Page 10 of The Creekside Murder

Chapter Four

Her fingertips traced the smooth edge of the cut in her tire. What would’ve happened if Finn hadn’t noticed the tire and she drove back to her hotel on it? Would she have made it? Would she have been compelled to stop the car to check on it?

“Someone not only knows I’m here, but this person also knows my car or maybe has been following me.” She sat back on her heels, inspecting her smudged fingers. “You know I’m right. What did you say earlier about coincidences?”

He crouched beside her, bumping her shoulder. “Somebody is trying to scare you.”

“Scare? The card and the doll were meant to scare or maybe even send a message, but this? She rubbed her fingertips on the wet grass beside the curb. “A slashed tire could’ve caused me to stop the car on the way back to the hotel, or maybe even have caused an accident. I think we’ve moved beyond psychological terror now.”

Finn rose to his feet and stepped into the road, tilting his head back. “Too far from campus to have any cameras on this street, but maybe one of the apartment complexes farther up the block has something pointed this way. I cancheck for you tomorrow. It might be as simple as identifying this guy and making him stop.”

“Or not.” Jessica lifted her hatchback and peeled back the flooring. “I have a spare, if you want to help me.”

“Or we can leave your car here and take care of it tomorrow in the light of day. I can give you a ride back to your hotel tonight, and then back again to your car.”

“I appreciate the offer, but you forget. I have a meeting with a serial killer tomorrow, and I need to leave here by five in the morning to get to the pen in plenty of time for my one o’clock appointment.”

“You’re making the five-hour drive to Walla Walla?” Finn clasped the back of his neck. “Why not take an hour flight from Seattle?”

“I drive all over the state.” She shrugged, not wanting to admit to Finn that she avoided flying when she could. She was supposed to be presenting a front of fearlessness.

“That’s crazy. I’ll book you on a flight tomorrow, and I’ll come with you.”

“Why would you do that?” Could it be that Finn was starting to believe Avery Plank didn’t commit Tiffany’s homicide, or did he want to horn in on her interview of Plank to guide the outcome?

“Because I don’t think you should do this on your own, and I’m sure as hell not sitting in a car for five hours.”

Crossing her arms, she planted her boots on the asphalt. “And I’m sure as hell not allowing you to sit in on my interview with Plank. I’m talking to him by myself.”

“I don’t want to be there while you talk to Plank, but I do want to be there when you get out of that hellhole. You shouldn’t be on your own, and you really shouldn’t spend five hours driving by yourself musing on Avery Plank. Wecan get you a new tire early tomorrow morning and head to the airport right after.”

She screwed up the side of her mouth, studied Finn’s handsome face and relented. “Have it your way. When did you get so bossy?”

“About ten years ago after I got bamboozled by some doe-eyed teenager.”

“I was twenty-one.”

“That doesn’t make it better.” He nodded at her disabled vehicle. “Do you have all your stuff?”

She jogged to her car and ducked inside, grabbing her purse and that cursed doll from the passenger seat. As she locked up, she said, “I hope my stalker doesn’t return to do more damage.”

“Stalker? I hope not.”

“I hope that’s all he is.”

Back in his car, she directed Finn to her hotel by the water, and he insisted on walking her inside the lobby. She wasn’t about to refuse this time.

She waved at the hotel clerk and pointed to the elevator. “I think I got this.”

“I’ll look into a morning flight, and we’ll take care of your car before we head out.” He touched her arm. “Thanks for coming to me with the card. I’ll do what I can.”

“Well, you’ve already gone above and beyond. Thankyou. I didn’t expect it.”

“Get a good night’s sleep. I’ll call you around seven.”

Finn planted himself in the lobby as Jessica walked to the elevator. She turned when the doors opened and lifted her hand before stepping inside.

She hadn’t expected Finn to be so interested in her theories about Morgan’s case and its connection to Tiffany’s.He’d explained it as concern for her, but something about his concern rang false.

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