Page 20 of Once And Always (Blackhawk Security)

Chapter 7

Instinctively Spence drew Zoe closer with an arm around her shoulder, then let his hand drop away. He needed to be ready to pull his gun.

“Why do you think someone’s watching us?” he asked in a low voice. He kept his eyes moving from side to side, cataloging everything. He didn’t see anyone staring at them, saw no obvious observers, but he wasn’t about to dismiss Zoe’s intuition.

“An itchy feeling between my shoulders,” she said in a low voice. She was smart enough not to move her head to look around. But he noticed her eyes flicked constantly from side to side. Spence pretended to stumble on a curb. He dropped to one knee, put his hand on the ground and looked behind them.

All the cars parked along the street were empty. Except for one.

A woman sat behind the wheel of a blue Subaru. He couldn’t get a close look at her, because she’d parked behind another car. Subarus were pretty common in Seattle, he’d realized the night before. This one was parked in front of a coffee shop, as if waiting for someone who’d gone inside.

“There’s a woman in a Subaru parked along the curb behind us,” he said in a low voice as he stood up and dusted off his knee. “Young. Long blond hair. Head down, looking at her lap, as if she’s reading her texts. Or emails. Or her Facebook feed. Probably waiting for someone in the Starbucks.”

“Seems pretty normal,” Zoe said as they began walking again.

“Yeah. Lots of people stop for coffee on the way to work.” He wished he could have gotten a look at her license plate, but the car parked in front of the Subaru obscured it. “It’s an older model Forester,” he said. “And that blue color stands out. So it’ll be easy to spot if we see it again.”

“I’m not worried about a woman,” Zoe said as she walked a little faster. “Ethan’s the one I’m worried about. Why would he bring a woman if he was planning on snatching me?”

“He probably wouldn’t,” Spence admitted. “But in order for me to do my job, I have to assume everyone’s a threat until proven otherwise.”

Zoe looked at him and rolled her eyes. “I think it’s highly unlikely that Ethan has a woman with him.”

“Probably. But I sure as hell would like to get a look at the person she’s waiting for.”

They’d walked a few more steps when he heard the whoosh of the Starbucks door opening. He glanced over his shoulder. “A guy just walked out with two coffees. Tall. At least six three. Dark hair. Built like a football player. He got into the blue Subaru with the blond woman.”

“Not Ethan,” she said immediately. “He’s not tall. A little taller than me. Maybe five ten. And he was always slender.”

“He could have bulked up in the past thirteen years,” Spence said, glancing over his shoulder. “They just pulled away from the curb. Take a look… now.”

She glanced casually to her left and saw the blue Subaru roll past. She only saw the guy’s profile, but she shook her head. “That’s not Ethan. Not even close.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” she said. “I know he’s older now, but the structure of his face wouldn’t change that much.”

“Okay,” Spence said. “We won’t worry about the blue Subaru.” But he’d still noted the license plate as the car had driven past them. He’d get Mel to run it, although he didn’t expect to find anything out of the ordinary.

“You still feel as though you’re being watched?” he asked Zoe quietly.

She rolled her shoulders once, then shook her head. “No. I don’t feel it anymore.”

“Could have been the woman in that car,” Spence said. “Your hair is… incredible. Incredibly different,” he said immediately. God, what was wrong with him? “Noticeable. Maybe she was staring at your hair.”

“Why would a woman stare at my hair?” she asked.

“Think about it, Zoe,” he said with a glance at her profile. “Why would a woman stare at your hair?”

A deep flush reddened her cheeks. “That’s… no way could you know that.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. She could be straight as a ruler. But your hair is unusual. Eye-catching. It’s very… red. And curly.”

She self-consciously smoothed one hand over her hair. “You think that’s why Ethan fixated on me?”

“Of course not,” he said immediately. “But maybe it’s why he noticed you in the first place. You’d stand out in a school hallway. He’d be able to spot you from several rooms away.” He shrugged. “I have no idea why he fixated on you as a kid. He probably doesn’t even know.”

“Maybe I should cut it all off. Get a short haircut. It’d make me less noticeable.”

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