QR Code Killer (11 page)

“Very personable, aren’t they?” Erik
appreciated the attentive service. He usually ate at places where
the waitress flung the food on the table and called him “hon,”
which he hated.

He and Maddie talked about the crops, Walla
Walla, the weather and most of the general, safe topics couples
grasped for on their first date.

Once their food arrived, they managed to stay
focused on the excellent meal. When the chef stopped by their table
to see if they were enjoying their dinner, they let him know how
exceptional both the food and service had been. He encouraged them
to finish off their evening with something from the dessert menu
and Maddie was in the mood to accept his recommendation.

Savoring every bite of her cheesecake, Maddie
was glad to see Erik enjoy his chocolate dessert. Feeling stuffed,
they decided to sit and talk for a few minutes, letting their
dinner settle before leaving.

A few minutes soon turned to more than an
hour. Over coffee, they sat and visited, teased and laughed until
Erik stood up and gave Maddie his hand. As they stepped out the
door, they both thanked the hostess.

“You feel up to a walk?” Maddie asked, as
they came back out onto Second Avenue.

“Sure? What have you got in mind?” Erik
asked, holding her hand firmly in his, appreciating a peaceful
summer evening with a beautiful girl on his arm.

“Just a stroll down Main Street. It’s kind of
fun to browse along the store windows.”

“Let’s go,” Erik said, as they crossed the
street and walked down the block. They wandered, discussing window
displays, books they enjoyed, even a few childhood memories.
Realizing it was getting late, they sauntered back to the hotel
parking lot and Erik’s pickup.

On the drive home they were both quiet, lost
in their thoughts. Erik stopped the pickup at the end of the
sidewalk. Unsure as to who would be watching, he gave Maddie a
quick kiss on her cheek before going around and opening her
door.

Walking her up the steps, he stopped outside
the front door on the broad porch. Looking at his boots, he felt
like he was 15 again, walking home his first date. Married for more
than ten years, Erik thought he was well past the point of being
nervous around women. But for the life of him, he couldn’t figure
out why his palms were sweaty or why his heart was pounding so
loudly in his chest. He was sure Maddie could hear the traitorous
thumping. It was ridiculous for a man his age to be mooning after
Maddie like a love-struck teen.

Mustering up his courage, he raised his head
and got lost in her warm blue eyes. “Thanks for a great evening,
Maddie. I’m glad we had a chance to talk.”

“Thank you for a lovely dinner, Erik. It was
one of the best I’ve ever had. I appreciate the opportunity to
spend some time together, to get to know you a little better.”

“Me, too. I can’t tell you when I’ve enjoyed
an evening more.”

“I’m very glad,” Maddie whispered, then put
her hands around Erik’s neck, pulling him down so she could give
him a quick kiss. When their lips touched, though, the kiss was
anything but quick and left them both breathless in the porch
light, stunned by the sparks snapping between them.

“I think this is where I say goodnight,” Erik
said, trying to remember how to breathe and speak as he squeezed
her hand. “Thanks, Maddie. Sweet dreams.”

“You, too.”

Maddie watched him walk back to his pickup.
Before he opened the door she called to him. “For a Farmer Man, you
aren’t too bad.”

Erik laughed and drove on to the
bunkhouse.

<><><>

Maddie was walking back to the house with the
mail when a small, plain brown envelope addressed to her made her
catch her breath. Unwilling to react where she could be seen, she
continued her stroll back to the house although her heart was
pounding so hard, she thought it might explode.

Stepping into the kitchen, she could hear
Lena putting another load of clothes in the washer in the laundry
room. Sinking down at the table, she dropped the rest of the mail
and slowly opened the envelope. The police analyzed the first
half-dozen envelopes for any sign of something that would lead them
to Zeus. Maddie knew this envelope, like the others, would offer up
no clues.

With her name machine printed on a label in
block letters, there wasn’t any handwriting to examine. Zeus used a
pre-moistened sealer on the envelopes. Forensics had tracked down
the exact brand which turned out to be a common one sold at most
office supply stores.

Pulling out the small card with the QR code,
Maddie scanned it with her phone and waited to see what devastation
to her life Zeus was about to unleash.

