Chapter Fourteen
Fourteen
Fort Bragg, California
Elle’s head shot up at the knock on the door. She’d returned to the inn, numb and exhausted, planning to shower, eat, and sleep.
A shower had made her feel a little better, and not smelling like dead bodies was a relief, but sleep afterward had not been forthcoming.
She’d tossed and turned and had finally given up, turning on the television, something she rarely did while traveling. An old cozy mystery series flickered in the darkness of the room, more for background noise than anything else.
Elle hadn’t been paying attention to the plot. She’d seen the episode before.
Her mind had been too busy, replaying everything that had transpired since she’d taken the Miller job.
Three people were dead. Five, including the growers.
She couldn’t quell the guilt that hung heavy on her shoulders.
There was another knock at the door, this one more insistent.
“Elle? It’s Ronan.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him. If he was here at this time of the evening, it couldn’t be good.
She didn’t want any more bad news. She wasn’t sure she could take it.
He knocked a third time. “Elle, it’s important.”
Sighing, Elle padded across the floor in her sock feet and opened the door. “Hi.”
He’d changed from his suit to a pair of jeans and a fisherman’s sweater. His blond hair was a little damp, like he’d showered not too long before.
“How’re you doing?” he asked quietly.
She could lie to him and say she was fine, but she’d already lied enough. “Not so well. How can I help you?”
She was keeping it formal. She’d been a suspect for a little while. She still might be. Sara always said not to trust the good cop.
“I need to talk to you. And…not here. Would you come with me?”
She took a reflexive step back. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“No. Absolutely not. But it is important.”
“Then come in.”
He shook his head again. “Not here,” he repeated. Bugs, he mouthed.
Her whole body sagged and she gripped the edge of the door to remain upright. More? she mouthed back.
He only shrugged.
Leaving the door open, she sat on the edge of her bed to put on her shoes. They were sturdy running shoes and they fit reasonably well. Alexis had done well on her shopping spree, even buying her a burner phone until they could be sure that hers was bug-free. Elle had everything she needed.
Except a guilt-free heart.
“Elle?”
She startled at Ronan’s voice, realizing she’d frozen in the middle of tying her left shoe. She finished quickly and stood, zipping up the hoodie.
Ronan’s hoodie.
“You want it back?” she asked, tugging at one sleeve.
“Keep it for now. I have others. You’ll need your coat.”
She grabbed the coat Alexis had purchased. “Where are we going?”
“On a walk.”
She kept the rest of her questions to herself, pulling the hotel room door closed before walking down the hall at his side.
“Where’s your attorney? I thought she was staying with you.”
“She’s in the restaurant bar downstairs working. I need to let her know where I’m going.” She took out her new phone and texted:
Det Clarke is here. He wants me to take a walk with him. I’ll be back soon. Didn’t want you to worry.
Idiot. I’m going to worry now! was Alexis’s response. Don’t say a word to him. Let him do all the talking. LMK when you get back.
Okay. She glanced up at Ronan. “Done. Let’s go.”
At the inn’s front door, he helped her with her coat, waiting while she zipped it up and pulled on a pair of brand-new leather gloves. Alexis had bought her a box of hand warmers, too, and she slid one into each glove while Ronan watched. “I’m ready.”
Ronan led her to his SUV and opened the passenger door. “For the North Pole, maybe.”
She ignored the jibe. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere where we can talk.”
Saying no more, she got inside and buckled up.
They didn’t drive far and Elle wasn’t surprised when he stopped in the parking lot for the Noyo Headlands. This was where they’d made their truce.
“I’d take you to my bluff, but I don’t want to keep you in suspense any longer than I have to,” he said.
“Let’s get this over with.”
Once out of his SUV, he offered his arm to her and, after hesitating for a moment, she took it.
“Ground’s uneven,” he said gruffly. “I brought you here to talk, not to stumble and fall over the cliff.”
She shuddered. “Not funny, Ronan.”
“Not trying to be.”
Luckily the night was bright. The full moon illuminated the ground at their feet. She didn’t need his steadying arm, but she kept her hold. Touching him felt necessary.
She walked with him, withdrawing her arm when they’d reached the same place they’d talked before. The wind was muted. Because, she realized, Ronan had placed his body to shelter her from it.
“What are we talking about?” she asked.
“The lab found a listening device in the hem of your jacket.”
“I see.” Emotions churned along with her stomach and she closed her eyes, listening to the waves, reaching for calm. She’d known she’d been bugged, so she wasn’t shocked. At least she shouldn’t be.
