Susan Sleeman - Thread of Suspicion

“Hello,” she called again.

Luke heard footsteps coming toward the door. Whisper-quiet, though, as if the guy didn’t want them to know he was home. When Luke saw the peephole in the door darken, he shot out a hand to pull her away. She deflected it, put her hand on her hip and faced the door again.

“I’m having car trouble,” she said loudly. “Do you have a phone I can use?”

Luke waited, listening for any sound, especially the chambering of a bullet.

Seconds ticked by. Slow, tense, weighty seconds.

Something was wrong.

If Eggleston bought Dani’s story, he should be opening the door by now. Luke couldn’t abide her standing in front of the door any longer. Made her too vulnerable to gunfire. He slipped his hand around her elbow and pulled her to him.

“What’re you doing?” she whispered and jerked free.

He heard a screen door slamming in the backyard.

“He’s running.” She bolted down the steps, and it took Luke a second to react.

By the time he moved, she’d raced through the weed-filled yard to a chain-link fence. He charged after her, nearly stumbling over a stump hidden in the weeds. She leaped over the fence, landing with the grace he’d come to expect from her. He hurdled the fence, all of his injuries from yesterday screaming at once, stealing his breath and stopping him in his tracks. When he could breathe again, he pounded around a building and into a narrow alley littered with trash.

Dani neared the mouth of the alley and he heard her shout, “Freeze.”

Luke kept running, clamping down on his teeth to stem the pain as he charged over the crumbling asphalt.

“Don’t,” he yelled when he saw her make a diving attempt to stop Eggleston.

She landed with hands on his shoulders and dragged him to the ground. By the time Luke reached her, she’d wrenched Eggleston’s arms behind his back and was sitting back, breathing deep. Luke dropped down beside her and tried to take control of Eggleston, but she glared at him so he backed off. Still, he stayed close by in case Eggleston tried anything.

“Let me go,” Eggleston whined, and tried to sit up. “I didn’t do nothing.”

Dani pressed his face into the ground. “Then why did you run?”

“It’s instinct to run from cops.”

“We’re not cops.”

“Right,” Eggleston said disbelievingly.

“I’m a private investigator, and my friend works for a computer company,” Dani said. “All we want is information about a computer found in your possession when you were busted last week.”

Eggleston snorted. “I tell you anything and you’ll go running to the cops.”

“We have no reason to do that. We just want to know where you got it.”

Eggleston craned his neck trying to see Dani. “Let me up and I’ll tell you.”

Luke doubted the creep was telling the truth, but Dani seemed inclined to let the man go.

“You try anything,” Luke warned, “and I’ll come after you.”

Eggleston cast an appraising eye at Luke, then nodded. Dani released Eggleston and sat back on her haunches. Luke remained crouched, ready to pounce if he needed to protect Dani.

Eggleston sat up and, rubbing his wrists, he winked at Dani. “You’re mighty tough for such a pretty little thing.”

Luke wanted to silence the guy, but Dani ran a hand over her hair and smiled, obviously using Eggleston’s interest to get the information she needed. “You didn’t say where the computer came from.”

“I bought it off a homeless dude I deal with sometimes.”

“Where’d he get it?” Luke jumped in.

Not taking his eyes off Dani, Eggleston shrugged.

“What’s the man’s name?” Dani’s tone was far sweeter than Luke’s had been, and it grated on his nerves that she’d be so nice to a man she’d had to tackle to the ground.

“Don’t know him by anything other than Smash.”

Dani looked disappointed. “Do you know where I can find Smash?”

“Nah. He doesn’t bed down in a regular spot. Likes to be free, you know what I mean? But I run into him every now and then.”

Dani pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from her pocket and waved it in the air. “This will be yours if you call me when you see him.”

“Oh, yeah.” Eggleston reached for the money.

Dani snatched it back. “Only if you call me.” She dug out her business card and handed it to him.

“Then be ready for my call, pretty lady.” Eggleston laughed as he got up.

“I’ll count on it,” Dani answered sweetly while Luke cringed.

Eggleston took off and Dani slowly came to her feet, easing out apparent soreness in her limbs as she rose.

Luke spotted blood staining her knees and elbows. “We need to get medical attention for you.”

“Later.” She took out her phone, stabbed a button, then lifted it to her ear. “Mitch, good. I stopped to talk to Eggleston, and he said the computer came from a homeless man named Smash. I was hoping someone there might know where I can find this Smash.”

She held her phone away from her ear and Luke heard Mitch’s angry response but couldn’t make out the words. Luke didn’t like the guy’s tone, but what could he do about it?

“How was I supposed to know you were on your way to question him?” Dani snapped into the phone. “If you’d bothered to tell me, I would’ve waited for you and Eggleston would be sitting at home right now.”

She listened, planting a hand on her hip. Suddenly she disconnected and shoved her phone into her pocket. “You could probably tell that was Mitch, and he’s miffed. Kat convinced him to take time out of his busy morning to come over here and question Eggleston. Mitch’s almost here and he’s mad that I wasted his time by chasing off Eggleston.”

Luke met Dani’s gaze. “Eggleston’s probably back at his house by now, so Mitch can still question him.”

“He’d better be, or I have no hope of getting my sister’s husband to talk to me again.” She gestured down the alley. “Let’s go meet him at the house.”

She limped along and Luke slipped a hand under her elbow to help.

“I’m fine,” she said and shrugged free. “I don’t need your help all the time. I’ve done just fine on my own, and I’d appreciate it if you’d back off.”

He held up his hands and let her take the lead. She had a stubborn streak a mile long, and if they were going to work together, he needed to remember not to push her. Hard to do when she rushed headlong into dangerous situations.

Rounding the corner of the house, he spotted a nondescript blue sedan in Eggleston’s driveway. A tall man whose bulky build said he took his fitness regimen seriously stood on the lawn. He’d folded his arms over his broad chest, and a scowl drew down his face. He had a gun holstered at his side and a badge clipped to his belt. When he caught sight of Dani, his eyes narrowed and Luke knew the guy was mad at her. Good and mad.

She didn’t seem to care but hobbled up to him as if approaching a sweet little baby, not an angry cop. “A simple phone call would’ve prevented this problem, Mitch.”

The glare Elliot directed at her made Luke pull in a deep breath and step up next to her. Not that she needed protecting from her brother-in-law or would even entertain Luke’s help if she did. But Luke didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes, and every defensive bone in his body sat up and paid attention.

“Look, Mitch,” she said, not at all fazed by the glare. “I’m sorry about what happened. You know I wouldn’t have stepped on your toes if I’d known.” She flashed a dazzling smile that would make Luke do just about anything, but Elliot’s face remained stony. “While I’ve got your attention, I thought I’d ask if you’d let me come down to the station and look at the computer myself.”