Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,111
up and immediately called Hank. It took him about ten rings to get to the phone, and he wasn’t happy when he answered. “What?” he barked, sounding out of breath.
“Hank, it’s me.”
He must have heard the panic in my voice because his tone changed. “What’s wrong? Is Marco okay?”
“Yeah, uh…” My adrenaline crashed and my body began to shake.
“Carly?”
“He’s okay,” I said, my voice breaking. I needed to get myself together. “I’m sorry. I’m okay. He’s okay.”
“Take a breath, girlie,” he said, his tone softening further. “Are you in danger?”
“No, not at the moment. But a man showed up and threatened to kill the people I love. You have to be careful, Hank. Get your gun and keep it with you.”
“First of all, who was he?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t recognize him. He said he was giving me a message. That I needed to let it go.”
“Let what go?”
“I’m not sure.” But I knew. If Emily had figured out what I was up to, then Bart had to know too.
“This must be connected to you lookin’ into Pam’s murder. Where’s Marco?”
“He left for work. I took a shower, and when I got out, the guy was sitting at Marco’s kitchen table, drinking his coffee and smoking a cigarette.”
“He was in the house?” Hank sounded murderous.
“The door was locked, but he got in somehow.”
“And he’s gone now?”
“Yeah. But he might be coming after you. I told him I wasn’t backing down, so he might try to hurt you to teach me a lesson.”
He released a chuckle. “You think someone’s comin’ after me? Girlie, you need to worry about you. You’ve seen what I do to people who dare to threaten me or mine.”
I couldn’t help smiling a bit. “Be careful anyway, okay?”
“Of course.”
The phone beeped with an incoming call. “Hank, I think Marco’s calling me. I’ll be home soon.”
“You be safe too.”
“I will.” I hung up and answered. “Hello?”
“Carly,” Marco said. “What’s goin’ on?”
“It’s important for you to know I’m okay.”
“Now I’m really worried. What happened?”
“Someone broke in after you left.”
“Into the house? Where were you?” He sounded furious, but I knew he wasn’t angry with me.
“In the shower.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Oh my God, Carly. Did he…?”
“No,” I said. “He didn’t come into the bathroom, but he was waiting for me when I got out.”
“Carly.”
“I’m okay. He didn’t even come near me. After I got out of the shower, I heard a noise and knew it wasn’t you, so I loaded your shotgun and went out to greet him. He was sitting at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee.”
“You should have crawled out the back window.” He cursed under his breath. “I knew I should have put a phone line in the bedroom.”
“I’m fine. He told me he had a message. That I needed to let it go, although he didn’t say what it was or who sent him.”
“It was Bart.”
“That’s my thought too.”
“What was the threat?” Marco asked.
“He mentioned there are lots of accidents around here, and the people I love might be in danger.”
“If you don’t let it go?”
“Yes.”
Marco was quiet for a moment. “Definitely Bart. I take it you didn’t recognize the guy?”
“No, but he drove an older black truck and his license plate was covered in mud.” I took a breath. “I don’t know how he got in, Marco. I locked the front door. I don’t see any broken windows.”
“I’m getting an alarm system, but first I’m coming home.”
“Unless you’re coming home to take fingerprints or try to get DNA from the cigarette butt he stubbed out on your table, there’s no point. I’m going home to get dressed, then I have to go to Spencer Gensler’s tutoring appointment.”
“Maybe you should cancel that.”
“Not a chance. If I do, Bart wins.” I couldn’t let that happen, no matter how afraid I was for Hank and Marco. Because someone needed to take a stand against Bart, and we were close…we had to be if he was reacting like this. I stared at the burn mark on the table. “I’m sorry I let him burn your table. Maybe we can sand it out.”
“I don’t care about the damn table, Carly. I care about you,” he said, sounding frustrated, but I recognized it for what it was. He was afraid for me.
“I’m okay.”
“He was there while you were in the shower, Carly. He could have…”
“He didn’t. I’m okay.”
“You have to leave Drum,” he said, his voice strangled. “It’s not safe for you.”