But part of her had hoped she’d been wrong. That no one had been listening.
That she wasn’t the connection between three dead bodies. Five, including the growers.
But she was. It was no longer a fear. It was a fact.
She opened her eyes to find his gaze locked on her face, his expression concerned. And angry.
She didn’t get the impression that he was angry with her, though.
“You could have just told me that in my room. Why come down here?”
“I wanted to get far away from the inn. And…I like it here.”
“I do, too. But why all the subterfuge? You found the bug and destroyed it, right? I assume my boots were okay?”
“Yeah, the boots were clean. But, Elle, there was evidence of more than one bug in your jacket.”
She blinked at that, a shiver racing over her skin that had nothing to do with the cold wind. “How many did you find?”
“Only the one tonight, but there were other slits in the leather where a bug was probably inserted. Nine others.”
“Nine?” She stared at him, uncomprehending. “Why?” Then understanding began to trickle through. “Wait, someone had access to my coat—to me—ten times?”
“I think so, yes. Our tech guy said that the bug that he found was battery powered and voice activated. We’re assuming the others were, too.”
“So when the batteries died, he just planted another bug.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“Five months at a minimum. I think it could be as long as two years.”
Elle’s stomach lurched. “Two years? How?”
“That’s what we need to find out.” He hesitated, and her heart sank even further.
“What else, Ronan?”
“Two things. One, I’m worried for your safety. When whoever did this realizes that we’ve cut off access to his listening devices, he may come after you. He’s already come after five other people. There could be more.”
Oh my God. Oh my God.
“You think he’s killed others?” she asked, her voice hitching higher. “Over two years?”
“That’s what we have to find out.”
She took a giant step back, shaking her head, only to stumble when her foot hit a hole. Strong hands gripped her arms and held her steady.
“Whoa. Elle, breathe.”
“Trying.” She gasped for air, but her lungs weren’t working. She closed her eyes again and her feet moved forward of their own volition. She leaned into Ronan, needing…something.
Safety? Comfort? Someone to tell her that this wasn’t her fault?
He gathered her close, arms tightening around her. Pressing her forehead to his chest, she clutched his coat, the handfuls of fabric like a lifeline. “Why me?”
He ran his hand over her hair. “I don’t know.”
They stood there for a long moment, the steady rise and fall of his chest grounding her. She tightened her hold on his coat. “You need to know where I’ve been.”
“I think that’s the place to start.”
Her throat had become thick. “I’ll re-create my itineraries.”
He ran his hand over her hair again. “I’ll need places and dates for the last two years.”
Two years. Had he—or she—been killing for two years?
Surely not. I would have noticed. Ronan’s wrong. He has to be wrong. Let me prove him wrong.
Releasing her hold on his coat, she retreated from his embrace. “Let’s get started. Should we go back to the inn?”
“No. Not until we’re able to scan your new room and the common areas for more listening devices.”
“Okay. Then where?”
Please don’t say the sheriff’s department. Please.
She didn’t want to go back there.
“We can go to my office at the sheriff’s department here in town. We don’t have to go back to Ukiah.”
She flinched. Opened her mouth to say something, then closed it when no words came. Her breath hitched, that sense of impending doom returning, signaling another panic attack.
They’d started after Todd’s death. After she’d been accused of murder the first time.
It was happening again.
Ronan’s hands were gripping her upper arms again.
“Elle, it’s okay. We don’t have to go into the precinct.
My house is safe. We can go there. Or I can take you back to the inn and you can get a decent night’s sleep and send me your past case locations tomorrow.
I can start searching then. I just figured you’d want to be involved. ”
There was no way she’d be able to get any rest now. “I do want to be involved.” If she was left to her own devices, she’d go slowly insane. “I don’t want to wait, but I do need to tell Alexis where I am and that she shouldn’t say anything she doesn’t want overheard.”
“You can call her from my car.” He offered his arm again and, needing his steady strength, she took it. “Let’s go.”
Mendocino, California
Monday, February 2, 10:45 p.m.
This is insane, Ronan told himself for the millionth time.
He knew he should take Elle to his office, but he kept seeing that look on her face. The abject panic. The way her eyes had glazed over and her breaths started coming faster. She’d been on the verge of a panic attack there on the bluff.
She’d almost had one sitting in the interview room with Alexis Hellier, but her attorney had rubbed her back, soothing her. Ronan wanted to do the same.