Placing his hand on hers he said, “Good night, la mia belezza.”
Evie walked away feeling his eyes on her, repeating the words he said to her all the way up to her room. As soon as she closed the door, she went to her computer and searched for the meaning of his words. She sighed at the translation, my beauty.
*
Jeremy sat back in the dirty motel room staring at the computer screen. Things couldn’t be going better. Anthony had come to Ipswich. As far as he could tell, he didn’t have any security with him. Now to have some fun.
– CHAPTER FOUR –
“OK, we’re here, what’s the big emergency?” Leigh said as she and Marie walked into the kitchen at Evelyne’s house.
“I have no idea what little Miss Thing is up to,” said Evelyne as she handed them both a cup of coffee.
Evie breezed into the room and got a soda out of the fridge. “Good, you’re all here. Let’s get down to it.”
“I’d like to get down to it, but this is slowing me down.” Evelyne wiggled her arm.
Evie gave her a look. “Haven’t you learned anything after the last time?”
“Nope.”
“Anyway, I need your help. As you know, Anthony is here to find out as much as he can about Jeremy. We spent last night going over all of each other’s information. We decided to work together to try to find him.”
Evelyne jumped up and started pacing the room. “Are you kidding me? Have you thought this thing through? No, of course not. You always leap before you think.”
“I wonder where she gets it from,” whispered Leigh to Marie.
“I heard that! Do you have any idea what could happen to you? And what about Lexi? How is she going to feel about this?”
“Grandma, calm down. Yes, I have thought this through. I know the risks, but really what else could I do? He’s an innocent man that has had a lot of bad things happen to him, and someone is out there planning on causing more pain. It’s not just about Lexi anymore. They both deserve that bastard be locked up where he can’t hurt anyone anymore. You all know I’ve always loved puzzles, I think this is something that I could help with. Please try to understand.”
“Honey, we are, but you’ve got to give us more.” Leigh rubbed Evie’s back.
Evie stood up and walked over to where her grandmother was leaning against the counter and grabbed her hands. “You know me. You know that I can take care of myself. You know that I have always been the one to figure out who did it before anyone else when watching a movie or reading a book. I might be able to see something that other people can’t. While yes, I do tend to leap before I look, that isn’t always a bad thing. Besides, Anthony and I will be together. I’ll try to make sure I’m not alone. Please understand.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Marie said.
“What? How can you say that?” Evelyne demanded.
“Think about what she said. Take the emotion of the fact she is your granddaughter out of it. Another pair of eyes won’t hurt anything. Besides, we might learn more, Anthony might have some information Noah’s man wasn’t able to dig up. The more we know, the better. They can do things that law enforcement can’t. Lexi will be home soon. It would be nice if we could take this one thing off of her so she wouldn’t have to stress about Jeremy still being out there. And like Evie said, Anthony doesn’t deserve this. What has happened to him is wrong; she can help make it right.”
Evelyne’s eyes were narrowed and her jaw was set. “What about Lexi? Have you thought about that?”
“Oh course, I have. I know seeing Anthony is going to be a huge shock. I’m hoping that telling her before seeing him will help. She’s got Noah; you know he’d do anything for her. She knows that there is a difference between the two. She wants this as much for her as for Anthony. She still feels terrible about her part in the whole thing. She’s strong enough to get through this, I know it.”
“And there is nothing going on between the two of you?” Marie asked.
Evie tried to make sure her face didn’t show anything. In fact, that kept her up more than the nightmares of what she’d seen and they’d talked about. “Of course not.”
“Evie, honey, we aren’t stupid.” Leigh said.
“What are you guys talking about?”
Leigh started ticking off on her fingers, “First, the two of you kept looking at each other all through dinner the other night.” Before Evie could interrupt she continued, “Second, he went searching for you all over the place the next day, then you two spend hours together alone. Finally, you are doing whatever you can to help him, even putting yourself in danger. That adds up to something going on. Besides, even though the killer has his face, you have to admit, he’s pretty hot. There is something about how he carries himself. You can tell he’s used to being in charge, giving orders and getting what he wants. There is something animalistic about it. You just know he’d be great in the sack.”