my head the reason we had gotten together in the first place.
I turned my Explorer onto Brannan and waved good-bye to Claire, who was heading over to 280. As I made the turn, I caught a glimpse of a white Toyota pulling out down the block behind me.
My mind was wrapped up with what I had just done, getting the girls involved in this horrible case. I had just countermanded a direct order from the mayor and my commanding officer. This time, there was no one backing me up.
No Roth, or Mercer.
A Mazda with two teenage girls in it pulled up behind me.
We had stopped at a light on Seventh. The driver was talking a mile a minute on her cell phone, while her companion obliviously sung along to the stereo.
As we started up, I kept my eye on them for a block, until they veered onto Ninth. A blue minivan took the Mazda's place.
I got onto Potrero under the underpass to 101, heading south. The blue van turned.
To my surprise, I saw that same white Toyota lurking thirty yards behind.
I continued on. A silver BMW sped up in the left lane and pulled up behind me. Behind it, a city bus. It looked as if the mystery car was gone.
who could blame you for getting a little jumpy, with what's going on? I said to myself. My picture had been in the paper and on the TV news.
I made my usual right on Connecticut and started the climb up the Potrero hill. I was hoping Mrs. Taylor next door had come by to walk Martha. And I was thinking of stopping in the market on Twentieth for some Edy's vanilla twirl.
Two blocks up, I glanced a last time in my rearview mirror. The white Toyota crept into view.
Either the sonofabitch lived on the same block I did, or the bastard was following me.
It had to be Chimera.
Womans Murder Club 2 - Second Chance
Chapter 51
MY HEART WAS POUNDING; the hairs on the back of my neck stood erect. I squinted in the rearview mirror and ran the plate numbers over in my head: California... PCV 182. I couldn't make out the person driving. This was insane... But I sure wasn't imagining it.
I pulled into an open parking spot in front of my apartment. I waited in the car until I saw the hood of the Toyota rise over the lip of Twentieth Street, then pause at the base of the last hill. My blood ran cold.
I had let the bastard trail me right to my house.
I reached in the glove compartment and took out my Glock. I checked the clip. Stay calm. You're gonna take this asshole down. You're going to nail Chimera right now.
I hunched in my car, scrolling through my options. I could call it in. A patrol car could be here in a matter of minutes. But I had to find out who it was. The appearance of a police car would scare him away.
My heart beat madly. I palmed my gun and opened the car door. I slipped out into the night. Now what?
On the first floor of my house, there was a back door that led to an alley underneath my terrace. From there, I could wrap around the block near the park at the top of the hill. If the bastard stayed outside, I could double back and maybe surprise him.
I hesitated in the doorway, just long enough to see the Toyota creeping slowly up the street. My hands fumbled in my bag for the key. I jammed it in the lock.
I was inside. Out a small window, I watched the Toyota. I strained to catch a glimpse of the driver, but his interior lights were off.
I undid the bolt to the back door and crept out into the alley behind my building.
I ran behind the cover of the houses to the cul de sac at the top of the hill. From there, I reversed back, hugging the shadows of the buildings along the opposite side of the street.
Behind him.
The Toyota had parked across from my building, its lights off.
The driver in the front seat was smoking a cigarette.
I crouched behind a parked Honda Accord, clasping my gun. This is what it's all about, Lindsay.
Could I take Chimera in the car? what if the doors were locked?
Suddenly I saw the car door open, the interior light flash on. The bastard's back was turned to me as he climbed out of his car.
He was wearing a dark weatherproof jacket, a floppy cap pulled over his eyes. He was glancing up at my house. My apartment.
Then he headed across the street. No fears.
Take him down. Now. The bastard had come for me. He'd threatened me in Mercer's book. I moved out from
