Come Dark by Steven F. Havill Page B

Keep your e-mail open. Be available to us.” In the background Estelle heard a sudden burst of a child’s laughter—Ginger’s hearty roar of approval at something the puppy had done. She hadn’t missed her mother yet.

Chapter Nine
    Deputy Tom Pasquale leaned back in the chair, regarding the computer screen. Not a touch typist, and years before having paid more attention to the shapely neck of the young lady in the seat in front of him than to the high school English grammar syllabus, writing came as a chore for him. At the moment that Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman knocked on the cubicle door—the deputy’s personal office was hardly more than that—Pasquale was stymied by the word “disguised.” He deleted his last attempt and typed “dressed to look like,” which may have been more exact in meaning, anyway. He looked up at the undersheriff.
    â€œI may be here all week.”
    â€œThe SO in Cathay will appreciate your efforts,” Estelle said. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have a couple of questions for you.”
    â€œSure.” He pushed back from the keyboard, always pleased when he had the chance for more than a passing “hello” with the undersheriff.
    Estelle entered the office and pulled the single steel folding chair out of the corner. “When you drove into the parking lot at The Spree , you came in from the north side?”
    The deputy looked at the ceiling for a moment. “Yes.”
    â€œAnd you were driving toward the store, down the parking lot aisle that would be in front of where Stacie Stewart parked her Volvo. She was on your right.” Her slender, expressive fingers drew the map in the air.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhen you first saw her, did you actually see her climb out of the car, or was she already starting to walk away from it?”
    Pasquale hesitated. “I saw her when she was just leaving the car, about twenty-five yards away from me. I saw her slam the driver’s door. She had a small purse slung over her shoulder, and she turned toward the store. She just walked behind all the other cars, staying out of the middle of the aisle.”
    â€œShe was alone?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDid she notice you?”
    â€œYes, ma’am. She looked back at me and waved.” Pasquale twiddled his fingers. “And then she continued on to the store, walkin’ pretty quickly.”
    â€œYou watched her all the way? You actually saw her go through the auto doors and enter the store?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThere was no way she might have turned and walked along the storefront, where all the yard and garden inventory is on display?”
    â€œNo. I saw her go into the store.”
    â€œDid you see her for long enough that you could describe her mood?”
    Knowing that his undersheriff appreciated precision without stinting on information that might turn out to be important, Pasquale thought carefully, framing his answer.
    â€œJust busy. Not wastin’ any time. Like she knew exactly what she was after.” He shrugged. “Friendly enough when she saw me, but she didn’t stop to chat. No big sexy smile for me.”
    â€œWould the sexy smile have been the norm?”
    Pasquale ducked his head with embarrassment. “Well, no.”
    â€œNo particular urgency, then? Did she seem preoccupied?”
    Pasquale shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe, ’cause she wasn’t wasting any time. She just kind of breezed by, you know?”
    Estelle regarded the young deputy for a moment. “Give me your best estimate, Thomas. From the moment you saw her enter the store to when you went searching for her inside…how many minutes was that?”
    He closed his eyes, replaying the mental tape. “Okay, she got out of the car, walked down the lot quickly and went in the store. That’s a minute, or minute and a half. Then I cruised a little farther and saw the Fusion