He reached over and pulled her against him as they walked in the house. “We have to try a real date. So far our track record sucks.”
Laughter met his ears when he opened the doors.
Worried gazes met them when they walked in the living room.
Neil looked at him while everyone else stared at Judy.
Neither Rick nor Neil had wanted anyone in the family, mainly Judy, to learn about the detectives’ conclusions before the two of them expressed them. Rick had the easy part. He spoke to Judy . . . Neil had to take on the entire family.
“You OK?” Meg asked first . . . the question directed at Judy.
Judy tilted her chin higher. “I’m fine. Ready to go home.” She looked at her parents. “To the home I made here in California, and get on with my life.”
Sawyer took a step forward. Janice caught his arm. It had to be hard for a father to let his child make her own decisions.
Rick stood back and let this play out.
“Dad . . . Mom . . . I love you. I know you want me safe but so does everyone here. Moving back to Utah means this guy won. Yeah, he didn’t kill me, but he would have killed my dreams, my life. I can’t give him that power. I belong here and I’m not going to let this stop me.”
Rick squeezed her shoulder in silent support.
Janice stepped forward and hugged her daughter. “You always have a place with us.”
“I know that, Mom.”
Sawyer made eye contact with Rick. “You need to keep my girl safe.”
Rick drew in a breath, pushed out his chest. “I will.”
While Judy said good-bye to her family, Rick shook Neil’s hand and pulled Zach aside. “We’re ready for round-the-clock supervision,” Neil told Zach. “In light of the new situation we’ll have more patrols at the house even if Rick is there.”
“Nobody thinks you did this.” Zach’s confidence made him stand taller.
“The surveillance isn’t to clear my name, but to watch for whoever might think no one’s eyes are out there. In order to catch this scumbag, you need to think like him. If he thinks all the protection is on the inside, he might roam the outside.”
Zach forced air from pursed lips. “See . . . this is why I like construction and not all this conspiracy shit. My mind doesn’t even go there.”
“By-product of the military, I’m afraid,” Neil said.
Rick extended his hand, shook Zach’s. “I’ll keep her safe for as long as I can.”
Zach stopped shaking his hand, his grin faded.
“The police will pick me up. It’s only a matter of time.”
“You’re serious.”
“Even if it’s for a long interrogation. I’ll be picked up unless this guy strikes again in a short amount of time.”
Zach closed his eyes and shook his head. “I never understood innocent until proven guilty until last year with Karen. Seemed every report on the news gave a clear explanation of a crime and the guilty party was a given. Only it’s not that way and the guilty are free to do whatever the hell they want.”
“If and when I’m taken in, Judy will be the weakest. She’ll need everyone. This guy preys on weakness or he wouldn’t have attacked her when he did. He didn’t kill her because the chase, the thrill . . .” Rick swallowed the nausea building in his throat. “The thrill of hurting her gave him more pleasure and he’ll want to do it again.”
Neil patted Rick on the back. “The problem is this guy might hit her one too many times and end his pleasure.”
Zach grew white. “Maybe we should keep her under house arrest.”
“Is your sister going to go for that?”
Zach glanced across the room. All of them followed his eyes only to see Judy lift her gaze to them with a shrug.
“No. Judy won’t let this guy have that kind of power.”
Chapter Sixteen
The building might have been in the exact same place and hadn’t been modified by paint or construction in the short amount of time she’d been away. But it was different.
Judy stared out the window of the passenger side of her car.
Rick pulled the car up to the curb and cut the engine.
“We’ll take this one step at a time.”
Her answer was a nod.
“Today is walking through the door, getting through the stares and questions. I’ll be on your floor before five to take you home.”
“I can meet you down here.”
“Humor me.”
Fine. Humoring Rick until she found her sea legs again was OK by her.
“Let’s do this,” she said as she pushed from the car with her purse in her hand.
He walked around the front of the car and placed a hand on the small of her back. “Ready?”
She’d brushed her hair around the section that was removed to stitch her up and knew that scar was hidden. Long sleeves were useful to hide her arm and the carving the butcher left with her. A little foundation, a lot of concealer, and it didn’t look as if she’d had too many nights without sleep.
They walked together inside the building. Already the air conditioning was working overtime to keep the heat outside.
The lobby consisted of a security desk with a guard that stood behind it watching everyone as they walked in. He’d offer a good morning and addressed many people by name. There wasn’t a checkpoint that only employees of the building could walk past, and she and Rick sailed by the security guard without any words.
She didn’t notice the stares until they stood by the elevators waiting for the lift.
“Is that her?” someone whispered behind them.
Rick must have heard the question, too. His hand kneaded her lower back and he inched closer.
Inside the elevator was worse. Besides her and Rick there were seven more people crammed in. All except one person kept glancing her way.
The slow, steady climb, with several stops along the way, took way too long.
Rick led her from the elevator and onto the floor that belonged to Benson & Miller Designs.
Nancy popped her head up from the reception desk and opened her mouth like a guppy. She swiped the headset from her head and walked around the desk. “Oh my God . . .”
Rick stood back as the woman wrapped her arms around Judy as if they were the best of friends.
“We heard . . . we all heard.” Nancy stood back. “Are you all right?”
“I’m better now, thanks.”
“My ex loved using his fists. I know it’s not the same, but if you ever need to talk.”