Chapter 24

 

 

My visit to Annie’s ex-husband hadn’t been the best visit, but it wasn’t too shabby. I’d discovered a few details. It had been another long day. I was home now and all I wanted was a chance to de-stress before I resumed the investigation tomorrow.

Since the pool looked so inviting and relaxing, I decided to take a dip. Stars twinkled in the pitch-black sky. I couldn’t help but think about what had happened when I swam last time. Nevertheless, I decided to do it again. I wouldn’t let this person intimidate me and keep me from doing the things that I enjoyed. Plus, I’d had no indication that they had been around again, so I figured it would be okay.

I put on my swimsuit, grabbed a towel and headed for the water. The pool was the best thing about my apartment building. Night time was when I enjoyed swimming the most. I didn’t have to worry about sunburn, plus I had the pool to myself. I placed the towel down and then stepped into the water. It was warm and soothing over my skin. I began swimming laps.

I made it to the other side of the pool and then just floated on the water. After a minute I decided to rest and lean my back against the side of the pool. I looked out over the shallow end. A noise sounded from right behind me. Someone was back there, over by the big palm trees. I spun around in the water, scanning the area. So far, I saw no one, but after the last time, I wasn’t sure that I was alone here. Maybe the person had returned. Had they been watching me?

Panic set in and I decided I should get out of the pool. As I swam over to the steps the noise came again. I hoped that I wasn’t attacked right there in the water. When I stopped and looked over my shoulder I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I knew for sure that someone was back there.

“Hey, who’s there?” I yelled out.

I wanted him to know I was aware of his presence.

A person jumped out from behind the bush and ran away from the pool area. I’d known someone had been back there. I was just thankful that I hadn’t had to fight the person off. What were they doing back there? I decided to go after him. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the person’s face, but I knew it was a man. It was too dark to see anything else.

I raced out of the water. There was no time to grab my towel or my flip-flops. I took off out the gate, sprinting across the way toward where the man had run. This was probably a crazy thing to do and Jake would be upset with me. But I wanted a better look at this person. Once and for all we were going to get to the bottom of this. I wasn’t going to put up with somebody creeping around me.

I made it all the way out to the road before I stopped by the sidewalk. When I looked to the left and to the right, there was no one in sight. I’d lost him, unless he was hiding somewhere now and watching me. He was probably laughing that he’d gotten away with it. Anger stirred inside me. If I could get a hold of him I would probably shake him and make him tell me everything. I stood there for a bit longer, hoping to catch sight of him.

He might have jumped in a car and taken off. He wasn’t that fast on foot, although I’d wasted some time getting out of the water. That had probably given him the time he needed to get away. I supposed my night-time swims were over now though. At least until this was solved. What a bummer. I’d said I wouldn’t let it stop me, but now maybe I would.

Cars went by and the drivers stared at me now because I was standing on the sidewalk soaking wet. I supposed the person was gone now and I needed to go back in and dry off. After one last look I headed back toward the pool, but I kept on guard. I needed to call Jake and report this. I wouldn’t play games with this person and chance something serious happening. After all, there had been two murders and I wasn’t going to be the third.

I reached the pool, slid into my flip-flops, and grabbed the towel, wiping off the remaining water. I was still on alert as I headed toward my apartment.

“Hello,” a male voice said from over my shoulder.

I screamed and spun around, tossing the towel up in the air.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” Reynold said as he picked up the towel.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I grabbed the towel from his hands.

I hadn’t expected for him to show up here and frankly it was kind of creepy. He must have realized that I was a bit freaked out by his presence because he took a couple steps back.

He gestured toward one of the doors across the courtyard. “My friend lives right over there. I just dropped him off. We went out to dinner to discuss a case.”

“Oh, really, and who is your friend?” I asked as I wrapped the towel around me.

After all, he was the ladies’ man. I tapped my foot against the ground as I waited. I knew at least the first name of everyone who lived in this building. Since it was small, it was easy for me to meet everyone. We all knew each other, so if he didn’t come up with a name within the next two seconds, I was calling Jake.

“His name is Blake,” Reynold said.

Okay, he was off the hook momentarily. That was my neighbor’s name. Though Reynold could have done research and found that out. I still had to be suspicious of him.

“Well, it was nice seeing you,” I said, turning toward my door.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Would you be interested in going for a drink? Like I said, I have some information that you might be interested in. You never called me back.”

I quirked an eyebrow. Was he just saying this to get me to go out for drinks with him? Besides, I was waiting for Jake.

“There’s a place right around the corner.” He pointed.

Against my better judgment, I said, “Okay. Just one drink though. I need to change quickly. I think it would look strange if I went in my swimsuit and a towel.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll wait for you by the pool.”

Should I mention to him that someone had been creeping around the pool earlier? Maybe later. There was no need to get into that now. I headed into my apartment. Once inside I checked out the window to see if he was waiting by the pool. He was in fact sitting out there by the water waiting for me.

