CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
OH SHIT OH shit oh shit. Tara jumped to her feet.
Maybe last night hadn’t been a random burglary attempt after all.
“Robbie, we need to go inside, honey.” She shoved her phone into her back pocket with a shaky hand. She needed to call the police, and she needed to get the hell out of here.
Every minute she stayed might be putting Robbie in danger, but she couldn’tjust leave him alone.
The sun beat down on her head.
Sweat trickled down her sides.
The barren trees that lined the sidewalk stood motionless, gnarled and angry sentries who could offer no protection. Where was the damned breeze?
Adrenaline charged her veins as two people approached the playground from opposite sides of the complex. The man wore an olive-drab bomber jacket, a black ballcap, and over-the-ear headphones. Her neck prickled. Could he be the man at the door last night? His build was about right, and the burglar had also worn a baseball cap.
As if thousands of people didn’t.
Still… Time to go.
The blond woman striding toward them wore jeans, a loose cowl-necked sweater, and a small purse. In low-heeled boots, she was probably six feet tall.Adele.
Tara releaseda gust of air. “Thank God.” She grabbed the jacket Robbie had stripped off after playing on the swings and jogged toward him. “Robbie, Adele’s here.”
The boy’s head lifted and he popped out of the earth mover’s seat to run toward the woman. “Addy!”
Adele’s face split into a smile as she grabbed up the boy and swung him around. “Hey, kiddo. I thought you were sick.” Her voice was higher-pitchedthan the last time Tara had seen her, and her features seemed softer, more delicate. If Tara hadn’t already known the woman was transgender, she might have been none the wiser.
Robbie shook his head and grinned. “I’m all better. I had waffles.”
Adele laughed and walked toward Tara. “Hi. Good to see you again.”
“You too.” She forced a smile past her raging nerves.
They shook hands and headedtoward the last building in the row. Tara glanced around, looking for anything suspicious, and walked head up, on high alert. Somehow, she needed to extricate herself without alarming Robbie, but also ensure that no one showed up here looking for her.
Assuming anyone was looking for her at all. Was she being ridiculous? Maybe the woman she’d run into had nothing to do with the reporter’s death.She could’ve been watching her brother’s dog, just like she said. But maybe not. According to the article, they were leaning toward a robbery gone wrong, but weren’t committing to any scenarios this early in the investigation.
They hadn’t questioned Tara because they didn’t know she was there. Which meant they probably didn’t know about the woman who—if she’d murdered the journalist—had a muchbigger motive to want Tara dead than Greg Luciano had. Tara had latched onto the theory about Greg because it was the only one that had made sense at the time. She hadn’t given the incident with the woman in Arlington another thought once the bandage came off her own knee.
But now… Tara might be the only witness who could place the blonde at the scene of the crime.
On the sidewalk, the guyin the black hat approached as they turned toward the stairwell. Tara stuck her hand inside her bag. Did she have anything that could work as a weapon?
He passed them by without a glance, head down and bobbing slightly as if he was into the beat.
At the apartment door, she struggled to catch her breath, and it wasn’t from climbing the steps to the third floor. What if someone had followedher here? Or tracked her? She’d been trying to get comfortable trusting her instincts again, but she didn’t know what to think anymore.
“Everything okay?” Adele asked as they entered the apartment. “You remind me of Mick in the old days, head on a swivel, hyper-vigilant.”
“Um.” Would Adele think she was crazy? “I don’t think so.”
Through tacit agreement, they got Robbie settled in frontof a video and stood in the kitchen. “What’s going on?” Adele asked.
Tara relayed the quick version of her weekend, including last night’s events. “I thought the danger was over when Greg was arrested, but now I’m not so sure. Either way, I need to tell the police what I know.”
“I can stay with Robbie. You do what you need to do.”
