“I am not going to a safe house. Can’t you understand English?”
“Maybe you don’t,” he said slowly. “Honey, I’m not giving you a choice in this. You can’t stay in your house.”
“Then I’ll stay in a motel, or rent an apartment. I am not going to be locked up because of your schemes. As much as I can, I’m going to live a normal life. I’m going to work, if I have a job, and I’m going to do normal things, like laundry and shopping and going to movies. I lived like a virtual prisoner for the first twenty-two years of my life. I’ll be damned if I let you lock me up again.”
He thrust his hand through his hair. God Almighty, he hadn’t expected her to dig in her heels like this. This was a Marlie he hadn’t seen since the first week he’d known her, and somehow he had let himself forget about her temper. The woman sitting beside him was seething like a volcano, and wasn’t likely to cooperate with him in anything he suggested. He decided to shut his mouth, for now, and cu his losses.
The remainder of the drive was accomplished in silence. When they reached her house, there was a strange car in her driveway, and Trammell’s sports car was parked out front. Marlie got out and went inside without looking at Dane.
Trammell and Grace were both there, as well as a young policewoman who resembled Marlie in size and general coloring. Trammell stood when Marlie entered, took one look at her face, and said, “Uh-oh.”
Coming in behind her, Dane sharply drew a finger across his throat, silencing any other comments.
Marlie turned in time to see the gesture. She gave Trammell a cool look. “Were you in on it too?”
He shifted uneasily. “Not until yesterday.” He had become accustomed to thinking of Marlie as someone who was vulnerable and needed protecting, but there was a look in those deep blue eyes that suddenly made him wary. Dane had told him about Gleen, but until this moment he really hadn’t seen her as a woman who, tied and helpless, had nevertheless spat defiance at a crazed killer. “I take it you’re unhappy.”
“A mite disturbed,” she said, her tone heavy with irony. “I barely lived through one attack from a maniac with a knife, so it bothers me to be set up as bait for another one.”
Dane flinched. He hadn’t thought of it that way. “You’ll be safe,” he said. “Do you think I’d have done it if there were any risk to you?”
She tilted her head, considering him. “Yes,” she finally said, and went into her bedroom.
Trammell whistled through his teeth. “I sense trouble in paradise.”
Grace gave Dane a dirty look. “I would think so,” she said, and followed Marlie into the bedroom.
The policewoman, Beverly Beaver, sat watching them uncomfortably. “Is the stakeout canceled?”
“No,” Dane answered. “You’re still on. As soon as I get Marlie settled, I’ll be back to help set up everything. We have time; the bit won’t be on until the evening news.”
Beverly said, “How are you going to keep the reporters away? The guy can’t get to me if a hundred reporters and photographers are camped on the front yard.”
“The television station is going to play it as a joke. The department will take a lot of heat for it, and the chief is going to say they’ve investigated Marlie and there isn’t anything to her claims. But the killer will know the truth, and he’ll come after her.” He paused. “Are you sure you want to do this, Bev?”
“I’m sure. I’m closest to her in size and coloring, and I’ve had advanced self-defense training. I’m the best choice.” Her voice was philosophical. Dane wasn’t fooled; Beverly had the reputation of being a tiger. She was chomping at the bit to be in on the stakeout, even though she knew she would have to let the killer get far too close for comfort, so they would have enough on him to make the charges stick.
“Okay.” He cast a harried glance toward the bedroom. “She’s refusing to go to a safe house.”
“We already have it set up,” Trammell said.
“Tell it to her. She’s agreed to leave, but she says she’s going to stay in a motel, or rent an apartment. She’s so mad at me that she won’t go along with anything I suggest.”
“I’ve got an idea. Maybe she’ll listen to me.”
“Give it a try.”
Marlie looked up from the bags she was packing when Trammell sauntered lazily into the bedroom. Grace was helping, taking garments out of the closet and placing them on the bed for Marlie to fold and pack in the suitcases. Dane leaned against the doorway, his face like a thundercloud as he watched her.
“Dane says you don’t want to go to a safe house,” Trammell began.
“That’s right.”
Grace gave her a quick, concerned look. “Marlie, it’s the best place for you.”
“Would you like being confined, possibly for weeks? It would drive me crazy. I’ve done whatever I can to help, and I refuse to be punished for it.”
“But it isn’t punishment,” Grace tried to explain. “It’s to keep you safe.”
“The best judge of whether or not something is punishment is the one on the receiving end,” Marlie replied. “I don’t mind being secluded; I even like it. But I can’t bear being confined.”
“A motel won’t be very comfortable,” Trammell said. “I have an idea. You’ll still need protection, so why don’t you move into Dane’s house? I’ve finished with the renovations, and got the furniture delivered yesterday. That way you’ll be more comfortable, and he’ll be with you at night.”