CELEBRITY STATUS (The Kate Huntington mystery series #4) (22 page)

            If she had something valuable to tell him about Thompson it would be worth the trip, since the sooner they put a stop to the stalking, the sooner they could dump her as a client. He had decided to tell Cherise that Canfield and Hernandez would not be able to handle her routine security needs once the stalker was stopped. But he hadn’t thought of a good reason to give her yet, so that was a discussion for another day. Today he would find out what she had to say and pass it on to Rose, who was hot on the trail of Kirk Thompson up in New York.

            Skip was zipping along I-70 when his cell phone rang. It was Rose. “Hang on a sec,” he said, then punched a button on his dash and dropped the phone back on the passenger seat. Hot damn, he loved this new truck with all its little doodads, including a wireless hands-free network linked in with his cell.

            “What’s up, partner?”

            “Thompson’s in Maryland,” Rose said. “Baltimore City to be exact.”

            “Oh, yeah.”

            “Yup. Located the last buddy he mooched off of up here. Said Kirk was headed for another mutual friend’s place down there. Got an address and phone number for the friend. Address sounds familiar.” She rattled it off.

            “That’s Lansing’s building,” Skip said. “Now ain’t that interesting?”

            “Is it a ritzy place?”

            “Yeah, one of the most expensive in the Inner Harbor area.”

            “Then it may be a coincidence. His family’s got money. He travels in a pretty upper crust crowd.”

            “As Dolph would say, I’m allergic to coincidences. If Thompson’s got bucks, why’s he mooching off of friends?” Skip said.

            “Had money. Apparently his family got fed up with him and cut him loose. Buddy up here says he’s pretty far gone on the drugs. Brain’s turnin’ to mush.”

            “Okay, I’m on my way to the farm. Cherise insisted she needed to talk to me about something. Call my cell back after we hang up and leave me the apartment and phone number on voicemail. I’ll go pay good ole Kirk a little visit this afternoon.”

            After a pause, Rose said, “You think that’s a good idea, going out there?”

            “Like I said, she insisted. I checked for tails. Hey Rose, let me clarify something. You’re okay with it if
I
tell her to shove it?”

            “More than okay.”

            “Good, then I’m making a New Year’s resolution, six months early. Clients either accept our services on our terms or they make other arrangements.”

            “Amen to that, partner. Take Dolph or Mac with you to see Thompson. Drugs can make people crazy strong sometimes.”

* * *

            Skip decided on a tactic as he swung into Cherise’s driveway. At the door, he didn’t give her time to try to hug him. He strode past her, headed for the horseshoe group of white sofas. “We need to make this quick, Cherise,” he said over his shoulder. “That hot lead on Thompson just got hotter. I need to follow up on it.”

            “I thought Rose was doing that.”

            “She was but she’s in New York and she just found out that he’s down here, in Baltimore.”

            Cherise paled.

            “Yeah, a little too close for comfort,” Skip said. “I have a current address for him, but he hasn’t been staying put for long.”

            He sat down and was relieved when Cherise sat across from him, not beside him. She was wearing a revealing halter top and shorts, but she crossed her bare legs demurely.

            “I’ve been thinking about that last time Kirk was here. I think he was trying to get back together with me, not just looking for a place to hang his hat. And that would have been just a couple weeks before the notes started.”

            “I’d kind of figured that out already, Cherise.” He tried to keep his voice patient.

            “Of course, but there’s more. Kirk was a real charmer when we first met, lavished me with gifts, acted like he’d do anything to please me, but after awhile he started to change. Got more demanding and controlling, and he had a temper. He’d get pissed off over little stuff, and say mean things, turn everything around so it was my fault. That’s when I started to realize his drug use was more than recreational, like he claimed, and I broke it off with him.”

            “Did he ever get physically violent?”

            “No, but he was starting to scare me with his temper. And the way he could twist things, he was almost delusional at times, especially when he was high. I think he’s quite capable of doing all this sick stuff.”

            “But this latest note’s tone is a lot different than the other stuff?”

