“I can’t get her to answer!” Rose said, tone frantic. “Simone won’t pick up!”
Shit. “We could be wrong,” he told Lynn. “I want the guy to be lying to us. I don’t want him going after anyone.” But the perp was a piece of work. “We need uniforms at her home.”
“On it.”
He hung up and jumped in the car.
So did Rose.
Swearing, he turned toward her.
“Do not even start with me. You are not leaving me behind. Simone is my friend. We’re helping her.” She pointed straight ahead. “Drive. I’ll give you directions. I know exactly where she lives and a shortcut to get there. Let’s go.”
He floored it. They raced down the road.
“He wasn’t supposed to go after anyone else. He was supposed to stay focused on me. If something happens to Simone…” Guilt thickened her words.
“It’s not. It’s okay. We’re going to get to her.”
She rattled off directions. “We’re about ten minutes away.”
Ten minutes was too damn far.
“I’m trying her phone again. I won’t stop trying to get her. And the cops have to be closer than we are, right?”
It only took a few moments to die. The cops might not be close enough. And it might already be too late. The perp could have killed Simone before he called War. The whole scene could be a setup. But he didn’t say any of those things to Rose. There was too much desperate hope in her voice. Hope that he couldn’t shatter. “I’m sure they are close,” he replied instead.
From the corner of his eye, he saw her shove her phone to her ear once more.
“Please, answer,” Rose whispered. “Please, please…”
His car raced forward. His grip was too tight around the wheel. Simone had fired Dylan. But Dylan was still in custody. Just like he’d been in custody when Rose got her last call from the killer.
It’s not freaking Dylan.
Who else would want to punish Simone? Who else would think she had to get what she deserved? These attacks—they were personal. War could see that.
“Please,” Rose whispered again. “Come on, Simone, just pick up—Simone!” Relief had her voice breaking. “Simone, are you all right? Are you alone?” Her breath rushed out. “Listen, get to the most secure room in your house. The cops are on their way over. Get there now. Why? Because the freak after me—we think he might be after you, too.” Her finger swiped over the phone and turned on the speaker.
“OhmyGod.” Simone’s terrified voice. “Why? Why me?”
“Get to a secure room,” Rose urged her. “Go!”
“Is he in the house? Do you think he’s already here?”
I sure as hell hope not.
“I’m in my bathroom. I’m locking the door. I-I didn’t see anyone when I was running down the hall.”
“The cops are coming. War and I are coming. It’s going to be okay,” Rose assured her. “You are going to be okay. I am going to talk to you the whole time. Nothing bad is going to happen. We’re going to keep you safe…”
Chapter Nineteen
“I hear something.” Simone’s tremulous words filled the interior of War’s car.
“We’re almost there,” Rose told her. “Two blocks. Just two more blocks. You’re going to be fine.” She couldn’t consider any other option. They’d made it this far. Simone was going to be all right. “I can see your house.”
Silence.
“Simone!” Blue lights flashed up ahead.
“I hear voices.” A low whisper.
“It’s the cops. I see their lights. War is braking the car. I’m coming in. Simone, it’s going to be okay. Everything is okay!” She didn’t hang up. Even as she and War jumped from the car and ran with the cops to Simone’s house, Rose didn’t stop talking.
“I’m coming to meet you,” Simone said. “I’m unlocking the bathroom door. I’m coming out. You’re there? Promise, you’re there?”
“I’m here.” Almost at her station manager’s front door. “I promise.”
Seconds later, that front door was ripped open. Simone—wearing gray sweats and a matching top—stood trembling on the threshold.
“Ma’am, we want to search the house,” one of the cops said.
Simone gave a jerky nod. “Do it. Do—” She threw herself against Rose. Held on tight. “I have never been so scared in my whole life!”
Rose gripped her just as fiercely. Simone was safe. Alive. Rose hadn’t gotten there too late this time. They’d made a difference.
“You need to get someone to sweep the neighborhood.” War’s low voice reached her ears, and she knew he was talking to the cops. “Make sure the bastard isn’t lurking around, watching the scene. He could have been coming but stopped when he saw the blue lights.”
Simone shuddered.
“You shouldn’t stay here tonight,” Rose told her as Simone continued to grip her tightly. “We need to get you somewhere safe.”
Simone pulled back, but she didn’t let go of Rose. “I will be staying in freaking Fort Knox, I can assure you of that.” The light from her porch fell on her face and showed her strained expression. “Is this what it’s been like for you? The fear eating through you? Being so scared your whole body shakes?”
Rose nodded. Yes, that was exactly what it had been like. “He won’t get you.”
“I don’t want him getting either of us.”
Yes, that was a wonderful plan.
***
“No sign of the perp.” The detective’s frustration was clear. “Neighbors didn’t see anything. All the security cameras in this fancy neighborhood didn’t pick up jack. Either our guy is very, very good at evasion—”
“Or he was never here,” Rose finished.
Lynn nodded. “Your friend said she had a secure location she could use for the night. I’m going to keep uniforms on her, and I want to extend that same offer to you.” She motioned toward a silent War. “I get that he’s shadowing you, but if you want to come into protective custody—”
“Why did he want us racing over here?” Rose wondered. “Don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled that Simone is okay.” Thrilled. Relieved. Grateful to the depths of her very soul. “And, sure, he is good at evasion. He’s gotten away with his crimes for a long time. He obviously knows security. Knows how to stay in the shadows. Knows how to make sure he isn’t seen when he doesn’t want to be.”
War stiffened.
“But…if he wasn’t going after Simone, if he didn’t get scared off…if giving War that call was all a red herring…why?” The question wouldn’t stop nagging at her.
“Maybe he wanted you out in the open.” Lynn’s gaze drifted down the street. A few watchful neighbors still stood on their carefully edged and mowed lawns as they watched the scene. “And with that in mind, I think it’s time you left.” Her attention slid to War. “When you go back home, you’ll make sure you have no tails?