She forced the words out of her mouth. “Tell me.”
“Fifteen. That we know of. Possibly ten others with the same MO, but either no DNA evidence or it was inconclusive. We don’t have any reports of crimes with victims who survived.”
No more untraceable calls had been received at her home line, and no fingerprints were found on the note she’d gotten in the mail. The possibility that the email and letter were just from cranks or a copycat was considered, but not ruled out.
The sheriff’s office was also still running nighttime patrols along her street, usually once an hour if not more often.
“And I’ve got your concealed carry license here. Do you want me to bring it to you?”
She had difficulty processing that while still thinking about the fifteen dead women. “Can Rob get it?”
The detective must have realized how shaken she was. “Sure, just have him call me. Are you okay?”
“No.” That number resonated in her brain. Fifteen dead women.
And she would have been sixteen.
Or twenty-six, if the others were related.
Her hands shook. “I have to go now. Thank you for calling.” The receiver fell from her hand onto the phone. Fifteen confirmed victims? And she was the only one who survived?
Laura couldn’t stand. Her legs shook too badly. Steve walked in and saw her. “What’s wrong?”
She burst into tears as she related what Thomas said.
He hugged her. “Honey, you’re lucky. You’re a fighter. That will always keep you alive. You’ve been scrappy from when you were a kid. This guy isn’t going to get another chance at you.”
She couldn’t stay in the shop and she didn’t want to go home. She told Steve she was going out for a little while to get some lunch and drove into town. Despite his insistence on going with her, she refused.
She needed to be alone, and she’d be in public. What could happen?
Wandering through Merchant’s Crossing shopping plaza, she passed a hair salon. Laura looked inside and saw they weren’t busy, then studied her reflection in the window. The bruises had finally faded and she’d stopped wearing makeup.
Today, she had her nearly waist-length auburn hair up in a ponytail and braided. Before she could chicken out, she walked in and talked to a stylist. The woman made a few suggestions. Laura called Steve and told him she’d be shopping for a few more hours so he wouldn’t worry, but didn’t tell him what she was doing.
Three hours later, Laura returned to the shop.
When Steve saw her new hairstyle, his eyes popped.
“I thought you said you were getting lunch and shopping.”
“Well, do you like it?”
“It’s different.” He stared. “Not bad different, it’s just…I’ve never known you to do anything like this before. It’ll take some getting used to.”
The stylist had scissored Laura’s hair to shoulder length. Still long enough to pull back into a ponytail when diving, but a drastic difference. After cutting it, the stylist colored it, lightening it a few shades and adding highlights, but not all the way to blonde.
Laura felt pleased with the results.
Sarah walked in and stopped short. “Uh. Wow. I mean…” She stared at Laura’s new hairstyle. “Wow.”
Steve still stared. “Rob’s going to flip.”
“Why?”
“He loved your hair long.”
Laura considered that. “Is that why I kept it long? For him?” Mindful of Bill’s comments about her temper, she reined in her irritation.
“No, hon. You kept it long because it looked pretty on you, and because it was easy for you to take care of. You only went to the salon maybe twice a year. You hated getting your hair cut because your mom made you keep it short and styled when you were little. When you were twelve she finally threw her hands up and let you do what you wanted with it, and you let it grow.”
He let out a laugh. “You never do anything because someone else wanted you to, unless you wanted to first.”
Sarah laughed with him. “That’s the truth.”
Rob went to pick up Laura’s concealed carry license from Det. Thomas. When he returned, his captain asked, “How’s Laura doing? I haven’t worked the same hours with you lately and have been meaning to ask.”
“She’s physically better. Her memory’s still spotty. She can work and run the store. Steve hasn’t got her back in the water yet to see if she can still dive or teach because of her ribs. She’s got a lot of her childhood back, but very little recent memories.”
“How are you handling it?”
He shrugged. “I’m just taking it one day at a time. I’m going to date her all over again. That’s what I’ve got planned for tonight. She’s meeting me over on Boca at a restaurant we went to all the time. I’ve already got it set up to have fresh flowers on the table and champagne chilling. Then I’m going to pop the question.”
“You’re going to propose again?”
“No. I’m going to ask her to go steady with me.”
Once the captain quit laughing, he realized Rob was serious.
“She still doesn’t know me. I’m not going to force her to put aside her reservations. I’m hoping she’ll say yes.”
“If she doesn’t?”
He looked at the floor. Despite how they’d mended fences after her blowup, he didn’t want to think about the very real possibility that things might not turn out the same between them once she learned about their BDSM dynamic. “I don’t want to think about that.”
Despite a late accident call, Rob still managed to return to the station, shower, and make it to the restaurant with ten minutes to spare. He was sitting at the table waiting for Laura when a woman walked in who looked familiar. In the dim light, it wasn’t until she was halfway to the table that he recognized her.
In his shock, he forgot to stand and pull her chair out like he’d planned.
“Hi, Rob.” Her voice sounded timid, shy. Definitely not two words that would have described Laura before the attack.
“Um. Hi.” He searched for words. That this truly wasn’t his Laura anymore slammed home. She looked vaguely the same, but the drastic change in hairstyle emphasized the differences. She even walked differently, and not just because of her injuries. She didn’t have the familiar confident, smooth glide.
Her face fell. “You don’t like it, do you?”
He scrambled out of his chair and pulled hers out, helping her sit. “I’m sorry, honey. You look great. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”
He stared at her for a moment and finally sat down. “What brought this on?”
She shrugged. “I just felt like doing it.” She sniffed the flowers. “These are beautiful. Thank you.” Looking at him she saw the shock still registering on his face and smiled. “Don’t feel bad. Steve’s and Sarah’s jaws hit the floor, too.”
He looked down at his menu. “I’m sorry. Was it that obvious?”
“It wasn’t unexpected.” She picked up her menu and studied it. The waitress took their drink order and appetizers. When they were alone, Laura put her menu down. She reached across the table and touched Rob’s hand. “Why don’t you order for me? Order me something I used to love.”
“To be honest, I’m almost afraid to.” He couldn’t believe he said it, but now that he had, the emotions couldn’t be rebottled.
She pulled back and frowned. “Why?”
“Because physically, you’re the same woman I was supposed to marry in a few months. And that’s about the extent of it. Even though I have a past with you, you’re a stranger. You don’t know me beyond what we’ve gone through the past few weeks, and I really don’t know you anymore. Now I don’t know what to say or do around you. I wanted tonight to be special. I was going to ask if you’d go steady with me. I know that’s stupid, but I was hoping it would give you the time you need to make a decision about the future.”