“Did he say how long it’d be?”
“Nope. He didn’t say who he’s sending, either. Wish I’d asked. I know everyone on the force. Their shifts change, though, so...” She shook her head. “Hope it doesn’t turn out to be Cochran. He’s such an asshole. Anyway, I don’t know about you, but I’m getting dressed. In case it is Cochran.”
“Why don’t you go first?” Dana suggested. “I’ll keep watch on things down here.”
“Okay. Yell if anything happens.”
With that, Tuck whirled around and ran for the stairway. She rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Dana turned to the glass door.
The pool area still appeared to be deserted. But someone might easily be hiding in the bushes and trees.
Watching me.
Anyone spying from the other side of the pool would have a bright, clear view of Dana standing at the glass door.
She suddenly felt exposed, as if she were on display in her thin, clinging swimsuit. It was clammy against her skin. Chilly water trickled down her legs. She realized that she was shivering slightly. Without looking down at herself, she knew her skin was rumpled with goosebumps, her nipples rigid and jutting out.
She was tempted to shut the drapes.
If I do that, I won’t be able to see out. He might sneak up to the door.
Let him look at me all be wants. So what?
At the sound of Tuck thumping down the stairs, she turned around. Tuck now wore a bulky gray sweatshirt and white shorts that reached down almost to her knees. She was barefoot. In her right hand, swinging low by her side, was a very large revolver.
“A gun?” Dana asked.
“Not just any gun,” Tuck said. Striding toward her, she raised the weapon and pointed it toward the ceiling. “This-here is your basic Smith & Wesson .44 magnum with an eight-inch bamel.” Squinting and snarling like Clint Eastwood, she said, “Thee most powerful handgun in the world.”
“Jesus,” Dana muttered.
“Nope. Dirty Harry. It’s my dad’s. And it’s loaded with hollow points.” She twirled the barrel. “Just in case our visitor makes a try for us before the cavalry arrives.”
“Don’t let ‘the cavalry’ see it. They might shoot you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m not a dope. You can go on upstairs and get dressed now, if...”
The doorbell rang.
They both jumped.
“Too late,” Tuck said. “Go get the door and I’ll hide the cannon.”
Leaving Tuck behind, Dana hurried out of the room and down the short hallway to the foyer. At the door, she called, “Who is it?”
“Police.”
She opened the main door. A few steps back from the screen door stood a woman in uniform. She held a long, black flashlight down by her side, but it wasn’t turned on.
“Hello, officer,” Dana said.
The woman peered at her. “Having some trouble here? A prowler?”
“Right.” Dana swung open the screen door. “Come on in.”
The cop entered. She appeared to be older than Dana—maybe in her late twenties or early thirties. She was Dana’s size, had a similar figure, and was extremely attractive. Though her eyes were a striking, pale blue color, they had a tough, ironic look. Her pale blond hair was cut very short.
A man-style haircut.
Dana suddenly felt self-conscious in her revealing swimsuit. She blushed as the cop looked her over.
A name plate pinned above the uniform’s right breast pocket read, CHANEY.
“You must be the lifeguard around here,” officer Chaney said. Coming up with a lopsided smile, she held out her hand.
“Right. I’m Dana Lake.” They shook hands.
“I’m Eve...”
“Of Destruction!” Tuck called, striding into the foyer without her revolver. “How’s it going, Eve?”
“Hey, Lynn.”
“You’ve met Dana?”
“Yep.”
“She’s my old friend from L.A.,” Tuck explained. “We’re holding down the fort while Dad and Janice are off on their cruise.” To Dana, she said, “This is Eve Chaney. We lucked out. She’s the best damn cop in Malcasa Point, maybe in the country.”
Eve smiled. “I’m not really the best,” she said. “Just the most dangerous.”
“That’s how come I call her Eve of Destruction,” Tuck explained. To Eve, she said, “If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered hiding the forty-four. I was afraid it might be Cochran or some other jerk.”
“You lucked out. Cochran’s on the day watch. So, what’s going on? Trouble with a prowler?”
“Right. Out behind the pool.”
“Let’s go,” Eve said. She stepped between them and led the way.
Dana hurried after her, eyes on the officer’s back.
The pale blue blouse of Eve’s uniform had short sleeves. It was wrinkled, probably from being pressed against the seatback of the patrol car. The way the blouse lay against her back, Dana could see that she wasn’t wearing a protective vest.
Maybe cops don’t get shot in this neck of the woods.
Just occasionally get torn up by a monster.
A Kevlar vest seemed to be about the only equipment Eve lacked. Her black leather belt was loaded. As she walked through the house, hips shifting with each stride, leather creaked and squeaked, metal rattled. She sounded as if she were wearing a horse saddle.
“How long since you saw him?” she asked.
Tuck shrugged. “Ten minutes, maybe?”
“Something like that,” Dana agreed.
“And you don’t have any idea who it might’ve been?”
“All I saw was an arm.”
Stopping a few paces from the glass door, Eve asked, “Where was he?”
“Over there.” Tuck pointed. “The other side of the pool. In the trees. But I don’t think he’s there anymore.”
At the sliding door, Eve stopped and switched off the lock. “You two wait here. I’ll take a look around.” She rolled the door open. With a glance back, she said, “Go ahead and lock this after I’m out.”
“You’re going out there alone?” Dana asked.
“Sure.”
“Be careful, okay?”
“You bet.”
Frowning, Tuck said, “Maybe we oughta come with you. I can grab the forty-four, and...”
“No, that’s all right. Thanks anyway. Just stay put.”
Chapter Twenty-One
EVE
Eve Chaney stepped outside, slid the door shut, then walked toward the pool.
“That takes guts,” Dana said.
“Eve’s got ’em. I wasn’t kidding when I said she’s the best cop in town. Hell, she makes the others look like a bunch of sissies. She’ll do anything, You wouldn’t believe all the commendations she has. She’s actually shot five or six bad guys.”
“Look at that,” Diana said, watching Eve through the glass door. “She doesn’t even have her gun out.”
A few strides away from the pool, Eve stopped walking. Her head moved slowly from side to side. Then she swung to the right, broke into a jog and hurried toward the end of the pool.
She runs like a guy, Dana thought.
Off to the right, beyond the pool’s apron of well-lit concrete, Eve switched her flashlight on. With its strong beam slanting out ahead of her, she hunched over and ducked into the foliage.
“She isn’t wearing any vest,” Dana said.
“Never does,” Tuck said. “Which I think is stupid. I’ve told her so. I mean, plenty of other cops wear them all the time. She won’t have anything to do with the things. She says they get in the way. And they’re hot. And they hide her girlish figure.”