“What the hell’s going on?” Sully asked and set her feet back on the sidewalk.
“Another girl has been murdered!” she said, looking up at him. “Detective Groves just got here, and he told me it happened within the last couple of hours. But this time, the body was dumped into a big trash bin, and there was no toadflax. She was found by a restaurant employee.”
“Where?” Sully asked as Vaughn approached with Lerfeld trailing behind him.
“Behind the café where we had breakfast.”
“Really,” Sully muttered, remembering that’s the place where they’d seen Vaughn and his on-again, off-again girlfriend. Dumped in a trash bin didn’t fit the pattern of the so-called Cave Killer, but Sully bet it was the same guy. He took Charley’s hand and said, “Let’s go.” She held on tightly as they stepped off the curb and walked between two parked cars.
“Charley!” one of the men, maybe Vaughn, shouted.
“Charley,” the other one, Lerfeld, Sully guessed, echoed.
Sully ignored them, and Charley did too. They crossed the street, went straight to his truck, and he opened the door on her side. She hopped in and he closed the door. As he made his way around the front of the truck, he saw Vaughn and Lerfeld across the street scowling at him. With a victorious tip of his cowboy hat, Sully climbed into his truck and started the engine.
“What made you come back to town?” Charley asked as he pulled away from the curb.
“You,” he said, driving along Colorado Avenue. “I got your cell number from Cash and called you earlier to tell you why I got hung up. Then I saw the report on the news and tried to call you again. When I couldn’t reach you, I headed to your apartment.”
“I heard the sirens and went to see what happened,” Charley said. “I grabbed the new key to my apartment but forgot my phone on the counter.”
“Yeah, I found your phone.” Sully made a U-turn and headed back toward her shop and duplex. The ambulance was gone, and the police cars were pulling away from the scene of the murder. There was no sign of Vaughn or Lerfeld. “What were Frick and Frack doing there?”
Charley hesitated for a split second and then laughed. “You mean Rod and Leon?”
“Yes,” Sully grumbled and turned up the hill to her duplex.
“They both claimed they were in the vicinity.” Charley smiled and said, “Thank you for rescuing me from them and for the ride home.”
Sully drove up her hill, stopped on the parking pad in front of her apartment, and gripped the steering wheel. He looked at her and said, “Charley, come home with me tonight.” She glanced away from him to her apartment. “And stay until women stop dropping dead all around you. I think it’s concerning that the dead include your mother and two women you knew.”
“I didn’t know the first victim or the last two,” she reminded him. “The café owner, Denny, said the girl murdered today was new in town and he’d just hired her. He feels terrible.” Charley thought for a moment and said, “My mother didn’t fit the profiles of the other victims.”
“Yeah, but we know you do,” Sully said. “Your mother just got in your attacker’s way. Please close your shop indefinitely and come out to the country until they catch the killer.”
“Come inside, Sully,” Charley said and grasped the door handle of the truck.
Sully caught her arm and asked, “So you can pack?”
To his immense relief, she nodded. “Yes. Leaving the Closed sign on the shop door after you left, I figured I wouldn’t open again until the killer is caught.”
“Good.” Sully let go of her arm.
“But I hate being so intimidated that I’m closing my shop.”
“You’ve already been attacked once. You’re being smart, not intimidated, Charley.”
Sully got out of the truck and came around to her side. As she alighted, he pulled her into his arms and lowered his head. She tilted up her chin, and his mouth came down on her soft, supple lips. Her arms wrapped around him, and her hands flattened to his back as she stood on tiptoes to kiss him. Letting go of her, he gave her fanny a familiar pat and took her keys out of hispocket. This time, he put them on his keychain after unlocking her apartment door. Going inside, she went to the counter and checked her cell.
“I see your missed calls.” As Charley said that, her phone rang, and she rolled her eyes. “It’s Frick, I mean Rod. I’m going to block him.” No sooner had she started to do so than her cell rang again. “Frack, now. I’m going to text Leon that I’ll advise him when I decide to reopen the shop.”
Sully nodded. “What do you need me to do to help you?”
“Nothing. Just keep me company.” She brought him a glass of wine, and pouring one for herself, she motioned for him to follow her into her bedroom. He sat down on the bed and watched as she took a carry-on-size suitcase out of a closet and began filling it.
“Do you have a costume for a Halloween party?” he asked. “Your cousin, Chloe, invited me, as usual, to her annual party.”
“I do. I love Halloween. I usually dress up that day and pass out candy in the shop.”
