Last Girls Alive (Detective Katie Scott #4) - Jennifer Chase Page 0,90
she thought it was in her dream, but the knocking continued as she groggily became more awake.
Cisco barked and stood in the doorway of her bedroom. His tail low. A guttural growl. His body tense.
She had left her phone in the kitchen and couldn’t see her security cameras. The knocking continued. Glancing at her alarm clock, she had only been asleep for forty-five minutes. Pulling on a robe, Katie secured her sash and rummaged in her nightstand drawer until she pulled out a gun. Readying it, she moved quietly through the house, leaving all lights off. She used a hand gesture to Cisco and he shadowed her in silence, blending in with the darkness.
Peeking out the window, Katie didn’t see any car and wondered who had so boldly knocked on her door at night. It wasn’t Chad because he would have had his truck.
She stood next to her door and turned on the outside light. “Who is it?” she said with authority.
“Candace,” came the unexpected reply.
Katie took a moment to comprehend. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry, Detective, but I had no other place to go.”
“Bleib,” she instructed Cisco to stay.
Katie opened the door. Candace stood there in the same clothes she had been wearing during their scuffle in the rain at the park. She had a lightweight beige backpack slung over her right shoulder.
“How did you find where I lived?”
“I… I have been following you.”
“Of course,” she said with some cynicism. “You have my number. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did. It went to voicemail.”
“Oh.” Katie remembered that she was charging her phone.
“Is there something wrong?” Katie didn’t know what else to say.
“May I come in?” the girl asked.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please can I crash here tonight?”
Katie blinked in surprise, realizing that she probably didn’t have anywhere to go.
“Please, just for a little while. I can’t get ahold of anyone I know here. They just let me go tonight and it’s late.”
“They just let you go?”
“Yeah.”
“What did they charge you with?”
“Obstruction. Hindering an investigation.”
“How did you make bail?”
“It was $5,000 and I was able to give the bail bonds $500—that’s all I have.”
Katie felt bad as she watched the girl explain what had happened to her. “I can’t let you stay here with these investigations underway. But, you can stay tonight due to extenuating circumstances—I’m going to see if I can get you some safe housing. I have to let my bosses know tomorrow that you were here. I don’t know if that’s going to help or hurt your case. Understand?”
She nodded.
“Come in,” she said and opened the door wider.
Candace walked inside and stood about six feet away, politely waiting.
“Have you eaten anything?” Katie asked.
She shook her head.
“I can make you a sandwich,” Katie said and walked to the kitchen.
Cisco padded to the new person and gave her a once-over, finally ending up sniffing her shoes.
“Is he friendly?”
“Cisco? Yes, he’s friendly. He was a war dog. We did two tours in Afghanistan.”
Candace carefully walked past the dog and sat at the counter facing Katie.
“Turkey and Swiss?” Katie asked.
“That’s great.”
Katie put together a hearty sandwich with turkey, Swiss cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato on wheat bread. She put it on a small plate and slid it over to Candace. “You want something to drink?”
“Milk? If you have it.”
“I get the feeling that you have something to tell me,” she said, pouring a glass of milk.
Candace took two hefty bites and thought as she chewed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think. And I think that someone is going after us girls—”
Katie put down the milk. “Why do you think that?” she said suspiciously. Still not convinced that the ordeal with the containers at Elm Hill was as innocent as Candace claimed.
“Because.”
“Why, Candace?”
“It’s no secret that we, all of us girls, aren’t perfect.”
“And?”
“We’ve all done things that we’re not proud of—but we’ve had to survive,” she said, stuffing more of the sandwich in her mouth.
“Slow down. When was the last time you ate?”
She shrugged. “I dunno.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ve been trying to get in contact with a friend. I know she’ll let me stay with her.”