Erin’s sneakered feet pounded the pavement, and her braid bounced against her back. Friend and neighbor Courtney Blake jogged next to her, and Alcee was on-leash about six feet in front of them. To their right, the sun hadn’t yet climbed above the treetops. But the early hour didn’t deter the dog. She loved her runs, whatever time Erin could work them in.
Almost a week had passed since Cody’s accident, and there hadn’t been any more threats. It helped that he was staying well clear of his grandfather’s old place. He also wasn’t going out alone. Until this was over, one of his guys would accompany him on all of his appointments. The fact he was driving around in a rented car didn’t hurt, either. Once he got the Ram back, they’d have more cause for concern. If he got the Ram back. According to Cody, the adjusters hadn’t determined yet whether it would be repaired or totaled.
Without slowing, Alcee made a sharp right onto the sidewalk that bordered Linhart Avenue. Across the street two blocks ahead, a paved drive led through the sports fields that lay tucked behind Fort Myers High School. The area provided a great place to run, and even though school had started the prior week, they wouldn’t have to share the space with any students this early.
Alcee wasn’t the only one enjoying herself. Running had been one of Erin’s passions for almost a decade. During that time, she’d completed several half marathons and numerous charity races in LA. Now she needed to find some in Florida.
When they reached the back road onto the school grounds, Alcee slowed, waiting for the command to cross Linhart. At this early hour traffic was nonexistent.
“Go.”
The dog trotted across the street. As they jogged past the baseball field with its green block wall and Fort Myers logo, Erin turned to her friend. “You doing okay?”
“Fine.” She was winded, but she was keeping up.
It hadn’t taken Erin long to find a jogging partner. Shortly after she’d moved into her home four months ago, she’d run past Courtney’s house several doors down and found her working in her yard. They’d struck up a conversation and instantly hit it off. In the weeks that followed, Erin introduced Courtney to running, and Courtney introduced Erin to Jesus. Erin got the better end of the deal. By far.
Without slowing, Courtney took a swig from the water bottle she kept clipped to her waist. “I saw you guys on the news the other day.”
“Yeah.” This morning was the first time their schedules had coincided since the storm. Between Cody’s grandfather’s death and the rest of her caseload, she’d been slammed. “Remember me telling you about my brief romance here the summer after high school?”
“Cody something-or-other.” When Erin nodded, Courtney’s eyes widened. “He was the guy who was rescued? I thought he lived up North.”
“He moved here eight years ago.”
“Wow. You both end up in South Florida, he gets trapped, and you and your dog rescue him. What are the odds?” Courtney shook her head, but a smile curved her lips. “Looks like God might be giving you a second chance.”
Erin threw her a doubt-infused glance. “I’m not looking for a second chance, and I doubt Cody is, either.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know his reasons. I can just tell he’s not.”
“And what about yours?”
“You know mine.”
“Those reasons don’t apply to Cody.”
Erin looked at her askance. “How do you know?”
“Everything you’ve said about him. He sounds like a really nice guy.”
“They’re all really nice guys at first.” Unfortunately for Erin, she’d never grasped how to tell when that niceness was a facade. She was a good cop and liked to think she had a decent business head. Sadly, that wisdom and good judgment didn’t always carry over into her personal life.
So she was determined to keep her focus on her job, church, Alcee and running. And try to stick mostly with female friends. Life was a lot safer that way, both physically and emotionally.
Courtney frowned at her pessimism. Relationship woes were one of the things they had in common. After pizza and a sappy movie one Friday night, Courtney had shared hers, and Erin had relayed her own pathetic history. Not all of it. Some things she hadn’t told anyone except her immediate family. And the therapist her parents had insisted she see for a brief time.
In spite of what she’d held back, she’d still given Courtney more of her life history than she’d given anyone else. But there was one big difference between them. Courtney trusted God to bring her Mr. Right. Erin trusted God to help her continue to be happy with her single status and not try to change it.
They followed the road’s leftward curve. The Edison Stadium entrance stood before them. At the fence that circled it, they turned around to head back the way they’d come.
