Free Stealing Shadows by Kay Hooper Page A

counter.

    "Yes, Mrs. Jameson. I'll make fresh."

    "You do that. And put in a pinch of salt to draw the bitterness."

    "Yes, ma'am."

    When Cassie answered a second knock on her front door late Friday afternoon, she was surprised to find a stranger standing there, a young man wearing a dark jump suit with the nameDan on one pocket andSafeNet Security on the other. He was holding a clipboard, and spoke politely.

    "Miss Neill? I'm Dan Crowder, SafeNet Security. My partner and I are here to install your security system."

    She looked past him to a white van in her driveway with the security company logo on its side and another clean-cut and uniformed young man standing beside it.

    "My security system?"

    "Yes, ma'am. Judge Ryan sent us."

    He certainly hadn't wasted any time.

    Dan smiled reassuringly. "Judge Ryan said you were to call him if you had any doubts, Miss Neill."

    Cassie didn't call Ben; she called the security company. As she'd expected, Dan's story was confirmed.

    Cassie toyed with the idea of sending Dan and his partner away, but in the end let them in so they could commence their work. Because Ben had been right about one thing.

    In a small town, it was only a matter of time before the wrong person discovered what she could do.

    "Ben?"

    On the point of entering the building next door to the courthouse where his office was located, Ben paused and turned to see Jill Kirkwood approaching him. He couldn't help remembering Cassie's assertion that Jill had not accepted their breakup, but still managed to smile and greet her with the same low-key easiness he'd held on to since they'd broken it off.

    Sincehe had broken it off.

    "Hi, Jill. What's up?"

    "Is there any news on who killed Becky Smith?"

    He was only a little surprised that she asked. In the brief time it had taken him to walk the two blocks from the downtown office where he'd had an earlier appointment, he had already been stopped three times by worried citizens asking the same anxious question. Still, it wasn't like Jill to be much interested in crime, even a particularly vicious one.

    "Nothing new that I know of," he told her. "Matt and his deputies are working on it."

    "Does he know that Becky thought she was being followed?"

    "She thought – how do you know that?"

    "She told me. Came into the store one day last week. Wednesday, I think it was. We got to talking, and she mentioned she'd caught a glimpse of somebody watching her. She sort of laughed about it, said something about having a secret admirer who didn't want to show his face. She wasn't worried about it, so I didn't give it a second thought."

    Sohe did watch her before. Another bull's-eye for Cassie.

    "You'd better tell Matt about it, Jill. I don't think he knows, unless somebody else told him in the last day or so."

    "All right, I'll go see him." She smiled. "I was glad to meet Cassie Neill. I liked her aunt."

    "Yeah, so did I."

    "She hasn't been in town long, has she?"

    "Cassie? About six months, I think."

    "Oh. I just didn't remember seeing her before yesterday."

    "I'm not surprised. She seems as much of a loner as Miss Melton was."

    "Seems? You don't know her very well?"

    "I met her Tuesday." He felt a flash of annoyance at being questioned but trusted he kept the reaction out of his face.

    Jill laughed a little, with the bright smile and artificial ease of someone aware of crossing the line. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

    Obviously his poker face wasn't as good as he'd thought.

    Ben said, "Don't be ridiculous. Look, why don't you go and tell Matt what you know. He needs to hear it. The sooner we get this bastard behind bars, the better it'll be for everyone in town."

    "Okay. I'll see you later, Ben."

    "Sure." For just an instant as she turned away, he considered warning her to be careful, but cast off the impulse as ridiculous and unnecessary. What could he say, after all? Watch out for strangers following you?

    She was a smart lady, and knowing what she did