I slipped into shorts, a tank top, and put on my good flip-flops. After applying some lip gloss and brushing my hair, I grabbed my bag. I wanted to check my email on my way out the door since I’d been waiting on an email, but there was no time right now. It would have to wait.

When Reynold saw me step out of my apartment, he jumped up from the lounge chair and hurried out the pool’s gate to meet me.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” he said as he fell into step beside me.

We headed around the corner of the courtyard and out to the street.

“Do you visit this place often?” I asked.

“I’ve been there a few times, but I wouldn’t say I’m a regular,” he said around a laugh. “What about you? Have you been there?”

“Never,” I said.

“You don’t drink?”

“Not really. I have business and can’t be distracted by things like that. Anyway, do you want to tell me why we’re going to a bar just to tell me what you found out?”

“Well, I figure maybe we can get a drink first.”

He had better have something to tell me. I wasn’t playing his game either. Did he have a quota to meet for his dates for the month?

I received a text message. Jake wanted to know if we were still on for dinner.

Of course. Just meeting someone now. I’ll be in touch soon.

He didn’t need to know exactly what kind of business because he would frown upon this meeting. A boyfriend wouldn’t like the idea of his girlfriend going out for a drink with a known ladies’ man, right?

“Something important?” Reynold asked as he looked over at my phone.

“Just another meeting,” I said with a smile.

“Oh, I get it,” he said with a grin. “You have a boyfriend.”

“Yes, I do have a boyfriend,” I said.

“I totally expected that,” he said. “Since you’re pretty, smart, and fun.”

Oh, no. Here he went with the ladies’ man talk. He didn’t know me, so how would he know if I was anything other than what he saw on the outside?

We finally reached the bar. He opened the door, and gestured for me to go first.

“After you,” he said.

I stepped into the dark room. The bar along the left wall stretched across the whole space. The rest of the room had tables and chairs. It was a tiny space with only a few people sitting at the tables. One man was at the bar. The bartender acknowledged us with a nod of his head.

“Would you rather sit at the bar or table?” Reynold asked.

“The bar is fine,” I answered.

“You lead the way,” he said, motioning for me to step over to the stools.

A couple women sitting at a nearby table checked out Reynold. He didn’t act as if he knew they were watching him. I picked the closest stool and sat down.

He sat beside me then smiled widely. “You seem tense. Are you sure everything’s okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Still a little startled that you showed up, I guess.”

“I really am sorry about that. I guess I didn’t think that it would scare you.”

The bartender stepped over. “What can I get for you all?”

“I’ll just have white wine, please,” I said.

“A beer for me,” Reynold said.

As the bartender stepped away, I said, “It’s just that I had an encounter tonight with someone right before you came up to me.”

He frowned. “What happened?”

“Someone was watching me while I swam in the pool,” I said.

“Are you serious? Was it someone who lives in the complex?” he asked.

“I didn’t get a good look at the person, but I don’t think they live there, no. It was dark and he wore dark clothing. I think it has something to do with the recent murders.”

His eyes widened. The bartender came back over with our drinks, placing the wine glass down in front of me and the bottle in front of Reynold. “Anything else for you?”

“No, we’re good,” Reynold said. “So you think this has something to do with the murders?”

I took a sip of wine. I didn’t want to go into all the details just yet because I didn’t know Reynold. He could’ve been the one creeping around. “I have some evidence that leads me to believe the person has been there before when I was swimming.”

“That’s unsettling,” he said. “Are you worried about that?”

“Obviously, yes.”

He took a drink of his beer.

“I’m hoping that I’m wrong obviously. But I’m being cautious nevertheless.”

“I should hope so. Have you discussed this with the police?”

“I haven’t had a chance to tell them about the second incident since it just happened. But I intend to,” I said, taking another drink from my glass. “So what information did you find? Maybe that’ll make me feel better about all of this.”

“I don’t know if it’s good information, but I hope it makes you feel better. I don’t like the thought of you being upset.”

He really didn’t know me, so I figured that was just another one of his ladies’ man moves.

“I’m sensing that you really don’t like me much,” he said.

I took another drink from my glass. “It’s just something I heard, I guess.”

“What did you hear?” he asked.

“I heard that you’re a ladies’ man. A big flirt and all that,” I said.

He laughed. “Who did you hear that from?”

“A man we met at a cigar bar.”

“Really? He said that, huh?”

“Yes, that’s what he said.”

“I think he says that about everyone,” he said.

“So you have a girlfriend? One girlfriend?”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“A wife?”

“I have no wife.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m single right now.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“I suppose you shouldn’t always believe what you hear.”

I chuckled. “Oh, believe me, I don’t believe anything. I’m probably the most skeptical person you’ll ever meet.”

“That I believe,” he said. “I guess you’re probably a bit suspicious of everyone.”

“You can read my personality already?”

“Some things are obvious,’ he said.

“Good to know,” I said.