impossible to tell, because his face was covered, but... I don’t know. I keep seeing guys who move the way he did, and it gives me the jitters.”
“What about his supposed victim? Any sightings of her?”
“No. That actually should be easier because she had reddish hair, but I haven’t noticed anybody who looks like her.”
“Any more thoughts about the guy in your apartment?”
“I’m just glad he didn’t show himself sooner and hurt Freddy,” Zoe replied. “Or Portia. Now that I think about it, he probably wasn’t one of our airmen. His face was shadowed by the hoodie but it looked grubby, as though he might be growing a beard. Airmen are always neat and their uniforms make them look so handsome.”
“You in the market for another husband?”
Cheeks warming, Zoe shook her head. “No way. I’ve had my fill of smooth talkers and romance. Been there, done that, have the T-shirt and the scars to prove it.”
“You mentioned your late husband before. What was the deal with him anyway? I can’t find much on file. That is, if you don’t mind talking about him.”
They had reached the SUV and Zoe had helped Freddy get settled before climbing into the front seat. Linc had briefly checked his messages, then pulled into traffic and was heading for the café before she chose to answer.
“His name was John. John Flint. We met in basic and by the time we were both E-2s, we’d fallen in love and decided to get married.”
“I figured out that much. What happened to him? I was told he died in an auto accident, but there are no details on file and all I could find for a cause of death is unknown. Did he die of his injuries?”
Hesitating, Zoe studied Linc’s profile. As much as she wanted to deny it, there was something about him that inspired confidence. As long as she didn’t reveal the specifics of John’s crimes, she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to clue him in a little.
“There are questions, suspicions surrounding the accident,” Zoe said, keeping her voice soft so Freddy wouldn’t overhear. “Officially, the accident caused his death. The reasons behind that crash are something else. I inadvertently unearthed evidence that my late husband had committed crimes and I turned in the evidence. The authorities began to speculate that perhaps he had been...terminated after that, because he knew too much and his usefulness had ended.”
“Usefulness to whom?”
“Good question. If they ever did figure it out, I wasn’t told.”
“Who are they?”
“The case eventually made its way to Homeland Security. They’re the ones who sealed the files.” She noted Linc’s scowl and the way his fists gripped the steering wheel. Little wonder. Mention Homeland Security and walls shot up. That agency was the be-all and end-all of national defense. The very fact that it had become involved marked John’s death as the act of subversives. Or worse.
“What did you find that implicated him?”
“They asked me not to divulge those details,” Zoe explained. “I’m not sure what investigations grew out of the info they got from his laptop, but it no longer matters. John may not have directly murdered innocent people the way my brother has, but he was not the kind of man I thought he was when I married him. If he hadn’t died, I’d probably have divorced him when I learned what he’d been up to.”
“Could any of that background be influencing what’s happened to you lately?”
“I can’t see how. It’s been years.” Sighing deeply, she leaned against the seat. Bothered by the knot of hair at her nape, she pulled the pins that held it in place. Shaking out her tresses, she raked her fingers through them. Linc was watching her out of the corner of his right eye and that much intensity made her nervous. “What?”
Color rose to infuse his cheeks. “Nothing.”
“You may as well say it,” Zoe grumbled. “Boyd and Freddy’s daddy—the men in my life. I can really pick ’em, huh?”
“You didn’t pick your brother. He came as part of the family package. My lineage isn’t much better.”
“Really?”
“Really. Listen, if I tell you something in confidence, will you promise to keep it to yourself?”
“You’d trust me that far?” Her eyebrows arched theatrically. “Maybe you’d better not confess anything. I don’t want to be responsible if your deep dark secret gets out.”
“It’s not about me. It’s about my dad. He was in the air force, too, only his record was far from honorable. They caught him stealing and drummed him out of the service. After that, his personal life fell apart and he left my mother. She raised me alone.” He leaned his head back, gesturing toward the back seat. “Kind of like you and Freddy.”
“Is that why you seem to understand him so well?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. What I’m trying to say is, don’t beat yourself up about your past. We all make mistakes. It’s part of life. The good news is we can turn it around and make amends, because you and I are still alive and kicking.”
What was he alluding to? Did he think his speech about his father was going to loosen her tongue? Sure sounded like it. She steeled her nerves and cleared her throat. “Listen, Colson, I went to my commanding officers and did all I could to make things right after John died. And I would do the same now if I had any clues about Boyd. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.” Linc slowed as they passed the distinctive Winged Java café with its white coffee mug mural and lit red, white and blue decorative wings. There was a line of customers out front waiting for a chance to enter. “We’ll starve before we get a booth in there. What do you say we pick up a pizza from Carmen’s instead and eat it back at your place?”
Zoe wanted to argue. She really did. But his suggestion made perfect sense, and she knew Freddy had to be hungry, even if her own stomach was too crowded with butterflies and angst to leave room for food. “Fine. I was going to invite you in, anyway. It looks as if this afternoon is going to be a hot one, and I see no reason to make that poor dog suffer in the heat.”
“Can I come in with her?”
Zoe huffed and nodded. “Yes, as long as you behave. No jumping on the furniture—or jumping to conclusions.”
“Promise. And maybe if we go back over the recent incidents involving you, we can find some kind of pattern. It’s worth a try.”
“I’ve been over and over it. There are no logical connecting factors.”
“Only because we haven’t discovered them yet,” he argued.
“It’s not my brother,” Zoe told him flatly. “Boyd may be a lot of things but subtle isn’t one of them. If he wanted to punish me, he’d come right out and do it. No. Whoever’s been messing with me is someone other than him.” She lowered her voice. “I’m actually more afraid of the unknown than I am of Boyd. I keep remembering the man in my apartment who pulled the knife on us.”
Linc
