She held his gaze a moment, her expression serious. Then her lips curved slightly. “I don’t think you’re him.”
“You’re lucky I was the one who spotted you.”
“Because this is where Orion chooses his victims?”
“Or stalks them.” He opened the passenger door for her. “Several of his past victims were last seen at bars. He sees places like this as his hunting ground. He spots his prey, stalks her and catches her when she’s tipsy or tired, and somehow he convinces her to let her guard down with him.”
“How?” Sounding curious, Rose slid into the Jeep’s passenger seat and buckled herself in.
“If I knew that, I’d be a lot closer to finding him,” Daniel answered, sliding behind the wheel. As he reached for his seat belt, his cell phone vibrated against his hip.
He pulled the phone from his pocket and read the display panel. The number was local but unfamiliar. He shut the phone off, letting the call go to his message box.
“Need to get that?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’ll check the voice mail later.” He backed the Jeep out of the parking lot.
She directed him across Twentieth Street to a shadowy side street. Her Impala was one of a half-dozen cars parked there, taking advantage of free weekend parking. He squelched a shudder at the thought of her walking down that darkened street for a couple of blocks before she got anywhere near bright lights and the safety of a crowd.
He let her out next to her car, catching her wrist as she reached for her seat-belt buckle. “Don’t ever park on a street like this at night, even if you’re not alone. It’s asking for trouble.”
Her sober gaze met his. “Okay.”
He let go of her wrist and watched until she was safely locked inside her car. Backing up, he gave her room to pull out of the parking place.
He stayed close, following her back to her house on Mountain Avenue. When she pulled into the alley and parked in a gravel drive behind her house, he pulled in behind her. Even if it was playing with fire, he wasn’t going to let her go into that empty house alone.
She waited for him at the top of the wooden steps leading down the sloping yard to her back door. “You sure you aren’t a frustrated bodyguard at heart?”
He laid his hand on her back. “Want me to leave?”
She shook her head. “But I promise I’ll look into getting an alarm system put in first thing tomorrow so you don’t have to worry so much about me.”
He doubted even an alarm system would make him stop worrying about her. Whatever had put her front and center in the Orion murder case, she wouldn’t be safe until he was caught or moved on to the next town. “I’ll take a look around to make sure everything’s okay.”
She nodded her approval but didn’t make a move to follow him. Squelching a pang of disappointment, he checked all the rooms and returned downstairs. He found Rose still in the kitchen, standing near the back door. She reached for the door handle. “Thanks for checking things out.”
He frowned. “You’re kicking me out?”
She gave him a look of surprise. “You thought we were making a date of this?”
Ouch. “Actually, I thought it might be a good idea if I stayed tonight.”
Her eyebrow darted higher.
“On the sofa,” he added. “Frustrated bodyguard, remember?”
A nervous chuckle escaped her throat. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Humor me.”
Her half smile faded to a frown. “I’m more worried about Melissa than me.”
“She’s with her fiance, isn’t she?”
Her frown only deepened, piquing his curiosity.
“There something about her fiance I should know?”
She cleared her expression. “They’ve had…issues.” Her mouth tightened, making it clear she would say no more. But he could make an educated guess. Nothing like an impending wedding to make a groom-to-be start panicking about the whole “until death do us part” thing.
As he well knew.
She nodded toward the kitchen table. “Want something to drink? I don’t have anything alcoholic around here-”
“Whatever you have is fine.” He sat at the table and reached into his pocket for his cell phone to see if his mystery caller had left a message.
“Daniel? It’s Melissa Bannerman.” Her recorded voice sounded raspy. He heard a sniffling sound as she took a breath. “I know we’re mostly strangers, but I need a ride home.”
He sat forward, instantly alert.
“I’m in Trussville,” she continued, referring to a suburb east of Birmingham. Though teary-sounding, Melissa’s voice oozed disgust. “Mark and I had a fight. I should’ve known something was up when he wanted to come out here. Maybe the bastard thought his little tramp of a girlfriend wouldn’t be able to track him down if he changed his patterns. Idiot!”
Her fiance was two-timing her and Melissa had found out about it, Daniel interpreted.
“I wasn’t going to get in the car with him after that,” she added. “And I really don’t feel up to hearing any of my friends or family say ‘I told you so’ tonight, you know? Call me back? I really need a ride home.” The message ended with a click.
Daniel pushed the return call button on his phone. Melissa answered on the first ring. “Hello?”
“It’s Daniel. You okay?”
Rose turned at the sound of his voice, her eyebrows cocked. He gave her an apologetic look.
She sniffled. “No. I just left the restaurant and started walking, I was so angry. I know that was stupid.”
“Where are you now?” Daniel looked up as Rose brought the two glasses of juice to the table. She met his gaze, her expression curious.
“On Highway 11 somewhere,” Melissa answered his question, sniffling. “I’m past where all the stores and houses are. It’s really dark here.”
What the hell was she thinking? “You need to head back toward the restaurant. I don’t care if the jerk is there, you need to be around people-”
There was a clicking sound in his ear, and he heard Melissa utter a soft curse. “Battery-” She managed to get the word out before the connection broke.
“Melissa?” Apprehension slithered through his belly.
“What’s going on?” Rose’s voice was low and tight.
“Melissa and her fiance had an argument, and she walked out of the restaurant where they were eating.” He disconnected and punched in her number again, waiting for a ring. Her voice mail message came up immediately.
“Walked out? By herself?” Rose looked horrified. “What was she thinking?”
“I don’t think she was thinking at all,” Daniel admitted.
“Where is she?”
“Highway 11 west of Trussville.”
Rose’s eyes widened even more. “Go get her. Now.”
“You’re coming with me,” he decided, already moving toward the back door.
“She won’t be happy to see me,” Rose warned, but she sounded relieved that he was including her in the trip.
“She’ll deal,” Daniel told her as she locked up.
His mind racing, he calculated the distance and time. Five minutes to the Red Mountain Expressway, ten to I- 59 north. From there, it was a twenty-minute drive to the Trussville exit. Just thirty minutes. All Melissa had to do was get somewhere safe and stay there for thirty minutes, and he’d be there to take her safely home. Fortunately, Trussville was miles away from Southside, where Orion seemed to do all of his hunting. Melissa should be safe from him.
