Which was the reason she noticed the car at the far end of the parking lot that pulled out behind her as she pulled out onto the street.
In her rearview mirror, she could see the car’s headlights burning into the darkness, and something niggled at the back of her brain. The vehicle looked familiar. The same car or one very similar had been parked down the street the morning she had left her father’s house in Westlake. A blue Buick sedan with Hertz rental plates.
She wouldn’t have noticed the car except for her paranoia. Wouldn’t have kept an eye on it a good deal of the way back to the city that morning. Thinking about it now, wondering if the car a few vehicles back could possibly be the same, should have been ridiculous, but somehow it didn’t seem that way.
She reminded herself if a threat turned out to be real, it wasn’t paranoia at all.
On a whim, careful to keep her speed the same so she wouldn’t alert the driver if he really was following her, she made an unexpected turn onto a smaller, less traveled two-lane road that would take her in the same direction.
Headlights, several car lengths back, made the same turn. Her stomach tightened. She was pretty sure the headlights belonged to the same car, and her pulse kicked up.
Winding her way along the less traveled road, she continued on toward her town house as if nothing were wrong. The same car kept pace with her all the way, keeping its distance, just far enough back so she couldn’t be sure what was going on.
If he’d followed her before, he would already know where she lived so there was no reason to avoid going home. Except she didn’t want to be there by herself if the man came after her.
Her palms were sweating. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. She needed to figure things out, needed to be sure she wasn’t in danger. Where could she go that she would be safe? Oh, God, Chase was the last person she wanted to see and the first person she thought of.
Maybe Chase wouldn’t be in the office but Bran would be there. If not, The Max was full of macho detectives, all armed and capable of handling whatever situation came up. She turned toward Maximum Security but didn’t go too fast. The car stayed on her tail.
As she pulled into the parking lot, it occurred to her it was after closing. Her gaze shot to the window, and relief poured through her when she saw the lights were still on. Chase had told her the guys all worked late off and on.
As she parked in the lot, she looked for Chase’s silver Mercedes, but it wasn’t there. He usually drove his pickup, but there were no trucks in the lot, either. She breathed a little easier when she spotted Bran’s black Jeep Wrangler. Since it was after hours, she walked around the building to the front door, and spotted the Buick pulling into a parking space a ways down the block across the street. When the headlights went off, a shiver ran down her spine.
Harper pulled open the front door and frantically glanced around the office, but the only person in sight was the little dark-haired receptionist, Mindy, a name she recalled from the plate on the desk the first time she had been there.
“May I help you?” Mindy smiled. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You’re Chase’s client Ms. Winston.”
Harper felt an ache in her chest.Chase’s client.Had she ever meant more to him than that? “I’m Harper Winston. I was hoping Brandon would be here. I saw his Jeep in the parking lot.”
“Bran’s down at Clancy’s. Chase left to run an errand.” Mindy frowned. “Are you all right? You’re trembling.” She rose and came out from behind the desk. “What’s going on?”
Harper glanced toward the window, but all she could see was darkness. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. I think someone followed me from my office. I think maybe they followed me the other day, too.”
“Sit down, Ms. Winston. I’m calling the police.”
“No! I don’t... I don’t think that’s a good idea. It might be nothing. I don’t know. I’m not sure.”
But Mindy was already hitting 9-1-1 on her cell phone. When the dispatcher answered, she reported a possible stalker lurking in a car out in front of the office. As she gave the police the information, she walked over and turned the lock on the front door.
Harper sank down on the tufted leather sofa in the reception area, and Mindy sat down beside her.
“I’m calling Chase,” Mindy said. “He’ll want to be here.”
The knot in Harper’s stomach went tighter. “Please don’t do that. The cops are on the way. Listen. Do you hear that? Police sirens. They’re almost here already.”
Mindy looked uncertain. “You’re Chase’s client. If I don’t call him, he’s going to be very unhappy.”
A police car rolled to a stop out front, siren wailing, red and blue lights flashing through the window. Harper jumped up as car doors flew open, and a pair of uniformed patrolmen ducked out of the patrol car.
Mindy unlocked the door and the officers streamed inside, one tall, black haired and wildly good-looking, the other older, heavier, with salt-and-pepper hair.
“You’re the woman who called?” the handsome officer asked Harper.
“I’m the one who called,” Mindy corrected, adjusting her tortoiseshell glasses. “I’m Mindy. This is Harper Winston. She thinks someone followed her down here. She thinks they’ve followed her before.”
Harper looked out the window, but the space where the Buick had been parked was empty. She took a deep breath, suddenly regretting her impulse to drive to the office. Her father was under federal investigation. Would a police report involving his daughter somehow make things worse for him?
“I’m sorry for the trouble, Officers. The car I saw is already gone. Things have been kind of unsettled lately. I was probably just overreacting.”
