Kate turned to see a man rushing toward her. When the woman looked over, she bolted to her feet and threw herself into his arms. Oddly enough, he fit the description that she’d given Kate of the man with the rope. This guy was tall and slim, wearing black running pants and a muscle shirt, and he had brown hair. Kate eyed him carefully, as he walked over, with his arm around the crying woman.
“This is my wife,” he said. “I understand that she found two bodies.”
“Yes,” Kate confirmed. “And there’s a good chance that she may have seen the killer.”
He looked at her in shock.
Kate asked, “When did you get here?”
He frowned and looked at her. “Well, we just live over there.” He pointed to the apartment buildings. “She called me, and I came running. I was in the shower. I would go for a run myself, but she starts work earlier than I do.”
“So, you don’t run together?”
“No,” the woman replied, her bottom lip trembling. “He doesn’t like running with people.”
“Well, that’s not true,” he corrected her.
“Sure, it is,” she wailed. “And now it’s even more important, which means I’ll not run because I don’t have anybody to run with.”
He held her close and said, “Look. If we’ve got a problem, and it’s dangerous, obviously we’ll run together.”
She relaxed ever-so-slightly.
Kate looked at her and asked, “Have you always run alone?”
“Mostly,” she replied. “I was jealous of those two women because they were obviously best friends and had something special like that.” She shook her head. “I think most of us would like to have somebody to share our passion with, and, when it doesn’t work out, it becomes a problem.” She slid a sideways glance at her husband.
Kate was interested in him too. “And you run later. Why?”
“I told you,” he stated. “My wife starts work earlier than I do. No need for me to get up at that hour and run. I’m more of a night owl, and she’s more of an early riser.”
Kate nodded. “Well, take care of her now because we don’t know if this guy saw her or not. And we don’t want to have her out alone on the off chance that he did.”
“Do you think he’ll come after me?” she asked Kate.
Kate looked at her and frowned. “We don’t have any reason to think that, but anybody who thinks that they might have beenseen should do whatever they can to protect themselves. Just find another running path for a while and don’t run alone.”
At that, the woman turned to her husband and said, “Both people were killed. I saw both of them.”
And there was such shock and horror in her voice, he immediately gathered her up in his arms. “Somebody killed two people?”
Kate nodded. “Yes, a man and a woman today. Plus two women on Saturday morning,” she murmured. “So, when I say,Find another route, and don’t run alone, I really mean it. Doboth. Don’t run aloneanddo find another route.”
And, with that, she turned and walked back down to the crime scene.
*
Simon didn’t knowwhat it would take to get control of or to block these visions, but, in random spare moments, he found himself searching the internet, looking for anybody who might have similar skills. Of course several came up, mostly under the sponsored ads. He looked at the heavily painted faces under colorful turbans and shook his head. “Where the hell are the real people caught up in this nightmare?” he murmured to himself.
Putting away his phone, he tossed his bagel wrapping in his empty coffee cup, then got up and headed toward his next rehab building. He currently had seven projects going. That was about two more than he was comfortable with, and he was still trying to buy one more. He shook his head. “It’s really time to pull back though, not expand.”
Just then his phone rang, and it was the realtor he’d been in conflict with for some time, all over the price of a building. “I told you what I’m willing to pay,” he snapped. “Beyond that, don’t bug me.”
She snorted. “They’re willing to come down $20,000.”
“Which is still what? Even at $250,000 that’s too high. Don’t even call me with ridiculous details like that.”
“They are very interested in selling.”