Piper looked up at her mother. “That was a good surprise.”
“It was a really good surprise.”
“Anyway. She—the woman in the goofy coat—was poking around in there, too. I didn’t pay much attention because a lot of people were shopping like we were.”
“It was like, two months ago,” Heather began. “You can’t be sure you remember, especially since you can hardly see anything in these pictures.”
“I see what I see.” Piper gave her sister—yeah, that could be termed a sexy eye—and mimed a hair flip.
She earned an elbow jab, but it was half-hearted, and Heather snickered with it.
“Do you remember the date?” Eve asked.
“It would’ve been the Saturday before Christmas,” Blaine supplied. “We always bake cookies in the morning and afternoon, then do the shopping hunt, end the day with pizza at Angelo’s.”
“You and Grand split a bottle of wine,” Piper added. “And got giggly on the walk home.”
“Our family elephant,” Audrey commented. “She never forgets.”
“Have you seen her since?”
“I don’t think so. The goggles are mega lame-o, so I’d remember them. Britta Gleason has a pair almost like them, and she gets pissy when I tell her they make her look goon.”
“Piper!”
“Sorry.” She hunched her shoulders at her grandmother’s rebuke. “She gets annoyed when I tell her she looks goon.”
“She does look goon,” Heather agreed. “Piper does notice things.”
“I observe. I’m going to be a writer like Mom, so I observe. She had a shopping bag! She had a shopping bag from Artie’s. We were in there, too, so that’s three places we were she was—that I noticed.”
“Is she going to try to hurt Mom?”
“Heather, sweetie.” DeLano cuddled her daughter closer. “Of course not.”
“I’m going to be straight. You’ve got good security. Use it. You’ve got good eyes,” Eve said to Piper. “Keep using them. If you see this person again, do not approach. Don’t screw around. Contact the police—local, then me.”
“You don’t … You don’t think she’d go after my children.”
“I think this woman has an unhealthy obsession with you and your books. I think through that obsession she’s killed two people, and I’m damn sure she plans to follow that up by re-creating the scene from your next book. She’s focused on the scenes, the characters, but she’s been close enough for your daughter to identify her as trailing you through local shops.”
“Should I keep them home from school?”
Eve dampened Piper’s instant grin with a head shake. “Not necessary. How do they get to and from school?”
“It’s walking distance. In bad weather we have a carpool system.”
“Talk to the car pool participants, talk to the school. They should be aware. I’m going to speak to your local police, request regular drive-bys, and make sure they’re aware of the situation. Use common sense. Don’t let anyone into the house you don’t know. If somebody comes to the door saying you’ve got a gas leak—verify with the gas company. If somebody claims they’ve had an accident or uses any ploy to try to get you to open the door, it’s nine-one-one.”
“I’ve reached third kup in tae kwon do.”
Eve gave Piper a respectful nod. “Blue belt, red tag. Nice. I’m fifth dan, currently studying with a grand master, and I’m telling you: Don’t screw around.”
“She won’t.” The steel in Audrey’s voice resonated. “None of us will.”
“Good. Peabody, cards.”
Rising, Peabody took out contact cards, handed them out. “It’s good you know how to defend yourself,” she said to Piper. “And your family. Contacting the police is another form of defense.”