That was all true, but Marissa hadn’t invited Nash into her house either, and he’d been there just the same. Pawing through her things, lingering at the window. Photographing her with Blake.
She let out a ragged breath and dialed Kara again. Voice mail.
Blake drove onto the curb outside Kara’s house a few minutes later. Marissa hit redial.
“Wait here.” Blake locked her in the truck and walked through the yard to meet Cole and another agent at Kara’s porch.
“Come on,” Marissa whispered to her phone. When she hung up this time, she dialed her parents. Kara was probably already there. She’d probably just forgotten her phone in the car or left it on the couch while she helped their mom in the kitchen. Kara was sweet, but she was naive and a bit clueless, never really seeing the big picture. She was fun, but unintentionally reckless and as hopelessly self-absorbed as any twenty-one-year-old who’d never had a true reason to worry.
“Hello?” Her mother answered on the first ring.
“Mama?”
“Marissa? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Is Kara with you?” she asked. “We’re at her place now. She’s not here, but I told her to wait with you and she said she would.”
“She’s on her way,” her mom answered.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“Marissa,” she whispered. “Have you seen the news?”
“Yes.” The word floated from her lips like a ghost from her worst nightmare. She’d seen the news and much worse this morning. The last woman pulled from the lake could’ve easily been her or Kara. Blake hadn’t even known Nash was back at it until Marissa had gotten away from him yesterday.
Her gaze drifted back to the men on Kara’s porch, and the world spun. The trio of oversized lawmen had shifted their positions, revealing a previously shielded stack of old-fashioned suitcases beside Kara’s door. The pile was topped with a wedding veil.
The luggage was posed as if waiting for a photograph.
Or a honeymoon.
Marissa said a hasty goodbye to her mother, and tried not to be sick. She gripped the door handle, debating whether or not to jump out and join the men. Questions flooded her mind, but Blake had told her to stay put. She chewed her thumbnail and watched as Blake moved methodically around the perimeter of her sister’s home, running his fingers along the window and door frames, like he had at her place, while curious neighbors looked on. Cole and a member of Blake’s team hauled the cases away with blue-gloved hands.
Tears of fear welled in her eyes. What did this mean?
The door locks popped and Blake swung himself in beside her. “Have you found her?” he asked.
Marissa nodded. “She’s headed to my parents’. Can we go there? I need to see her.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He folded himself behind the wheel and started the truck, a measure of relief in his brow. “No signs of forced entry. You saw the cases?”
“Yes.” She watched for his reaction, but his expression was painfully blank. “Nash delivered the luggage?”
“I think so, yes, but it only means that he’s playing with us, nothing more. Once we have Kara, we’ll assign her a detail.” He shot Marissa a pointed look. “This is going to be okay.”
Marissa felt her brows grind together. “How can you say that?”
The news van that had attempted following them from the national park turned onto Kara’s street and motored toward them.
“Because I won’t accept any other outcome.” Blake powered down his window as they drew near. He hung his elbow over the open window when the van stopped beside him in the street. “Deputy Garrett is patrolling this street with a federal agent. Someone reported a sighting of Nash Barclay. I’m headed back to the park to see if anything else has happened there.”
The stunned news van driver bobbed his head. “Thank you.”
Blake powered his window up and pressed gently on the gas pedal.
The van sat in the road for several long beats as Blake’s truck rolled away. He snuck glances in his rearview mirror until the van sprang to life and headed for his brother and teammate.
Marissa turned on her seat for a better look out the back window. The fear of betrayal burned in her chest. Surely Blake wouldn’t have given a reporter more information than he’d shared with her. Would he? “Was that true about Nash?”
“No. I lied about the Nash spotting to give the reporter a reason to stay here instead of following us to your parents’ house. Cole has already bagged the evidence and put it out of sight. Let him deal with the reporter.”
She swiveled back in relief. “What did you say Cole and the other agent are doing?”
“They’re canvassing.” Blake gave her a quick look. “It’s due diligence to let her neighbors know he’s out there. Educated civilians have stopped more than one killer. They’ll be assets, keeping watch on her house and property. We’ll broadcast the same message for vigilance on the nightly news, but one-on-one contact is better. People get desensitized. Knocking on their doors is a call to action. It makes them accountable.”
Marissa nodded, eager now for her childhood home, and bubbling with the need to be with Kara and her parents. “I guess you get to meet my family after all.”
Blake’s lips curved slightly, and the small smile reached his eyes. “See, the day’s looking up already.”
She matched his easy expression. “Family’s important to you.” That made one more thing to like about Blake Garrett. Not that she was counting. Her dad would appreciate it, too. “Nothing trumps family” was practically her dad’s motto.
Blake exhaled with an infinitesimal shake of his head. “Family’s everything.” He gave her a curious look before dropping the smile.
Marissa straightened in her seat and adjusted the
