No Holds Barred Read online

  When she felt Duncan stiffen, she said, “Why did you call?”

  “I hoped to schedule that interview you promised. That way you could give me your take on growing up in the castle that Angus MacPherson built for his true love. I’m particularly interested in the stone arch and its legend. We’ve made arrangements to do a feature on the old Campbell castle in Scotland, and we were thrilled to discover what must be the original stone arch in the garden.”

  “Really?” Piper asked.

  “We’re as certain as we can ever be about something like that. I could tell you all about it if you’d join me for dinner. I hear there’s a lovely little restaurant over by the college with a porch that overlooks the lake.”

  “Ms. MacPherson has other plans for dinner,” Duncan said. “And we’re on our way to a meeting right now.”

  The next thing she knew Duncan was pulling her across the street. “Tomorrow,” Piper called over her shoulder. “We’ll talk when you come to the castle tomorrow morning.” And she was relieved when Russell’s smile didn’t waver.

  As they walked up the steps to the diner’s entrance, she spoke in a low undertone to Duncan. “You were rude to him. He’s doing an article on the castle that could be instrumental in building Adair’s and Vi’s destination wedding business.”

  “Until we figure out exactly what’s going on here, you are not having drinks and dinner with a stranger.”

  She shot him a sideways glance. “I would have insisted that you come along. And one of the perks of on-demand sex is that there’s no reason to feel jealous.”

  “Well, as you so correctly pointed out in the woods, this sex-on-demand thing isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. We clearly don’t have the hang of it yet, so we’ll just have to keep practicing.”

  “You are jealous.” The idea of that thrilled her to the bone. It made the nerves that had been growing tighter in her stomach ease.

  With his hand on the doorknob, all Duncan said was, “Ready for this?”

  “Yes.”

  He pushed through the doors. Piper immediately noticed the scent of fried onions, grilling meat and coffee, and the sounds of an old-fashioned jukebox pumping out country music. In the kitchen, Edie, with her cloud of tightly curled red hair and a pair of reading glasses perched low on her nose, turned a welcoming wave into a thumbs-up gesture before she turned back to flip a burger high in the air. There was a smattering of applause from the customers at the counter.

  “Corner booth to your right,” Duncan murmured before he steered her in that direction. The booths surrounding it were empty, partly due to the fact that at two-thirty, the lunch rush was over and partly due to the “Reserved” signs on the tables.

  Piper spotted Sheriff Morris Skinner first. His hair had gotten a bit thinner and grayer, his midsection a little thicker since she’d seen him last, but the smile was the same. The other man with a smaller build sat across from him. Piper couldn’t prevent the knot of nerves from tightening again in her stomach.

  When they reached the booth, Duncan slid in beside Patrick Lightman and she took the space opposite beside the sheriff. It was such a smooth maneuver, boxing in Lightman and putting her across from him—Piper couldn’t help but wonder if Duncan and Skinner had planned it out in advance. Or perhaps it was bred into the gene pool of men who had been born to protect and serve.

  Then she pushed the errant thought away and focused her entire attention on Patrick Lightman.

  “Ms. MacPherson, I’m so happy to make your acquaintance.” He stretched out a hand.

  Skinner gripped Lightman’s wrist and set it back down on the table. “Hands to yourself. That was part of our agreement.”

  “Sorry.” Lightman kept his eyes steady on Piper’s.

  They were intense and very blue. And they’d registered no surprise at Duncan’s appearance. Since she’d taken her seat, he hadn’t looked at anyone but her.

  “Why exactly did you want to meet with me, Mr. Lightman?”

  A thin smile curved his lips but didn’t reach his eyes. “I wanted to thank you.”

  If he was hoping for a “you’re welcome,” he was plumb out of luck. In the silence, Piper continued to study him. The man looked just as he had in his photos and in the shots of him that the press had captured during his trial, except now he wasn’t wearing glasses. In his late thirties, he was five-foot-eight or so, with the wiry and toned build of a jockey. Sandy brown hair fell in bangs over his forehead, and his face was on the pudgy side. If she’d passed him on the street, she wouldn’t have given him a second look.

