LITMIR.BIZ

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you’re staying.”

      “I appreciate the offer.” He wound the cord into place. “But I’m staying here.”

      She decided to pretend she hadn’t heard. “There’s a motel about three miles away, just past Lake Avenue.” Casey saw no reason to mention that her parents used to manage it. She’d grown up on the premises before they bought the Pine Woods.

      He replaced the vacuum in a closet. “The couch will suit me fine.”

      “You don’t honestly believe…” She halted the flow of words, remembering why he’d come. “Maybe you should explain exactly what I can expect while you’re here.”

      “How many choices do I have?”

      “You get to do A: Catch the bad guy. Go on, give me your sales pitch. How do you plan to do it?”

      One eyebrow quirked but he kept a straight face. “Assess weaknesses and recommend improvements. Interview witnesses. Implement safety procedures. Catch the creep by whatever means necessary. I guess that sums it up.”

      It sounded as if it could take a while. She hoped the investigation wouldn’t take weeks. Hours would be better. Minutes, even. If she let herself get dependent on Jack, she would feel all the more hurt when he left. “What kind of time frame are we talking about?”

      Jack assumed a commanding stance with legs apart and head cocked. “I can make my evaluation in a day or two, but I’d rather…”

      “A day or two is an absolute maximum.”

      He took a deep breath. Calming himself, probably. “Let’s concentrate on the facts. How often does he show up?”

      “This is the fourth time in a month,” Casey said. “That works out to about once a week.”

      “How many people have seen him?”

      “Gail and me. And Enid, or at least she heard somebody rustling around in her bushes one night. Enid and Gail live in the two closest cabins.” After a moment’s thought, Casey added, “Our mailbox got damaged, too, about three weeks ago, but it looked like a car scraped it. It’s right by the road.”

      He took a notepad from his pocket and scribbled on it. “Always at night?”

      “So far.”

      “Has anything been stolen?” He spoke with the impersonal tone of a police officer.

      Casey shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

      “Any threats? Anonymous letters or e-mails? Hang-ups on the telephone?”

      “No,” she replied.

      “Besides the woman who thinks it might be her ex, does anyone else have reason to believe they’re being stalked?”

      She responded in the negative.

      Jack made another note and then seemed to remember who he was talking to. “Shouldn’t you be sitting down?”

      “I’m fine.” Stubbornly, she held her ground, trying to ignore the way her abdomen tugged on her overstrained muscles.

      He turned a chair backwards and sat down facing her. “Casey, when you told me someone sprayed you with a hose, I wasn’t aware you were carrying a child. It sounded bad enough before, but this is worse. That was a vicious thing to do.”

      “He might not have been able to see in the dark,” she protested. “He might not have realized I’m pregnant.”

      “Unless it’s someone who knows you.”

      Maybe that possibility should have occurred to her before; however, she found it hard to accept. “I guess it’s your job to suspect everyone, but that’s ridiculous.”

      “Why?”

      Because this was Richfield Crossing, not L.A., she thought in annoyance. But she already knew he wouldn’t buy that argument. “Nobody has a motive.” Since she gained no ground by continuing to stand, she yielded to common sense at last and sank onto the sofa.

      “Don’t be so sure,” Jack retorted. “A predator doesn’t need the kind of motive you or I might recognize. And there are other motives that might not be obvious. A grudge, for instance. What about former tenants? Did your mother report any problems?”

      “No. Everybody’s lived here for at least two years.”

      “Are any of them unstable? I presume your mom ran a credit check, right?”

      She nodded. “I hope you’re not planning to give them the third degree! They’re not just renters, they’re friends.”

      “I’d like a list of their names,” he said calmly. “I’ll start interviewing them first thing tomorrow. Trust me, I know how to debrief witnesses without antagonizing them.”

      “Tomorrow’s Sunday.” Casey supposed she shouldn’t be throwing roadblocks in his path, but Jack’s hard-nosed attitude put her back up. Besides, her attacker had to be a stranger.

      “Tomorrow afternoon then,” he countered. “Don’t tell me they spend the entire day in prayer and seclusion.”

      “This isn’t a monastery!”

      “That much would be obvious to anyone looking at you.” Grinning crookedly, he reached out and took her hands. Casey saw his gaze fall on the wedding ring she wore.

      Did he think she still considered herself married? She only wore the ring because of her condition, but let him think whatever he liked.

      Besides, a glow was spreading through her as his thumbs stroked the backs of her hands. He smelled of masculine aftershave lotion, which reminded Casey of how she used to enjoy burying her face in his thick hair and trailing her mouth down to the corner of his jaw. It had always made him catch his breath and lean toward her…

      …Just as he was doing now, so close their foreheads nearly touched. She ought to draw back. She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. She didn’t want to give herself the wrong impression, either.

      Her shift of position must have put pressure on her abdomen, because Diane kicked. Startled, Casey pulled back. “Ow!”

      Worry deepened the faint lines around Jack’s mouth. “Is something wrong?”

      She shook her head. “The baby let me know she doesn’t like being squeezed. It didn’t hurt. She just startled me.”

      He frowned. “You said ‘she.’ Does that mean you had one of those tests?”

      Casey nodded. “It’s a girl. I’m naming her Diane.”

      “That’s a nice name.” Releasing her hands, he flexed his shoulders. “I think I’ll eat that food now. Then I’ll take a stroll around the premises. I’d like to see how things look in the dark.”

      She decided not to argue, although the question of whether Jack was staying here and for how long remained unresolved. Right now, she felt too relaxed.

      After he went out, instructing her to lock the door behind him, Casey remembered what he’d said about this possibly being someone she knew. She preferred to speculate that it might be a transient camping out on vacant land in the area. If so, she hoped Jack would find him soon.

      Maybe this visit hadn’t been such a bad idea, as long as they kept it short. Like it or not, he was Diane’s biological father. Someday their daughter would want to meet him and establish a relationship.

      When that day came, maybe he’d remember sitting here learning about her for the first time. It might make him a little more welcoming.

      For their daughter’s sake, Casey hoped so.

      * * *

      JACK’S PATROL DIDN’T turn up anything suspicious. It did reveal how exposed the cabins were, however.

      The

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