When they turned from Linhart onto Holly several minutes later, Erin’s house stood in the distance. It wasn’t impressive. In fact, just the opposite. She’d gotten a great deal on the place because it had needed so much work, inside and out. It was a small two-bedroom, two-bath, concrete-block exterior. Someday she’d have it stuccoed.
When she reached her driveway, Erin said her farewells to her friend. “I’ll be in touch.” Rather than set hours, her shift times varied depending on what was happening. “We’ll shoot for the day after tomorrow.”
As Courtney continued down Holly toward her own home, Erin slowed to a walk and made her way up the drive. Her yard was where she’d focused her attention. The hedge of sea grapes separating her property from the one next door had been there when she arrived. So had the oak in front and several palms. But the house’s foundation had been bare, the lawn sparse and weed-ridden.
Over the past four months she’d seeded and fertilized, added some robellinis to the palms already there and created circular beds around each of the trees, filled with crotons, bromeliads and ornamental grasses. Ixora lined the house, each shrub a riot of vibrant red blooms.
She loved her yard. Eventually, she’d love her house, too. She just didn’t know how to get there. The idea of letting a strange man inside made her break out in a cold sweat. It had even induced a couple of nightmares. That was something she should have considered before buying a fixer-upper.
After unlocking the front door, she walked into the out-of-date interior to shower and get ready for work. She and the other detectives were making progress on Cody’s case, but it was slow. They’d talked to Jacob Whitmer, the owner of the apartment building, twice. He’d inherited the house from his parents years ago, then converted it to generate some income. An insurance claim would have offered an even bigger payout. Whitmer had been their prime suspect. Then they’d executed the search warrant yesterday and found several letters that had changed everything.
Turned out Whitmer’s claims that the place held too much sentimental value for him to let it go were true. For the past six months Donovan Development had been trying to buy it. Judging from Donovan’s follow-up letters, Whitmer hadn’t budged, even when the offer went to double the market value.
With no more motive, Whitmer had fallen off the suspect list and Donovan had landed on it. If the man wanted Whitmer’s property badly enough to offer an exorbitant price, maybe he’d decided to remove the obstacle by having the building destroyed. Chances were good he had an acquaintance with shoulder-length blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard.
Today she’d stake out his business, and she was taking their only witness with her. She’d already arranged it. The change in plans meant Cody had to reschedule appointments, but he hadn’t objected. He was willing to do anything that might bring him a step closer to getting justice for his pops.
Two hours later she sat in her Explorer at the convenience store kitty-corner from Donovan’s business. She’d chosen a parking space at the end, next to the trash container, where she wouldn’t tie up any of the store’s prime parking spots and where no one on the other side of the street was likely to notice her presence. Cody sat in the passenger seat staring through the front windshield at an angle, watching everyone who came and went.
He lowered the binoculars to his lap. “Right build, longish hair, but the wrong color. And no beard. Of course, he could’ve shaved his beard and dyed his hair, but I can tell you he’s definitely not our guy.”
Erin nodded. “The guy pulling up while we’re here is pretty much a long shot, but I figured we’d give it a try. And if nobody gets to it before I go in tomorrow, I’m going to show the composite you did yesterday to Jacob Whitmer.”
He frowned at her. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
She’d finally conned him into having the sketch done, even though he’d insisted he didn’t have enough details to make it worth their while. His brief glance through the Camry’s tinted windows hadn’t given him anything more than he’d gotten from the other two encounters. After thirty minutes of sketching, the artist had a guy with wavy, shoulder-length blond hair and a beard, information Cody had already provided verbally.
He watched an SUV pull into the parking lot diagonal from where they sat. “What does this Donovan guy look like?”
Erin took her iPad from where she’d laid it on the dash and turned it on. After touching the screen a few times, the About page of Donovan Development’s website displayed there. She handed the tablet to him.
Cody shook his head. “Definitely not the guy from the hospital.”
“No.” She’d already checked out the company’s website and its owner. Middle-aged with balding hair and a roundish face, he looked nothing like their suspect.
