Page 53 of Secrets Beneath the Waves (Beach Read Thrillers #2)

CHAPTER

EIGHT

The thought of the killer stalking Jules to the apartment of her friend and then watching the three of them and toying with them all by sending those sick messages chilled Dante to the core. What was this guy’s end game?

His phone vibrated, and he pulled it from his shirt pocket.

Coop, his partner, hadn’t seen the murderer or any indication the man had been anywhere near the building.

Maybe Dante had been right in the alleyway and the guy was more demon than man.

Of course, a demon likely wouldn’t wear size thirteen men’s dress shoes, which the lab had determined were the kind that left those prints.

He acknowledged the message before returning the phone to his pocket.

“Kelli, do you have somewhere you can stay tonight while we check out the area and try to track this guy down?”

Brie looped a hand through the crook of her friend’s arm. “She can stay with me.” She grabbed Jules’ elbow with her free hand. “You should come to my place, too, Jules.”

Despite knowing it wouldn’t go over well, Dante couldn’t resist. “That’s not a bad idea.”

As expected, Jules sent him a heated look. “Yeah, maybe. Why don’t you help Kels pack a bag, Brie?”

She waited until her friends had disappeared down the hall before addressing him, her voice tight. “I don’t appreciate you using my friends to advance your own agenda.”

“You mean the agenda that is solely focused on keeping you safe? That agenda?”

Jules pursed her lips and studied him a moment. “I can keep myself safe.”

“I’m sure you can. But it would be easier to do that if you’d agree to stay somewhere this guy can’t find you.”

“Where would that be? Somehow he found me here, at one friend’s home. What’s to say he couldn’t do the same with any other place I go?” She frowned. “How do you think he did that, anyway?”

Dante lifted his shoulders. “He could have followed you. Or…” More chills slithered through him.

Her frown deepened. “What?”

“How did you make your plans to come here?”

“By email.” Her turquoise eyes widened slightly. “And he texted my friends. Somehow, he has access to my phone. But how could he?”

“He couldn’t. Now.” A vision of the device he’d found beneath the dumpster flashed through his head. It had been tucked neatly under the corner of the bin. A little too neatly, now that he thought about it.

“What does that mean?”

Dante ran a hand down his face. “The only thing I can think of is that he took your phone that night, which would explain why the police didn’t find it.

All he had to do was remove the SIM card and use a SIM reader to copy it to a blank card.

That would allow him to stick it into another device, effectively cloning yours.

Then he could return the phone, and no one would be the wiser. ”

“Until he started using it, as me.”

“Right.”

Jules pressed a hand to her abdomen. “That woman on the forensics team you talked to in my driveway warned me about something like that and said I should secure all my accounts. Before I had a chance to, I got the message from you that my phone was in the lab, so I didn’t bother.

” She moaned. “If he has my phone, he has access to my bank account, my contacts, my social media, my email. What do you think he’ll?—”

She broke off abruptly when her friends came out of Kelli’s bedroom.

As much as she fought Dante when he tried to protect her, she clearly didn’t have any qualms about sheltering her friends from everything that was going on.

“You guys all set?” Her voice came out overly bright and chipper.

From the looks on their faces, she wasn’t fooling them any more than him.

Brie’s reddish curls brushed the shoulders of a long-sleeved, light-blue shirt. Obviously, she had no desire to keep on the pink sweater the murderer had seen. Dante didn’t blame her for that. She stopped in front of Jules and tilted her head. “What is it?”

Jules sighed. “We just figured out the killer might have cloned my phone. Which would have allowed him to read my emails and know I was coming here. He’d also have access to my contact list, which includes a lot of home addresses, including Kelli’s.

” Her head jerked a little. “It also means he’ll have your address, Brie. You better not go back there tonight.”

Her friend gnawed her bottom lip. “That’s fine. We’ll go to my parents’. You don’t have their address in your phone, right?”

“No, I don’t. That should work.”

Kelli touched Jules’ back. “Will you come?”

Jules hesitated. “I don’t think so. I have to work at seven am. And I need to go home and get onto my computer so I can close all my accounts.”

She didn’t look at Dante. Wise, since he doubted he was doing a good job of hiding his frustration at her insistence on putting herself in harm’s way.

He cleared his throat. “I can grab your computer for you.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather do it myself.” If anything, her voice had grown tighter, and she still refused to look at him. “You two should get going.” She planted a palm between Brie’s shoulder blades to direct her toward the door.

Dante followed the three of them. “I’ll walk you to your cars.”

“Actually,” Brie grabbed a pink purse—obviously a favorite color of hers—from the chair by the door, “I brought the bus here, so Kelli and I can go together.”

He nodded. “Even better.”

Jules picked up a brown leather bag from the floor and slung it over her shoulder before exiting the apartment without a backward glance at him.

