Page 60 of Facing the Enemy

Now we had a third handwriting to compare, and confirmation on more than one player always gave an advantage. I suspected the bad guys would track Carson’s Jeep, but instead they tailed Risa. I texted her on my burner reserved just for her to see if she’d received a note.

Risa texted.I was spared. You’re the lucky one.

I retraced my steps back to the hospital to check out the parking lot security cam. I expected the man from the interior security cam. This time, the person, dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a hoodie, could very well be a woman. The note deliverer resembled the size and walk of the person who’d left a note on Risa’s car back in July. The person kept their face away from the camera. Jack’s note and Risa’s were a match. But now mine was in the mix.

I hadn’t told Risa about checking the funeral homes’ security cam after Trenton’s funeral, but I was sure she suspected it. No reason to put off bringing her up to speed. I texted her before leaving the hospital.

Someone left a note on my windshield. Could be the same who left one on your car.

At the funeral?

Yes. I viewed the church’s security cam months ago.

I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t.

Need to compare all three handwritings.

Is tonight’s hospital video in FBI files yet?

Should be by now. Be careful. Don’t open the door to anyone. Want me to come over?

LOL, Gage. I’m fine. Get some sleep.

I dropped off Carson’s Jeep at the FBI office and drove my SUV home. Once there, I did a sweep of my small one-story house and found nothing out of order. I had a Mercury home alarm like the victims, and I had no desire to be the next one. The irony made me laugh. Only an idiot hacked into a federal agent’s house unless the idiot wasn’t aware of his person-of-interest status. Or the idiot had jumped into the overconfident arena.

Would Risa be okay? The idea of her being targeted again meant a sleepless night for me. Should I show up at her door? What did Jack know that an unknown man and woman would be at the hospital?

No point in fooling myself. No one knew who’d be targeted next.

31

My phone alarm sounded much too early in my opinion, but I didn’t have a say over the sunrise. Three hours’ sleep, and already my head ached. I’d become a wimp. The surveillance team watching Carson assured me he’d stayed put. After I picked up Carson, who’d followed my morning instructions to the letter, I drove through Starbucks for coffee and hoped it cleared my mind and his.

“Nervous?” I said to him while we waited for our coffee.

“Kinda. Well ... yes, a lot.”

“You look more rested than last night.”

“I slept hard,” he said. “Makes me feel a little guilty with all the junk going on. Did you find out who drove the pickup yesterday? I was hoping it might have been the guy I’d seen with Dad.”

“Not yet. He doesn’t have the build of any bad guy on my radar. Did you recognize him?”

“No. Miss Jacobs got real upset when I didn’t stay down in the seat. Afterward, she wouldn’t let me get near him ... with half his head gone.”

Risa had sheltered Carson, even if he’d killed her brother. “She can be insistent.”

“Are you in love with her?”

What? First Jack and now this kid? “We’re good friends. Worked together for five years.”

“You don’t stare at her like she’s your coworker.”

That didn’t deserve a comment.

“I get it,” Carson said. “She doesn’t know, and you haven’t the guts to tell her.”

He had it wrong. “Really? You’re talking through your rear. Enough.”