Her blood went cold. You mean the person who was in my apartment had Trevors key?
We dont know that, Samuelson said.
Jill shook her head. Trevors key to my apartment was on the same ring as the one to my car. It stands to reason that whoever has my car has a key to this apartment.
But you said you thought the person at the condo earlier whod been driving your car was a woman, Samuelson pointed out.
She nodded, her head aching. I smelled the perfume, but I never saw her. I cant be sure.
Youre sure the person in your apartment tonight was a man, though? Duncan asked.
Yes.
Well, you said nothing seems to be missing. Duncan glanced around. The place has been tossed pretty good.
He must have been up here waiting for you while we were downstairs in the bakery, Samuelson said. It seems like we would have heard him. He turned to Duncan. Make some noise, he said, and went downstairs again.
Duncan walked around, opened and closed drawers, moved furniture. Jill watched him, knowing what Samuelson was trying to prove. That maybe she herself had torn up this place, hit herself in the head, pretended she was attacked. And for what possible reason? To somehow cover up killing Trevor? She groaned and closed her eyes as she heard Samuelson come back up the stairs.
Well? Duncan asked.
I didnt hear anything, the other deputy said, sounding disappointed. The apartment is over the kitchen, not the coffee shop, and the building must be pretty well insulated.
It appears he was looking for something in particular, Duncan said. He didnt take the stereo or the TV or that expensive camera sitting right there on his way out. It has the same MO as the others.
The Bigfork area had been hit by dozens of burglaries over the past year, all believed to have been executed by someone local who knew exactly what he was after because of the items he didnt take.
With a start, Jill opened her eyes. He asked me where my ring was.
Your ring? Duncan asked.
I assume he meant my engagement ring since its the only one I wearwore. She frowned and looked down at her bare wrist. He broke off my bracelet. Her skin was raw where the chain had scraped her.
What kind of bracelet was it? Samuelson asked.
A silver charm bracelet with a small silver heart with my name engraved on it, she said. It was a present from Trevor. She could feel Samuelson staring at her again, wondering no doubt why the thief would take something like a cheap charm bracelet and not her camera.
Is there someone you could stay with the rest of the night? Duncan asked.
Her eyes felt as if they had sand in them. She was bone tired. Her head pounded. And she was sore and scared and angry and as vulnerable as shed ever been. She just wanted the deputies to leave.
She wasnt waking up her father at this time of the night. Not when hed been too sick earlier to attend the party. Nor was she going to a friends. She just wanted to go to sleep in her own bed and pretend none of this had happened.
Im staying here. Ill lock the doors from the inside with the slide bolt. The windows are locked. I doubt hell come back tonight, anyway. She saw the deputies exchange a look, but she didnt give a fig what they thought at this point.
I suggest you get your locks changed, Duncan said. In the meantime well see if Trevors keys turn up. You have my number.
She nodded and followed them downstairs to lock and bolt the door, then she checked the entry to the bakery. Double locked and bolted.
Back upstairs, she headed for her bedroom. She would straighten up the mess in the morning. Tonight all she wanted was to get out of this ridiculous costume, take a hot shower and go to bed.
By the time she finished, she was so exhausted she crawled between the clean sheets and fell into a comalike sleep haunted by men with ski masksone masked man in particular.
JILL AWOKE to pounding. Without opening her eyes, she reached for the man next to her in the bed, the memory of their lovemaking so fresh
Her eyes flew open, and her hand jerked back from the empty space next to her, the memories coming in nauseating waves. Trevor. Murdered. Trevor, the man who had betrayed her.
She sat up, remembering the other Scarlet silhouetted in the doorway, the womans words echoing in her head. A woman who called Trevor darling and had planned to run away with him last night.
Jill groaned as she recalled that last night she, the woman whod made love only once before, and that with her fiancé, had made lovean amazing and passionate and wonderful experiencewith
a complete stranger. And now she was a suspect in Trevors murder.
She wanted to bury her head under the covers and stay there, but the pounding wouldnt stop and she realized someone was downstairs banging at the outside door. She glanced at the clock, shocked to find shed overslept. It was almost three-thirty in the morning.
Hurriedly, she pulled on a pair of jeans, a sweater and her slippers. As she opened her bedroom door, she saw her ransacked apartment and remembered the man in the ski mask. A shiver of fear skittered up her spine.