Once in the elevator, an awkward silence fell over the group.

Both of Jules’ friends appeared to be trying to impart some kind of silent message to her—likely about Dante.

Even when Kelli nudged the side of Jules’ sneaker with hers, however, Jules ignored her as studiously as she was ignoring him.

Mercifully, the elevator stopped and the doors slid open after a few seconds, and they all filed out.

When they reached a silver Camry located in the tenants’ section, Kelli stopped, set her bag on the trunk, and dug around in it until she produced a set of keys.

“Here.” She held the set out to him. “My apartment keys. You can give them to Jules when you’re finished going over my place. ”

“Great. Thanks.” Another reason to see Jules again. She’d be thrilled. Dante almost grinned as he pocketed the set.

Brie hugged Jules before stepping back, her fingers wrapped around Jules’ upper arms. “How will we get in touch with you if we can’t text, call, or email you?”

Before Jules could answer, Dante held up a finger. “Actually, if you wait a minute, I might be able to help with that.”

His cruiser was parked in front of the building, and he jogged over, pulled open the door, and leaned into the passenger side to withdraw a small, white box from the glove compartment.

As he approached the three friends, Jules flapped a hand at the other two, and whatever conversation they might have been having—the audible version of the one they’d attempted to carry out in the elevator, no doubt—ceased abruptly. Which was too bad.

Dante came up to stand next to her, holding out the box. “You can use this burner phone while you wait to get yours back from the lab.”

She shuddered. “I don’t want that one if he has touched it. I’ll pick up a new one as soon as I can.”

“In the meantime, use this one. It’s not traceable.”

When she didn’t move to accept it, Kelli nudged her in the side. “Take it, Jules. Since Officer de Marco was thoughtful enough to get it for you.”

An uncomfortable heat prickled along his neck at her suggestive tone. “It’s not a big deal. It belongs to the force. It gives me a way to get hold of you if I need to. For the case,” he added quickly.

Jules grabbed the box from him. “Fine.” Brie gave her a pointed look, and Jules rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”

“No problem. The number is in the box.”

She lifted the lid, removed the small piece of paper on top, and showed it to her friends, who both entered it into their devices. Brie hugged Jules again before sliding onto the passenger seat. Kelli stopped in front of her and grasped her upper arms again. “You’ll be careful?”

“Of course. I’m so sorry about all this, Kels.”

Her friend shook her head. “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. This is all him. You’re the hero here.” She let go of Jules’ arms. “Brie and I will be praying.”

Jules nodded. “I appreciate it.”

Her voice had thickened a little, as though her friend’s words moved her. Interesting. Did that mean she had a faith? If she was ever willing to look at him again, let alone have a conversation, maybe Dante would have the chance to ask her.

Kelli climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. Dante watched the Camry as she drove it across the lot and onto the street. He kept his gaze on the rear lights of the vehicle as long as he could, making sure no one was following them.

When the car disappeared, he turned to Jules. She had been staring after her friends as well, but at his movement, she lifted the white box. “Well, thanks again for this. You know how to reach me if you need to. For the case.”

The last three words held a little more mocking than Dante was comfortable with, but he let it slide. “Jules.”

“What?”

“You won’t consider staying somewhere else?”

The slight pleading in his voice softened her features. “I really don’t like the idea of letting this guy drive me out of my home.”

“But?”

“But I’m also trying not to be stubborn or make your job more difficult. So, after I get on my computer and shut down all my online accounts, I’ll think about it. Okay?”

Thinking about it was not nearly good enough. The best he was likely to get from her, though. “Okay.”

When she started to turn away, Dante touched her arm lightly. “You’ll keep your phone close?”

“I will.”

“Thank you.”

She nodded, her green-blue gaze locking on his briefly before sliding away. “Good night, Dante.”

“Good night, Jules.” As he had with her friends, he watched her get into her car and drive away.

Two cruisers passed her, heading toward the building.

As soon as his colleagues arrived, Dante took them up in the elevator, filling them in on the situation as they rode.

After unlocking the apartment and showing them around quickly, he handed the keys to the woman he’d spoken to at Jules’ place. “Need me to stick around?”

She shook her head. “Nah. Your shift is over. We’ll take care of this. Given the last two places the suspect showed up, I doubt we’ll find much, but we’ll give it our best shot.”

“I know you will. Do you mind giving the keys to Mona when you’re done? I’ll get them tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

She’d gone out to the balcony before Dante reached the exit.

If anyone could find a clue as to the killer’s identity, it was these guys, although his colleague might be right about him being too smart to leave any sign he’d been there.

Still, the man was playing with fire, showing up at Jules’ home and now her friend’s place.

Sooner or later, he would make a mistake and they would nail him.

Until then, Dante would do everything he could to keep Jules safe whether she wanted him to or not.