Chapter 27

 

 

After Jake left, I dressed in my favorite white shorts and sunshine-yellow tank top. I grabbed my tote and keys and headed for the door. When I stepped outside I immediately stopped and scanned my surroundings. Yes, it was bright and sunny out, but even still I was anxious. I was still on the lookout for my stalker. They didn’t have the darkness to hide behind now though, so at least I had that to my advantage. This was no time to let my guard down.

So far, I saw no one around. I almost expected for Reynold to pop up out of nowhere again. This had all been so strange last night. Was it a dream? I locked the door behind me and only made it a couple of steps when I spotted something on the ground next to my apartment. This reminded me that it all hadn’t been a dream. It was all real. Unfortunately, I was going to have to deal with this realistic nightmare.

It was the special pen from my office. Had the person who had broken in my office taken it and now they’d left it here on purpose just so that I would know that they had been to my apartment too? I knew it hadn’t been there last night before I’d closed the door when Jake and I had gone to bed. Someone had to have been out there in the middle of the night. Just the thought sent a shiver down my spine. They were sending me a message. And I knew it wasn’t a good one.

Why were they toying with me and playing these games? Was it a warning for me to stop trying to find the killer? But I couldn’t stop. I had to find the person so that they didn’t do it again. I had to keep myself from being killed in the process though. That was easier said than done when I had a complete psycho running around chasing me with their car.

I picked up the pen, stuffed it in my bag, and then hurried around the corner toward my car parked along the street. When I reached the spot where I’d climbed the fence I stopped. Momentarily flashes of what happened came back to me and I panicked. But the incident was behind me now and I had to push those thoughts to the back of my mind so that I could move forward with the investigation.

I hurried the rest of the way to the car, stopping just long enough to unlock the door and scan the area for any danger. It wasn’t fun having to constantly look over my shoulder, but it was necessary. At least until I figured out who the killer was and brought them to justice. Then I thought about the officer who had been recently killed in Kentucky. Would I have that killer after me too? I hoped Jake found more information on the case this morning.

I slid into the car and locked it behind me, started the ignition and pulled away from the curb. On the way to the office I made sure to be conscious of my surroundings and any cars that could possibly be following me. After all, the person who’d tried to hit me might try to make me have an accident as well. They could’ve gotten a different car by now. My phone rang and Jake’s picture popped up on the screen. It was a photo I’d taken when we’d been on the beach. He was actually smiling, which was something he didn’t do often. He liked to keep his tough detective persona.

“Maggie, this doesn’t look good,” Jake said when I answered.

“What happened?” Dread surged through my body.

“I don’t want you to talk to that Reynold guy anymore.”

I sighed as I buckled my seatbelt. “I only talked to him to get information. You don’t have to be jealous.”

“He’s dangerous, Maggie. He has a black car. It fits the description of the one that almost hit you. I think it was him.”

“It can’t be him. Why would he do that? I didn’t get a license plate number and I’m sure there are a lot of those black cars around town.”

“What are the odds it was someone else though?”

Jake didn’t like Reynold though. I wasn’t so quick to make that decision. 

“I’m going to find out why he’d do this. Just don’t go anywhere near him, okay?”

“All right, if you say so. What are you going to do to him?” I asked.

“I’ll ask him some questions.”

Now I felt bad for Reynold. He’d been nice when we were at the bar. I felt confident there was no way he was involved. Though he had shown up right after I’d seen the man at the pool.

“I’ll call you soon,” Jake said.

After ending the call with Jake, I checked my phone to see if Dorothy had responded to my text. There was nothing from her. I’d expected her to message me already. She hadn’t called or texted, which was unlike her.

Naturally apprehension took over. After what had happened maybe they had come after Dorothy too. The thought was overwhelming. I had to talk to her soon. I hoped she was already at the office when I got there. I wanted to hear those clacking needles and longed to smell the peppermint candy. Who knew all those annoying qualities could be so endearing?

