Identity

She broke off as Audrey rushed in. “What happened? What’s wrong? I could see it in your eyes.”

“Everybody sit down,” Olivia ordered. “Take a breath, Morgan, then say it.”

“He killed somebody else, a woman in Tennessee. Oh God. God. The FBI agents came to the house to tell me.”

“Audrey, get your girl some water.”

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” After she reached for her mother’s hand to stop her, Morgan continued. “My locket—your locket, Gram—he put it on her. He replaced the pictures inside with one of me and one of him. They said that was a mistake, but…”

She told them what they’d said about the murder, the sister, the neighbor.

“What twists someone into a monster?” Olivia murmured. “Are they born that way, or is it a choice? I suppose it can be either or both.”

Rising, Audrey poured a glass of water from the bottle always on hand, gave it to Morgan. “Sip slow. You’re not leaving, not moving somewhere else. I can see that thought in your head.”

“If it’s in there, it better get out. The Nash women are sticking together this time. And that’s the end of that.” With a slice of her hand, Olivia cut off the discussion.

“He killed Nina because she was there. What if—”

“What if, what if.” Now Olivia threw up her hands. “What if he gets run over by a truck tomorrow? Listen to me. You’re not leaving your mother and me to worry about you, leaving us in that house worrying if you’re all right. We stick together, and that bastard’s not going to split us up. Be done with that, Morgan.

“We start using that damned alarm system.”

“I set it before I left. They said to do that, so I did. And I’m supposed to get a panic button. I want both of you to get one, too.”

“Then we will.” Audrey reached over to rub Morgan’s arm. “We’ll talk to the police chief. We’ll talk to Jake.”

“They already did. And they said you should have one of these pictures of him, and their cards.”

After studying the photo Morgan gave her, Olivia nodded. “We’ll post one of these right in the shop, and another in the café, where people can see his murdering face.”

“Oh, Gram.”

“We’ll make copies, Audrey, and the other merchants, they’ll post them. Let him show his face around Westridge. Let him try. Nobody fucks with my granddaughter.”

“Mom!”

“I save that word for when it’s most useful and appropriate. I expect they told you to give this to the resort.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know what else they told you, but so far, it sounds like sense. Here’s what I’m telling you. You’re going to turn in that rattletrap you’re driving and buy a new car. A new, safe, dependable car. I’m going to finance it.”

“Gram.”

“Don’t interrupt your grandmother,” Audrey told her.

“I’m going to charge you interest, and you’ll make monthly payments to me just like you would a finance company. We’ll do an amortization schedule. Your mother and I get peace of mind, and you keep your pride. Both matter.”

“I’ve been looking at used cars—”

“New.” Olivia sliced her hand again. “New, safe, dependable, and able to handle Vermont winters. I’m going to give you the name of the saleswoman I bought my last two cars from. We came to terms, and if she wants my future business, she’ll do the same for you.”

“Be smart, Morgan, and say thank you.”

“I do thank Gram. I thank both of you.” The gratitude burned in her throat, her heart, her belly. “But the fact is, I don’t know if I’ll have a job after I take this to the Jamesons.”

“Don’t buy trouble when everyone can get it for free,” Olivia advised her. “Go do what you have to do. Then you go to the dealership. I’ve got her card.”

She took out a business card folder, thick as a brick, flipped through. “Here it is. I’m going to call her, tell her what you’re after, and what I expect.”

Next she took out a checkbook. “Don’t you come home without a decent vehicle.” She made out a check to the dealership, dated, signed, left the amount blank. “We’ll work out the payments when you get home.”

“We’ll be there when you get home.” Taking Morgan’s hand, Audrey brought it to her cheek.

“We’ll be home, but we won’t be able to get in the house without the damn code. What the hell is it?”

Surprised it was in there, Morgan choked out a laugh and told her.

Even though Nina’s car wheezed on the drive to the resort, Morgan told herself not to think about cars yet. She could end up driving away from the resort unemployed, and if that happened a new car was pointless.

In the employee lot, she locked the car, headed down the walkway. Inside, the lobby boasted a fresh floral display, all spring, and she thought again how much she liked working here.

The people, the atmosphere, the energy, her responsibilities also appealed.

Now Gavin Rozwell could take it all away, take so much away again.

She might not work Mondays, but she had everyone’s schedule in her head. Nell, direct supervisor, had a meeting finalizing the menu for an upcoming wedding.

Not only did interrupting that or waiting until it finished seem pointless, but she felt she should take this issue straight to the top.

And Lydia Jameson worked in her office on Mondays.

She made her way to the office area and found Lydia’s door open, the woman behind the desk on her computer.

“Another double?”

“No, ma’am. If you have a minute?”

Lydia signaled a come-ahead. Morgan went inside, shut the door.



* * *



As she did, chief of police Jake Dooley sat in Miles’s office. They’d been friends since middle school and he knew Miles as well as he knew himself, so Jake laid it all out, quick and clear.

As he listened, Miles studied the photo of Rozwell Jake gave him.

“Okay. Now give me your take. Not theirs, yours.”

“He took stupid risks—talking to the neighbor, keeping her alive for a couple days when her sister had a key. The kind of risks everything in the file I’ve read says he’s never taken.”

Shifting, Jake leaned forward and tapped a finger toward the photo.

“He’s not one of the types who wants to get caught, Miles. He enjoys what he does too much for that. He’s not only a psychopath, a sadist, he’s spoiled. He’s greedy. And he’s been, up until now, very careful.

“The locket?” Jake continued. “Not only leaving it on the victim, but replacing the pictures inside? Putting his own in there with Morgan’s? That message is clear enough.”

“Her statement is they weren’t involved as a couple.”

“Not a couple, no. But she’s on his mind, she’s connected. She’s the reason his luck changed. And he wants her to know he’s not done with her, to know and be afraid.”

“If she’s not, she’s an idiot, and she doesn’t strike me as an idiot. I’ll talk to Security, to the family, to her.”

“Good. When you talk to her, make sure she knows she can contact me, anytime. She has questions, I’ll try to answer them. I know they’ve got a security system. If they’re not using it, they’re going to.”

“Count on it.”