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“Hey, Nick. How’s the weather up there?”
“Getting darned cold.” He laughed. “I hear you’re having a warm fall. I could use a little of that about now.”
Nick was an excellent FBI Special Agent who was always there when Paul needed help. And he needed it now. “I need a favor.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you check if anyone has accessed Alice Klaus’s files? If anyone in the system knows what she changed her name to?”
“What’s happening?”
“Found a body this morning in Breuer.”
“Alice?”
“No, but whoever killed her wanted it to look like Stan Klaus. And the victim’s first name was Alice.”
“Damn. Brenna won’t be happy about that. She’ll want to hop the first plane south.”
“No. Don’t let her. Not in her condition.” At eight months pregnant, she’d be more of a hindrance than a help to him. “Mel and I are handling it from here. If you could dig around and see if her files have been accessed, that would help.”
“You got it. If you need more help, I’ll come. All you have to do is say so.”
“I know.” Paul allowed a tight smile to stretch across his lips. Nick was one of his true friends. A man he could count on when he needed a hand. But this was his command. He had to handle things on his own. “Thanks.”
He hung up, grabbed the spare shaving kit he kept in his desk drawer for the times he worked through the night and headed out the door.
A bad feeling crept across his skin, raising gooseflesh across his forearm. His footsteps quickened, urging him faster. Once he reached the parking lot, he broke into a run.
CHAPTER 6
The sun dippedbelow the horizon, the last lingering hints of daylight glowing a dull gray, casting the world in deep shadows. Not quite dark, but hard to see, nonetheless. Paul parked in Elise’s driveway and climbed down from his truck. Rustling and voices sounded from the back corner of Elise’s house, making the hairs on his arms prickle.
Though it could be a cat mewing for his supper, Paul didn’t want to take the chance that it might be something else. He vaulted over the picket fence, landing softly in the grass. Slipping into the shadows beside the house, he hurried in the direction of the sound. A small dark form hovered near the very back of the lot, leaning into the bushes.
A giggle sounded like that of a child.
“Luke?” Paul called out.
A gasp was followed by the rustle of leaves in the bushes between the back of Elise’s property and the house behind it.
The little boy raced for the back door, his small feet making little sound in the grass. The rustling on the other side of the bushes faded and disappeared in the opposite direction.
Luke had his hand on the door handle when Paul caught him by the collar of his pajamas.
“Let me go!” Luke’s arms flailed, his feet hammering against Paul’s shins.
Paul chuckled. “It’s okay, it’s just me. Paul Fletcher.”
Luke continued his frenzied effort to free himself. “Let me go or Mom will be mad.”
The back porch light blinked on, and the door swung open. “Luke!” Elise stood in a silk robe, her hair twisted up in a towel, her eyes brilliant blue saucers in her pale face. “Paul!” The older child stood behind her, his eyes round and anxious.
“Did you lose this?” He smiled, hoping to wipe some of the fear off her pretty face.
She opened the screen and folded her son into her arms. “Luke, baby, don’t ever scare me like that again!”
Brandon stared up at Paul over his mother’s shoulder, his gaze narrow, unfriendly.