Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [25]
Zachary Lanning had been the name he'd picked for his new identity in the months that he planned his revenge on Charlotte, her mother, and her kids. He tried never to think about his other names, even though sometimes they bubbled to the surface in his sleep.
In Des Moines he'd been Charley Muir, and in that life he had been an electrician and volunteer fireman. Charlotte was his third wife, but he didn't tell her that. He used his savings to buy her a house. Charley and Charlotte, it sounded so warm and cozy. Then in two years, she kicked him out. Her mother moved in with her and the kids. She camped in my house, he thought, even though when I lived there, she never even came to visit. Charlotte sued him for di?vorce and the judge awarded her the house and alimony because she claimed she had given up her good job to stay home and cook meals for him. Charlotte was a liar. She had hated that job.
Then he found out that she was dating one of the other guys in the firehouse, Rick Morgan. He overheard Rick tell someone that Charlotte had split because she was afraid of him, that he was creepy . . .
It had been a treat watching Emily Wallace spend her whole summer pulling a case together to convict a guy for killing his wife. And she's going to do it, too, Zach thought, that's how smart she is. But she's not smart enough to know I killed five people at once! He took pride in the fact that Emily's name and face were all over the media —it was almost as though they were complimenting him, too.
No one is closer to her than I am, he thought. I check her e-mails. I go through her desk. I touch her clothes. I read the letters her hus?band wrote to her from Iraq. I know Emily better than she knows herself.
For now he had to do something to quell her suspicions, how?ever. He scouted around the neighborhood and found a high school kid who wanted some kind of after-school job. Then Friday evening of the second week of the trial, he watched for Emily coming home and stopped her as she was getting out of the car.
“Emily, I'm so sorry, I've been switched to working the four-to-eleven shift in the warehouse for awhile,” he lied. “That doesn't do you much good with Bess.”
He really resented seeing that this time the expression in Emily's eyes was one of pure relief. Then he told her about the kid down the block who was willing to take over walking and feeding Bess at least until Thanksgiving, when she'd start rehearsals for the school play.
“Zach, that is very sweet of you,” Emily told him. “Actually, I'll be keeping more reasonable hours, so I won't need any help.”
She might as well have added the word “ever.” Zach could tell that Emily wouldn't be letting anyone in and out of her house again.
“Well, here's her number, just in case, and here's your key,” Zach said, then not looking at her, his tone shy, added, “I watch that Courtside program every night. You're doing a great job. I can't wait to see how you treat that guy Aldrich when he gets on the stand. He must be a terrible person.”
Emily smiled her thanks and tucked the key in her pocket. That's a happy ending, she thought as she walked up the steps to the front door. I was trying to figure out how to cut off this situation and the poor guy did it for me.
Zach watched her go with narrowed eyes. As surely as Charlotte had put him out of his house, Emily had put him out of her life. It wouldn't be the way he had hoped, that she'd let the kid down the block help out with that dog of hers, then be glad to have him take over again. That wasn't going to happen.
The fury that had washed over him at other times in his life en?gulfed him again. He made his decision. You're next, Emily, he thought. I don't take rejection. I never have and I never will.
When she was in the house, for some inexplicable reason, Emily felt uneasy and double-locked the door behind her. Then, when she was on the