With Adam, the only thing they’d had in common was art. Not enough to build a relationship on.
Rafe, however, was one conversation after another, from dealing with grieving parents to shaking hands with people who had voted for him, to putting a neighboring detective in his place.
She was starting to understand his world. And starting to question her too-little-too-late opinion of cops.
She’d always prided herself on her self-reliance. But now, the fact that she was in more danger than ever before, added a new dimension to everything she held close.
She couldn’t simply head for a wall and some paints anymore. There would always be a window—a window that allowed Janie to view her newly endangered world, but also allowing a killer to view Janie.
So, right now, she was thankful that every time Janie looked out the proverbial window, Rafe stood guard.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Rafe’s motivation: he hadn’t been able to keep Brittney safe, so he’d for sure keep Janie safe. After all, that was his job.
And she had to remember that’s all it was to him, no matter how personally involved he seemed.
* * *
JANIE DIDN’T SEE Rafe again until Wednesday. He sat in the back of the classroom where he could see the door, the students and her.
It was strange, having him there. On one hand, it was unsettling because he watched her every movement. She was also aware that he was very human and very male.
About halfway through class, he took a phone call and then left. The students barely noticed. Not so, Janie. She was on full alert until he returned.
The class seemed to take forever, but finally the last brush was cleaned, put away, and the last students exited the classroom.
Rafe joined her at the front of the room and cut straight to it. “We’ve got a leak somewhere,” Rafe started. Then he backtracked, looking a bit annoyed. “That is, Nathan has a leak. The main television station in Phoenix aired one of your re-created drawings on the news tonight. I guarantee the rest will be broadcast soon. Candy says we’ve been getting calls nonstop. My guess is the Adobe Hills station is getting them too.”
His anger simmered just below the surface, though he somehow managed to keep it in check, barely.
“This could be good,” Janie suggested. “One of the calls might give you a new lead.”
“Yes, but Nathan was already working with one of the major stations to control what would be released and how. He had a specific hotline number. Now people are calling Scorpion Ridge, Adobe Hills, Tucson, Phoenix, Gesippi. Calls are going everywhere. When calls are this disjointed, this spread out, it leads to mistakes.”
“Any idea who leaked the page?”
“Nathan’s looking into it. After I make sure you’re safely home, I’ll—”
“I can see myself home. I promise I won’t stop. I’ll have my cell phone right next to me with your number showing, and I’ll call you the minute I walk through my front door.” It didn’t make him happy, but he finally agreed.
Not ten minutes after Janie walked through her front door and phoned Rafe, the first police car drove by. Every thirty minutes, all through the night, she was monitored.