  During the trial he’d worn black-framed glasses. They’d emphasized the nerdy, geek aura that Lightman exuded even now. Something tugged at the edge of her memory.

  “Where are your glasses?” she asked.

  He patted a hand on the pocket of his jacket. “I don’t need them for everything.”

  “You didn’t make a trip all the way up here just to say thank you,” Skinner prompted.

  Lightman’s gaze never wavered from Piper’s. “You’ve saved my life, and I thought I might return the favor.”

  “Are you saying her life is in danger?” Skinner’s tone was mild, but Piper could feel the tension in his body.

  “Whoever staged that little scene in your apartment doesn’t wish you well, Piper.”

  His use of her first name sent a cold sliver of fear down her spine. Piper ignored it. “I know you didn’t stage it.”

  “I may be able to help you identify who did.”

  “How?” Skinner asked.

  “He’s also been stalking me.” Lightman shifted his gaze to the sheriff for the first time. “I recognized him. I’m going to reach into my pocket. You know I’m not armed.”

  Skinner nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Lightman pulled out his cell phone, a smartphone with a good-size screen, and placed it at the far end of the table. “I happened to have shot this little video clip.”

  He carefully pulled out his glasses and put them on. This close, Piper could see a designer logo on the side of the frames.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Edie was polishing the nearby corner and no doubt picking up every word of their conversation. A couple of customers at the counter were also within earshot, not that they gave any indication they were eavesdropping. The jukebox had switched from Shania Twain to Katy Perry.

  Reaching out, Lightman pressed something that set the video on the cell phone screen in motion. Piper immediately recognized the street in Georgetown where she routinely took her run. Just as she calculated that he must have shot it from the coffee shop two buildings down from her alley, she saw herself appear and head up the street.

  “You were there,” she said, forcing her voice to be steady as she tamped down on another sliver of fear. “You were watching me. Why?”

  “You saved my life,” he said. “The Macks family has been harassing me ever since I got out of jail. Have you seen them on TV? And they’re bothering my friend Abe. I figured it was only a matter of time before they got around to you. You were the one who saved me, so I was keeping an eye out for you. I pay my debts.”

  “How did you know Ms. MacPherson was responsible for your release?” Duncan asked.

  “Abe told me. Watch. This is the important part,” Lightman said.

  And it was. She was barely out of the picture frame when a figure appeared on the sidewalk wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and carrying a shopping bag. He moved quickly, disappearing into the alleyway she’d just jogged out of. The video followed his progress as he hurriedly climbed the steps that led to her apartment. Then it lingered as the man inserted a key and stepped through the door.

  “That’s the same person I’ve seen walking up and down my street,” Lightman said. “And he’ll follow me if I let him.”

  “Do you know who it is?” Duncan asked.

  “No. Sorry, but I didn’t get a clear shot of his face when he came out.” To prove his point, he swiped a finge
r across the cell phone and they watched the man hurry down the stairs, pause to toss a shopping bag into a Dumpster and then jog up the street in the same direction Piper had taken. Once again, the hood prevented a clear view of his features.

  When the screen went blank, Piper met Duncan’s eyes. She could tell he was thinking the same thing she was. The person they’d spotted running on the beach below the caves had also been wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Coincidence?

  Piper shifted her gaze to Lightman. “What else can you tell us about him?”

  Over the top of his glasses, he met her eyes. “He’s about five feet, ten inches, slender build, weighs about a hundred and thirty. My guess is that it’s Suzanne Macks’s brother, Sid.”

  “You must have followed him. Where did he go?” Duncan asked.

  “He used the Metro. I don’t.” Lightman shuddered slightly. “Too crowded. Too many germs.”

  “How long was he in the apartment?” Duncan asked.

  “Five minutes or so.” His eyes remained steady on Piper’s. “After he left, I went up to check and to see what he’d done.”

