Part 9 (2/2)

But for the next three blocks neither of the boys said a word. I pulled off the road into the King Sooper's parking lot. It wasn't crowded, but there were enough cars there to make me feel safer than I'd felt in an hour. I found a spot that gave us a good view of the road, but it was close enough to the door to let us escape inside if we had to.

We sat there for almost thirty minutes before I let myself believe that the SUV had given up on us. As the realization that we were safe finally hit, the adrenaline pumping through my veins drained away, and bone-deep exhaustion hit like a sledgehammer.

Back home, I circled the block to make sure n.o.body was lying in wait for us, then dragged myself up the stairs behind my two silent little nephews. It was the first time I'd ever seen them so subdued, and I hoped it would be the last.

I woke the next morning to a thick blanket of snow covering everything in sight. The storm had moved out, leaving clear blue skies and brilliant suns.h.i.+ne behind. The boys were still sleeping when I took Max out for his walk, so we didn't go far. Seeing that no other tracks marred the snow made me relax even further.

Last night, I'd placed calls to both Elizabeth and Jawarski once we got home. I'd told Jawarski about the SUV, but the driver hadn't actually done anything or made any overt threats, so there wasn't much the police could do. I had to be satisfied with Jawarski's promise to act immediately if the driver ever crossed the line. We'd talked briefly about the murder investigation, but there wasn't much Jawarski could tell me. The police still hadn't identified the victim, and they were up to their eyeb.a.l.l.s in interviews with people who'd been near the drug store the night of the murder-none of whom seemed to know anything helpful.

I'd been honest with Jawarski, but I'd played down last night's danger when I talked to Elizabeth. I'd have to tell her the truth this morning, but I'd seen no reason to upset her in the middle of the night with a snowstorm raging. I knew Elizabeth. She'd have risked her life to drive into town after the kids.

I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, then loaded the boys into the car. This time, I let Max come along. In fact, it would probably be a long time before I'd go anywhere without him again.

After dropping the boys at school, I drove to my brother's house to have the conversation I'd been dreading all night. Elizabeth saw me pull into the yard and stepped onto the porch while I gathered the boys' uniforms and equipment from the backseat.

It was barely eight thirty, but I could tell that she'd been hard at work already. She'd pulled her hair into a ponytail, which she never did unless she was baking, and she wore a flour-dusted ap.r.o.n that told the rest of the tale. ”You didn't have to drive all the way out here to bring that stuff,” she called. ”We could have picked it up.”

”No problem.” I slid on an icy patch of snow and almost lost my footing. ”I need to talk to you about last night.”

Elizabeth took Caleb's bag as I climbed the steps to the porch and ushered me into her big, warm kitchen. It smelled of coffee and yeast, which probably meant that she was making bread.

Motioning me toward the table, she cleared a spot for me to sit. ”Actually, I'm glad you came,” she said. ”I'm still not clear about what happened.”

”That's probably because I wasn't very clear.” I left my seat and poured a cup of coffee, then carried it back to the table. ”It was a bit more involved than I told you on the phone.”

”Oh?”

”Yeah. Somebody followed us, Liz. We came out of practice-later than the rest of the team because I had to put away equipment-and the SUV I told you about seeing the other night was in the parking lot.”

Elizabeth took a slab of bread dough from a bowl, dusted the table with flour, and began kneading. ”Are you sure it was the same SUV?”

”I'm positive. Caleb recognized the broken light on the side. Anyway, I was a little nervous, so I got the boys into the car and took off out the front entrance of the parking lot. The next thing we knew, the SUV was coming after us.”

Elizabeth's hands stilled in the ball of dough. ”Why didn't you call?”

”I tried calling Jawarski, but I didn't have any service because of the storm.”

Apparently forgetting about the bread, she sat across from me. ”Why would they follow you? My kids were in the car.”

”Believe me, I know.” Briefly, I told her the rest and watched confusion and fear battle it out in her eyes. ”I don't know what they wanted, Liz. The boys are fine, but I wanted you to know.”

She nodded slowly. Just as slowly, the fear and confusion were replaced by anger. ”Why would they follow you?” she asked again. ”Have you been 'investigating' again?”

Her venom surprised me. ”No. Not this time.”

”Then why? Why you? Why my boys?”

”I don't know.”

”Oh come on, Abby. They didn't just pick you out of the air.” She gestured wildly, almost knocking the bowl off the table. ”There must be some reason they targeted you.”

I gaped at her. ”You think I'm lying?”

She stared at me for a long moment, then shook her head. ”I don't know. No. Yes.” She stood and turned away, rubbing her forehead with one hand. ”I mean, look at what's happened in the past. Can you blame me? What would you think in my place?”

”I'd like to think that I'd believe you. I didn't have to tell you what happened, you know. I could have kept quiet.”

Elizabeth came back to the table and directed her frustrations into the bread. ”Okay. I believe you. You wouldn't lie to me. I know you wouldn't.”

”Thank you.”

”But that still doesn't explain why somebody followed you.”

”I can only guess, but maybe it's because we saw the SUV near Coach Hendrix's truck. Maybe the driver recognized us from the other night.”

Her eyes shot to mine. ”You think Coach Hendrix is mixed up in all of this?”

”I don't know. He could be, or he could be in some kind of danger.”

”And he's coaching my kids? Putting every single one of the boys on the team in danger?” She dropped the dough on the table and reached for the cordless phone on the counter behind her.

I caught her arm and pried the phone from her fingers. ”Don't do anything hasty,” I said. ”We don't have any way of knowing what's going on. There might not be any connection between them at all, and even if there is, Kerry may not know about it. I doubt he'd purposely put the kids at risk.”

Elizabeth hesitated, so I pressed my advantage. ”Let's not jump to conclusions,” I said, ”or we could make things worse. Let me talk to Jawarski and see what he says. You know he won't suggest anything that will put the boys in harm's way.”

”And in the meantime, I just let the boys go to practice and games as if nothing's happening?”

”Unless Jawarski thinks there's a reason not to. But just in case someone is watching me, I think either you or Wyatt should take the boys to their practices-just until we find out what's going on.” It just about killed me to make that suggestion. I loved the time I spent with the boys, but it was the right thing to do. ”If it makes you feel better, stay for the practices. Kerry doesn't like parents to hang around, but he can't kick you out.”

Elizabeth gave the dough a final punch and put it in a loaf pan. ”I'll think about it, but I can't make any promises until I've talked to Wyatt.”

”Understood.” I checked the time, realized I had less than an hour until Divinity opened, and stood. ”Are we okay?”

Elizabeth nodded. ”Of course. I'm sorry I went off on you that way, but you have to understand where I'm coming from.”

”It's no problem,” I a.s.sured her. ”I'd feel the same way if I were you.” We hugged briefly, and I followed my footsteps through the snow back to the Jetta. I was exhausted already, and the day hadn't even started.

Chapter 17.

<script>