Summer Lovin’ (Costas Sisters #2)(43)
Author: Carly Phillips

"Was it the same guy?" Zoe asked Sam.

"I think so. It just happened so fast. He grabbed my arm like he wanted to turn me around to face him, but when I screamed, he ran. All I saw was the back of his head and a dark baseball cap."

Zoe swallowed hard. "Maybe we’ll get lucky and Ryan will catch up with him." She hoped to calm Sam when in truth she felt anything but calm herself.

* * *

RYAN RAN HARD. The guy had youth on his side, but Ryan managed to grab the back of his T-shirt and drag him to a stop on the dark street he’d turned down.

Ryan’s mouth was dry and his heart slammed hard in his chest. "What the hell do you want from my niece?" he asked, shaking him as hard as he could.

"I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You have the wrong guy." The guy was winded, but arrogant.

"Oh no?" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Then why’d you run like a scared shitless kid?"

Ryan stared into the hooded eyes of a punk who matched Sam’s description of the guy who’d broken into her room. Dark hair, big teeth, medium height and build. There was no coincidence. This was the same guy.

"I’m no idiot, man. If someone comes after me, I’m not hanging around to find out why."

"At the moment, that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Hang around and fill me in on why you’re stalking a fourteen-year-old girl." Ryan pulled the kid’s collar tighter, choking him with the tight material. "Unless you want the cops to ask these same questions?"

He shook his head, the dark long hair falling into his face. "Go ahead. I didn’t do nothing they can hold me for. At least nothing you can prove. It’s some troubled kid’s word versus mine. But if you want some advice, I suggest you get the key to this mystery soon. Now are you going to let me go or do I have to start yelling. This is harassment, man."

Ryan scowled. The guy thought he’d back down. He didn’t know Ryan at all. No way would he leave this guy walking the streets.

He shoved the guy in front of him. "Walk," he insisted.

"To where?"

"Inside the building where I can call the cops and let them decide who to believe."

* * *

AFTER HOURS in the police station where they pressed charges against Sam’s stalker, it took forever for Zoe to relax and calm down. Not even a warm bath helped soothe her nerves.

Sam, on the other hand, crashed and slept like the dead. There was definitely something to be said for youth, Zoe thought wryly.

Now she lay in peace in her bed in the guest room at Ryan’s and talked softly on the phone to her twin. She didn’t want Ryan to overhear her conversation.

"The whole time I was at the house, I felt like Ryan’s uncle had an agenda that involved Sam. I can just feel it. And after Ryan told the police what the stalker said about finding the key to this mystery, I’m more certain than ever that I’m right and it involves that key around Sam’s neck," Zoe insisted.

On the other end, Ari sighed. "Is it possible he was just trying to make Sam feel welcome by buying her a necklace that the other women in the family have?"

"No, it was more than that. More than coincidence that the guy Ryan caught used the word key. I noticed Uncle Russ staring at Sam’s keys. He definitely wanted to see them firsthand."

"You said he offered to let her keep the new necklace on a key chain. I think he’s really just making an effort. After all, he’s Ryan’s only close relative, right? And Ryan trusts him?"

"Well, yes," Zoe admitted. And there had been other, more positive aspects to the day and Russ’s behavior toward Sam.

Russ had been nothing but good and kind in direct contrast to everyone else in that mausoleum. He’d walked them to the car while Vivian had still been inside attending to Grandma Edna.

Though Sam had remained sullen and silent, when they’d reached the car, Russ had bent close to the teenager. "I’m really sorry. We all loved your mother, you know."

Sam had grunted something that sounded like, "No, I don’t know."

At the time, Zoe couldn’t say he’d been focused more on the keys than on Sam. She’d just had an uneasy feeling she couldn’t prove or even justify— at least not until tonight when the guy had told Ryan to find the key. It was too much of a coincidence.

"So what did Quinn find out so far about the break-in?" she asked Ari, changing the subject since her sister would probably just continue to play devil’s advocate and insist Zoe was imagining Uncle Russ’s focus on Sam’s beloved possession.

"He discovered that the woman who says she had something stolen has a history of filing fraudulent insurance claims in an effort to recoup money, so we’re keeping an eye on her and her boyfriend, who happens to have dark hair, which matches the description Sam gave. Of course that was before Sam saw the same guy in Boston. You said the police are holding him for questioning?"

"Yes, but without further evidence or proof, they’ll have to let him go," she said, her frustration mounting. Zoe bent her knees and pushed higher against the pillows, leaning back in sheer exhaustion.

"And the boyfriend I mentioned has an alibi for both the day of the break-in and the morning Sam says she saw someone lurking outside. Plus Quinn’s having him watched, which means he’s still in Jersey now, not Boston." Ari expelled a loud breath. "Everything just feels like a dead end."

Her frustrated tone matched Zoe’s feelings exactly. "They still could have hired someone."

"And Quinn’s looking into the possibility. Now, how’s Sam?" her sister asked.

Despite everything they’d been through today alone, Zoe had to laugh. "Sam’s Sam." She relayed some of the funnier stories and escapades about their trip so far.

"Sounds like she’s charming her new relatives," Ari said, laughing.

Zoe grinned. Her sister didn’t know the half of it.

"So what about the one subject you’re avoiding?" Ari asked.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"How you are. How you and your social worker are doing together."

During the silence that followed, Ari remained quiet. Zoe knew the inevitable outcome. Her twin had more patience than Zoe, and she always could wait Zoe out. "Okay, okay. I’ll talk about it. I’m confused," she admitted to her twin.

"About your feelings for Ryan?"

"No, those are clear. Everything just seems brighter when he’s around," she grumbled.

"I see," Ari said.

"And everything tingles when I just think about him," she complained.

Her twin chuckled. "You say all this like it’s a bad thing. Now granted I wouldn’t have chosen Sam’s uncle as the man for you, and he’s pretty much persona non grata around here right now, at least as far as Mom and Dad are concerned— "