Two men exited the SUV. Cody ruled them out with one glance through the binoculars, then grinned at her. “Surveillance isn’t very exciting, is it?”
“You have no idea.”
“I’d rather be demoing a kitchen.”
She smiled. “So would I.”
His laughter filled the car. “That makes an interesting picture—you in safety glasses, sledgehammer in hand, swinging for all you’re worth, debris flying everywhere.”
The picture was more than interesting. It was appealing. More so on some days than others. Although for stress relief, running offered the same benefits.
Five minutes after disappearing inside, the two men who’d arrived in the SUV stepped out the single glass door and headed to their vehicle. As they waited to exit the parking lot, a pickup truck pulled in. When the driver got out, Cody picked up the binoculars, then leaned forward, tension radiating from him.
Erin’s pulse kicked into high gear. “Our guy?”
“I think so.”
She didn’t have the advantage of the binoculars, but viewing him from where she sat, she saw two-or three-inch lengths of wavy blond hair curled from an elastic band at the base of his skull. The man brought a cigarette to his mouth and took a long, deep drag. A cloud of smoke curled around his face and head. She shifted her eyes to Cody, gauging his reaction.
He tightened his grip on the binoculars. “Come on. Turn this way, just a little.”
As she looked back at the man, he flicked the butt to the side, then pivoted ninety degrees to grind it into the asphalt with the toe of his boot.
“Beard?” She was a little too far away to tell.
“Yeah. It’s him. I’m positive. At least as sure as I can get with what I saw of the man.”
Erin picked up her radio. “I’m calling for backup.” Cody’s ID would be enough to warrant bringing him in for questioning and finding out what kind of alibi he had for the night of the storm and the time stamp on the hospital surveillance footage. If he owned an older Camry with damage on the driver’s side, that would clinch it.
Cody dropped the binoculars, concern etched into his features. “What if they don’t arrive in time?”
“Then we’ll follow, let the uniforms make a traffic stop.” She wouldn’t approach the guy without backup, especially while responsible for Cody. The man was wanted for murder. He probably wouldn’t surrender without a fight.
For the next several minutes she sat with her gaze glued to Donovan’s front door. They were so close. Within the hour, it could all be over. Cody could have his life back.
She glanced over at him. Once the danger was over, would he want to keep in contact? Would she?
She knew the answer to the last question without even thinking about it. Unless he’d changed a lot in the past twelve years, Cody was like her friend Courtney—one of those gems that didn’t come across one’s path often. She had no doubt they could continue a friendship, as long as Cody could accept her hang-ups and not push for more than she was able to give.
The glass door across the street opened, and a man stepped out. Cody raised the binoculars. “It’s Donovan. I recognize him from the website picture.”
Donovan held the door open, and the blond guy joined him on the front stoop, his back to the road while they carried on a conversation. A siren sounded in the distance, and Erin cranked the vehicle. By the time the man turned to head to his truck, their backup wasn’t more than a block or two away.
She put the vehicle in Drive and eased toward the road, ready to follow if needed.
When Cody looked through the binoculars again, his eyes widened. “Wait. That’s not him.”
“What?” Her voice sounded shrill in the confines of the SUV. “Are you sure?”
“Call them off. There’s a large scorpion tattoo on the left side of the guy’s neck.”
As Erin radioed a frantic message to Dispatch, two Punta Gorda police cars came into view. The man with the ponytail opened his driver door, casting a glance at them over his shoulder.
The vehicles slowed, and Erin clamped down on her lower lip. If the real villain was anywhere nearby, the presence of the officers would tip him off.
Suddenly, the lights and sirens died and the cruisers sped on past.
Cody released a heavy sigh. “I couldn’t see the tattoo until he turned to walk back to his truck. The guy at the hospital didn’t have one.”
“Maybe he just got it.”
Cody shook his head. “It looked old, even a little faded. A tattoo that size, with that much ink, there’d still be some redness and swelling if it was new.”
Erin updated Dispatch. As the two cruisers left the parking lot and continued down the street, she returned to the place she and Cody had waited for the past hour.
