Jill followed, cocking a hip. Unbelievable. “Just because you don’t want her dead doesn’t mean you’re not a dick.”
She slammed the door in his face.
“Lock the door, Jill.”
She snapped the deadbolt in place and listened as the sound of his quick steps faded. A dog barked. His car door slammed. She leaned her head against the frame, her imagination running rampant with images of her sister and grandpa ending up like Jemma and Ray.
Dead.
Chapter 48
There were no other cars on her parents’ street since everyone had two-door garages and hated scraping snow off in the morning. Tanner’s gaze flicked to his rear view mirror, checking for a tail, but there wasn’t one. He let out a deep breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. Meredith’s dark shape moved away from the lamp-lit window as he turned into the driveway. Thank God, she’d parked inside. The garage door puttered up slowly.
“Hugo. Be good.”
He ducked under the slowly moving door. His nose twitched at the lingering smell of turpentine.
Meredith’s head popped out as she cracked open the door to the house. “I told you—”
The sight of her pale, tear-ravaged face twisted him up like junkyard iron works. “Get inside,” he ordered, hitting the garage door button to close it behind him.
She slammed the door hard enough to knock the yellow level off the garage wall.
All for the best, he told himself. If she talked to him, she might see what a raging lunatic he was about her, just like Jill had. It seemed more important than ever to keep her safe now that Barlow and Kenny had upped the stakes. If they went after him, would they go after her?
Jesus, he hoped not. Men usually had a harder time killing women. He realized how sick it was that he knew something like that.
He took some deep breaths, and returned his focus to the task at hand. He slid under her car, his back against the concrete floor that could have frozen meat. Pulling out his flashlight, he checked the body. Nothing. He closed his eyes under the tight, dark space.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
He rolled out, thinking through the cluster fuck he had on his hands. Meredith had told Jill for some reason, widening the circle of people in the know. He shoved off the floor and stalked over to the door leading into the house. Rapping on it cracked more skin. His knuckles were bleeding.
Meredith popped her head out again. “What? Now you want to talk?”
His jaw ticked. “Tell Jill not to tell anyone.”
“I already did, you son of a bitch!” She slammed the door in his face.
He stared at the white frame, counting to ten. Jesus, he wanted to rip it open, shake her, and then ravish her on the floor until the images of her car going over a cliff were erased.
When the garage door clicked open, he spun around and grabbed the closest weapon. A hammer. The door cruised up, revealing Arthur Hale’s clenched face.
“You planning on beaning me, son? Didn’t know I’d pissed you off, too.” After stepping inside, he pressed the button on the garage door opener he had in his hand.
The door sputtered down again.
Tanner put his hands on his hips. Arthur walked toward him, his hair in swirls on his head, his cardigan sweater buttoned up wrong.
“Did you find anything wrong with Meredith’s car?”
Setting aside the hammer, Tanner rubbed his neck. “No. Jesus, Arthur. You shouldn’t have come. I was planning on checking your car next.”
“You think you’re the only one who can see a cut brake line? Hell, the hardest part was getting back up again. Damn old body.”
Tanner rolled his tongue around his teeth, seething at the chance the older man had taken.
“Jill told me what happened between you and Meredith,” Arthur informed him in his take-no-prisoner’s voice.
“You would be better off chastising Meredith for telling Jill about this whole clusterfuck.”
“Don’t growl at me, boy. Not when you’ve messed things up so dandily.”
The door cracked open. “Grandpa?”
“Get your stuff, Meredith. You’re coming to my house.”
“I don’t—”
“You are not staying alone, and this old body would rather sleep in its own bed.”
“What about Jill?”
The tears shining in her eyes made his knees lock in place. She was completely ignoring him. Would she ever look at him again? The slice was direct. He could feel himself bleeding out.
“Jill is going to spend the night with a friend until we figure this out.”
“Peggy should have the lab results back tomorrow,” Tanner said. “She’s putting a rush on them.”
Arthur smacked his cane on the concrete. “Well, I’m calling the Attorney General tomorrow! This has gone on for long enough. We need to bring in the law before anyone else gets hurt.”