“That would be something.” He shoved his hair from his eyes and looked faintly disturbed.
“Did you ever meet Blondell?”
“Like I said, I didn’t like Amity’s old man. I tended to avoid parents back then. I did see Amity’s mom from a distance once, though. She was getting into her car as I was walking up the street.”
“And?”
“Amity definitely got her looks from her mother.” He stopped for a second. “So you’re writing about Amity’s murder and Blondell’s release, for the paper. I saw your name on a story in the Sentinel.”
“I’m doing a series on Blondell.”
“Sells papers. And you’re writing a book too? You did that before.”
Nikki nodded.
“You sure you want to do that?” he asked, rubbing his chin.
“Why?”
“Sometimes it seems that it’s best to leave well enough alone. You know, let sleeping dogs lie.”
“You think I won’t like what I find.”
“I think there’s just no point to it. Amity’s dead. Yeah, someone killed her, most likely her old lady, but no matter what kind of digging around you do, whatever truth you’re trying to uncover, nothing will ever bring her back.”
“But maybe justice will be served.”
“Maybe it already has been.”
She thought about that a minute, then decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell him about what had happened to her at the cabin.
“Someone tried to scare me off just last night by leaving a snake in my car. A copperhead.”
“Oh, shit! Really?” He took a step back. “That’s serious crap. Why would anyone do that?”
“I don’t know. Yet. But maybe it’s because of my investigation. Maybe it was a warning.”
“That’s what I’m tellin’ you. People have died. I’d stay as far away from Amity O’Henry’s murder as I could. I still think Blondell did it, but just in case she didn’t, you’d better watch your back.”
“Let’s get something to eat,” Morrisette suggested as she poked her head into Reed’s office. “I think we missed lunch.”
“And breakfast,” Reed said.
“I’ll just be a sec. Meet you in the hall.”
Reed’s stomach was starting to burn a little from a day of too much coffee and too little food. Since Nikki was going to be late again, he planned to stop by his apartment, gra
b some clean clothes, and head over to her place to spend the night. Little by little, her old manor was beginning to feel like home, even if it was split into three apartments.
He was giving up his lease come the first of the year, so he figured the more used to her place he could get, the better. But all that was just a cover-up for what he was really feeling today. And the truth of the matter was, since this whole Blondell O’Henry case had been reopened, he didn’t like Nikki to be too far out of his sight.
His mind was on the conversation, but his brain kept turning back to the snake that had been left in Nikki’s car. She was shaken up last night but had pulled herself together. She’d woken up more determined than ever to write the damned book about the O’Henry case, as well as the continuing series of articles for the newspaper, and that, it seemed, was worrying someone. Who the hell was it, and why were they so concerned? He thought of all the players in the O’Henry case and couldn’t come up with anyone who would be deadly.
But there was someone.
Amity O’Henry’s murder was proof enough of that.
Reed had hoped that when he located the person who’d been spying on her apartment the mystery of her stalker would be solved and she would be safe again. Not so, it seemed, and trying to talk her out of going after a story when it was in her blood was like trying to stop a rushing freight train by holding up one hand.