False Pretenses - Kathy Herman [66]
“Not yet. He sustained a nasty gunshot wound. Lost a lot of blood. It could go either way. I don’t need to tell you what could happen if that kid dies.”
“If we could arrest the shooter, it would go a long way in easing the tension.” Casey took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the perspiration off his face and neck.
“There’s little chance he’s going to slip through the perimeter,” Jude said. “If he’s out here, we’ll find him.”
Pierce lay on the sofa, a bed sheet draped over him, and stared at the ceiling fan going round and round in the dark. He felt as if his head would explode. He was sure his heart already had—his hopes and dreams blown to smithereens, nothing left but devastation and the lingering stench of betrayal.
How could he not have seen through Zoe’s lies? Why didn’t he question her more about her parents? Didn’t he sense she was holding something back? Didn’t it seem odd that she didn’t have contact with anyone from her past?
Pierce sighed. The sadness that overtook her any time he brought it up was more troubling than his unanswered questions. But how could he have known she was hiding dark secrets from him—secrets that could put her life in jeopardy?
Pierce threw back the sheet and got up. He opened the door to the gallery and stepped outside, the first gray light of dawn visible in the eastern sky. He stood leaning on the wrought-iron railing and looked down on rue Madeline.
How serious was the threat to Zoe’s life? Was this Shapiro character really capable of murder? Would he have put himself at risk by accosting her, cutting her face, and scaring her half to death if he didn’t intend to follow through?
Pierce shuddered. He saw the newspaper van go by and thought of Remy. If harm could befall an innocent guy like that, was it so far-fetched that Zoe, with her deceptive baggage, could end up as the victim of mistaken identity? What did they have to do to ensure they didn’t end up as murder victims? Or was their fate sealed the minute Zoe passed herself off as Zoe Benoit in that feature story?
Pierce gripped the railing and shook it, silently shouting at the top of his lungs. Zoe, what have you done?
Vanessa sat in the living room with the lights out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving outside and could make out the silhouette of someone standing at the railing on the gallery next door. She realized it was Pierce. He took the bottom of his T-shirt and wiped his eyes.
Vanessa’s heart sank. Lord, please help him. He must be devastated.
Unless he and Zoe could find a way to tell Sheriff Prejean about the situation without Shapiro knowing, the state of their marriage was the least of his worries. Was Shapiro capable of listening in on their conversations? Could he track their whereabouts? Or was he bluffing?
And if Zoe and Pierce did tell the sheriff their circumstances, could he protect them from Shapiro? Would he? Could he even spare the manpower while he was investigating Remy Jarvis’s murder?
Ethan came in the living room and sat next to her on the sofa. “I couldn’t sleep, so I turned on the TV. Someone shot a black teenager at Roux River Park last night. Apparently there was some sort of racial incident with a group of teens prior to the shooting. The sheriff and the police chief have been on the scene all night and have sealed the park, hoping to catch the shooter.”
“Do they think it’s a payback for Remy’s murder?”
“The news commentator posed the question, but the sheriff wouldn’t comment. I wonder how long he’s going to be out there. I’m not sure Zoe and Pierce would feel comfortable talking to anyone else.”
Vanessa glanced outside and saw that Pierce was no longer standing at the railing. “If Sheriff Prejean has been out there all night, he’s not going to be available to take on anything else. He might even go home to get some rest.”
“Of all days for there to be another crisis,” Ethan said. “Zoe and Pierce can’t put off talking to the authorities. They’ve only got until tomorrow when the banks close before Shapiro figures out they didn