The number one task for Sandy the next morning was at the newspaper office. The obnoxious assault by Huress had unsettled her mind. She wanted to be certain she had thanked Linda. In addition, something else about Linda was bothering her.
The newsroom was busy and carried a high-level jumble of voices, keyboard clicks and printer noise. Linda pulled a chair over for her. "You really were shaken last night when I dropped you off. You should have let me come in for a minute."
"Now that I think about it, you're right. We could have had a cup of tea, and you could have talked me down. I was so hyper I couldn't sleep."
"Yes, a horny two-hundred-pounder with a gun can do that."
"Hush up or I'll start shivering again. One of his threats was to see that Raymond was transferred out to the county jail immediately. He's probably taking care of that this morning."
"He might have been acting on orders from Moran."
"Geez, does Moran play like that?"
"I've never liked him, he's a pain in the ass." Linda stared up at the ceiling for a moment. "After I let you out last night, I sat watching you go in and was thinking. You kept thanking me, yet I had the feeling you didn't want me in your apartment because you were worried about me. You know, about me bothering you. I'm sorry, don't answer, bad timing. I shouldn't hit you with that right now."
"No, it's okay. You're right. I felt so vulnerable, I just wanted to go hide under the covers. I would have taken out his eye, if you hadn't shown up when you did. I hate it when I get in those angry moods. You know, I wondered how you happened to show up just at the right time."
"Just dumb luck, I guess. I was headed to the girl bar, and that convenience store is on the way. There was something I wanted to get."
Something wasn't straight about her story. "Linda, were you following me last night? You came to my rescue at just the perfect time. And you took me straight home after, without me telling you where I lived." She fixed her eyes on Linda.
"Okay, I was following you. Sorry if I misjudged you. It was the reporter in me. You were just too much when you showed up yesterday, and I became suspicious. I had to find out more about you. After we had that sandwich, we came back here to pick up your car. You zipped out of the lot, and I got the dumb reporter idea to follow you."