Cody put his head in his hands. “I messed up big-time. From now on, I’d better stick to construction.”
She laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a playful push. “Hey, trust me, you’re not the first person to make a mistake like this. It happens all the time.”
His cell phone rang, and he looked at her in silent question.
She smiled. “Go ahead. You’re not on the clock.”
He took his phone from his pocket and swiped the screen. “Hey, Bobby.”
For the next several minutes she listened to the one-sided conversation. Based on what she heard, he was making plans to go out, or changing plans, and this Bobby was going to pick him up. It didn’t sound like it was work related, which meant it wasn’t essential. When Cody ended the call, she was frowning.
He ignored said frown. “I had lunch with a friend scheduled for tomorrow. It’s now changed to Friday.”
“You shouldn’t do it then, either.”
“He’s picking me up, and we’re staying in Fort Myers. Bobby and I do this once or twice a month.” He squeezed her shoulder. “If it’s any consolation, he’s a cop. The only threat going out with Bobby poses is that for the past year, he’s been trying to match me up with one of his fellow patrol officers.”
Erin laughed. “Sounds like Joe, one of the guys I know from Lee County. He’s been wanting to introduce me to a friend of his ever since I came on board. I figure if I tell him no enough times, he’ll get the hint.”
“Not if he’s like Bobby. Bobby thinks no means ask me later.”
At least she and Cody were on the same page as far as relationships went. That friendship she’d been thinking about earlier was looking more and more feasible.
Cody returned his attention to the business across the street, and she followed his gaze. Traffic there had been pretty sparse and didn’t look like it was picking up. They’d maybe give it another hour, get some lunch, then come back this afternoon.
“When are you going to let me make good on that thank-you dinner I promised you and Alcee?”
She looked over at him. He’d already assured her it wasn’t a date. There was nothing wrong with dinner out with a friend. “How about tonight, after I finish my shift?”
“You’re on.”
“Have you decided on a restaurant?”
“I’m thinking about Blue Dog Grill.”
She frowned. “That’s too close to Pine Island.”
“It’s on Matlacha.”
“Which the bridge to Pine Island goes through.”
Cody twisted to face her. “We need a place that’s dog friendly.”
“I’m sure there are other dog-friendly restaurants in the Cape Coral area.”
“Yeah, but I know Blue Dog Grill. Pops and I ate there regularly. I can’t take you guys somewhere that I haven’t checked out first.” He gave her a toothy grin.
She wasn’t going to let him sway her with his charm and playfulness. “I’m not going to intentionally put you in danger.”
“You’ll be armed, right?”
“That’s beside the point.”
“Look, I won’t be in danger. The guy who’s after me recognizes my truck, which is still in the shop. And it’ll be getting dark by the time we get there.” The grin was back. “I’m treating you to dinner. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
She sighed. He had some good points. Once he got his truck back, it would be different. In the meantime, maybe she could allow him that little bit of freedom.
“All right.” She frowned. “But at the first sign of danger, I will say ‘I told you so.’ And you’ll be on restriction until this time next year.”
If she had her way, she’d keep him locked inside his house until everyone involved in his grandfather’s death was behind bars. But that wasn’t an option. All she could do was urge him to be careful and not take any unnecessary chances.
She shook her head. Keeping Cody corralled was turning out to be one of her hardest assignments yet.
Cody backed the rental vehicle from his drive, Erin in the seat next to him.
“I figured you’d have gotten a truck.”
He shrugged. “It’s only a week or two. By that time they’ll have mine fixed or, if it’s not repairable, give me the funds to replace it. Until then, I don’t plan to haul around any lumber.”
In the meantime, he was enjoying his new set of wheels. They’d given him an Acura TLX. It was nice and sporty, the kind of ride that would impress the ladies. If he was looking for ladies to impress.
As he made his way along Pine Island Road, a series of canals lay to the right. That was pretty typical of the area. The narrow, man-made waterways created waterfront living for the maximum number of residents and offered easy access by boat to Charlotte Harbor and ultimately the Gulf. If Fort Myers was known as the City of Palms, Cape Coral should be the City of Canals.
