Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

the same. She was taking her time answering the door. Maybe she had decided she wasn’t going to open it, after all.

Just as he lifted the phone to text her, the door swung open.

Tori rushed out. “Okay, let’s go.”

She walked right past him without a glance. Her purse slung over her shoulder and her briefcase and small duffel at her side, she hurried down the sidewalk to stand next to his vehicle, which he’d parked at the curb.

“Wait.” He held back a laugh as he caught up with her and opened the door for her. She tossed in her things. “Where are we going?”

“You’re taking me to Sarah’s.”

That was what he had in mind. Sort of. He’d wanted her to look at the house to see if anything was missing. More than that, he’d wanted to see her.

He climbed into his vehicle on the driver’s side and started it. “Aren’t you even going to say goodbye?”

“To my parents? I already told them you were taking me back to Sarah’s. That’s all right, isn’t it? It was providential that you showed up when you did. Really, I appreciate the ride, Ryan.”

“You’re welcome.” Tori’s car, or rather Sarah’s car that Tori had been driving while staying here, remained parked at the bungalow. “As a matter of fact, I had hoped to take you there to have you walk through and see if anything obvious was missing.”

He pulled away from the curb. Sarah’s bungalow was only a couple of neighborhoods over—barely a mile away. Her home was in the same neighborhood as Ryan’s and was actually only a few houses down.

“Why the big rush to get out of there?” He glanced over as he drove. She must have recently showered. He could still smell the shampoo. She was beautiful as always, but she looked like she hadn’t slept well last night. That was understandable. He stifled the desire to reach over and grab her hand to reassure her.

“I didn’t mean to come across like I was in a hurry to leave.” Tori stared out the passenger window.

He took a right at the intersection. “You could have fooled me.”

She blew out a breath. “Okay, well, maybe just a little. I love Mom and Dad, but they’re pressuring me to leave town. They’ve even offered to come with me.”

“You mean visit you?”

“They talked about moving to South Carolina.”

Wow. He drove slowly down the street, passing his house on the way to Sarah’s. “And you’re not encouraging them with their plans.”

She jerked her head to him. “Of course not. They aren’t thinking clearly, Ryan. Once they have gotten past the initial grieving process, they’ll realize that they don’t truly want to leave their home or their friends. They’ll realize that they cherish the memories of Sarah here. A permanent move would be a rash decision based on emotions.”

“While I agree with you that they need time to grieve before they make such big decisions, maybe they need some new scenery, at least for a little while. Something that doesn’t remind them so much of Sarah until they’ve grieved enough.” He pulled to the curb in front of Sarah’s bungalow as he said the words. Great timing. Seeing the bungalow gave him a sick feeling in his gut. He could use a change of scenery, too.

Sarah had painted her home a light grayish blue to brighten it up, though the huge windows and the cozy front porch did a great job of that already. But Sarah wasn’t here anymore to enjoy the work she’d put into her home. He shifted into Park and turned in the seat, facing Tori to talk more about her parents.

“Thanks.” Tori opened the door. She stepped out but leaned back in to grab her briefcase, duffel and purse, and then said, “You don’t have to come in with me.”

He quickly got out and rushed around to walk with her. “Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not getting rid of me so easily. After what happened the last time, I’m going to clear the house before you go inside. Then I’ll walk with you to see if anything is missing. I want to be here when you look through it all.”

“That’s not necessary,” she said and closed the car door. “I can always give you a call later if I notice something.” Tori hiked up the sidewalk lugging her things.

Ryan caught up with her and tried to relieve her of the duffel. “You’ll hurt your shoulder.”

Grimacing, she relinquished the bag. “Thanks. You’re probably right.”

“You’re welcome. Oh, by the way—” he reached inside his jacket and grabbed her gun that he’d tucked in a pocket, then handed it over “—Jerry said no prints. You can have your weapon back. But I’m still going in first. Don’t argue.”

Ryan unlocked and opened the door. “Wait here in the foyer for me. You might try using the alarm next time. Turn it on when you leave but also while you’re here in the house. If you’d armed it maybe the perp would have been deterred.”

“I didn’t know the code before, but Dad gave it to me this morning. But you and I both know he could disarm the alarm if he set his mind to it. You can learn how with an online tutorial.”

Ryan frowned. “Then if you’re going to stay here, we should get you set up with a state-of-the-art system.”

“We?” she arched a brow.

Ryan didn’t respond to her jab at his intrusion in the details of her life. Instead, he drew his weapon and moved through the home to make sure no one else had broken in. “Make sure to call for the window replacement today!” he called over his shoulder.

“Dad already did,” she yelled from the foyer.

They were so familiar with each other. Maybe he was too close to this investigation, getting too involved with Tori, but he didn’t think so. He was a professional and could compartmentalize his past relationship with her while he investigated Sarah’s murder and the obviously related attacks on Tori.

After