8 Bodies is Enough(29)

Carlotta yanked her binoculars to the left, scanning for the person Hannah described. Man…wearing a blue shirt…and he was definitely carrying her package.

“That’s it.” Carlotta’s heart raced.

“Holy shit, he’s coming this way.”

They lowered their binoculars and watched the man walk within a car’s length of the SUV. He was perhaps forty, fit and well-groomed, with neat brown hair. He wore dark sunglasses and moved with quiet authority. He stopped next to a white BMW sedan parked in the row behind them, and perused the package, even gave it a shake.

“Do you recognize him?” Hannah whispered, as if he could hear them.

“No.”

“Are you going to confront him?’

“No,” Carlotta said. “It would be too easy for him to say he doesn’t know Randolph or Valerie and simply leave. Let’s follow him.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Hannah said, yanking her seatbelt down for a click.

Carlotta did the same. “Wait until he gets in his car before you turn over the engine so we don’t attract attention.”

“Got it. This is so exciting!” Hannah whacked the steering wheel, blasting the horn.

The man’s head whipped around to stare at their car.

“Sorry,” Hannah whispered.

“Just stay calm. No sudden movements.”

After a few seconds, he unlocked his car and set the package in the back seat, then climbed behind the wheel. When the car backed out of the parking spot, Carlotta said, “Now.”

Hannah turned over the engine and put both hands on the wheel like a driver’s ed student. “Go?”

“Yes, go! He’s turning right. Try to put a car or two between us if you can.”

They pulled out of the parking lot and followed the BMW at a respectable distance…to the grocery store where they waited for forty-five minutes for him to emerge. Then to the pharmacy, where they waited another thirty minutes.

“He’s getting in all his errands,” Hannah grumbled.

Next he drove to a casual sit-down restaurant chain.

“Shoot,” Carlotta said. “How long will this take?”

“No, look—he’s pulling into the takeout parking.”

Sure enough, he emerged a few minutes later carrying two large bags.

“You don’t think he’s noticed us, do you?” Hannah asked.

“No. You’re doing great, like you’ve been stalking people all of your life.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said happily.

When he left the restaurant, they followed him to a residential area of older neighborhoods and mid-size cookie-cutter houses. Since traffic was lighter, it was harder to keep him in sight without being too obvious. After a series of turns, the car veered down a street that frankly, looked like all the others around it.

“Welcome to Stepfordville,” Hannah muttered.

Dusk was starting to set when the BMW slowed and turned onto a concrete driveway in front of a small ranch house. The garage door opened, the car disappeared inside, then the door lowered.

“Drive by the house,” Carlotta directed. But she could barely get the words out, her throat was so tight.

The home looked well-kept but was otherwise unremarkable. There were two lights on in the house, and as they drove by, another one came on.

“Turn around and go back.”

Hannah maneuvered the SUV around a cul-de-sac, then headed back. When they reached the house again, Carlotta said, “Pull into the driveway.”

“Okay.” Hannah sounded wary, but complied, then brought the car to a stop. “Now what?”

“Now,” said Carlotta, opening the door, “I’m going to knock.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“No,” she said, then quietly closed the car door.

From the driveway, a narrow rock path led to the front door of the house. She could barely hear her footsteps against the stones because the blood was roaring in her ears. Carlotta stepped up to the door, lifted her hand, and rang the doorbell.

And waited.





Chapter 11





WES NURSED A RUSH OF ADRENALINE when the dealer slid the white button to the front of the sizable pile of chips he’d accumulated. The dealer button meant he’d act last on the deal, which is the position he liked best, especially at a four-hand table.

Not that he needed the advantage—he’d pretty much been playing perfect poker in the room all day. He’d started slow the night before, buying only a few hundred dollars’ worth of chips, but as his luck and confidence had grown, he’d pulled more cash from his jacket to hand to the dealer in exchange for chips of larger denominations.

He knew it was unlucky to count his chips before taking them to the cashier, but he guessed he’d already doubled his money.