Raintree: Haunted (Raintree 2)

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Hope said coolly.

“Neither do I.”

He hadn’t seen Sherry Bishop’s ghost since yesterday, which didn’t mean anything. She might show up at any moment to feed him another tidbit of useful—or not so useful—information. Or he might never see her again, in which case he was on his own.

He glanced at Hope. Not as on his own as he would like to be. Pretty and intriguing and smart as Hope Malory was, he didn’t need or want a partner. Why was she still here? In forty-eight hours he’d tried to antagonize her and then to make her his friend. He’d disabled her car, saved her life and made her come. She should either love him or hate him, and yet here she was, cool as ever.

What would it take to rattle her?

“I called a mechanic about your car. He’s going to meet us at the Hilton in ten minutes.”

“Thanks,” she said coolly.

“The lab analysis on Sherry Bishop should be in early this afternoon. Most of it, anyway. Once your car is taken care of, I figure we can go to the office and make some phone calls about these other murders while we wait for the report to come in.”

“Fine with me. If we have the time I’d like a look at the file on Stiles, if you don’t mind. He could be behind yesterday’s shooting, and the blonde the bookstore clerk saw might have nothing to do with the case.”

“Possible,” Gideon agreed. “If we do have a serial killer on our hands, she hasn’t done this before. She’s never stuck around and targeted the investigators.”

“Maybe she’s scared because you’re so good.”

“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?”

“Ah, you really are a star detective.”

So…she wasn’t quite as cool and distant as she pretended to be.

When they pulled into the Hilton parking lot, the mechanic was already there, waiting. Gideon parked close to Hope’s Toyota and killed the engine. As he started to leave the car, she said softly, “One more thing, Raintree, before the day gets under way. Lay a hand on me again and I’ll shoot you.”

He hesitated with his hand on the door handle. “You mean you’ll file charges against me, right?”

She looked him in the eye then, squarely and strongly. Yeah, she was entirely human, not altogether pleased with him, and more than a little rattled.

“No, I mean I’ll shoot you. I handle my own problems, so if you thought you were going to send me crying to the boss asking for justice and a transfer, you were mistaken.”

And how.

“I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t care,” she continued, her voice low but strong. “Well, not much. I am curious, but not nearly curious enough to let this slide. From here on out, keep your hands to yourself if you want to keep them.” She opened the door and stepped out, dismissing him and effectively ending the conversation.

Damn. Apparently he had himself a new partner.

Tabby took long strides along the riverfront, anxious and twitchy and unhappy. Sherry Bishop’s funeral wouldn’t be held until Saturday, and even then, it was being held in Indiana. Freakin’ Indiana! What was she supposed to do, travel all that way on the chance that Echo would be there? No, she had to be here on Sunday. Here and finished with her part of the preparations.

Time to be realistic. Time to look beyond what she wanted and concentrate on what had to be done. It was too late to get Echo first. If the Raintree prophet was going to see that something was about to happen, she’d already seen it. Maybe Echo wasn’t as powerful as advertised.

Tabby had to focus on what she could do here and now, and dismiss what she couldn’t. Echo was nowhere to be found, at least not at the present time, but Gideon Raintree was right here in Wilmington, so close she could almost taste him.

Raintree’s neighbors were too close and too nosy. There was always someone on the beach or on a nearby deck. Taking him at home would never work. She needed privacy for what she had planned. Privacy and just a little bit of time. She wouldn’t have all the time she wanted, but she definitely planned to have minutes with Raintree instead of seconds. Hours would be better, but she would take what she could get.

Raintree and his partner had been in the police station most of the day, and she wasn’t stupid enough to try to take them there. Besides, she didn’t want this to be quick. She wanted to be looking into Gideon’s green Raintree eyes when she killed him. She wanted to be close enough to absorb any energy he emitted when he drew his last breath, and she certainly wanted a memento or two.

Fortunately, she knew exactly how to draw him out of the safety of the police station and well away from home.

The boardwalk by the river was crowded with tourists and a few locals. She scanned them all, one at a time. Someone here had to be alone. Not just by themselves at the moment, but truly and completely alone. Miserably isolated. Tabby scanned people quickly, dismissing one after another as inadequate for her purposes. And then her gaze fell on the person she’d been searching for.

Alone, scared, separated from her loved ones. Uncertain, vulnerable, needy. Perfect.

Tabaet Ansara smiled as she focused on the redhead’s shapely back and wondered if the woman had any inkling that she was about to die.