Obsession Falls(83)

The leash jerked as Max hit the end of it. His nose was to the ground and he pulled toward my car.

“Hang on, Max. I know you want a treat, but you can wait.”

He half-dragged me to my car where he kept sniffing furiously.

“Was there a squirrel?” I adjusted the bag so I could get out my keys. There was a squirrel, chittering at us from the roof of the building. “It’s gone now, silly dog.”

Max didn’t stop sniffing. He tried to do a lap around the car, but I kept a tight grip on the leash while I opened the passenger door.

“Max, seriously, stop. I need to put your food in the car.”

I tossed the stuff onto the passenger seat and shut the door, then let Max do his lap.

“See? The squirrel is go—”

I was about to say gone, when I realized Max hadn’t caught the scent of a squirrel.

There was a folded piece of paper on the windshield of my car, tucked beneath the windshield wiper.

Taking slow steps around the car, I moved closer to the driver’s side. My back prickled and my heart hammered in my chest. With quick, darting movements, I checked my surroundings. But I already knew I wouldn’t see him. I’d have bet anything that he’d either left immediately or was hiding, watching me from afar.

My hand shook as I reached for the note. It was a piece of printer paper. No handwriting and if it was anything like the vandalism incidents, there wouldn’t be any fingerprints. It was typed in a basic font, probably Times New Roman. No smears of blood or letters cut from newspaper and magazine clippings. Just the words, I hate you.

“Max, let’s go.”

With my heart in my throat, I loaded him up and headed home.





CHAPTER 32





Josiah





Five minutes after Audrey left, I regretted letting her go alone. She was right, it was probably fine, and I couldn’t shadow her every move like a bodyguard. But I still didn’t like it.

Despite the heat, the cabinets were going in without too much drama. My dad wasn’t as young as he used to be but he was still as strong as an ox. And despite the fact that Zachary was generally a pain in the ass, he was a good worker. Motivated by his paycheck more than brotherly loyalty, probably, but that was fine with me.

We’d put in the uppers first and so far, everything was level and square. My cabinet guy did good work. I’d go back through later and install all the doors and shelves.

Dad stepped back and mopped his head with a blue bandanna. “Looking good.”

Zachary handed him a bottle of water. “Yeah. Doesn’t suck.”

It was true. It didn’t suck. In fact, it looked great. Probably my favorite of all the houses I’d remodeled so far.

Audrey had good taste.

Of course, she was with me, but maybe it was just her taste in men that was questionable.

I was a lucky bastard.

Dad checked his watch. “Mind if we finish tomorrow? I have a few things to get done at home and then I need to get cleaned up. Your mom wants me to take her dancing.”

“Dancing?” I asked. “Since when do you dance?”

“Since your mom wanted to learn.” He shrugged. “We’ve been taking lessons.”

Zachary looked him up and down. “I can’t decide if that’s awesome or weird.”

Dad’s mouth lifted in a crooked grin. “First one. She always comes home in a great mood, if you know what I mean. Take notes, boys.”

“Did he just give us sex advice by referring to Mom?” Zachary shuddered. “I gotta go shower that off.”

“Yeah, go.” I shooed Dad out. “We can finish tomorrow. I’ll lock up.”

He chuckled on his way out.

Zachary followed. I cleaned up a bit and shut the garage door, then went outside, locking the door behind me. It would have been nice to get the rest of the cabinets in, but I wasn’t worried about it. The countertops weren’t scheduled for another few days, so we had time. And the heat was brutal. I didn’t want Dad to overdo it.

Audrey pulled up and parked in her driveway. Her door opened and Max bounded out of the car ahead of her. I took one look at her face and I knew something was wrong.

I jogged over to her while Max jumped around and tried to get my attention. “What happened?”

“He called. Right when I got to the pet store. I answered and started babbling at him because he never says anything. Just hangs up, right? But this time, he talked back.”

“What did he say?”

“'I hate you.'”

White hot anger seared my veins. I clenched my fists and my jaw hitched. “What?”

“That was all he said. Then he hung up. And no, I couldn’t tell who it was. I didn’t recognize his voice, but it also sounded like he was disguising it on purpose. Remember the Batman movie with the growly voice guy? He sounded like that.”

I hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against me. I didn’t blame her for being upset by the phone call, but by the look on her face, I’d thought it was something worse. “Baby, I’m sorry that happened. But you’re safe.”

“That’s not all.”

“What else?”

She held up a folded piece of paper. “This was on my car when I came out of the pet store. Tucked under the windshield wiper on the driver’s side.”