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A Pierce County medical examiner has confirmed the manner of Diana Carter’s death a suicide after conducting an autopsy and toxicology—
The library lights flicked off. Holly looked around as they turned back on, then glanced at her watch, frozen at 9:45 with condensation trapped beneath the crystal. That must’ve been the time she went into the Green River. She leaned back in her chair, craning her neck to read the large, two-hand clock on the wall above the front desk.6:55.She’d been here all day. It was only now that she registered the hunger pang in the pit of her stomach.
“Ma’am.”
Holly turned to see a gray-haired woman wearing a no-nonsense expression standing beside her.
“We close in five minutes.”
“Okay, thank you. I’ll finish up.” Holly hit print on the article and retrieved it from the library’s printer before returning the microfilm to the index aisle.
It was dark when she walked through the library parking lot, empty aside from Laurie’s station wagon and a white Jeep, which must have belonged to the librarian. Holly quickened her pace as she withdrew Laurie’s keys from her jeans pocket, thinking about her purse at the bottom of the Green River. Her only consolation was that she didn’t have to rummage through it for her keys.
Once safely inside Laurie’s car, Holly locked the driver’s door and flipped on the dome light to read the rest of the article. A toxicology report confirmed Diana had alcohol in her system and that her broken neck and head injuries were consistent with a three-story fall onto the concrete. That, along with the suicide note found the morning of her death, contributed to the medicalexaminer’s ruling. The article concluded with a statement that Diana was survived by her husband and seven-year-old son.
Holly tossed the article onto the passenger seat before starting the car’s engine, berating herself for lettingher curiosity get the better of her.She’d wasted the whole day on a wild goose chase over an innocent man who wasn’t even interested in her. And she was no closer to meeting her deadline than she had been this morning.
“Shit.”
As she drove, she strained to refocus her thoughts on Roxy Vega, trying to imagine what the punk rock singer had gone through after leaving the bar that fatal night. It wasn’t until Holly turned onto the two-lane road that led to her neighborhood that she became aware of the headlights tailing her.
She gripped the wheel tighter as she stared into the glare in the rearview mirror. Her chest tightened, sending each frantic beat climbing into her throat as she forced her attention back to the road.Jared.
The car trailed her as she turned into the entrance to her neighborhood, coming to a stop behind her when she braked for the gate. Holly felt to make sure her door was locked, keeping her eyes trained on the headlights shining into her mirror as she lowered her window to punch in the gate code with shaking fingers.
Her pulse throbbed in her ears as she willed the gate to open faster. She beat her palm against the steering wheel after rolling up the window.Come on, come on.Holly floored the gas as soon as she had enough space to squeeze through, the headlights behind her following close behind.
The car was still tailing her when she turned into her cul-de-sac. Seeing Clint’s house, she debated whether to pull into his drive, wondering if she could make it to Clint’s front door beforeJared jumped out and attacked her—or worse. When she neared Clint’s house, she slowed, about to turn up his driveway, when the car behind her pulled alongside her passenger window.
Her jaw fell open. It was a Tacoma police cruiser. She’d been sure it was Jared. The officer rolled down his window.
“Everything okay, ma’am?”
She swallowed. “Yes. Fine.”
“You live here?” He pointed to Clint’s house.
“No, actually, I’m staying next door.” She gestured toward Laurie’s in-laws’ home.
“Holly Sparks?”
She nodded, confused.How did he know my name?
“Detective Andy Harris asked me to check on your place during my shift tonight. I’ll be coming through your neighborhood periodically to make sure there’s nothing suspicious.” He motioned toward her house. “You expecting any visitors tonight?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Okay, well, if everything’s all right, I’ll get back to my patrol and drive by a little later. If you notice anything suspicious in the meantime, don’t hesitate to call 911.”
“Thanks.”
He propped his elbow through the open window. “You were driving pretty fast back there. Take it easy next time, okay? This is a neighborhood.”
He pulled away, and Holly sank against the seat before pulling into her drive. She got out of the car, still shaken. As she walked to the front door, the phone rang from inside the house. It was still ringing when she stepped inside, and she hurried to the kitchen to answer it before it went to the answering machine.
“Hello?”
“It’s Andy. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for a few hours. I was starting to worry. You okay?”