Free Long After Midnight by Iris Johansen

as Kate reached her. “Everything all right?”
    “Probably.” Of course it was all right. She was just being paranoid. “He says Alan sent him to watch the house.”
    “That was nice of Alan.” She shut the door behind them and took the raincoat from Kate. “Now will you put up that gun? You looked like Sam Spade striding out there.”
    “Who’s Sam Spade?”
    “Forget it. Generation gap.” She took down the safety box and stared pointedly at the gun. “Let’s get that thing out of the way.”
    “In a minute.” She reached for the phone on the hall table, opened her phone directory, and found Alan’s number. “I just want to check with Alan.”
    “At this hour?”
    “I’m sure everything’s all right. I’ll just feel better if I check.” She punched in the number. “It’s only a little after ten.”
    “Hello,” Alan answered.
    He sounded drowsy. Guilt flooded her. “I didn’t want to disturb you, Alan.”
    “No, it’s okay.” He was obviously smothering a yawn. “Do you need to talk?”
    “No, I just wanted to thank you for the man you stationed outside the house.”
    There was a silence. Then, “What the hell are you talking about?” Alan sounded wide awake now.
    Her hand tightened on the receiver. “Todd Campbell. The officer you asked to watch over the house.”
    “I don’t know any Todd Campbell.” He paused. “I don’t like this, Kate.”
    Neither did she. She was suddenly scared to death. She looked at the front door. Jesus, had Phyliss locked it? “Lock the door,” she whispered.
    Phyliss didn’t question. She was at the door, turning the bolt the next instant.
    “He told you he was with the department?” Alan asked.
    “I saw his credentials.”
    “Christ, Kate, you know credentials can be faked. What kind of car did he have?”
    “Late-model Ford.”
    “Did you get his license number?”
    “No.” And she thought she had been so careful. “But I went out and talked to him. He knew you. He knew Michael.”
    “The hell he did. He could have found out a lot of information from the newspapers. That’s usually how they zero in on a victim. I don’t think you’re in danger now that he knows you’re aware he was casing the place. It was probably one of those ghouls who prey on bereaved families.”
    “That’s what I told Phyliss.”
    “I want you to go to the window and see if the car is still there.”
    She took the portable phone with her as she crossed to the window in the living room. Relief poured through her at the sight of the empty street. “He’s gone. The car’s gone.”
    “Good. Now make sure all the doors and windows are locked tight. I’m going to send a black-and-white to watch the house tonight. He’ll be there in a few minutes. You’ll be perfectly safe. Do you want me to come out?”
    “No, go back to sleep, Alan. Thanks for everything. I feel much better now.”
    “Okay, I’ll phone you tomorrow morning. If you get nervous, just give me a call.”
    “Don’t worry, I will.” She hung up the phone and turned to Phyliss. “He’s sending a black-and-white to watch the house, but he doesn’t believe it’s really necessary. He thinks we were being cased for a robbery.”
    Phyliss shook her head. “How can people be so terrible? To try to invade a house of mourning.”
    “He said to lock up the house, just in case.”
    “It’s already locked up.”
    “Then go to bed. I’ll wait here until I see the black-and-white.” She brushed a kiss against Phyliss’s cheek. “Try to sleep.”
    Phyliss turned away and moved heavily down the hall toward her room. “Terrible . . .”
    Kate’s hands clenched in helpless rage. Phyliss, whom Kate had never associated with age, at this moment looked like an old woman. It wasn’t enough she’d had to face Michael’s funeral today, but that creep had—
    She stiffened. Headlights were spearing the street outside.
    The black-and-white.
    She relaxed as the police car slid to a stop at the curb