            Cherise shook her head. “He’s just changed tactics. He’d do that, whenever I’d get pissed and start thinking about breaking up with him, he’d backpedal and get all sweet again. The other thing I wanted to discuss, Skip, was whether I should put up a fence around the property.”

            “It’s what, fifteen acres? That’s a lot of fencing, and fences don’t keep out determined people. It might just give you a false sense of security. A couple of big dogs would be a better investment.”

            “I hate dogs.” Cherise shuddered. “I guess you’d say I’m downright phobic of them. That’s another reason why I think Kirk’s the stalker. It’s something we had in common, although he’s not afraid of them like I am. He just doesn’t like them, or most animals for that matter. He’d know that was a good way to get to me. If I’d been the one to open that box, and seen that dog’s head looking up at me, I’d have probably passed out cold.”

            “How many of your other ex-lovers would also know that?”

            Cherise bristled. “I don’t have
that
many ex-lovers, Skip. You make it sound like I change men along with my underwear.”

            Skip struggled to keep his expression neutral. That wasn’t too far from his actual thoughts on the matter.

            “To answer your question, Kirk was the only one I ever admitted that to. I fancied myself in love with him until he started to change.”

            Skip nodded, glancing at his watch.

            “I know this is supposed to be a verboten subject,” Cherise quickly went on. “But I wanted to apologize again for my totally unintentional slur against Kate. I know I’ve flirted with you. It’s just second nature for me to do so with a handsome man. But I hope you didn’t think I was coming on to you. Number one, I like Kate, and number two, I don’t date married men. Way, way too messy.”

            When Skip didn’t say anything, she added, “By the way, thank her for me, please, for the referral. The new therapist is working out fine.”

            “Will do. Is that all, Cherise? ’Cause I really need to get going. I don’t want this guy to slip through our fingers.” Skip pushed himself to a stand.

            There was a quick flash of anger in her eyes, but then she smiled, also standing up. “Yes, that’s all, Skip. Give my best to Kate.”

* * *

            Kirk’s new roommate turned out to be a woman, which was a little awkward considering the reason for their visit. She invited them to have a seat and offered refreshments, assuming they were also friends of her friend.

            “Iced tea would be great,” Dolph quickly said. “I’ll help you carry things in.” He jumped up and followed the young woman out of the room. “Walkies,” he said to Skip under his breath as he walked past him.

            Skip suppressed a grin. He studied Thompson, slouched down in an overstuffed armchair. The guy couldn’t be much more than thirty but he looked at least a decade older. There were signs he’d once been handsome, but his face was gaunt now, his eyes not quite focused and his shoulder-length dark hair was frizzy and tangled. His gray tee-shirt and torn jeans were loose on a tall but too-thin frame.

            “Hey Kirk, did you know your old neighbor’s golden retriever’s missing?”

            Sure enough the asshole’s dark eyes widened and his mouth fell open for a second. Then he tried to cover his reaction with a nonchalant gesture, pushing hair out of his face with an unsteady hand.

            “Okay, so we know you sent the dog parts,” Skip said conversationally. “And I gotta give you credit for having the good sense to stop after Lansing was arrested. But then you had to go and get stupid on us and start up again.”

            The man did a good job of faking confusion. “Start up? I don’t know what you mean.”

            “Oh, I think you do. And I’ll be able to prove it once the lab gets finished lifting prints off the latest note. They can do wonders these days, even with paper.”

            “I...” Thompson stopped, narrowing his eyes, as his damaged brain cells tried to function. “Uh, I’d assume a stalker would use gloves.”

            “A smart one would, but I’m not so sure you’re all that smart. You really should have stopped with the dog.”

            “I...” Thompson caught himself again.

            Skip resisted the temptation to shake his head in disgust. This guy’s brain really was mush. “Baltimore City requested your prints from New York. They got a match with some from the knife.” Skip was hoping he’d let something slip about the gory bouquet, which they’d managed to keep out of the news.

            Thompson’s eyes skittered around the room. After too long a pause, he said, “What knife?”