Thank goodness the car that had almost hit me wasn’t waiting for me at the office. And no one tried to run me over as I walked from my car to the office door. Granted this was in the parking lot, but I didn’t trust the person not to run right over me right there. I tried the door, but it was locked, which led me to believe that Dorothy wasn’t here yet. Her car wasn’t here, but sometimes Morty dropped her off.

I still hadn’t looked at the jacket since I’d found it. It was in the trunk of my car. Just for curiosity I decided to get it another glance. Getting out of the car I went back to the trunk and pulled it out. I examined it once again. Not that this would provide any new clues. After all, it was just a jacket. It wasn’t like I could collect DNA off it.

After checking the pockets again, I noticed the name on the inside collar. How had I missed this? The name wasn’t Smith. A cold chill ran down my spine. I recognized the name. Smythe. The guy I’d talked to at the boutique. Baxter Smythe. I needed to contact him right away. The killer had been right in front of me.

Rushing back to the car, I jumped in and pulled out my phone. I was going to confront Baxter, but I might need some backup. Unfortunately, Jake didn’t answer. I’d have to leave a message.

“Jake, I think I know who murdered Luke and Mr. Boles. Baxter Smythe at the Palm Tree store over in South Beach. Meet me there. I’m going now.”

I hoped he got the message. Just in case, I sent a text message as well telling him to check his voicemail. I didn’t have time to type all this out. I did a quick search on my phone to check out this Baxter’s Facebook page one more time. One of the first photos that I saw was Baxter and the black car. How had I not noticed this before? And why was he dumb enough to have this photo on there? I’d recognize that black car anywhere. It was the one driven by the person who had followed me and tried to kill me. That wasn’t Reynold’s car like Jake thought. I knew it couldn’t have been him.

As I started the car, I realized I might need more bullets. I had no idea what type of situation I’d get into once there. I jumped out and headed for the office. Where was Dorothy?

As I walked toward the door, I received a text message on my phone. I figured it was a text from Dorothy. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize the number. The message had another video attached with no message other than Watch This. My hand shook as I clicked on the video to find out where and when I’d been videoed. This time it was of me getting into my car and driving to work. My stalker had returned.

This text had come from a different number. We’d found nothing from the other number since it was one of those disposable phones. Now I had my suspicions that Baxter had been behind these text messages. I couldn’t believe he would go to all that trouble just to send me these videos. Obviously, he was trying to scare me. Unfortunately, it was working. I didn’t even bother to watch it again because it would only scare me more. As soon as I got to safety, I would let Jake know about the latest development. Was Baxter really the one doing this? It had to be him.

This would only reinforce Jake telling me not to investigate this case. He’d probably tell me to get out of town for a while. He should know by now that wasn’t going to happen. Watching over my shoulder all the time was terrible, but it had to be done. For all I knew I was being recorded with every move I made. Wouldn’t Jake be shocked to discover I’d found the person responsible for the murders. Okay, I didn’t know for sure, but I had a feeling I was right.

I looked around to see if I could spy anyone watching me. Whoever was doing this was clever and good at hiding. Plus, some of the angles they got seemed as if they were hiding in a tree. Did they have a drone? I peered up at the sky. All I saw were more seagulls waiting for their next meal.

When I opened the door, sadness took over. There was no clacking of needles and no peppermint candy smell permeating the air. Dorothy wasn’t there. I tried not to panic, but I couldn’t help myself. I tossed my bag down onto my desk and pulled out my phone to dial her number one more time. When she still didn’t answer, I left her a frantic message. Next, I had to call Morty and see if Dorothy was still with him. She had been with him last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t pick up either. What was going on?

I paced across the floor, unsure about what to do next. Should I file a missing person report? No, I supposed it was too soon for that. I hadn’t even gone to Dorothy’s place yet to check on her. That was exactly what I needed to do right now. I turned around and grabbed my bag and keys from the desk.

When I turned back around to go out the door, I stopped in my tracks. I was no longer alone. Annie Jensen stood in the doorway. She was blocking the door, glaring at me. Her stance was definitely meant to intimidate me. My gun was in my bag, which was on my shoulder. At least I had some form of defense. But would I have time to get to it? Surely it wouldn’t come to that. She wasn’t here to murder me, was she? That thought sent a shiver down my spine. What if she was the killer?

