Page 58 of Accidental Murder
“Leave the cat, please!” Eve begged.
Kayla wavered. Java had food and water, the litter box was clean, and the bathroom window was hanging open if he needed fresh air. Whoever was trying to bust in wasn’t there to kill him. “Java, be the smart cat I know you are,” she whispered, and ran onto the terrace.
Cold rain slapped her face, but she didn’t falter. She stepped onto the top rung of the fire escape and descended to the alley behind the townhouse.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Kayla jumped off the ladder.Eve landed seconds later. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kayla silenced her, prodded her into a recessed area of the alley, and pointed upward.
A man stepped onto the balcony overhead. With the light glowing behind him, Kayla couldn’t make out his face, but he looked tall and ominous, like Dennis . . . and Jacob . . . and any number of men she knew. He stood for a long moment before retreating.
At the sound of the sliding door banging shut, Kayla and Eve hightailed it, dodging bags of garbage and sloshing through puddles. They emerged from the alley onto Chestnut Street. Winded. Panting. A dark-colored Lincoln Town Car appeared at the corner, headlights off.
Kayla motioned for Eve to follow her. At Hyde Street, she cut right and sprinted toward Lombard. When she crested the top of the famous winding road, she glanced back. Cars sped by in both directions. Headlights strobed the rain. The clang of a cable car pierced the air. The nearest track was located a few streets away.
Lungs aching, Kayla whacked Eve on the arm and pointed.
The Town Car turned onto Hyde, its headlights still doused. When it passed beneath a streetlamp, Kayla caught a glimpse ofthe interior. Two people—a driver and passenger. She couldn’t make out features, but she was pretty sure the driver had light-colored hair. Was it Blond Guy?
“Follow me.” She sprinted down Lombard, houses and gardens blurring together. A plumber’s truck stood in front of a blue house.
Kayla clasped Eve’s elbow and yanked her to the far side of the truck. She crouched down. Eve did the same. Furtively, Kayla peeked up the hill.
The Town Car pulled to a stop at the top. The driver stepped out of the car and shielded his eyes from the rain.
“It’s him,” Kayla whispered.
“Who?”
“The driver who pursued me on Golden Gate Bridge.”
Blond Guy squatted and stood up.
Kayla prayed he couldn’t make out hers and Eve’s legs or feet in the dark. She propped her shoulder against the truck. “I can’t peg the other guy. I think he has dark hair.” She regretted not having grabbed one of Ashley’s jackets. The rain was soaking through the sweater and jeans. “I don’t think it’s Jacob, but at the memorial service, he asked me whether my sister had told me—Ashley—about him. I assumed he was hitting on me, but when he rang this evening, panicked, and said he had to see me right away, I got worried.”
“Do you think these two goons are working for him?”
Kayla checked out the pursuers. Blond Guy slid in behind the wheel. At the same time, the passenger door opened. No one got out. Something silver glinted within. Was one of them viewing a cell phone?
“We’ve got to move,” she said to Eve, but where could they run without revealing themselves? She took another peek and moaned. The Town Car had turned onto Lombard.
Staying low, she raced down the street. Eve kept pace. At the driveway of an ocean blue home, a Lexus sedan started to pull out. Kayla yanked Eve back, fearing the car’s brake lights would expose them. When the Lexus drove away, they continued.
At the final bend in the road, Eve skidded on the wet pavement and plummeted to the ground. “Crap! I twisted my ankle.”
Kayla clenched her friend’s elbow. “Lean on me.”
“I can’t. I’ll slow you down. Go on without me. I’ll hide.”
“No.”
“You have to.” Eve sneaked behind a huge azalea bush, its blossoms long withered, and thrashed a branch. “Can you see me?”
“No, but?—”
“They’re not after me. Go! I made you abandon the darned cat.”
The Town Car was maneuvering the hairpin turns faster than Kayla could have imagined.