  Lightman pressed something on his cell. More video followed, but Piper would have sworn that it wasn’t the same one that the TV stations had played and replayed. The angle was different, and it remained totally focused on the sheet with its display of rose petals.

  When the screen went blank again, Sheriff Skinner spoke. “Why didn’t you come forward and give those video clips to the D.C. police?”

  “They wouldn’t have paid me any heed. They didn’t do anything when I complained about the Macks family—or about the guy watching my apartment. So I decided to bring them directly to Ms. MacPherson. I figured they’d listen to her.”

  “Would you send those video clips to my cell right now?” Skinner took out a card and pushed it toward Lightman, then waited for the man to push the buttons.

  “Thanks,” Skinner said when the transmission was completed. “I’ll see they get to the police in D.C. How did you know where to find Ms. MacPherson?”

  “Abe’s office told me she was out of town for a few days, and I figured she’d probably come up here. It was a lucky guess.”

  “Thank you for your help,” Piper said as Duncan slid out of his side of the booth. “I appreciate your making such a long trip from D.C. Have a safe journey back.”

  “Oh, I’m not leaving Glen Loch.” Lightman took his glasses off, replaced them in his pocket and picked up his cell phone. “Didn’t the sheriff tell you? I’m staying at a charming bed-and-breakfast, the Eagle’s Nest.” He kept his eyes on her as he slid out of the booth. “Till we meet again.”

  Piper absolutely hated the fact that she had to suppress a shudder. Duncan remained standing until Lightman had exited through the diner’s doors. The instant he sat down again, he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.

  Edie hurried over and delivered three mugs of coffee. “What a creep. These are on the house. If I had my way, I’d have put something stronger than coffee in his.” She dropped a hand on Piper’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t you worry. We’ll keep an eye on him.”

  “She will, too,” Skinner said. “As will I. Are you buying his story?”

  Duncan answered first. “Not entirely. He’s not telling us everything he knows. And Sid Macks has an airtight alibi for the time Lightman was shooting that video.”

  “I don’t believe Macks staged the scene in my apartment,” Piper said. Then she told Skinner about the two vases of flowers that had been delivered and the message on the second one.

  “He used the exact words that were on the third card,” Duncan said.

  “But if he’s the guy behind all this, he’s breaking pattern,” Piper said.

  “And who’s the guy in the hoodie?” Skinner shifted his gaze out the window to where Lightman had settled himself on a park bench. “I’ll keep my eye on him. While we’ve been chatting, my deputy Tim has been checking out Lightman’s room at the Eagle’s Nest. It’ll be wired by the time he’s finished. Other than that, my hands are tied. Lightman’s a free man.”

  “Thanks to me,” Piper said.

  Duncan took her hands and held them so tight, Piper was afraid he was stopping the blood. Startled, she met his eyes and she saw anger, this time hot enough to nearly singe her skin.

  “He wasn’t hanging out over at your apartment to say thank-you. My theory is he was stalking you and ran into some competition. I want to get you away from here. Now.”

  Before she could even open her mouth, Skinner spoke in a voice that didn’t carry. “Not the place to make a scene.”

  He was right. And she and Duncan could hardly take the discussion outside when Lightman had decided to sit down on a park bench across the street and enjoy the view of the lake. Still, Piper had to bite down hard on her tongue. It gave her some satisfaction to see that Duncan was struggling also.

  When he spoke, it was in a very low tone. “A serial killer has taken a fancy to you. He’s followed you up here and he intends to stay.”

  She could see the argument he was making. She did fit the description of the RPK’s victims. And the fact that Lightman had taken pictures of her the day before made her skin crawl. But she couldn’t run. Where could she go?

  Pitching her voice very low, she asked, “What if he’s telling the truth?” Impatience flickered across Duncan’s features, but he eased the pressure on her fingers enough for her to turn them and grip his. “Or at least a partial truth. Why would he pick me as his next victim? He’d have the spotlight turned on him full force and he’d lose his good friend Abe as his defense attorney.”

  “Go on,” Duncan said. He was listening now.

