a card in his wallet identifying him as retired FBI. They were running him through the database to see—”
“DJ.” Harper went cold. He must have heard the shock in her voice, because he gave her an odd look. “The dead man. What was his name?”
“I think it’s Howard. Let me check.” He picked up his notebook as she waited, unable to breathe. It couldn’t be him. It couldn’t.
“Yeah, here it is.” DJ turned around. “Lee Howard.”
He said something else but Harper didn’t hear it.
Last night Lee had promised to get to Dowell before Dowell got to her. And now Lee was dead.
“Harper?” DJ’s frown deepened. “What’s wrong? Do you know him?”
She nodded, her lips tight, and picked up her cell phone, dialing with shaking hands.
Behind his glasses, DJ’s eyes were filled with worry. “Was he your friend?”
She couldn’t find the words to explain and she didn’t trust herself to speak. She walked away, her steps wooden and stiff. She was in the hallway by the time Luke answered. “Harper? Everything okay?”
“Your homicide victim. Lee Howard.” Her voice trembled. “He’s the guy who told me about Dowell. I talked to him last night.” She took a shuddering breath. “He’s six-three, about one-ninety, late fifties, gray hair, recently shaved mustache…”
He interrupted her. “Wait. Hang on, hang on.… You saw him last night? What time?”
“He left my house at three thirty in the morning. I told Blazer.” She leaned against the wall, her forehead hot against the cool plaster. “Luke, it was Martin Dowell, wasn’t it? He got away from the police. And I think I saw him on Bay Street five minutes ago.”
“My God.” Luke sounded stunned. “How the hell could the state lose someone like Dowell?”
Harper didn’t have to answer. They both knew how. Dowell was good. He’d been planning this for years.
“Everyone underestimates Martin Dowell,” Lee had said.
“Check the hotel room for anything that could be Dowell’s,” she told him, pressing her fingers against her eyes. “Anything that might make the state withdraw his parole.”
“You can count on it,” he said, tightly.
“And tell Blazer. He was planning to put a deputy outside my door tonight.” She took a shaky breath. “Tell him that deputy better be a damn good shot.”
“Harper, wait. Are you sure you should go home? Can you stay somewhere else?”
“Where, Luke?” Her voice quavered. “I could stay at Bonnie’s but he would kill Bonnie to get to me. I could stay at a hotel and he’d have me alone in a room on the sixteenth floor. Where am I supposed to go? I can’t sleep at the police station.”
“I don’t like you being alone out there,” he said.
“Me neither.” She swallowed hard. “But if Dowell just killed an FBI agent, nowhere is safe for me.”
There was a brief pause before he replied. “I’ll talk to Blazer as soon as we hang up.” Through the phone, she could hear the rough edge to his breathing. “Harper, don’t worry. We’re going to get that son of a bitch.”
In the silence after he hung up, Harper stood for a long time in the empty hallway with her back to the wall, thinking about the predatory man she’d seen on the street and the tall, quiet FBI agent who’d tried to save her.
30
By the time Harper left the paper that night, the weather had begun to turn. The wind was picking up. The night sky had a greenish hue that drained the color from the city.
A smattering of rain fell as she walked out to her car. The security guard stood at the edge of the street, keeping watch. A blue-and-white Savannah patrol car sat behind the red Camaro, its engine loud in the quiet street.
Harper jumped into the driver’s seat, starting the engine with a roar.
The patrol car accompanied her as far as the city limits, dropping back right when she turned onto Highway 80. After that, for an unnerving few miles, she was alone. But, just before she hit the marshes, a Chatham County sheriff’s deputy appeared in front of her, rolling slow. As she neared, he sped up and stuck with her the rest of the way. When she pulled into the driveway at Spinnaker Cottage, he backed into the entrance and parked there, facing the street. Effectively blocking anyone from getting in or out.
As she walked from the car into a slow, steady rain, Harper lifted her hand and saw the faint movement as the deputy responded.
She hurried up the steps to the porch, finding Zuzu, high