Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,34

all the news in the media about the murders and her amnesia, with him parading her all around town, of course the killer had known exactly where to come to find her.

And it wasn’t just Tamara he’d put at risk with his own thoughtlessness, but also Linda and Samantha as well, both brunettes and both potentially fitting the killer’s profile.

He’d put everybody he cared about at risk by not anticipating that the killer would return for Tamara. Because nothing had happened so far he’d thought maybe the killer’s focus had moved to somebody else, but this was proof he apparently had somebody in the house in his sights.

This had been a tragedy averted, but things had to change and they had to change immediately. The first thing he needed to do was check on Tamara and make sure she was okay. The second thing he wanted to do was call Tom and get somebody over here to dust the window for fingerprints or any evidence that might have been left behind.

He only hoped this near-miss might actually yield some clues.

* * *

THE FIRST THING TAMARA thought when Seth walked into the front door was that he looked lethal and hot in a pair of boxers with every muscle tensed and his gun in his hand.

“You both okay?” he asked, his gaze going to Linda and then to Tamara, who sat side by side on the sofa.

“Just shaken up a little,” Tamara admitted. “Thank God I woke up when I did.” She fought a shiver as she thought of that moment when she’d suddenly awakened and seen the dark shadow of a man at the window.

Seth walked over to the coffee table and picked up his cell phone. Tamara and Linda sat silently while he made a call to Sheriff Atkins.

“I guess you didn’t see him outside,” Tamara said.

“I didn’t even know which direction to give chase,” he replied. “You two stay here and don’t open the door for anyone but Tom and I’m going to get dressed and head back to the bedroom to check out the window.”

As he disappeared down the hallway, the shiver Tamara had tried to control swept over her. Linda leaned over and patted her hand. “How about a cup of hot tea? Maybe that would take away some of the chill.”

Tamara nodded absently. Her thoughts were scattered. She knew she should be scared to death...and she was, but she also felt as if she was still trapped in a bad dream where nothing seemed quite real. There was a faint numbness that had swept over her through the past couple of minutes, a numbness that kept her from screaming once again in terror.

Seth returned to the living room, this time wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He frowned with concern at her. “Are you sure you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you in any way, did he?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t even get inside the room. I don’t know what woke me up, but I opened my eyes and he was there at the window and I just screamed.”

At that moment a knock on the door indicated the arrival of the local law. Seth opened the door to admit both Sheriff Atkins and Raymond Michaels. As he led them back into the bedroom, Linda urged her to join her at the kitchen table for a cup of hot tea.

“You need anything else?” Linda asked sympathetically as Tamara sat across from her at the table and cupped her hands around the warmth of the mug. “You look a little shell-shocked.”

Tamara forced a smile and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just a few minutes after two. “Don’t you feel a little of the same? I’m sure the last thing you expected was for some man to try to break into your house in the middle of the night. I think the best thing for me to do is head back to Amarillo first thing in the morning.”

“Let’s wait and see what Seth and the sheriff have in mind,” Linda said, appearing unruffled by the middle-of-the-night chaos. “It’s never any good to make decisions in the heat of the moment.”

Tamara sipped her coffee, her thoughts scattered in every direction. Somebody had tried to get to her through the window. Seth had kissed her and thoughts of her previous marriage brought with them a sense of anxiety that made no sense. The kiss and the odd feeling concerning her marriage had kept her