Jamie Lynn, however, crossed the room in seconds and instead of greeting him politely, as he had expected, threw herself into his arms and clung to him the way Kyle did after awaking from a nightmare.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“I—I thought I saw a face.”
“Where? When?”
“At the door. Just before you got here.”
He held her away, yet kept a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “I didn’t see anybody in the hall. What did he look like?”
“I don’t really know. I mean, I only caught a glimpse. All I remember is the way he was glaring at me. If looks could kill...”
Shane slipped an arm around her shoulders. “All right. Mom has plenty of help now. Why don’t you come with me and we’ll see if we can spot the person you think you saw.”
She stiffened. “What do you mean, think? I saw him. I know I did. I got this creepy feeling and when I turned around, there he was.”
“You were anticipating seeing somebody?”
“Well, of course I was. Otherwise, why would my skin crawl and my nerves jump?”
That admission was less than reassuring. Jamie had been through plenty recently. He wouldn’t blame her a bit if she started seeing menacing faces where there were none. That was perfectly natural. When your enemies had no recognizable faces, any aberration would suffice, even a reflection in the glass.
As he guided her toward the congregants, he pondered the best way to let her scan them. Standing up front with Logan was out of the question and it was too late to grab robes and infiltrate the choir. The narrow entrance hallway the singers used, however, was dark enough to hide in.
Shane eased Jamie Lynn ahead of him, explaining as they positioned themselves. “Stay in the shadows and nobody will notice you,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you. If you think you see him you can point him out to me.”
He sensed her success by her body language before she began to whisper, and he had to strain to hear above the choral singing and accompaniment.
“There. Third row back, right off the center aisle.” Jamie’s grip on his hand was so tight it hurt. “In the suit.”
Shane leaned over her shoulder. “Next to the woman with bright red hair?”
“Yes. That’s him. I know it is!”
“You’re positive?”
“Of course I am. I just caught a glimpse but I knew something was different about him. It’s the suit and tie. It registered the minute I saw him again.”
“All right.” Shane sighed. The older man had lost weight and shed most of his thick, gray hair since the pictures from the trial. That meant it was unlikely Jamie was simply deluded by previous influences.
Drawing her deeper into the shadows and shepherding her all the way to the rear hallway before he spoke, he faced her and said, “That’s Benjamin Abernathy. The prosecutor who sent your brother to prison.”
* * *
Jamie Lynn was not surprised to learn that one of the people responsible for R.J.’s conviction was keeping an eye on her. She’d already surmised as much—and then some. If they could tie this man to the thugs who had been trailing and assaulting her, perhaps that would encourage the sheriff to pursue further clues. Anybody who was so determined to stop her had to be guilty of hiding something pertinent to her brother’s case.
“I want to meet him. Look him in the eye,” she said, ruing the telltale tremor in her voice.
“Why don’t we start with some of your brother’s former friends instead. If Abernathy reacts poorly to running into you and makes a fuss in public, we may have more trouble getting others to talk to us.” Hesitating, he kept asking via his quizzical expression. “You know I’m right.”
“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She made a face. “All right. When can we start?”
“One of them sings in the choir. They’ll file out before the sermon and we can catch Steve when he takes off his robe.”
“What’s his last name?”
“Fenstermeyer, I think. I’ve always known him as Little Steve. His dad is Big Steve.” Shane smiled slightly. “Neither one of them is little anymore.”
“I suppose I may recognize him when I see him. I wasn’t around my brother’s friends much. Our parents knew Ray Jr. was trouble. As a ten-year-old I idolized him, of course. I’d have followed him to the moon if he’d let me.”
“I’m glad you weren’t in the wreck with him.”
“That reminds me. When I was talking to your mother this morning, I remembered seeing pictures of the car. There was blood on the inside, too. I can’t find any mention of testing being done on that evidence. I’m not even sure it was collected.”