming right back. What if he had hurt you?”
Brian rested his hand on her arm.
“Did you see anyone you knew between your place and Miss Molly’s?” Michael asked.
Carly thought about it, began to shake her head to say no, but then froze.
“What?” Brian asked. “Who did you see?”
“I saw . . . I saw Luke. He had just left Miss Molly’s.”
Michael’s mouth tightened with tension as he exchanged glances with his son.
“It’s not him!” Carly cried. “I know it isn’t!”
“Carly, I know you don’t want it to be him,” Michael said. “Hell, I don’t, either.”
Brian explained to his father about the gut feelings Carly had relied upon during her years of silence. “She thinks if she had something to fear from him, she’d know it.”
“It’s not him,” Carly said again.
“We might have another possibility. Did either of you know a kid named Randy Lowell in school? He was in Sam’s class.”
“I knew him,” Brian said. “But just to say hi to.”
“I don’t remember him,” Carly said.
“We were so sure this was about you, Carly, that we never really looked at Sam’s class. I could kick myself for being so stupid. If it turns out to be him...”
“What’ve you got so far?” Brian asked.
Michael brought them up to speed on the DUI arrest and the warrant.
“They caught him late morning, so he could’ve been in Granville earlier and put the note in your purse.
We spent most of the day questioning him, and when I left to come here, Matt and Nate were trying to put together a timeline of his whereabouts for the last few years.
Lowell claims he just moved back to Rhode Island in April. ”
“If that’s true, he wasn’t the one who attacked Tanya Lewis in January,” Brian said.
“I know,” Michael said, sounding dejected.
“He claims he was in Missouri and moved back here to be closer to his parents. However, he never registered as a sex offender, and he says the whole thing with the parole violation was a misunderstanding.” Michael frowned as he added, “The other thing that’s bugging me is he doesn’t fit the physical description the girls have provided.
He’s tall, but not unusually tall like they all said. ”
“Still,” Brian said, “it could be a break. There’s a tie to all of us going back to high school and a record of similar crimes.”
“Right,” Michael said. “But there’re still way too many ifs to say for sure that it’s him.
So we have to operate under the assumption that our guy is still out there.
Until this is over, you two are together every minute of every day, you got me?
No more trips to Miss Molly’s or anywhere else alone.
He’s much less likely to go after you if Brian is with you. ”
Carly nodded. “I know.” She took another deep breath in an attempt to calm her frazzled nerves.
“He’s waiting for his chance, so you can’t give him any opportunity,” Michael added. “And make sure you always have your phone with you, son. You still have the pepper spray, right, Carly?”
She patted the pocket of her skirt. “With me every minute.”
“We need about thirty minutes at your place to work up the door—not that we’ll find anything,” Michael said. “Can I borrow your key?”
Brian gave him his. “God, Dad, how much longer are we supposed to live this way?”
The strain showed on Michael’s face. “I hope not much longer.” He gestured to the evidence bags on the floor. “He’s getting more brazen, which is a sign that he thinks he’s invincible. He’ll screw up, and when he does, we’ll be waiting.”
“Did you hear the stuff on the radio earlier?” Brian asked.
Michael shrugged with indifference. “The mayor’s a putz. I’ve been ignoring his calls, so he’s pissed with me. He doesn’t bother me.”
“You can’t let it get to you,” Carly said, resting her hand on Michael’s arm. “You have to think about your health.”
Michael smiled and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry about me.
I need to get back to town. This concert was a nice idea, but it’s causing us some major security and traffic headaches.
Oh, I talked to Mom while I was waiting for you.
She said to tell you she’ll get a ride into town with Steve and Carol, and she’ll meet you there. ”
“Okay,” Brian said.
“You two be careful, you hear?”
“We will,” Brian assured him. “I won’t let Carly out of my sight.”
“Good. I’ll try to come by the common tonight to find you all if I can break loose for a bit.” Michael picked up the three plastic bags and left them with a wave.
Brian and Carly watched him get into his car and drive away.
“I can’t believe he was in our apartment,” she said. “If anything had happened to you . . . What was I thinking leaving the door unlocked?”
“Hey.” He brought her into his arms. “Nothing’s going to happen to me—or you. I won’t let it.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ve been so focused on the wedding that I’ve let myself be lulled into a false sense of security. I guess I thought if I didn’t think about him, he might go away.”
Brian pressed his lips to her forehead. “There might be a way to bring this whole thing to a quick end.”
She lifted her head to look at him. A muscle in his cheek pulsed with tension. “What do you mean?”
“Remember how they wanted to set something up with you as bait?”
She nodded. “You wouldn’t hear of it. Have you changed your mind?”
“Not really. But I’m starting to realize this could go on indefinitely, and that’s no way for either of us to live.”
“So what’re you saying?”
“I might be willing to hear what they have in mind—if you’re still up for it, that is.”
“I’d be up for anything that would help catch this guy.”
“Even if it meant putting yourself in danger? Real danger, Carly.”
She swallowed hard. “I’d do it, if for no other reason than to get the guy who killed Sam and the others. He all but ruined our lives, Brian. I want him to pay for what he took from us and so many other people.”
“Tomorrow we’ll talk to my dad and Agent Barclay. I’ll need to be 100 percent certain they’ve thought of every possible scenario before I agree to it.”
“I’ll leave it up to you. You’ll know better than me if it can be done or not.”
He started the car. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”
“You were right when you said this is no way for us to live. If we can do something to end it before he hurts someone else, why wouldn’t we?”
“Because if something went wrong, you could be raped . . . or worse. Dangling the woman he loves in front of a psychopath is not something a man does lightly.”
“Let’s put it out of our minds for tonight and try to enjoy the concert. Can you do that?”
He snorted. “Um, yeah. Sure. No problem.”
Carly laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.