Page 65 of Fight or Flight

“Did you see or hear anything useful?” she whispered, her voice hoarse. She needed a drink of water.

“Let’s get back to the car.”

“Okay, but why now?”

“Follow me,” he instructed.

Katherine stayed close to Tyler. When they reached the Bronco, he opened her door, then hurried around to the driver’s side. “Look what I found,” he said, pulling a square piece of paper from his back pocket and handing it to her.

“We need to take this to the police,” Katherine said when she realized what she held in her hand.

“I know, and we will,” Tyler replied, as he pulled onto the main road. “Not Detective Davidson. Ilene trusts him, but I don’t like the guy.”

“Where did you find this?”

“On the front porch, stuck under the screen door. Look at the date.”

She used the flashlight on her cell phone to read the date on the boarding pass. Three weeks ago. “I haven’t said this to anyone, but I will now. For years, starting right after my parents died, I have always felt a presence, like someone’s been watching me.” Saying it out loud made it real. She put the pass in her back pocket.

Did he believe her? Or was this paranoia? She had never left her home for over seven years, and yet she’d always felt someone was watching her. It was one of the reasons she never walked around without at least a robe on. For all of the deliveries she received, she was always fully dressed. No lying around in a sleep shirt all day. She didn’t go braless; she behaved like she was being watched. “I know it sounds crazy.”

“It doesn’t, because whomever this person is”—Tyler nodded at the slip of paper in her hand—“has been planning this for a very long time.”

“But why? What are they planning, other than claiming they wrote the GWUP books? My editor and publisher know me. We Zoom often.”

“You said you had a car at one time, right?” Tyler asked.

She had no clue where he was going with this but answered, “Yes. I still have the old thing in the garage. It’s been there since the first day I arrived.”

“I’ll have Doc check to see if it’s worth keeping. Do you remember the make and model?” he asked.

“Of course I do. A 2005 Nissan Altima. Before you ask, I still have the keys along with the title. Where are we going?”

“To your place. I want to see your car and look around. Make sure Ilene’s men are still in place.”

When they reached the end of Red Oak Road, Tyler turned into the long driveway. Katherine could still see her house in the distance, even though it was dark. She hadn’t seen her home from this perspective since she’d first moved in. “Can you stop for a minute?”

“Sure.”

Katherine got out of the car, focusing her attention on her house. If the lights were on, anyone could see inside. Especially her office, the former dining room with its floor-to-ceiling windows. She had no window coverings, because she had been sure no one could see her. Not that it mattered, but something Tyler said had triggered something in her mind. Back in the car, she asked Tyler, “You said you always wondered about this place, that when you drove by, you could see the house all lit up or something like that. Do you remember?”

The SUV bounced up the long winding drive. “Yes, I remember telling you. When the other folks lived here, they never shut their lights off. From the main road, anyone could see . . .”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Katherine asked him. She needed to know he didn’t think she was as loony as those people on the community events website.

“Let’s get you home. I’ll call Doc and see if he can bring Sam and Sophie home. If not, I’ll pick them up. I need to check on Carson’s horses before I call it a night.”

Tyler parked in the same place as before. Katherine felt very uneasy returning home in total darkness without Sam and Sophie by her side to warn her. Not that she’d knowingly ever put herself or her dogs in danger, but they could hear things she couldn’t.

“Ask Doc if he wants to bring Steph and Bethany,” said Katherine. “There’s plenty of apple pie left if they want. I’ll make coffee, espresso, whatever, while you and Doc take care of the horses.” She knew she was babbling, something she did when she was nervous.

Katherine hadn’t been this kind of nervous in a long time. It was much different than a panic attack. She could handle it, but she didn’t want to do it on her own. She needed people around her. She wanted to fill this monstrosity of a house with noise—laughter, cries, barking, meowing, sounds of the living. That was the answer to her panic attacks. She knew it. When Doc was around, she was usually fine, and then she met Tyler. They clicked instantly. She had told Miss Lucy Anne where to go without being afraid. Sort of. Detective Davidson definitely knew she wasn’t a fan of his.

Those events had happened because she was making them happen. Being with people mattered to her. It came as a shock, because she’d never been around people much. Alone as a child, then sent away to boarding school, then college. Her work at the newspaper exposed her to all sorts of people. She’d loved her job. Loved Adam, who would always hold a special place in her heart. Then the bombings. And she ran away when her life as an adult woman with a promising career was just beginning.

She needed to be with people. She ran up the stairs to the deck when she remembered she had left her wallet in the Bronco. “Tyler, can you bring my wallet? It’s on the floorboard. My keys are inside.”

She waited for him to answer. “Tyler?” She called his name again, and this time, she heard the worry and fear in her own voice.

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