softened to concern. “I thought she’d be back by now. Truth be told, I’m worried about Meredith. She’s a delightful young woman with a big heart. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Pulling out his business card, Pete placed it on the counter. “I’m staying at the Lodge over the weekend. If she comes back, would you tell her that Pete Worth is looking for her?”
“Shall I mention her mother?”
“No.” Pete glanced at the colorful quilts displayed around the shop. “Her quilting. Tell Meredith I’m interested in her work.”
The woman’s eyes softened. “She is gifted.”
“Do you happen to know where I could find her boyfriend?” Pete thought back to the bedroom photo. “The guy’s about her age, maybe a few inches taller. Dark hair, long sideburns?”
The shopkeeper furrowed her brow. “Doubt there’d be a boyfriend this soon after her husband’s death. I heard the police are calling it a homicide.”
A buzz sounded in Pete’s ears. Like a trapped fly. His own internal warning system. Seemed the deeper he dug, the more problems surfaced. His desire to help Eve had led him to Dixie and now to a missing woman whose husband may have been murdered.
Getting involved in a homicide investigation wasn’t on his list of things to do this weekend, but if Meredith knew Dixie, she might provide information that Eve needed to know.
“Ma’am, do you recall when her husband died?”
“Hmmm? Must have been six months ago or so. Meredith never talked about him, and most folks didn’t connect her with the story in the paper. Seems he died on a fishing boat out of Jackson Harbor.”
“South of here?”
“That’s right. The article said he’d just hired on. Went out on a day trip, and his leg got tied up in one of the nets as it was being tossed in the water. According to the story, he was pulled overboard, and the blades on the motor caught him. Cut him pretty bad. He bled to death before they could get him to shore.”
“They?”
“The crew. I wouldn’t have thought much more about the accident except the paper ran a picture of the wife he left behind, and Meredith arrived in town not long after that. Last week the police arrested the boat owner.”
If the husband had been involved in something criminal, Dixie and her boyfriend could be as well. Perhaps that’s why they’d made the late-night visit to Meredith’s bungalow.
Pete pointed to the counter where he’d placed his card. “You have my cell number. Be sure to tell Meredith I’m looking for her.”
“Do you know that other guy who stopped by? He wouldn’t say what he wanted.”
Pete thought of Dixie’s friend. “Big man with a ponytail?”
The shopkeeper shook her head. “The man was Latino, probably five-eight.” She touched her face. “He had a scar on his left cheek.”
Evidently, Dixie and her boyfriend weren’t the only other people looking for Meredith. The shopkeeper had mentioned the police, who probably wanted a chat with the grieving widow as well.
Leaving the store, Pete headed down the block to the diner and sat in a booth that faced the street with a clear view of the quilt shop. Three cups of coffee later, he noticed an elderly woman shuffle inside, holding a cane in her right hand. One of the few people who had visited the shop that morning.
Pete caught the eye of the waitress and pointed to his cup, which she quickly refilled.
Taking a sip of the hot brew, he glanced once again at the shop. The old woman stepped through the door and onto the sidewalk.
This time she held the cane in her left hand.
A baggy sweater hung over her sweatpants. A floppy hat covered her hair, except for a long strand that trailed along the slender curve of her neck.
The same raven hair he’d seen in the bungalow photo.
Pete threw some bills on the table and raced from the diner.
The woman turned the corner and crossed the street. A clunker sat parked at the end of the block.
Nervously, she glanced over her shoulder. Spying him, she tossed her cane aside and ran toward the car. Her hat flew off, and dark hair spilled across her shoulders, swinging back and forth.
She had an awkward gait and kept her hands close to her body. Was she holding something?
He was gaining on her.
“Meredith, wait,” Pete called. “I need to talk to you.”
She flicked another glance at him. Fear flashed across her face.
Not what he wanted.
At that moment, a police cruiser turned onto the block.
Meredith stopped abruptly. She turned and caught Pete’s eye, her own wide with panic.
He slowed his pace. Meredith paused long enough for the black-and-white sedan to pass before she took off running again.
Silhouetted for that brief moment against the backdrop of the brick building behind her, Pete realized something he hadn’t noticed before.
Meredith Lassiter was pregnant.
THREE
After everything that had happened, Meredith’s internal radar was set on high. She glanced over her shoulder to ensure that no one new had entered the bank before she counted the money and stepped away from the teller. A month’s wages for teaching classes at the quilt shop wouldn’t take her far, but at least she had some cash.
Had they found her because she’d used her credit card? She’d tried to be careful, but the prenatal vitamins and the fresh fruits and vegetables she ate to protect her baby’s health cost more than red beans and rice. Last week, she’d been forced to charge her groceries. The steel-gray pickup had appeared on her street a few days later.
Coincidence? Maybe, but she wouldn’t risk charging anything again. At least until she ran out of money.
What about the guy who had chased after her today? Too many unfamiliar people were appearing in her life. Life-threatening complications that sent her nerve endings into alert mode.
Her immediate need was to get as far from Refuge Bay as possible. Find a safe place to hole up, then a job and an obstetrician.
Thankfully, she’d escaped from the bungalow in time. The last two days spent living out of her car made her overdue for a hot shower and a good meal.
She shoved the bills into her purse, her thoughts once again on the guy she’d seen earlier.
An all-American type with his dark polo shirt, khaki slacks and short hair. Maybe a reporter? She hadn’t spilled anything to the police, and she certainly wouldn’t divulge information to
