TO DIE FOR (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 8) - Willow Rose Page 0,38
you having car trouble?” he asked, smiling, almost smirking.
“W-what are you doing here?” she asked, taking a step back as he came closer.
A thousand scenarios rushed through her mind, none of them ended well for her. Cars sped by on the bridge, and she wondered if anyone would stop and help if he attacked her. Would they even see?
“I was just passing by on the bridge when I saw you had stopped,” he said, still smiling.
Lily wished he’d stop doing that. It made him even creepier. She fiddled with her phone, wondering if she could somehow call Peter without this guy noticing it. She didn’t want to anger him. But Peter hadn’t answered when she called earlier, right when the car died. Why would she think he’d do it now?
“Can I help?” he asked.
“Stop right there,” she said and held out her hand. “Don’t come any closer.”
He stopped. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to help. You looked like you needed it. Did you run out of gas?”
She breathed heavily. This guy scared her so much.
“It’s the battery,” she said. “It has happened before.”
“The battery, huh?”
“It’s okay. I’ve already called for help. They’ll be here soon,” she lied. The fact was she hadn’t been able to get ahold of anyone, and she didn’t have any roadside assistance. She couldn’t afford it. She was stuck there, and this creepy stalker was her only help.
“Oh, okay,” he said. “I could give you a jump start if you need it.”
“I don’t.” She turned her head away to avoid looking directly at him. “I don’t need your help.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I got the cables in my trunk.”
Lily stared at him. Her pulse was quickening as she contemplated taking his help. It wasn’t like anyone else was coming, and she really had to get to work. If he tried anything, she had the phone in her hand and could dial nine-one-one.
“Let me just go get them,” he said. “I really just want to help.”
Lily thought it over for a few seconds more, then exhaled, her shoulders coming down. “All right. If it’s no trouble, then…”
The man’s face lit up. “It really isn’t. Let me just go and get them. Give me a sec. I’ll be right back.”
Lily watched him go back to his car and open the trunk. She looked at her phone to see if Peter had called her back or texted her, but there was nothing. With her pulse throbbing in her throat, she watched the man pull out jumper cables from his car, then approach her. She imagined him using them to tie her up before throwing her in the trunk. As he came closer and closer, she could hear her own heartbeat.
He held up the cables.
“All right, let’s do this, shall we?”
Chapter 40
“Owen?”
I said his name like I believed he’d be able to answer. Panic had started to set in as I scanned the area around me, searching for the car seat carrier with Owen inside it.
It couldn’t just have vanished, could it? It had been right there, right there next to me. And now, it wasn’t. I didn’t understand. Melissa had put him there while I took care of Angel. I had only taken my eyes off of him for a few seconds.
Could Melissa have put him somewhere else? Or taken him? But how? She had left. I waved at her as she walked to her car. It was gone now; the car was gone from the spot where it had been.
Think, Eva Rae. Think!
“Owen?” I shrieked, then walked around the car. Inside, Angel had woken up and was fussing now. I was trying to keep the panic inside me at bay, but it was getting harder. My heart was beating so hard, it almost hurt, and I felt like screaming.
Could Melissa have taken him? I thought again. It made no sense; why would she? Yet I grabbed my phone and called her.
“Did you take Owen?”
“What do you mean?”
“The baby. The boy. Owen.”
“No. I put him right next to you. You saw me do it, and then I left.”
“But…but…”
“Do you mean to tell me he’s not with you?” Melissa said, her voice getting loud and pitchy.
“I…I don’t know,” I said and placed my other hand on my head while tears of desperation sprang to my eyes. I scanned the area repeatedly, but there was no sign of the baby or the carrier.
“What do you mean you don’t know, Eva Rae? Have you lost your mind?”