Emergency Reunion by Sandra Orchard

Author:Sandra Orchard
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2015-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

Just before three the next day, Ted’s vintage orange Chevy Nova pulled out of an apartment complex around the corner from Sherri’s.

“That’s his car.” Cole pointed.

Zeke tailed it. The sunny day had been a quiet one for the sheriff’s office, so Zeke hadn’t balked at Cole’s suggestion that they concentrate their patrols around Ted’s neighborhood. In fact, from the zeal of his cat-and-mouse maneuvers through traffic, he looked as if he was enjoying himself. “You do know that unless an ambulance call came in that we didn’t hear about, Ted’s not going after Sherri.”

Cole strained to see around a truck that had pulled in front of them. “I still want to know where he’s going.” What he really wanted was a look in the man’s medical records. The odds that he’d happened to be walking past Sherri’s apartment when she screamed were slim enough, but his intense gawking once inside had sent all Cole’s alarms bells clanging.

Eight minutes later, Ted parked in front of the mall and stepped out of his car dressed in a custodian’s uniform.

Zeke cruised slowly down the next lane. “Well, he won’t be bothering Sherri for the next eight hours if he’s reporting to work.”

Cole swept his gaze across the store signs—fourteen on this side alone. “I don’t know. A mall this size must have a large cleaning staff. Would be easy enough to slip away for an hour with no one the wiser.”

Zeke snorted. “I’m telling you, your brother’s the one we should be keeping an eye on. This guy didn’t strike me as a mental case. The department didn’t have a shred of paperwork on him.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s not.” The guy was fixated on Sherri. Of that much Cole was certain.

“Look at that.” Zeke stopped the cruiser at the end of the lane closest to the main entrance and jutted his chin toward Ted swallowing an elderly woman in an exuberant hug outside the door. “I bet she can tell us all you want to know about him.”

Cole shifted in his seat for a better look. “Do you know who she is?”

“Sure. Mrs. Eden, my favorite high school English teacher.”

The idea that Zeke had a favorite teacher, let alone one who taught English, left Cole a little stunned.

“Didn’t you have her?”

“No, I’ve never heard of her. She must’ve retired before I got to high school.” His partner had a good ten years on him at least, but Ted didn’t, so how’d he know the teacher?

Zeke whipped into a parking spot. “No problem. I’ll ask her.” The instant Ted disappeared into the mall, Zeke shoved open his door and headed off the elderly woman.

By the time Cole stepped up beside him, the woman was twittering about how wonderful Ted looked now that he’d gotten off the drugs and had put on weight.

“He almost died, you know. Oh, my. It was horrible. I lived next door to the family then and I still remember how hysterical his mother was as the paramedics worked on him.

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