Security Measures

She took a long sip of the coffee. It didn’t do a thing for soothing her nerves. “I’m listening.”

“I was doing a routine check of the outside of the house when I saw Kelly climbing out of her bedroom window. She didn’t see me, so I followed her out to the street, then joined her. I walked with her to the park, where she was supposed to meet a friend named Byron. He didn’t show, but I think he was there and ran away when he saw me.”

Janice dropped to the edge of the bed, not wanting to believe Vincent, but afraid to discount his story. Kelly had been so rebellious of late; Janice worried that she might be taking up with the wrong crowd at school. “I’ve never heard her mention anyone named Byron.”

“She met him through an Internet chat room.”

“I’ve forbidden her to ever talk to strangers on the Internet.” Fear and aggravation melded and made Janice’s voice a lot shakier than she’d intended. “She deliberately broke my rules.”

“She’s a teenager,” Vincent said. “It comes with the territory. You surely remember that.”

She ignored his last remark. “I’ll take care of it from here.”

“You can’t tell Kelly that I told you this.”

“Surely you don’t think you can tell me how to discipline my daughter.”

“I told her I wouldn’t squeal on her. It’s better if she thinks she can trust me in this.”

“I will not have her sneaking out to meet some boy she met on the Internet.”

“I think it could be a lot worse than that.”

“Worse?”

“I think Tyrone could be behind this. I’m not sure how or why, but the relationship sounds suspicious. It started just after Tyrone was released on parole. It could have been Tyrone’s way of locating her or of finding out about her schedule and habits. I’ll look into it, but you have to work with me and not go blowing Kelly’s trust in me.”

She raked her fingers through her hair, pushing the blunt ends behind her ears. The irony of his words grated on her nerves. He was a convicted felon, yet he talked about trust as if it were an integral part of his dealings.

“I’ll need some time alone in Kelly’s room to check some things on her computer. I’ll ask if I can check my e-mail, but you’ll need to keep her busy so that she doesn’t come in while I’m snooping.”

“I don’t want you in her room, and…” Her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID. Ken. Could he possibly know Vincent was here?

“I have to answer that,” she said.

Vincent took the phone from her and checked the caller ID for himself. “The Justice Department?”

“It’s probably the marshal who’s handling my case,” she said, knowing he’d surely figured that out for himself.

“Answer it, but don’t say anything to let him know that I’m here.”

She took the call. “Hello.”

“I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“I’m awake.”

“I have a bit of bad news.”

“What is it?”

“They haven’t apprehended Vincent, and they suspect that he may have left the area. But they have Tyrone under surveillance just in case Vincent tries to see him. There’s been no change in Tyrone’s behavior. He’s reporting for work every day and staying close to home at night.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

“Damn good. We know Tyrone’s not a threat. I’m more concerned about Vincent, though.”

“Why is that?”

“I looked over his prison records. The last psychological evaluation of him indicates he’s delusional at times.”

“Meaning what?”

“He doesn’t have a firm grasp on reality. That’s all it said.”

Delusional, meaning all his fears about Tyrone could be groundless.

“Are you okay?”

Far from it, but she didn’t dare give that away, not with Vincent glaring at her and listening to every word she said. “I’m fine.”

“Call me if you need anything or if you hear from Vincent. Though like I said, there’s no reason to indicate he knows you’re alive.”

None, except that he was standing in her bedroom, telling her disturbing tales about Kelly.

“Later.”

“Yeah, later.”

She broke the connection and turned back to Vincent. She expected him to bombard her with questions about the call, but apparently he was satisfied that she hadn’t given his presence away.

“I’ll get out of here and leave you alone,” he said, picking up the tray. “But no funny stuff.”

“No funny stuff.”

“I mean it. I don’t care what your marshal friend says. Tyrone may have convinced him he’s gone straight, but I know him too well. He’s out for revenge. Turn me in, and you and Kelly don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting out of this alive.”

Vincent’s words ricocheted around in her brain like stray bullets, hitting old and new fears at random and making her blood run icy cold.

STRANGE THAT BEING on the run didn’t make Vincent feel nearly as vulnerable as finally meeting his daughter did. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. Meeting her was like waking up on Christmas morning and finding this present so fantastic that you’d never even imagined it existed sitting under the tree.

Even though she was pouting about missing out on her trip to New Orleans, she was still amazing. Smart. Spunky. And he hadn’t lied when he’d said she had his eyes. She did, but the rest of her was all Candy, or Janice as she went by now. She wasn’t as pretty as her mother, but she would be in time.

Time that he had to make sure she got.

He opened the door to her bedroom and went inside. He skimmed the items on her bulletin board, then picked up a picture of Kelly and Janice, heads together, both laughing. He tensed, as if he were gearing up for a fight.

It wasn’t as if he felt anything for Janice anymore. He didn’t. How could he be attracted to a woman who hadn’t even looked him in the eye when she’d sat on the witness stand and testified for the prosecutor? But that was behind him. It was Kelly he was here for, her safety that was all important.