Tough Customer

nothing's turned up. He's not working anywhere. Since being fired from Delray, he's been drawing unemployment.

'His only known kin is his mother, who's elderly. She's in a facility for Alzheimer's patients, has been for several years, and she's in the final stages of the disease. For all practical purposes, she's ... gone.' He made a gesture to indicate that all the woman's cognition had been wiped clean.

'Neighbors say Starks is a loner. He doesn't host parties. No one remembers friends visiting his house. Asked if he had any outside interests--like a gym membership, an obvious hobby like tennis or golf, church affiliation--neighbors didn't know. Said he kept to himself.'

He gave Berry a lazy once-over, the kind of which a woman can't mistake. 'You seem to be his only passion.' The suggestion underlying his tone was perturbing.

'That's not true. I told you earlier today about some of his passions.'

'Right. Puzzles, games, problem solving. According to the officers who searched his house, his home computer had bookmarked several websites relating to that kind of thing. He routinely visits message boards and blogs but never posts on any.' Again his eyes flicked over her suggestively. 'Anyway, I doubt intricate mazes could hold a candle to you.'

'Maybe it's a matter of degree,' she said coolly.

'Maybe.' A second or two ticked past before he continued. 'He's now being sought all over southeast Texas and into Louisiana. We're checking hotels, but I doubt he'd go to one. Usually they require a credit card to check in. None of his has been used since last week. No ATM withdrawals since he took out two hundred dollars three days ago at a branch bank in Houston.'

'He would know better than to leave a trail that's so easily followed.'

'What I figured,' he said, nodding. 'But we checked anyway. We're canvassing motels, cabin rentals, like that. What worries me,' he said, pulling his eyebrows into a frown, 'is that there's a lot of territory around here to hide in.'

'You mentioned that this morning.'

'If he's holed up in the woods somewhere--'

'The woods?' Berry laughed. 'He'd have to be crazy.'

'You said he was.'

'I said he was unhinged.'

'Isn't that the same thing?'

'No.'

'What's the difference?'

'Constancy. Crazy is a state of being. Unhinged is a reaction.'

'Catching you with Lofland sent him over the edge.'

'He didn't 'catch' me with Ben. He caught me in the shower. Alone.'

'Right. When I got there, you were still wet.' He kept his eyes fixed on hers for several beats before moving on. 'You told Sheriff Drummond you'd seen Starks rattled like that only once before. When was that?'

'At the beginning of the summer. Just before I moved to Merritt.'

'Starks wigged out on you, and that was the final straw?'

'Exactly. I got scared.'

'Do you think he's sinking deeper into psychosis?'

'I have no idea. I'm not a psychiatrist. What I can tell you is that, ordinarily, Oren isn't a raving maniac.'

He propped one booted foot on his opposite knee and crossed his arms over his wide chest. 'Describe to me what he's like. Ordinarily.'

'Well, one thing he's not is an outdoorsman. I can't see him taking cover in a well-protected campground, much less the woods. You can chalk that off your list.'

'Okay, where do you think he ran to?'

She bent her head and rubbed her forehead. 'I don't know, Deputy Nyland.'

'Call me Ski.'

She looked across at him but didn't address the topic of names. 'Oren's persnickety. Orderly.'

'Obsessive-compulsive?'

'Close,' she said with an absent nod. 'I used to tease him about his desk being the cleanest of any at Delray. Everything in its place. His mind works in an orderly fashion, too.'

'For instance?'

'For instance, during a discussion over a project, I could jump around from point to point, but Oren wouldn't move from point A to point B until point A had been reviewed, discussed, and approved one hundred percent. He would go back to something a dozen times until it met with his satisfaction.'

'What you're telling me is that he'll keep coming back until he gets it right.'

'Yes,' she said huskily. 'Until I'm dead.'

'I'll do my best to keep that from happening.'

'Thank you.'

'You don't have any idea where he might have fled?'

'None.'

'Okay.' He lowered his foot to the floor and leaned forward. 'You've said that Starks made other women employees at Delray uncomfortable, not just you.'

'That's right.'

Removing a pad and pen from the breast pocket of his sport jacket, he asked if she could name a few. He jotted down the names as she enumerated them. 'Sally Buckland in particular,' she said. 'She resigned from Delray at the beginning of the year. Oren factored largely into her decision.'

'You know this for certain?'

'Absolutely. He had a terrible crush on her. She wasn't interested and tried everything to avoid him, but he was persistent. On several occasions she complained to me that he wouldn't take no for an answer.'

'No to what?'

'To anything. The situation got so bad, it was beginning to affect her work, so I interceded on her behalf. I told Oren that Sally wasn't interested, that he was wasting his time on her.'

'How'd he react?'

She smiled sadly. 'He turned his attention to me.'

'Was there ever a time when you were interested in him?'

'Romantically? Good Lord, no.'

He arched one sun-bleached eyebrow.

'Absolutely not!' She chuckled. 'When you see him, you'll understand. He's not at all my type.'

'What's your type?'

His question checked her amusement, because the first word that sprang to mind was You. It startled her, rattled her right down to the soles of her feet. Because were it not for the fact that he was investigating a crime involving her, and seemed to harbor some mistrust of her that extended beyond a peace officer's instinctual mistrust of everybody, she would find the deputy sheriff attractive. His imposing bearing, his sheer physicality, even his damn gray eyes, were appealing.

But he seemed bent on trying to trip her up, to catch her in a lie, which made her dislike him intensely. Pulling herself up straight, she said, 'Oren was my colleague. Bright. I'd even go so far as to say gifted. But he became a rejected suitor who stalked me, and who last night vowed to kill me. He said he must.'

The deputy studied her for a moment longer, then replaced his notepad and pen in