It had taken every bit of convincing to get Jean to go grocery shopping with me after last night’s run through the mall. And when I say run, I literally had Yanni and her running from shop to shop.

Poor Jean looked like she was still recovering this morning. “Okay, Miss Star, I am never going shopping with you again,” she said, as I pulled into the private garage at my complex. “First, you tried to kill my dogs last night, and now you’re trying to do it again.”

“I’m sorry, girl.” I turned off the ignition and checked all the mirrors, before stepping out of the truck. “You know how I am when it comes to shopping. I practically live in that mall.”

“Now, I believe that. Everybody and their brother knew you up in there,” Jean said, chuckling. She opened her door and maneuvered her growing belly through the small opening.

“That’s because I bring them goodies when I feel like Red has had his fill.” I laughed and so did Jean.

“Thank you for thinking of me. It’s like he doesn’t have a ‘belly full’ indicator. He’ll just keep eating and eating and eating. Then I have to be the one to deal with his illness, if you get my drift.”

“Yes, I do. He’s blown out my bathroom a number of times. Girl, one day he had me on the phone trying to convince my mother to bring me some pure oxygen.”

Jean laughed so hard, she had to lean against the truck. While she laughed, I scanned the garage for any strange cars or people. I grabbed my numerous bags off the backseat and moved quickly toward the elevator.

When I turned around, Jean was staring at me like I had lost my mind.

“OK, you’re hiding something. You zoomed through the mall last night. You zoomed through the grocery store today. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Jean stood with bags in one hand and her other hand on her hip, refusing to move even when the elevator doors slid open.

I searched the garage once more, before pressing the button for the elevator again. “OK, OK, I’ll explain when we get upstairs. There’s an echo down here.”

That earned me another crazy stare, but at least she got on the elevator. When we got into the apartment, I paid Terry for keeping an eye on AJ and called her a cab.

Jean wanted to know what was up so badly, she practically pushed Terry out the door when the cab arrived. “OK, now, spill,” she said, sliding onto the couch and popping her feet on the ottoman.

I stood there a few minutes, wondering where to begin.

“Well?” Jean asked.

“All right. All right,” I said, sitting in the armchair across from Jean. “It started a few days ago.”

“What started?” Jean asked, shifting in her seat.

“Can I finish?”

“I’m sorry. Keeping going.”

“As I was saying, it started a few days ago. The feeling that somebody’s following me. Then, yesterday, they made themselves known.”

“What?”

“Umm, can I finish?”

Jean nodded, moving to the edge of her seat.

“After yesterday, I didn’t have to wonder. I now know I’m being watched. I have no idea who it could be, but I’ve got ideas.”

“So, what happened yesterday?”

“You’re not going to believe this . . .” I said trailing off.

“Try me,” Jean said.

“Somebody sent me black roses with a message that said they had their eye on me.”

Jean drew in a deep breath. “Black roses? Where are they? Did you tell Yanni and Red?”

“Yanni knows, but I haven’t told Red. He’d probably have you all spending the night here.”

“Oh my God, Starlet, you could very well be in danger. What if it’s Sheldon? He might be trying to hurt Alex through you.”

“Wait, I haven’t told you the rest.”

“There’s more?”

“Of course, why do you think I said I haven’t told you the rest?”

Jean rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her belly. “Get to it, girlfriend.”

“Well, yesterday when I was leaving the jail, this car comes flying through the parking lot and almost sideswipes me as I’m pulling out. It was a car just like Eric used to drive.”

Jean’s hand flew up to her mouth. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding? Same color, same tinted windows, same rims. It’s like somebody recreated the car. I was so startled, I didn’t even look at the plates.”

Jean got up and began pacing the room, her brows etched in thought. “What if this isn’t Sheldon? What if this somehow does have a connection to Eric? From what Red says, there are no guarantees that Vincent is dead, just missing.”  

“At first I thought I was crazy to think it might be Vincent, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Well, we know for certain that Eric is dead, right?”

“Of course, Eric is dead. Why do you think Vincent was after the money? Besides, Eric would never put me through something like this. It just wasn’t in his character.”

“The cologne at the hotel.”

Jean and I flipped around. Neither of us had heard Red come in.

“Red, what are you talking about?” I asked. “And when did you come in?”

“I’ve been here for awhile. I guess Terry forgot to tell you I was taking a nap. Kind of had a stomachache after finishing the peach cobbler,” Red said, giving Jean a sheepish look.

“Cologne. You said something about cologne,” I said. 

“Yeah, when we went to the hotel looking for Sheldon the other night. The room smelled just like some stuff Vincent used to wear. I got a thing for smells, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. You never miss a smell coming out of the kitchen,” I said, laughing. “But what made you remember that Vincent wore a certain fragrance?”

“Oh, I didn’t exactly remember at first. But after I finished beating the guy up for nothing that’s when I really remembered. But I still brushed it off until now because I just thought Sheldon had the same bad taste in cologne.”

Jean rushed up to Red and kissed him on the cheek. “You are brilliant, baby.”

“Why? Because I know colognes?”

We both gave Red a perplexed look.