Lindsey nodded. “I’ll e-mail the Pattersons. They’ll be disappointed, but we have to do what’s best for us.”
I gripped her hand over the console. “Things will work out. I promise.”
“I know they will.”
***
Our lives returned to some semblance of normalcy. Lindsey worked long hours for those paychecks while I job hunted. When I didn’t hunt, I packed her belongings and carried them next door to my house. I knew the neighbors watched from behind blinds and partially closed doors, but I didn’t care. The carpet and drapes were replaced, the walls repainted, and no stink of smoke remained in my house.
I even had the driveway painted gray to cover the black stain where Rivers had burned my prized classic truck.
I gazed around at the lack of possessions in Lindsey’s house, the nearly empty rooms. “Is the realtor putting this place on the market?”
“Yeah,” Lindsey replied from her desk. “I got an e-mail from Mr. Patterson. Once we’re out and the place cleaned, it’ll be listed. I think they’ll ask more than what they wanted me to pay.”
“Good for them.” I bent over her and kissed her neck. “They seem like very kind people.”
“Yep. They are.”
In time, we dismantled Lindsey’s bed and reassembled it in my spare bedroom. When she commented on needing her home work place, I showed her the spacious finished basement.
“Cool in the summer, and I’ll make sure it’s warm in the winter,” I said, hugging her. “If we have guests, we now have a guest room.”
Lindsey gazed around the gray cement walls. “It needs some serious artwork down here. Carpet, a sound system, maybe a TV.”
“Your wish is my command, m’lady.”
Skinner dropped by without calling first, staring at the lack of boxes and furnishings in Lindsey’s house. “Are you running away, girl?”
“Yep. To my man’s place next door.”
He grinned and kissed her cheek. “I’m happy for you.”
“So what do you want?” I asked. “Have you caught Rivers?”
Skinner helped himself to a bottled water from the fridge and leaned against the counter. After a long pull, he shook his head.
“I came to tell you Bethany Byrd’s been arrested. At the Nevada-California state line.”
I exchanged a long look with Lindsey. Her expression carefully neutral, she commented, “That’s been weeks to get from here to there. What took her so long?”
Skinner shrugged. “Maybe she took a sight-seeing trip. Who knows? Anyway, she was pulled over in the stolen Honda, was booked, and will be remanded into California’s custody within days. She’ll face charges of stealing the Ford pickup and her aggravated assault. Only then might we get her on stealing the Honda, but she'll be in prison for quite a while before that happens.”
Lindsey sighed. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about her coming after me again. In case my scare I threw into her wore off.”
“I’m sure that won’t happen.” Skinner studied her. “The detective in charge of her case told me something interesting.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Bethany won’t say a word.” Skinner smiled slightly, still watching Lindsey. “Not a damn thing. Wouldn’t even offer her name, ask for an attorney, nothing. Now why is that?”
“She knows she guilty,” Lindsey snapped. “Can we get her on stalking me, threatening my life? Attacking me, Brody? Chasing us across town?”
Lazily, Skinner drank his water. “Maybe. Have to have a chat with the DA on the possibility. Still, it’ll be years before we get that chance. California gets her first.”
“Too bad,” I muttered. “She should pay for what she did here.”
“She might. In time.”
