Dead Certain - Mariah Stewart [116]
“She made some comment about my pantry being more bare than Old Mother Hubbard’s and she needed some junk food if she was expected to make it through the next few days, so she was going to stop at the supermarket. I think she said something about stopping to pick up a few things to read at the bookstore, too.” She shifted in her seat. “You know, tomorrow you all are supposed to make a big deal about leaving me alone here. I think she wants to make certain that she has something to do while she waits for Vince to make his move.”
“The idea is for him not to realize how many of us are in here now, so that he won’t know how many are left behind when the cars are gone.”
“Are you going to stay?” She closed the book she’d been reading. “Will you be here tomorrow night?”
“Yes.” He stacked three logs on the grate, then turned around to look at her. “You don’t really think I’m going to be leaving, do you?”
“I was just wondering. I mean, I know Miranda will be here. I was hoping you’d stay, too.”
“You thinking about the logistics? How the whole thing is going to work?”
She nodded.
“I’ll leave by that small side door early in the morning, while it’s still dark, stick close to the hedge, walk up a few blocks, then Dana will pick me up. Miranda, of course, will stay here with you during the day.” He rolled up a few pieces of newspaper and stuffed them under the logs. “Then after it gets dark tomorrow night, I’ll come back in the same way.”
“Can’t he do the same thing?” Amanda frowned. “Sneak in through the hedges?”
“If he does, he’ll never make it to the door.” Sean lit the match and held it to the papers until the flame caught. “We’ll have two officers there around the clock. We’re hoping to get him inside the house, though.”
“Why? What difference does it make where you get him, as long as you get him?”
“We want to show intent. Plus, if he’s arrested in your house, it will help us when we have to state probable cause to bring charges against Lowell for conspiracy.”
“You think you’ll be able to make that case?”
“I’ll do my damnedest. I don’t want him back out on the street. I think we’d be putting three unsuspecting souls in danger.” He used the bellows to fan the flame until the logs began to burn.
“Because of the conspiracy thing? Because he might be planning on killing someone for this Channing?”
Sean nodded.
“Remember how Archer reacted when he saw the photos of Derek and Marian and Connie Paschall? He went absolutely gray,” she reminded him. “I wonder if he is capable of killing anyone.”
“You’re kidding, right? This is the same guy who came after you, beat you up. . . .”
“Oh, I remember, all right.” She nodded grimly. “But Archer attacking me was very personal. And for the record, if he’d wanted to, he could have killed me very easily. This other thing, though, I don’t know. I just don’t see him going to the trouble of killing people he doesn’t even know.”
“Well, it won’t be easy convincing a judge, I know that much. Since we have no real evidence, it’s all speculation.”
“Guess there’s no chance Archer would admit to being involved with Channing and Giordano?”
He snorted. “About as much chance as there is that Giordano will admit knowing Lowell and Channing. I don’t see it happening.”
She thought about it for a while, then said, “You wouldn’t even know who to warn, would you? I mean, if Lowell got out of prison and really did intend to kill someone?”
“It would most likely be three someones.” Sean replaced the fire screen and stood up, stretching the stiffness from his right knee. “So far, we’ve figured out three victims or potential victims for Channing and Giordano. If we’re correct in our assumption that Lowell is tied into this, too, we could expect him to be going after three people. And no. We wouldn’t know who to warn.”
“Lowell will never do it.” Amanda shook her head. “He’s too cowardly.”
“I hope you’re right.” Sean sat next to her on the sofa.
“You can’t keep him in prison on supposition alone.”
“Probably not. But filing charges would make him understand that we