Page 81 of Rekindle My Heart

Erica narrowed her eyes at him. Could she trust him with her car? She clenched the keys.

“You break it, you buy it.” With some effort, she dropped the keys into his hand.

Five minutes later, they were parked in front of the burnt-out building. The sun was cresting the horizon behind the charred façade. Instead of walking up to Mrs. White’s house, they waited. Watching.

“There.” Ryan snapped a photo of the dark blue Tahoe taking the corner in slow-mo.

“Do you think it’s our guy?” Erica leaned forward. Excitement rushed through her veins. All she glimpsed was a ball cap and dark glasses.

“Only one way to find out.” He put the car in gear and followed.

“He’s definitely looking for something. Or someone. He looped the block twice.” Ryan backed off and turned left. Then parked.

“Why aren’t we following him?”

“Because if he stays to the pattern, he’ll be coming by any second.” Ryan pointed to the vehicle rounding the corner a block up. “There. Can you make out the driver?” He snapped a few more photos.

“No. I assume it’s a man by Mrs. White’s description.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t stop them just because they are driving in circles and an eighty-year-old claims they were seen talking to a known drug dealer. Hell, I’m not even in a department car. I don’t have any lights or sirens.”

“We could flash our lights at them.”

“In this neighborhood, we might get shot at. Once this week was enough for me.” He pulled into the lane and slipped up behind the unsub.

When the vehicle finally turned out of the neighborhood, Ryan dropped back. The vehicle made a sharp right turn at the next corner. By the time Ryan rounded the block, they were gone. “Damn it. They must have realized they had a tail.”

“That or they wanted out of this area.” She was with a police detective, and she still had a creepy feeling as they sat in front of a building with gang markings on the walls.

He shrugged, then circled back to the scene. They parked in front of Mrs. White’s house. “Let’s go see what she saw.”

Ryan’s hand brushed hers as they crossed the yard. A zing of attraction zipped up her arm.

Down girl.She shoved her hands in her sweatshirt pockets. No touching. Make it quick, then she could head to the fire station and do some research into incident reports.

The door flung open as they walked up. “Did you see them?”

Her robe was misbuttoned and the scarf wrapping her head was crooked. “I had just set my coffee to brew when I saw them roll by all sneaky-like.”

Ryan shot Erica a side-eyed glance.

She bit back her chuckle. The older woman watched too many crime dramas.

Ryan nodded to the woman. “We did indeed. Would you mind if we asked you a few questions about the vehicle and driver?”

“Well, sure. Come on in. I don’t want Annabeth getting out again.” She rushed them inside the entry and closed the door.

A blast from the past slapped her in the face. The brown and orange floral sofa with dark wood accents could have been a twin to the one her grandmother had back in the nineties, and that couch was old then. Erica surveyed the room. It was dated and lived in, but she’d give Mrs. White credit, there wasn’t a speck of dust or dirt that she could see. Not even cat hair. The woman knew how to keep a house clean.

Maybe she could teach me a thing or two. Seconds after she’d sweep, new hairballs rolled down the hall. She was surprised Karma wasn’t bald by now.

“I brought something for Annabeth.” Erica held up the jerky.

“Oh, aren’t you sweet.” Mrs. White nudged Ryan’s arm. “She’s a keeper.”

He pinned her with a knowing gaze. “I agree.”

Well, shit. If he kept looking at her like that, her knees would buckle. She cleared her throat. Time to move this along. “Mrs. White, could you give us a description of the vehicle you saw cruising the neighborhood this morning?”