He let the door close behind him softly, and Julia pressed her ear against it. But she heard nothing besides her heart pounding.
What felt like hours but was probably just minutes later, someone rapped softly on the door. “It’s me,” she heard Nico say.
She opened the door and he took her hand and tugged her into the parking lot. “Didn’t see or hear a thing,” he said quietly. “Nothing suspicious back here.” He opened the rental car door and eased her inside, then shut the door quietly. Hurrying over to the driver’s side, he slid into the seat and took only a few seconds to buckle his seat belt and start the car. Moments later, they were pulling out of the parking lot.
They turned the opposite direction from the route they usually took home and drove past Carole’s apartment. Nico idled at the curb and leaned over her to study the building. His heat burned into her, and she wanted to wrap her arms around him. Burrow into him and press her nose to his neck. Inhale his scent.
Instead, she sat frozen in her seat, barely breathing until he eased away from her. “Carole’s apartment is on the sixth floor, in the middle. That apartment is dark.”
“So she’s either gone or asleep,” Julia said.
Nico turned to look at her, his eyes dark in the car. “Which are you betting on?”
“I think she’s gone,” Julia said, drawing a breath then blowing it out. “She was really insistent that she needed to talk to me. I can’t believe she just went to bed instead.”
“I think you’re right,” Nico said. “Want to see if her car is at Dawson’s house?”
“That’s a great idea.” Julia nodded. “Do you know where he lives?”
“Flynn sent me his address at the same time he sent it to Mel.” He checked his phone, then typed the address into his mapping app. “He’s fifteen minutes away.”
Fifteen minutes later, they cruised slowly past a huge McMansion. There were no cars on the driveway or parked in the street. The house was dark, except for outside lights on either side of the front door and on the garage.
“Looks like Dawson is either asleep or gone, too,” he said.
As Julia continued to stare at the house, cold fingers tiptoed down her spine. Why were Carole and Dawson both gone? Or maybe Carole was asleep in bed inside this house.
But Julia was certain Carole wouldn’t abandon her daughter the night she was released from jail. She was crazy about her daughter. Had spent way too much time at work checking in with her.
The last thing she’d do was spend the evening with her lover rather than pick up Harper.
Shivering, she said, “Let’s go home. There’s nothing more we can do tonight. I’ll try Carole again in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” Nico said, putting the car into gear and heading toward Julia’s house.
* * *
After a restless night interrupted by too many dreams about Julia, Nico rose early and made a pot of coffee. Sat at the kitchen table and sipped from a mug, trying to put the pieces together.
Dawson had the skills to put the spyware on Julia’s computers. Nothing connected him to the speeding car that had hit them, but the vehicle had been stolen. If Dawson had been watching her, he knew what route she took home from the restaurant.
The Kevlar-clad intruder who’d tried to shoot him? Although it proved nothing, the guy had been about Dawson’s size. And the incident where someone had pushed her into the path of a bus? It had been only a couple blocks from Dawson’s office.
Suspicious, but no solid proof. Nothing they could take to Detective Gorowski.
Had Dawson been behind Carole’s theft of the money from Madeline’s?
If he had been, what was his motive? According to what Mel had discovered, he didn’t need the money the women had been stealing. Why would he focus on a woman he’d never met? What did he want from Julia?
Too many questions, and no answers.
He shot off a text to Mel, asking her to dig more deeply into Dawson. There had to be something there. He wouldn’t have targeted Julia for no reason. Only a crazy person would do that. And Dawson had seemed very sane at Zoe’s party.
Nico hadn’t figured anything out by the time he heard Julia’s phone ring at eight AM. Julia usually slept a little later than that, but he heard her voice, rough with sleep, answer the call.
She spoke quietly, so softly that he couldn’t hear her words. But after only a few minutes on the phone, he heard the rustle of her sheets. Moments later, she appeared in the doorway of the kitchen wearing only a baggy tee shirt.
He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her long, toned legs. He wanted to lift that shirt and find out if she was wearing underwear. Or was she naked beneath that loose shirt?
“Nico?” she said after a moment, and he snapped his gaze back to her face, his ears hot.
“Yeah, sorry,” he muttered. “What’s up?”
She plopped into the chair opposite him at the table and wrapped her arms around herself. “That was Harper on the phone.”
“Carole’s daughter?”
“Yeah,” she said, swallowing. “Carole called her last night, too. Said she’d pick her up around eleven. Harper packed her stuff, then waited on the couch for her mom. But she fell asleep, and woke up about a half-hour ago. She tried to call her mom, but she’s not answering either phone.”
Dread coiled in Nico’s stomach, but he ignored it. “It’s time to call Detective Gorowski.”