A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Kaylee standing next to him, her eyes narrowed in worry.
“Eli, are you okay? I called your name over and over and you didn’t hear me.”
He forced a smile. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted.”
“Okay, well, your food is ready.” She walked back to the kitchen and Eli had to force his eyes away from the sway of her hips. Even if he hadn’t already known that taking their attraction any further was a bad idea, the call from Agent Harris was a sobering reminder. Until he’d atoned for the mistakes of his past, he was enslaved to the authorities, who held his freedom in their grasp. He had to continue to cooperate with them, and it was always on their timetable, not his. Kay needed someone who could put her first, be there for her whenever she called.
He wasn’t free to be the man she needed.
ELI PARKED HIS truck on the side of the road the next afternoon and cut the engine. Kay was at work and he’d left Tank there in his place. She had no idea what he was doing with his afternoon off, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to tell her. Any mention of her stalker was understandably upsetting for her, so he hadn’t told her that Jeremy King had recently been released on parole.
He couldn’t be the man she needed, but there was one thing he could do for her: help her get her life back to normal. The sooner he figured out who’d sent the figurine, the sooner he could make that happen.
He looked at the house across the street and two doors down. According to Jeremy King’s parole officer, this was where he’d been living since his release. There was a pretty big chance that this was a waste of his afternoon. Taking the word of a known liar and a recovering drug addict was risky at best and downright stupid at worst. However, a year ago Jeremy King had claimed not to be acting alone. If Eli had taken him seriously then and pressed for more details, there was a chance he could have found the man’s accomplice before now, and Kaylee wouldn’t be in danger again.
He walked down to the two-story house with the moss-covered siding and knocked. Grass was growing up around the cracked concrete steps, snaking over the edges of the small porch. The wood trim around the door was rotting and the house hadn’t been painted in years. If Jeremy King had been paid to threaten Kay as he’d claimed, he’d clearly not gotten rich from the job.
“What do you want?” A haggard-looking woman with steel-gray hair glared at him from a crack in the door.
“I’m looking for Jeremy King. Is he home?”
“Who wants to know?”
“Elliott Alexander.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You a cop?”
“No, ma’am. I just want to ask Jeremy a few questions. If he’s honest with me, I may be able to prove that he wasn’t stalking anyone.”
She didn’t look convinced, but the door was suddenly pulled all the way open.
“It’s okay, Ma. Go back inside.” Jeremy King stepped out onto the porch. He’d lost weight in the past year, and his skin was ruddy. His brown hair hung lank and lifeless around his thin face.
“I won’t take up much of your time,” Elliott promised.
“Ask whatever you want. I’ve got nothing to lose at this point.” Jeremy leaned against the doorframe. His eyes narrowed on Eli’s face. “I’ve seen you before.”
“Last year, you said you were paid to send those threatening letters to Kaylee Wilhelm.”
Jeremy stood up straight. “I was. Five hundred dollars per letter. I’m not proud of it but I needed the money, so I did it. All I had to do was stick them in an envelope and mail them to the address on the note. Once I did, I’d receive another note with money inside.”
“You never saw the person leaving the money?”
“Nah. I didn’t want to see him. I was hoping he’d bring me more letters to mail so I could keep getting paid. I made four thousand dollars in less than a month just for dropping a few envelopes in the mail.”
For the first time, Jeremy’s shoulders sagged. “I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. Kay was always nice to me in school. She was quiet. You know? Sweet.”
Eli realized this visit was going to end up a bust. Even if he believed Jeremy’s story—and he wasn’t sure he did—if he hadn’t seen who was leaving the money, this was all moot. He wasn’t here to carry some deadbeat’s apologies back to Kay. Then something Jeremy had said registered.
“Wait. You only sent five letters to Kaylee. So how could you have earned that much money?”
“By mailing the other ones,” Jeremy said.
Eli blinked, sure he must have heard wrong. “Other ones?”
“Yeah. I told those cops that I was paid to send letters to a couple of people. There was Kay and then two other girls. One was named Tanya Cook and… what was the other one?” Jeremy’s eyes rolled up as he looked to the sky for answers. “Oh yeah, Elise Able. That was the other girl’s name.”
“Do you know those girls?”
Jeremy shook his head. “Nah. That’s why I thought it was weird that the police didn’t believe me when I said I wasn’t stalking anybody. I just sent a few letters. Why would I stalk some random chicks I never met?”
Elliott skipped down the steps, heading for his truck. “Thank you Mr. King for your cooperation.”
“Hey!” Jeremy yelled after him. “Are you going to tell those cops that I’m innocent?”