Cody had his own boat, sitting on its trailer next to his garage. He’d last had it out two weeks ago, when he and Pops had gone fishing. The Starcraft wasn’t likely to see water again anytime soon. He’d promised Erin he wouldn’t go anywhere alone. Sitting in a boat out in the open, whether he was with someone or not, didn’t seem like a smart thing to do.
He looked in his rearview mirror at the dog stretched across his back seat. Hopefully, the car rental company wouldn’t have a problem with the occasional canine passenger. Just to be on the safe side, he’d vacuum up any white fur she deposited on the charcoal-gray leather.
Erin sat in the seat next to him. The final rays of sunlight slanted in through the front windshield, lighting her hair with a goldish-red glow. Instead of having it confined in her typical braid, she was wearing it down, flowing around her shoulders like a river of fire. She was gorgeous. Twelve years, and she still had the power to take his breath away.
He shook off the effect. This wasn’t a date, and he wasn’t going to treat it like one. He’d moved far past any thoughts of trying to resurrect teenage dreams.
“I hope you both brought your appetites. The Blue Dog is known for its fresh seafood. It was Pops’s favorite place to eat.”
“I’m starved. I fed Alcee when I got home, but that doesn’t matter. If she’s offered a second meal, she never turns it down.”
When Erin and Alcee had arrived, he’d insisted on driving. It was bad enough she’d had to drive herself to his place. He’d never invited a woman to dinner, then not picked her up, date or not.
The road rose, and he navigated the last stretch of bridge before reaching their destination. Ahead of him, the sun sat perched on the horizon, streaks of orange and lavender staining the sky.
Matlacha hadn’t changed in decades. Colorful little shops and restaurants lined both sides of the two-lane road. The community had been founded as a fishing village and had maintained that relaxed ambience. It was something Cody loved, a welcome reprieve from the city.
He turned on his signal and waited for a single car to pass before turning left into the Blue Dog’s parking area. August was in the middle of the off-season. A few months from now the area would be bustling with activity as the population swelled with tourists and snowbirds enjoying the mild South Florida winter.
As soon as they opened the Acura’s doors, tantalizing aromas filled the car. Erin drew in a deep breath, eyes closed. “If I wasn’t hungry before, I am now.”
She stepped out and clipped a leash to Alcee’s collar. Then the three of them approached the yellow building trimmed in blue and green. Block letters near the door spelled out Blue Dog, a paw print between the two words. The sign hanging from the gable bore the establishment’s logo—the dog called Blue inside an oval, the white rubber boots on his front feet a nod to the fishing history of Pine Island and Matlacha.
As they neared the entrance, Cody stopped her. “Wait here with Alcee.”
He stepped inside, and the hostess greeted him by name. “I’m so sorry about your grandfather. We were shocked to learn what happened. I hope they catch the guy.”
“Me, too.” Hers weren’t the first condolences he’d received. A few days after the storm the media had released Pops’s name, and the news had spread quickly among those who knew him. Given the circumstances, Cody still hadn’t been listed by name in any of the reports.
He looked past the hostess into the dining area and the patio beyond. At this late hour several tables were empty. They wouldn’t have to wait to be seated.
“I’m with a friend and her dog.”
“Bring them around. Teri will meet you on the patio.”
Cody walked out the door, then led Erin around the right side of the building, where a sidewalk wove between a metal storage container and the air-conditioning unit. He grinned down at her. “The doggy entrance.”
When they stepped onto the patio, their server was already standing at one of the small round tables, two menus in her hand. They both sat. Erin gave Alcee a hand motion, and she positioned herself between their two chairs, head resting on her front paws.
Erin glanced around and nodded her approval. “This is nice.”
Cody agreed. Potted plants lined the patio, and triangular pieces of canvas stretched above, strings of white lights accenting the spaces between. Dock line strung from post to post sectioned off the eating area from the canal. Across the water, palm trees rose above the mangroves, their fronds silhouetted against a smoky gray sky. It was a tranquil setting, even romantic, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The last thing he needed to be thinking about was romance.