Still shots, placed into a movie format,
scrolled across her screen. Maddie couldn’t breathe. The photos
were of her and Erik. There was a photo of his arms around her
while they were shooting, of them kissing in the hayfield, and
several photos from them eating dinner and walking along Main
Street the other evening.

Maddie sat in stunned silence. The message at
the end did nothing to alleviate her fears.

Hope you enjoyed your dinner at the lovely
Marcus Whitman the other night. Your backwater town produces some
very tasty wine. Too bad you didn’t have a glass, but you looked
quite ravishing. Did the hick appreciate your efforts at being a
woman instead of a cop? How nice to see you’ve so quickly replaced
your former love, Pretty Boy Policeman. Just so you know, he died
with your name on his lips. Maddie, dear, when will it be my turn
to savor your affections? Maybe I need to make sure you don’t have
any distractions. Maybe the hick needs to say goodbye…

Erik needed to leave, now, for his own
safety. Maddie would make him leave. She’d put him in protective
custody. She couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to
him. Her heart wouldn’t survive if Zeus made good on his
threat.

Tears pouring down her cheeks, she laid her
head on her arms and cried for the first time in a very long
while.

“Maddie? Kiddo, what’s wrong?” Lena asked,
placing a warm hand on her back as she sat beside her. Seeing the
envelope and QR code on the table, Lena didn’t need to ask any more
questions. Maddie had told her and Ethan everything. They were both
being much more careful and cautious, but Lena had hoped Zeus would
tire of the toying with them and move on. Evidently, he hadn’t
tired of the game at all.

“Maddie, what is it now? What did it
say?”

“It’s Erik,” Maddie whispered, handing her
phone to her aunt, so she could watch the video. “He’s got to
leave. Now. While he still can.”

“Do you think he’s any safer somewhere else
than he is right here? If Zeus wants him dead, will it matter where
he goes?”

“No,” Maddie said, anger starting to chase
away her fear. “I don’t know that it would make a bit of difference
to Zeus. I’ve got to call and let the team know about this, Aunt
Lena. Then I’ve got to figure out how to keep Erik safe. I can’t be
responsible for someone else I love dying.”

Lena grabbed Maddie’s arms and gave her a
squeeze. “You’re not responsible, Maddie. Zeus is responsible. You
are just doing your job and we all know that he’ll stop at nothing
to get to you. You can’t, even for a minute, think any of this is
your fault, Madelyn Weber, because it isn’t.”

“Thanks, Aunt Lena,” Maddie said, giving her
aunt a hug.

Going up to her room, she called Tom and sent
him the video. “What do you think we should do, Tom? Should I send
Erik away or ask him to stay? I don’t know which will put him in
greater jeopardy?”

“If he is agreeable, I think he should stay.
Don’t show your fear. Keep on doing the everyday things required of
the farm. It will make Zeus think he isn’t getting to you.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Tom. I shouldn’t
have gotten involved with Erik. I should have kept my focus solely
on this case. I…”

“Maddie, enough! You haven’t had a life in
years, not since you started chasing Zeus. You’re supposed to be on
medical leave recuperating from the wound he inflicted and I, for
one, am glad to see you find someone who knows what you do, yet
still wants to stick around. This Erik sounds like a pretty great
guy. Not everyone would continue to stay on the farm knowing a
psychopath could blow them away at any given moment.”

Maddie sighed. “I know, Tom, but…”

“No buts about it, Mad Dog. You don’t let
that farmer get away without a fight.” Maddie could hear the humor
in her boss’s voice. “In the meantime, since I know you won’t stop
working on the case, why don’t you see if anyone at the restaurant
remembers Zeus? He’s got to be staying somewhere in town. Maybe you
can find something on him. I’ll send you the sketch we did of him
based on the info you gave us from the night he stabbed you. Show
it around town and see what you can find.”

“Will do.”

“And Maddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Quit beating yourself up over this. None of
it is your fault. Why he has chosen to target you, no one knows,
but don’t let it get to you. I’ll get the sketch to you before the
day is over. Be careful.”

“Thanks, Tom.”

