Behind Closed Doors (25 page)

What was it they said about a watched clock? Elizabeth was finding that out firsthand after checking the clock again.

She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d told Chris that Terry was watching her like a hawk. He’d brought in a bunch of papers that looked like architectural specs, and he’d been poring over them all day, making notes. Chris did that as well, but he always stayed in his office. Terry was out in the main room with her and every time she’d get a call, he’d look up, listen, and then go back to his papers. It made her wonder how much Chris had told him about her situation.

It was three o’clock when she heard a vehicle out front, and her heart kicked up, hoping Chris was back. Unable to help herself, she jumped up and looked out the window.

Her hopes were quickly dashed. Instead of Chris’s black pickup truck, it was a silver Lexus, and she hurried back to her desk, readying herself for what she assumed was a potential client.

“Everything okay?” Terry asked.

That’s when the door opened, and a well-dressed man stepped into the office. He looked around before spotting her, and she knew immediately that this wasn’t a client.

“Elizabeth Carter?”

“Marshall.”

“Excuse me?”

“I go by Marshall now, not Carter,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

She saw Terry move out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored him. She knew better than most that you never turned your back on men like this.

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope along with a single sheet of paper. “What is it?” she said, taking it.

She read over the paper quickly. She’d seen many of these in her past. A lead weight settled in her stomach, and she felt as if she were going to be sick.

With emotionless professionalism, he said, “Good day, Mrs. Carter.” Then he turned on his heel and left.

Terry waited for the door to close before coming over to her desk. “What is it?”

With trepidation, she lay the documents down and looked up. “I’ve just been served.”

“What?” Terry asked.

“My in-laws,” she said absently, handing him the papers. A lawsuit would mean so much more than just going before a judge. The press would get word of it, and her name and picture would be splashed across the front page like before. Just the thought of going through all that again made her sick.

A pang of longing to feel Chris’s arms around her ached in her chest, but he wasn’t here.

“They’re suing you?” Terry said incredulously.

She nodded.

If Terry didn’t know before that she’d killed her husband, he certainly did now.

Chris wished for the millionth time that Paul were here. His brother was much better at tailing people than he was.

He followed Carol through downtown, trying to stay far enough back that she wouldn’t see him but close enough that he wouldn’t lose her. It was a lot harder than it looked in the movies.

She made a few stops but nothing that lasted longer than ten minutes. He wasn’t sure what had compelled him to tail her, but Paul had once told him it was instinct that led to solving cases, and for some reason his gut was telling him to find out what Carol was up to.

Just as he was about to give up and head back to the office, she turned and drove out of town. It didn’t take him long to figure out where she was going. With a sinking feeling, he followed her straight to his house. He slowed down and pulled over, hoping she hadn’t seen him yet.

He’d expected her to drive up to the house, but she didn’t. She pulled off to the side of the road just beyond the house, stopped, and then backed up. It wasn’t until he saw her do this that he realized there was a small clearing almost directly across from the driveway, perfect for a car to slip into. And with the surrounding trees, unless you were paying close attention, you wouldn’t even notice.

He debated confronting her right then, but he decided against it. Now that he knew she was there, he wanted to watch her. He was also going to call Paul and get his opinion.

He waited until a car drove by, hoping it would distract her as he put his truck in reverse.

The drive back into town took longer than he would have liked. Traffic was relatively easy to navigate in Springfield, but the closer it got to five o’clock the more congested it got. It also didn’t help that he had to stop for a train. He thumped the steering wheel the heel of his hand. All he wanted was to get back to Elizabeth.

When he arrived back at the office, he breathed a sigh of relief, parked his car, and practically skipped up the sidewalk. Nothing that happened in the last hour could dampen the joy he felt knowing he was about to see her. Before he could make it inside, she flew out of the door and flung herself into his arms.

He pulled her close, relishing the feel and smell of her. “I missed you,” he said.

“I missed you, too.”

It was only then he realized she was crying. “What’s wrong, baby? Are you hurt?”

She shook her head and clung to him tighter.

He managed to get her back inside and into her chair.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Terry said, startling him.

“What happened?”

Terry handed Chris the papers, and he scanned them quickly. Abigail Carter couldn’t harass Elizabeth in person, so she’d found another way.

Knowing that words would be useless at this point, he didn’t comment. Letting the papers drop to the floor, he pulled her into his arms and cradled her to his chest as her tears soaked his shirt.

It was a while before Elizabeth had calmed down enough for them to leave. Chris hated seeing her like this. She was such a wonderful woman, and although he understood that Mrs. Carter had lost her son, he had a hard time feeling sympathy for the woman when she was intent on causing Elizabeth pain.

