Dangerous Kisses by Trish Milburn Page B

phone. We need to listen to it."
    She snapped back to what he considered the normal Sydney. "Okay." She passed him and went straight to the bedroom, didn’t even hesitate before pushing the message button.
    "Did you enjoy your candy, Sydney?" said a muffled voice. Jake’s spine stiffened, and he strained to hear everything the recording had picked up. "You sure did look pretty in that red dress last night. Too bad you were with that cop. But don’t worry. He’ll learn his lesson. Then you and I can be together."
    "Save the message," Jake said.
    Sydney did so, though she appeared to be operating on autopilot. He reached past her and replayed the message, trying to distinguish identifying noises in the background. The killer sounded as though he was speaking through a balled-up bath towel.
    So his spine tingling the night before hadn’t been without cause. The bastard had been out there in the dark somewhere. Maybe not when they’d been on the boat, but sometime during the evening he’d watched Sydney. The thought of some faceless murderer watching her when she looked so beautiful sent thousands of shivers scurrying over his skin.
    The message had leeched the last of Sydney’s color out of her skin. Jake reached over and guided her to the side of the bed. She needed to sit before her legs collapsed.
    "Did you recognize the voice?"
    "No."
    "We’ll make a copy of the message and do some analysis. See if we can pick up any clues, try to track the number."
    "He probably called from a public phone. He seems like the smart, organized type of killer."
    Even as she was being targeted, the journalist in her had evidently prompted her to do research. Maybe because she was a target. Her assertion had been that she wanted potential victims to know everything they could so they could protect themselves. He saw the merit of that argument more clearly now.
    She seemed okay considering, but some instinct deep in his gut told him she needed reassurance that she would be safe. He sat beside her and took her hand. "We’ll get this guy. I swear it."
    "I know." She said the words, but he couldn’t tell if she believed them.
    ****
    Sydney flipped through the packaged chicken, looking for the best combination of freshness and price. She tossed her choice into the cart, then consulted her grocery list. When she was stressed, she cooked. By the looks of her cart, she was darn near ready to have a heart attack.
    Well, it couldn’t hurt to feed the officers who evidently would be watching her day and night. She knew the kind of crap those guys ate while on duty. She wouldn’t be responsible for the hamburger that sent one of them into cardiac arrest.
    She added milk and yeast rolls to the cart, then headed for the checkout. Along her route, she passed the candy aisle. She turned down it, searching the hanging bags for the butterscotch candies she liked so much. She deserved a treat. And every time she ate them, she thought of her dad and smiled.
    He’d started giving her these candies when her mom wasn’t looking when she’d barely been old enough to know what candy was. Her mother would always scold him, but she never sounded too serious about it. How she missed them both. Her dad had been gone two years now, but at least she’d had time to tell him all the things she’d never been able to tell her mother.
    When she found the candy, she lifted onto the tips of her toes to reach them.
    "Here, let me get those for you," a man said from beside her.
    "Thanks." She stepped back to allow him access. Then she saw the three bags of chocolate kisses in his hand. Her heart battered against her chest, and her breath shuddered. She fought the urge to run. Had he followed her here? Would he dare get this close and taunt her?
    "Here you go."
    Sydney tore her eyes away from the bags in his hand to see him extending the butterscotch to her.
    "The kids will like those," he said.
    "What?"
    "The butterscotch. I always liked those, but my daughter said