“I was really hoping to talk to him before Monday,” Sylvie said.
The woman glanced at her watch. “He’s probably there now.”
“On a Saturday night?”
“He usually stops back after dinner, says it’s quieter then, better for concentrating. But if your sister’s disappearance has something to do with that monster, he won’t mind the interruption. He’ll do everything he can to help.”
Sylvie wished she could shake the woman’s hand, something to let her know her appreciation. But Sylvie got the feeling that a touch from a stranger wouldn’t be welcomed. She settled on a smile. “Thank you so much.”
The woman gave her a nod and retreated, closing the door behind her.
Sylvie glanced up at Bryce, eager to get his impression of what had happened.
He was looking past her, in the direction of the street.
She followed his line of sight. The one-way street was quiet. Except for an older man walking a dog and a blue service van pulling into a side street, it looked as though the entire neighborhood was spending Saturday night either out or snuggled in their living rooms. “What do you see?”
“I’ll tell you in the car.”
Sylvie had just enough time to climb in the BMW and secure her seatbelt before Bryce pulled away from the curb. “Okay, out with it.”
Eyes flitting to the rearview mirror, he slowly wound through the quiet neighborhood. “Did you notice the van?”
“Are you thinking it’s strange for a service van to be driving around on a Saturday night?”
“Yes, but that’s not all.”
“I hate playing guessing games. Will you just tell me?”
“It belongs to a food service. The type of business that provides produce, meat and canned goods to institutional settings like nursing homes.”
That was about as straightforward as another riddle. “Okay, I’ll bite. You’re wondering what a food service van was doing in that neighborhood?”
He nodded. “On a Saturday night.”
Okay, so that did seem odd. But there could be a perfectly innocent explanation. “Maybe a higher up in the company lives there.”
“Did you see the driver?”
“No.”
“Remember the redheaded guy who was listening in on our conversation in the hallway of your sister’s building? Diana’s neighbor?”
She hadn’t paid much attention to him, not enough to pick him out in a crowd. “He’s driving the van?”
“It’s dark, but yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s him.”
Sylvie twisted sideways in her seat as if she was talking to Bryce. Covertly she glanced out the back window. Sure enough. Several car lengths back, she saw the hulking shape of a panel van. “Why on earth would Diana’s neighbor be following us?”
Bryce veered right. “I don’t know. But I aim to find out.”
Bryce
Bryce let up on the gas and watched the distance between them and the van shrink. He didn’t want to lose Red. Not yet.
“What are you going to do?” One hand clutching the armrest and the other bracing against the padded dash, Sylvie looked as if she expected him to take off cross country, four wheeling it through manicured yards and flower gardens.
There was a day when he might have been arrogant enough to try something like that, just for fun. But that Bryce had died along with Tanner. “I’m going to set a trap.”
He drove several blocks before the narrow road branched off to the left. He flipped on his blinker, making sure their red-haired shadow got a good look before he turned.
“What kind of trap?”
Bryce drove slowly down a road flanked by forest-shrouded homes. “This drive loops in a circle. Once our guy follows us in, there will be no way for him to drive out without going past us.”
No need to explain how he knew this, how he used to pass the little jog in the road sheltered by trees every day on the way to the office—the place he now planned to lie in ambush. Driving through this neighborhood was reminder enough of things he wished he could forget.
The road split into two branches, one gliding straight up a hill, one turning sharply into a copse of trees. Bryce chose the hill.
Sylvie twisted in her seat. “He’s turning in behind us.”
“So far, so good.” He kept his speed steady, climbing the hill and driving along the crest. He glanced in the rearview mirror. The panel van was hanging back, waiting until they crested the hill before following. Red didn’t want to be seen.
Too late for that.
“What are you going to do once you trap him?”
“Ask him why he’s following us.”
Up ahead a real estate sign attracted his attention. The windows in the mansion behind it were black and as empty as soulless eyes.
Bryce focused on the road ahead and kept driving. He’d drop the price again if it didn’t sell after the open house tomorrow. Hell, he’d give the sucker away. Anything to be rid of it. To be rid of the man he once was. And then he’d junk his boat and this car for good measure.
They crested the hill and curved down the other side. Reaching the sharp turn near the creek, he pulled to a stop in the cover of trees. From here they could see both branches of the loop. And anyone following couldn’t see the BMW until they were nearly on Bryce’s bumper.
Bryce unhitched his seatbelt. “Stay here.”
“What if he has a gun?”
“I’m just going to talk to him.”
“And that’s going to keep him from shooting you?”
“Why would he have a gun?”
“I don’t know. It seems like everyone has a gun anymore.”
Bryce had to admit, it hadn’t occurred to him that Red could be armed, and now that it had, he wished he had a pistol of his own about now.
Too late for that. “Stay here,” he repeated, and climbed out. He heard the passenger door open before he rounded the back of the car.
Why did he ever think Sylvie would listen to him?
The sound of an engine coasted down the hill and wound toward him. Rounding the corner, the van emerged from the trees. Brakes locked up, rubber screeching against pavement. The driver stared through a bug-spattered windshield, his skin pale even for a redhead. He threw the van into reverse and hit the gas. The engine roared. The van shot backward and slammed into the trunk of a tree.
The sound of steel crumpling made Bryce wince. He’d meant to make an impression, not cause an accident. But the damn kid got what he deserved. Catching up to the van, Bryce yanked open the door.
Red held up his hands as if Bryce were pointing a gun at him after all. “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”
At least Red seemed all right. “Why are you following us?”
“Following you? I’m not following you.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Red spotted Sylvie step alongside the panel van’s snubbed hood. She narrowed her eyes on him. “Who are you?”
“Louis…Louis Ingersoll.” He latched on to Sylvie with his gaze. “You’re Diana’s twin sister. She told me about you.”
“What do you know about Diana? Where is she?”
“Diana? That’s why I was following you. I hoped you’d know.”
Right. As if Bryce believed that one. “Why didn’t you just ask?”
“I was going to.”
“Come on out of the van and talk to us for a minute.”
The kid looked from Sylvie to Bryce and back again. “I don’t know anything about what happened to Diana. I just know what the minister told everyone in the church. I swear.”