Page 64 of Deeper Than the Dead

Eve laughed. “I knew if things didn’t work out, you’d decide to stay here. You want another chance with Bent, don’t you?”

Before Vera could explain that her decision had nothing to do with Bent, the house phone started to ring.

Eve slid off her stool. “I’ll get it.”

She crossed to the extension that hung on the wall near the back door. Vera closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead. Maybe if she’d been here more, she would have picked up on anything that was happening with their father. Or with Eve.

And what would you have done, Vee?

God, she didn’t know. She just did not know.

“Hello.” Eve’s face paled. “I don’t know who you are, but you’d better not call here again.” She slammed down the receiver.

Vera shot to her feet. “What was that about?”

“Our friendly ‘I know what you did’ fan.” Eve’s arms went around her middle. “What if he’s the person who did all this?”

“It was a he?” Vera’s instincts stirred.

Eve nodded. “I’ll bet the person who ran me off the road is the same one sending us these messages.”

This thing—this person taunting them—was the unknown that worried Vera the most. “We may need that protection detail after all.”

“Maybe so.” Eve searched her face for a long moment. “Seriously, Vee, I hope Bent is really on top of this. As easy as it would be to lay it all on Daddy, we know he isn’t sending us these messages.”

Vera considered the work Bent had done on the case. “He’s on it. No question.”

Would he find more than she wanted him to find? Maybe. But not if she could find the missing pieces first.

11:00 p.m.

Vera lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Her mind refused to shut down. Was it actually possible that someone in her family was a murderer? The idea was ludicrous. Wasn’t it? What happened to Sheree was an accident. Clearly they had made a mistake by not calling their father and letting the whole thing play out the way it should have. But it was easy to see that now—as adults. As kids, living in the hell Sheree’s entrance into their lives had launched, they had been afraid to do anything except exactly what they did.

Then there were the other victims. The women, posed exactly like Sheree and all with cross necklaces. Those details could not be coincidence, and that was a big problem. The male victim was the odd one out. Completely different MO. Unless, of course, he was the killer—which left the identity of the revenge killer.

Damn ... this was a mess.

Vera had called her friend again. Asked for one more favor. Friend. Eric Jones was that for sure, but—at one time—the two of them had been more. They had dated for five or six months. He’d wanted to move to the next level, and Vera had not. In the end, thankfully, they had been able to retain their friendship. Considering recent events and the fact that she was no longer a part of the department, she was immensely grateful he was still willing to help.

He had assured her he could track down who had ordered the University of Alabama ring with its God inscription. Not that it was such a difficult task. Call the manufacturer, provide the details, and bam—there was the name. A member of law enforcement could get the information with little effort. But Vera wasn’t part of that club anymore. She was a civilian ... one who was a suspect in the ongoing case, whether Bent wanted to admit it or not.

Eric had promised to get back to her as quickly as possible. All things, no matter how seemingly simple, took time.

Her cell vibrated, and she flopped onto her side and reached for it.

Bent.

“Hey.” She braced for more trouble. Christ, would this never end?

“Hey. Come to the window.”

She threw the covers back and crossed to the window that overlooked the front yard and driveway. He was there. She waved to him. He leaned against the driver’s side door of his truck. Judging by how he’d pulled over into the parking area, he’d been to the cave. It didn’t take much imagination to envision all the auxiliary lights inside and uniformed personnel milling about in the area. The crime scene tape and guards in place to hold back the curious and the reporters—some of whom would camp out in the area to ensure they missed nothing.

“Any news?”

“Nah. I was just checking to see that security was in place for the night.”

Which meant he had been to the cave.

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