            “You’d better stop now,” Skip said, in a nonchalant voice. He stood and stretched a bit to emphasize his height and muscular chest. He leaned over toward Thompson and was gratified to see a flicker of fear in the guy’s eyes. “Cause I know where to find you. And scampering off to somebody else’s house won’t do you much good. I found you once, I’ll find you again.”

            The young woman, Nancy Knight, carried a tray with glasses, sugar bowl and a dish of lemon slices into the room. Dolph had a half empty glass of iced tea in one hand and the pitcher in the other. Nancy looked a bit surprised to see Skip standing.

            “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he drawled, laying on the Texas. “I just now ’membered another engagement. That tea sure does look temptin’ though. Mind if I have me a quick half a glass?” He nabbed a glass off the tray and held it out toward Dolph, who dutifully filled it half full.

            “Sugar or lemon, Mr. Canfield?”

            “Neither, thanks. This’ll do just fine.” Skip was only taking the tea to be polite. He didn’t want to linger long enough to doctor it to taste. Keeping an eye on Thompson in his peripheral vision, he chugged down the tea and smacked his lips. As he handed the empty glass to the young woman, he noted that she looked a lot like Cherise–long blonde hair, baby blue eyes, slender figure and fair skin.

            “That sure hit the spot. Sorry we have to run off. Nice chattin’ with ya, Kirk.” Skip turned his back to Nancy Knight and towered over Thompson, still slouched in his chair trying to look unphased. “Behave yerself now, boy, ya hear. An’ take good care of this little lady.”

            While they waited for the elevator out in the well-appointed hallway, Dolph whispered, “Wish I could turn on fake accents like that.”

            Skip looked at him and drawled, “That ain’t no fake, I’ll have ya know, suh.” Then in his normal voice, he said, “You didn’t know I’m from Texas? Thought I’d told you that somewhere along the way. I’ve been in Maryland long enough now I talk funny like you Northerners, but I like to revisit my roots, now an’ agin.”

            “When you want to charm a lady,” Dolph observed as they entered the empty elevator.

            “Does come in handy that way. You get anything useful out of her in the kitchen?”

            “Not really, but the stars in her eyes say she’s in love, poor kid.”

            “Probably thinks she can save him if she just loves him enough. You notice how much she resembles Cherise?”

            “Yup, but her personality’s completely different. She seemed kind of sweet. Hope the bastard doesn’t break her heart.”

            “He probably will. Kate said that anyone who would kill animals to get Cherise’s attention might very well be a psychopath. He’s our stalker, or at least he was, up through the dog’s head. Not so sure about this last note.” Skip filled Dolph in on his conversation with Thompson.

            “You threw a little fear into him, huh?”

            “As best I could. Thug isn’t my favorite role. Time will tell now, I guess. If she gets more notes, then either Thompson doesn’t scare all that easy...”

            “Or we’ve got a copycat,” Dolph said.

            “Please don’t say that out loud, or I might just be tempted to shoot myself.”

* * *

            When Kate left her office that afternoon, she was exhausted. It had been an intense day. She had finally had to hospitalize Carol Foster, which meant she had been on the phone every minute between clients, calling Carol’s husband to get him to watch his wife like a hawk until arrangements could be made, then checking the two closest hospitals before she found an available bed, and coordinating with the psychiatrist who would do the actual admission.

            Lacking the energy to walk to the corner, Kate was debating whether or not to risk jaywalking through the rush-hour traffic to get to the parking lot where her car was parked. She heard someone calling her name. She turned to see a woman hurrying along the crowded sidewalk in her direction. She was wearing a low-cut sundress, stiletto-heeled sandals, and sunglasses, and holding a big floppy hat clamped to her head. It took Kate a moment to realized who it was.

            She almost blurted out Cherise’s name, then caught herself. What was the woman’s real name? Oh, yeah, Carol, like her suicidal client.

            “Hi, uh, Carol,” Kate said.

            “Hi, Kate. I’m so glad I ran into you,” Cherise said breathlessly. “I wanted to talk to you.”

            After an awkward pause, as they were jostled by the people hurrying past them, Kate said, “I, uh, was just heading for my car.” She gestured across the street and started moving toward the corner.