Maddie disconnected her call from Tom and sat
watching the video again and again. To get the photos Zeus had
taken in the restaurant, he had to be sitting in a booth directly
across from them. She decided she’d go to the hotel tomorrow and
see if she could question anyone who was working that evening.

Calling the sheriff, she updated him on the
case and let him know what she was planning. He agreed it was a
good idea and offered to go with her if she wanted, which she
declined. When she finished up her call with him, the sketch had
arrived from Tom. Going downstairs, she hooked her phone up to the
office computer and printed out the image.

Just looking at the sketch brought back every
horrid moment of the night Zeus stabbed her. Lena found her sitting
there, studying it, rubbing her hand across her shoulder.

“Is that him?” Lena asked, looking over
Maddie’s shoulder.

“Yes. Or as close as I can remember to what
he looked like.”

“He’d almost be handsome if his eyes didn’t
look so cold and dead,” Lena said, absently. “The blackness of his
soul seems to come out in his face, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Everything will be fine, kiddo. You always
get what you go after. This time it’s just taking a little longer,”
Lena said, rubbing her hand comfortingly along Maddie’s back.

“But how many more people are going to have
to die before we catch him? Why has he chosen to target me? None of
it makes any sense? I can’t think of one reason for him to have
this personal vendetta against me.”

“The mind of a deranged man isn’t supposed to
make sense, is it?”

“No,” Maddie said with a sigh, running her
hand across her eyes. She was so tired of chasing Zeus. So tired of
wondering and worrying who would be next. So tired of looking
behind her every time she left the house. She just wanted to be
free to live again.

After dinner, the six of them sat around the
table, discussing how they would approach work the next day. Erik
would go with Maddie to the hotel and Danny would stay close to
Lena while Zach and Ethan would work as usual.

When everyone had gone their separate ways
for the evening, Maddie sat in the living room with Erik on the
couch. She needed to talk to him, needed to know his thoughts.

“If you want to leave Erik, I won’t make you
stay.” Maddie knew she’d never be the same if he left, but she
wouldn’t dwell on that. Not now.

“I know you wouldn’t, which is why I’m
staying. He could kill me any time, any place, Maddie. If I’ve
become a hunted man, I’ll stay here, where I can help protect your
family. Unless you think it puts you in more danger.”

Maddie looked into Erik’s golden eyes, unable
to comprehend someone so selfless and giving. “You shouldn’t be
worried about me, Erik. I’ll be fine. But I’m afraid for you.”

“I know you are Maddie. I’m afraid for all of
us, but letting fear overtake us won’t help anything, will it?”

“No. I just don’t want anything to happen to
you. If it did…” Maddie’s voice broke and a lone tear rolled own
her cheek.

“Aww, Maddie,” Erik said, pulling her into
his arms. She found such comfort and warmth there, she didn’t want
him to ever let go. Erik pressed a kiss to the top of her head and
held her close. “We’ll get through this together and then maybe you
and I can focus on something besides Zeus.”

“Like what?” Maddie asked, her head against
Erik’s solid chest.

“Like us.”

“I like the sound of that,” Maddie said,
raising her lips to Erik’s and giving him a warm kiss. “I’m so
sorry to have put you in danger. I wouldn’t have done it for
anything in the world, had I known Zeus was watching so
closely.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Erik said, sitting
quietly for a few minutes. “Maddie, you mind playing that video for
me again?”

Maddie pulled her phone from her pocket and
she and Erik watched it through three more times. Based on the
photos taken at the farm, Maddie thought they could narrow down the
locations of where the photos could possibly have been captured.
She hoped maybe they could find a tire track, anything, that would
lead them closer to Zeus.

“It’s just a matter of time before he makes a
mistake,” Maddie said, thinking about what this latest message from
Zeus meant. “He’s feeling threatened by you. He’s running out of
patience. He’s getting a little careless. He is going to slip up
and when he does, I’ll be there to take him down.”

“And I’ll be here, right beside you,” Erik
said, lowering his head to Maddie’s once more. When their kisses
became more urgent and demanding, Erik pulled back and sucked in
his breath. “I think I better go on out to the bunkhouse while I
can still think straight enough to walk there.”