“May I help you?” I asked, trying to sound calm.

On the inside, I was anything but calm.

She stared at me without answering, which was creepy. And I thought it couldn’t get any crazier than when I first saw her standing there. She had this menacing glare in her eyes.

“What do you want?” I repeated.

I wasn’t going to let her intimidate me. However, I knew why she was here. She was here to harm me. Just like she had done to Luke and Mr. Boles, but this time she’d carry out the murder by herself.

“You murdered the lawyer because of your divorce? And the other guy just got in your way?”

“He helped with the case. If he’d stayed out of it maybe I would have gotten more of what I deserved. I’m surprised you figured this out,” she said.

I scoffed. “Why should you be surprised? It wasn’t that difficult.”

“Well, it’s one thing to figure it out and it’s another to have evidence to prove it,” she said.

“What makes you think I don’t have evidence to prove it?” I asked with a smirk.

I didn’t want her to think she had the upper hand. Who did she think she was? Oh, yeah, the killer. There was that. Maybe it wasn’t good to push her buttons. She stepped into the room and closed the door, locking it behind her. Of course, my anxiety spiked. But I had to remain calm and steady or else I’d never get out of the situation.

Speaking of getting out of the situation, how exactly did I think I was going to go about that? I needed to know what her next move was first. I had to reach for my gun. That would let her know that if she made one move toward me I would have to stop her. Something told me she wouldn’t want to go down without a fight. Well, I was willing to fight for my life.

Without saying a word, she lunged forward with her arms straight out in front of her. She was coming right toward me. I moved to my right but hit the desk instead of getting the gun. I tumbled to the ground. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid. I looked like a complete idiot.

My tote bag had fallen from my shoulder and was now on the floor with the gun sticking out from the top. She noticed this and made a lunge for the bag. Before I had a chance to move and get my hand on it she had the gun in her hand. It was definitely all over for me now. I couldn’t fight the gun. I’d made a huge mistake. I supposed I was a rookie and maybe I always would be one. I couldn’t believe she’d beat me to it. She had my gun. This was not fair.

Could I talk her into not shooting me? Persuade her that it wasn’t the thing to do? Probably not after two murders. She probably couldn’t be convinced that one murder wasn’t a good idea, much less three. I held my hands up as I sat on the floor. This truly was pathetic private investigating. No wonder Jake was always worried about me. I just hoped that Dorothy didn’t come to the door right now. I knew Annie wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her. I would be completely devastated if that happened.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing but this is a bad idea,” I said.

I was still trying to wrap my head around how I’d managed to let her get the gun. She hadn’t even known I had one. It was like I’d just showed it to her on purpose. She clutched the gun in her hand and pointed it right at me. I knew it had plenty of bullets.

“No one else knows that you’ve killed anyone. And I won’t tell anyone,” I said.

Yeah, everyone said that when confronted by a killer. She laughed as she continued to point the gun at me.

“Can’t we talk this out?” I asked.

“No, we can’t,” she said.

Well, at least she was being honest with me now. Obviously, I was going to have to think of something else. I had to get the gun from here. It was as if I had pulled it out and said, “Hey, look at my gun. Do you want it?” The room was eerily quiet as she stared at me. This was giving me the creeps. Though I didn’t want to push her into pulling the trigger.

A tiny voice called out. I looked around the room to see if Dorothy was hiding.

“Maggie, are you in there? I can’t get the door open. I forgot my key,” Dorothy said.

Oh, no. I’d been hoping that she wouldn’t come by until after I’d gotten rid of this woman. Well, maybe thinking that was ridiculous. There was no getting rid of Annie. However, I was excited that Dorothy was okay, but a little angry that she hadn’t answered my texts and calls earlier. I couldn’t answer her now because then she would know something was wrong. I just needed her to go away. Though I knew when I didn’t answer she’d start blowing up my phone with calls and text messages. I had my fingers crossed that she’d call the cops.