After Teri had taken their orders, Erin looked down at the dog lying between them. “This is a treat for Alcee. Though she looks at me with those pleading eyes, I rarely give her table scraps.”
Having heard her name, Alcee stood and stared at Erin, head cocked to the side and one ear lifted. Erin leaned over until she was almost nose to nose with her. “Yes, we’re talking about you. Cody’s determined to spoil you.”
Alcee tilted her head in the other direction and released a long “Arrrrrr.”
“That’s right. You’re getting dinner number two.”
“Arrrrrooo.”
Cody grinned. “She’s talking to you.”
“We have these conversations on a regular basis. I have no idea what she’s saying, but she seems to know.”
Cody leaned back in his chair. Now that the sun had set, the air had cooled slightly, making the temperature comfortable in spite of the humidity. Two other tables were occupied, the patrons speaking in hushed tones. Other than the occasional words that drifted their way, the night air was silent.
Erin released a long, contented sigh. “This is so peaceful.” She rested her chin in her hands. “It’s like the crickets are even hesitant to disturb the silence.”
“We don’t have the crickets like we used to. From what I’ve been told, some kind of exotic lizard was introduced that pretty well wiped them out.”
Erin frowned. “That’s sad.”
He thought so, too. The cricket songs formed a backdrop for so many of the memories they’d made. Cuddling together on a bench overlooking the canal at the RV park surrounded by palms and mangroves, watching the sun drop below the horizon. Walking hand in hand on the Harborwalk that wound through Laishley Park or just sitting on the swings while his grandfather did early-evening fishing from the pier.
That was where he’d kissed her for the first time, there at Laishley Park, right in front of the palm tree sculpture honoring those who’d experienced Hurricane Charley. Two palm trees, one standing upright, the other bent at a ninety-degree angle by the wind, metal fronds extending straight in line with the trunk. The sculpture held meaning for Erin. She and her grandparents had been there to experience the devastation.
Erin gripped the top of the straw and slowly stirred her tea, spinning the lemon around in lazy circles. Her gaze was fixed on the glass, but the distant look in her eyes said her thoughts were elsewhere.
She spoke without looking up. “I’ve thought about you over the years, wondered how you were, what you were doing.”
“Same here. I even looked for you on social media.”
Her eyes met his. “I’m not there.”
“So I discovered. You’re one of the few millennials in the US that doesn’t have a profile somewhere online.”
“Safer that way.” Her gaze dropped to her lap.
He paused, sensing a story behind those three words, but she didn’t elaborate. She would share when she was ready. Maybe. Whatever experiences she’d had over the past twelve years, they’d changed her. She seemed more reserved, less open, hidden behind protective walls that hadn’t been there when he’d known her before.
She gave him a half smile. “Did you ever take out a post office box?”
The seemingly odd question wasn’t peculiar at all. When their summer had come to an end, he couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. So he’d tried to convince her to set a date for them to meet up again after she finished school, just to see if that spark was still there.
Even that had been too much of a commitment. Instead, she’d come up with a different plan. If somewhere down the road, either of them wanted to connect, they’d rent a post office box, put a letter inside and hide the key in a designated place at Laishley Park.
“Never did. But I’ll admit, when I got to Florida eight years ago, I climbed up on the base of that sculpture and put my fingers between every one of those sideways fronds.”
Even though he hadn’t expected to find a key, he’d been disappointed when it hadn’t been there. He couldn’t bring himself to write a letter, though. It had seemed pointless. Instead, he’d met someone else, another free spirit like Erin, someone who’d even looked a lot like her.
He should have known better. For the past year his ex-wife had been backpacking across Europe with her boyfriend, and Cody had thrown himself into work like there was no tomorrow. At least they’d never had any kids, so history wasn’t repeating itself—there was no little Cody at home wondering why his mommy didn’t love him enough to stay.
“I thought you’d be married by now.”
Erin’s words were jarring in a she-just-read-my-mind kind of way.
“Been there, done that. Didn’t work out. What about you?”
“No husband, past or present.”