After seeing her in distress, he’d completely forgotten about Carol until he was almost to the house. He pulled into the driveway, but as he put his truck in park, he took extra time to scan behind him through the rearview mirror. Sure enough, her car was still parked across the road, barely visible amongst the foliage.

He helped Elizabeth out of the truck and into the house, and once inside, he steered her to Jan’s place instead of going upstairs.

Jan opened the door with a smile that quickly disappeared. “Oh no. What happened?” she asked, ushering them into her living room and over to the couch where he sat down and pulled Elizabeth against his side.

Chris held on to her as she told Jan about her visitor today. Even though he’d heard it before, had seen the papers himself, the rush of anger was still just as strong as it had been earlier.

“I’m so sorry, dear,” Jan said, gathering her into a hug.

He felt the loss of their connection and all he wanted was to hold her and never let go, but he had some things to do. “Jan, is it okay if she stays here with you for a while? I need to make a couple of phone calls.”

“You go on ahead.”

He quickly took his leave and ran up to his apartment. Keeping the lights off, he dug in the back of his dresser drawer until he found the old pair of binoculars he’d bought that one time his father had gotten the brilliant idea for them all to go camping together. While Trent and Chris both worked outside, and Paul and Gage were both used to dealing with the elements, none of them enjoyed camping. Then again, that may have been because his father refused to let them take more than the bare minimum, insisting that they hunt for whatever else they required. Needless to say, it had never happened again. It went down with his dad’s other attempts at male bonding including a weekend on a ranch “rustling cattle” and trying to rebuild an old Ford Mustang.

That was five years ago, and he hadn’t used the binoculars since that weekend, but he was grateful for them now.

Sticking to the shadows, he walked over to his window facing the road. With the moon high in the sky, it wasn’t hard to see her car. And with the aid of the binoculars, he could clearly see Carol using a pair of her own to spy on him. He watched her lower her binoculars and take a bite of a sandwich before going back to her watch. She was clearly here for the long haul; he just wasn’t sure what she was waiting for exactly.

He retrieved the phone from his pocket and dialed his brother.

“Detective Daniels.” Paul was ever the professional, and Chris wondered if his brother ever looked at his caller ID because he always answered the same.

“Hey, Paul, it’s me. You got a minute?”

“Always.”

He told Paul about the wrongful death suit against Elizabeth while he watched Carol.

“It will probably get thrown out if she was cleared of any wrongdoing criminally. From what I read, it was a pretty open and shut case. She had several defensive wounds.”

Chris felt sick as he thought of what Elizabeth had endured at the hands of her husband. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair. He wished he could kill the bastard all over again.

Paul said, “She should have a good lawyer though, just in case. The Carters have money and connections.”

“I’ll talk to her about it. Could you recommend someone?”

“If she doesn’t have one already, let me know. I’ve got some friends with the Columbus PD, I’m sure they could recommend someone.”

“Thank you, Paul.”

“Anytime. If you haven’t already, you should let Detective Stephens know as well. If the Carters aren’t involved with the items she’s been receiving, then there isn’t much he can do, but it is suspicious that they’ve filed a lawsuit now.”

“I agree. I’ll call him in a minute, but there’s something else I need to talk about.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Carol is here, waiting in her car.”

“I didn’t think you had anything to do with her anymore,” his brother said, sounding confused.

“I don’t.” Then Chris realized that what he’d said probably didn’t come across just right. “She’s not in the driveway. She’s parked across the road in a small clearing and watching the house with binoculars.”

“What? How long as this been going on?”

“No idea. I saw her today and something told me to follow her. We ended up here.”

“And what time was that?” Paul was in full cop mode.

“About four o’clock.”

Paul sighed, frustration leaking through the phone. “Call Detective Stephens. Tell him what you told me, even the part about Carol. We’ve been thinking the Carters are behind this because they’re the obvious suspects, but if Carol knows you’re seeing Elizabeth, then she’s just as likely, especially if she’s staking out your house.”

Chris hung up a few minutes later, and immediately dialing Detective Stephens and filling him in on the day’s activities. He wasn’t happy. “I’ll be there within the hour. Stay in the house until I get there.”

When he made his way back downstairs to Jan’s, Elizabeth was curled up on the couch with a mug in one hand and a phone in the other. She looked up when he walked in, and he was happy to see she wasn’t crying. She even managed a small smile for him as he placed a kiss on the top of her head before going in the kitchen to find Jan. He found her standing at the kitchen counter.

“Hey, who’s on the phone?”

“Oh, you’re back,” Jan said, looking over her shoulder. “She’s talking to her friend, Stephanie, I think.”