  “Even if he was stalking me, he isn’t anymore. If he were, why seek the spotlight like this? Why come all the way up here, contact the sheriff and offer to turn over those video clips? That isn’t the RPK’s profile. He’s gotten away with what he has because he stays in the background. No one ever sees him. If I were to end up on a sheet with rose petals strewn over me now, he’d be the prime suspect.”

  “She’s making sense,” Skinner said.

  Duncan was aware of that. She was making perfect sense. And she was doing what he should be doing—getting into Lightman’s head and thinking the way he was thinking. The RPK was very smart, and while he might have been tempted by the idea of targeting Piper, might even have been considering it, he wouldn’t have come up here, notified the sheriff and moved into the bed-and-breakfast. Would he? Duncan wasn’t sure. Usually, he was. “He was on your street, watching your apartment, yesterday morning.”

  “Maybe out of concern. I did help to get him out of jail. The crazy thing is he might even be trying to do the white knight thing,” Piper said.

  Duncan’s lips almost curved. “Let’s not get carried away.” He glanced at the sheriff. “Even when we were kids, Piper never liked to play the role of damsel in distress. White knights riding to the rescue are not her thing.”

  He admired that about her, he thought as he studied her. It was part of what had always attracted him. He also liked the way her mind had zeroed in on the facts and then arranged them into a persuasive argument. He could see what she was saying about Lightman as clearly as she did. The problem was that his emotions were blurring everything. If he wanted to keep her safe, he had to keep his mind as focused as hers was.

  He turned to Skinner. “Can you verify Lightman’s whereabouts shortly after noon?”

  “No. My first contact with him was just before I called you at about one-forty-five, give or take a few minutes. That was right after he made his request for a meeting. I can see when he checked in at the Eagle’s Nest.”

  “Do that.”

  The sheriff made a quick call and got the answer. “Ada says he checked in at one-fifteen, took his bag up to the room and then asked for directions to my office. Why do you want to know?”

  He told the sheriff about their adventure and their discovery in the caves.

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sp; At the end of it, Skinner said, “So another piece of Eleanor Campbell MacPherson’s dowry has surfaced. I assume you’ve secured it.”

  “It’s in the Fort Knox-quality safe that Cam had installed,” Duncan said.

  Skinner took a sip of coffee. “And it could have been Lightman who followed you into the caves. But you say the person you saw was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. I know they’re pretty common apparel, but could it have been the guy Lightman filmed going into Piper’s apartment?”

  “Both are possibilities. The hooded sweatshirt guy could have taken a lucky guess and followed her up here just as Lightman did,” Duncan admitted as he cursed himself silently. The problem was that he hadn’t been thinking straight since Piper had walked into her apartment yesterday morning. If he had, he might have found a safer place to take her. Although where that might be, he didn’t know.

  “Or the person who followed us into the cave could be the person Cam believed was paying regular visits to the library,” Piper said, then explained what she and Duncan had theorized about in the woods.

  “Or someone new,” Skinner mused. “The Stuart Sapphires have brought fortune hunters out of the woodwork before. And the news that you’ve discovered a second earring will leak out soon enough.” He glanced around the diner. “Anything that’s said in this place goes viral almost immediately.”

  “So we’re back to a whole cornucopia of suspects. Happy thought,” Piper said.

  “Plus, there are those people from Architectural Digest planning on their photo shoot tomorrow.” At Duncan’s raised brows, Skinner shrugged. “The town has been buzzing about it for weeks. They’re staying at the same bed-and-breakfast as our friend Lightman. The woman left early with her camera to take location shots around the lake. I can check on that. The man has been exploring the village, talking to the locals, visiting the library. He’s even visited the college. When do you expect Vi and Daryl Garnett to be back?”

  “Roughly around dinnertime,” Duncan said. “They’re going to leave Albany right after Vi’s presentation winds up.”

  “I told Vi I’d stop by tomorrow for the photo shoot. But I could send someone out to the castle until they arrive tonight,” Skinner offered.