“No significant other?”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “Been there, done that. Didn’t work out.”
He wasn’t surprised. Regardless of the changes he’d sensed, her aversion to commitment was apparently as strong as ever.
Their server approached and placed their meals in front of each of them. Alcee’s, she set to the side. The restaurant folks had already cut the unseasoned chicken breast into half-inch cubes. The dog rose, nose twitching, sniffing the air. Her tail swished back and forth.
Cody shook his head. “How does she know she’s getting some?”
“I told you she’s smart.”
Erin checked the temperature of Alcee’s food, then placed the bowl on the concrete. Throughout the meal, they kept the conversation light, an unspoken mutual understanding.
When Teri cleared away their empty dishes and brought the dessert menu, Erin groaned. “I’m stuffed, but this brownie bottom pie looks awfully good. I could do half.”
“Then we’ll take a brownie bottom pie and two spoons.”
Teri returned a few minutes later and placed the plate between them. Cody hesitated before picking up his utensil. This probably wasn’t what Erin had in mind. He should have asked for two plates. There was something intimate about sharing a single dessert.
But that didn’t slow Erin down. In a few minutes the plate was empty except for a few smears of vanilla ice cream and chocolate drizzles.
He laid down his spoon with a satisfied sigh. “I hope Alcee enjoyed her thank-you-for-saving-my-life dinner.”
Erin smiled. “We both did.”
“And when you solve the case, we’ll do a thank-you-for-giving-me-my-life-back dinner.”
Her smile broadened. “It’s a deal.”
He paid the bill and led her toward the parking lot, Alcee prancing ahead of them. When he opened the back door, the dog hopped in and stretched out on the seat. Erin settled into the front, and Cody crossed behind the car. He’d just reached the center of the back bumper when an engine revved behind him and squealing tires snapped his attention toward the other end of the lot.
Twin headlights bore down on him, engine at full throttle. He leaped forward and dived between his vehicle and the next, his right elbow striking the pavement. The pain that shot through his arm and ribs momentarily stole his breath.
When he got back to his feet, Erin had exited and stood facing the street, pistol drawn. The car squealed onto Pine Island Road, its rear end fishtailing. Taillights shrank and disappeared as it sped down the road, headed toward the mainland.
She lowered the weapon and ran toward him, panic in every line of her face. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” He flexed and extended his arm. “I’m sure my elbow’s bruised, but it’s not broken. And I’ve got some ribs that are tired of taking a beating. Did you see the car?” As quickly as it had happened, he didn’t expect a tag number, but a description might help.
“Older Camry, gold. Since I just saw the passenger’s side, I can’t vouch for the damage that would have been sustained on the bridge, but I think it’s safe to assume it was the same car.”
She called the police, and they waited in the Acura for them to arrive. The tasty meal he’d enjoyed sat like lead in his stomach.
“I’m sorry. You were right.” He wasn’t too proud to admit when he’d messed up. He hadn’t just put himself in danger. He’d endangered the lives of both Erin and her dog.
Erin didn’t respond. Silence was better than the “I told you so” she’d promised to give him.
He heaved a sigh, frustration coursing through him. “I feel like I’m carrying around a tracking device.”
“When he tried to run you off the bridge, he probably followed you from Pine Island.”
“But I was watching.”
“It’s not that easy to spot a tail if traffic is heavy enough and they don’t get too close. Maybe he does know what kind of vehicle you’re driving now. After you wrecked your truck, it was logical you’d show up at one of the car rental businesses. There wouldn’t have been that many to check.”
“If that’s the case, why didn’t he just follow me home?”
“You didn’t go home. You had appointments. It would’ve been too obvious if he’d followed you to every stop. He apparently doesn’t know where you live, but he’s got your connection to Pine Island. There’s only one way on and off, and it runs right through Matlacha. With shops lining both sides of the road, do you know how easy it would be to find a spot where he could blend in but still see everyone who came onto the island? That means you need to stay away from here. No argument.”
He nodded. It had been more than a decade since anyone had told him where he could and couldn’t go.
It didn’t matter. From now on, he’d listen to Erin.