Stolen(80)
“She’s his perfect type and perfect age range.”
“Do you think he’d risk coming back for Laura after all these years?”
It felt like someone had opened a window, the way a chill went through the room.
He shook his head. “Honestly, I wonder if he ever left her side.”
Caity retreated back to her easy chair and pulled her knees up once more. “Remember what You Don’t Know Me8 said in that e-mail about not pre-judging?”
“I do. And it’s awfully easy to pin this thing on Ty Cayman.”
“Someone had to have known, or at least suspected something if they were living with a serial killer.”
“Or vacationing with one. That was a regular traveling circus the Chaucers put together for their trips.”
“Maybe I was wrong about the subtext in that e-mail. Maybe the real killer sent it to us in order to pin the blame on Cayman.” Caity tapped her chin.
“Maybe. But if Cayman’s not our guy, then why is he posing in a photo booth with a dead woman, and why the hell did he disappear?” He picked up his cell and scrolled through his contacts, then he hit the call button. “Hatcher, it’s Spense. We’ve got some information for you, but first I need you to do me a favor. I’m going to fax over a list of dates. I need you to collect the names of each friend or personal staff member who traveled with the Chaucer family for every last one of them. And I particularly want to know if Grady and Inga Webber were along for the ride.”
Chapter 42
Monday, October 28
7:00 P.M.
Coffee and Conversation
Denver, Colorado
As it stood, things were tense between Caitlin and Spense—and she was downright miserable about that. He’d laid his heart open when he’d asked her to marry him, and though she’d tried to be gentle, her refusal had hurt him. Now her chest tightened, and her eyes stung as she remembered the look on his face. She’d barely gotten a moment of sleep since then. She kept hearing his words play over and over in her head.
Life is short.
To hell with convention.
I love you.
And he wasn’t wrong about life being short. When the Thresher had taken her captive, back in Dallas, hers had nearly been cut even shorter. Since the proposal, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d felt that day. How she’d been frightened of the horrible death the maniac had planned for her, but even more terrified by the thought of never being able to see Spense’s face again, feel his arms around her—missing out on the life she wanted to live with him by her side.
“Caitlin?” Grady broke in to her reverie and brought her back to the moment.
Had she done the right thing by meeting him here?
She’d come alone to Coffee and Conversation to set Grady straight. Even though she’d wanted to tell Spense about what had happened in that dress shop yesterday, she knew that if he found out Grady tried to buy her lingerie, it would only make everything worse.
The last thing anybody needed was for Spense to explode again.
Grady would probably threaten to press charges against him—but she wasn’t so worried about that. She had something of her own to hold over Grady this time. Something she could use against him without jeopardizing either the investigation or her ethical obligations.
What did scare her, however, was the idea that next time, Spense might not stop with a one-two punch. And if Grady wound up in the hospital, or worse, that really could spell the end of Spense’s career. She took a deep breath and a seat across the booth from Grady. Her skin itched as though bugs were crawling up her arms, but she knew it was in all her head. That was just the skeevies she got whenever she was anywhere near Grady.
“You sure you don’t want to go somewhere quieter?” he asked.
“You mean like your place, or a bar? No thanks.” Caitlin glanced around the Coffee and Conversation café. Its generous supply of patrons, some with their noses buried in books, some working on their laptops, some slurping and looking around expectantly as if hoping for a chance encounter, made her confident in her decision.
She was safe here.
Grady was far too concerned about appearances to make a scene.
It was the perfect spot to lay down the law.
Grady lifted his arm and motioned the waitress over. “Our beverages must be getting cold by now. Isn’t that my order on the counter?”
“Sorry, I just got back from my break. I’ll bring them right over, and if they’re cold just let me know, and I’ll warm them up.”
As she hurried away, he returned his attention to Caitlin. “I don’t remember you being quite so full of yourself, dear.”
The waitress returned just in time to hear Grady’s insulting remark. Wordlessly, she set a cup of coffee in front of Grady and a cup of tea in front of Caitlin then hightailed it out of there.