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Cole wouldn’t take any chances. Not with Olivia’s life on the line.
Chief Sims grimaced as he studied the dead rodent. “This doesn’t look like a field mouse. It probably came from a pet shop. There’s a place off the freeway that caters to people who own snakes.”
“Ugh.” Olivia wrapped her arms around her midsection. “I can’t imagine owning a snake as a pet, let alone feeding it a live mouse.” Color rose in her cheeks as she eyed the mouse dangling from the noose held by Chief Sims. She’d initially been shocked by the envelope’s contents. That seemed to have shifted to indignation, judging from the spark in her eyes. “That poor creature was tortured.”
“Yes, he was.” Chief Sims’s tone was tight with restrained anger. He slipped the rodent into an evidence bag. Then he carefully pulled out a piece of paper from inside the envelope.
Cole stepped closer to read it.
Dearest Olivia,
Did you really think you could escape so easily? Our little game has just begun. Like this mouse couldn’t escape its fate, neither can you. I’m always watching, always close by, waiting for the right moment. I look forward to our next encounter with an anticipation that grows stronger every day.
Your Devoted Admirer
Beside him, Olivia stiffened. Cole instinctively placed a reassuring hand on the small of her back. She leaned into the touch, her shoulder brushing his. That simple contact sent a wave of awareness through him, firing up his protective nature.
Their conversation in the truck earlier this morning had shifted something for Cole. He didn’t know what exactly. All he knew was that Olivia’s love and dedication to Aaron was admirable. She’d suffered a great loss and yet persevered. More than that, she’d done it with grace.
Cole often dealt with the worst of humanity in his job. His childhood—and his parents' difficult marriage—had laid the groundwork for his jaded nature. But every once in a while, someone came along and knocked down his preconceived notions. Olivia was one of those people. What did it mean? Cole didn’t know. It was his duty to protect her, but this was starting to feel less like obligation and more like need.
Divinely inspired. That’s what Nana would say, and Cole was in no position to argue with that logic. The coincidences were too many to be anything less. There hadn’t been many times he’d felt God’s hand directing him. More often than not, Cole found himself on an empty sea, drifting through life without an anchor to hold him steady. But every once in a while—like now—even he couldn’t miss the Lord’s obvious guidance.
Shoving those thoughts aside, Cole read through the note again. “This one is just like the others. Handwritten in block lettering, but it’s shorter than the previous letters. There’s also an edge of desperation to it.”
Chief Sims nodded. “This is a warning.”
“What does that mean?” Olivia asked, her gaze bouncing between the two men.
Cole hesitated. He didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was, but this was her life on the line. She deserved to know the risk. “The initial attack on you was well-planned. He’d likely been thinking about it for weeks, only to have it fail. Then he broke into your house and that didn’t work either. Now he’s angry. More than likely, he’s already making plans for his next attack.”
Olivia’s jaw clenched as she stared at the bag with the dead mouse. “And this time, if he’s successful, he’s going to make me pay for escaping.”
Cole stepped into her line of sight and dipped down until they were eye-to-eye. “That’s not going to happen. In order to get to you, he has to go through me. Despite what Eli may have told you…” He flexed an arm. “I’m tougher than I look.”
That comment earned him a smile, just as he’d hoped it would. Gratitude, enough to warm Cole straight through, erased the fear and worry shining in her sky-blue eyes. “I’m gonna have you open the mail from now on.”
“Good idea. I’m not scared of a dead mouse.”
She lifted a brow. “What about a live one?”
“Let’s not talk about that.”
She smothered a laugh. All joking aside, Cole had already decided he’d be opening the mail from now on. If only to spare Olivia the ordeal of coming across another ugly message. Whatever happened, she wasn’t in this by herself. And Cole had no intention of letting anyone harm her.
Chief Sims tucked the letter into another evidence bag. “When was this delivered?”
“According to Susan, it was dropped off by Mr. Kemp, the barber, just after nine this morning.” The mirth left Olivia’s expression as quickly as it’d appeared. “Someone put the envelope in his mail slot after closing yesterday or in the early-morning hours.”
Cole pointed to Olivia’s name scrawled on the front. “Mr. Kemp saw the envelope wasn’t addressed to him and figured someone had simply mixed up the stores. He brought it over. I reviewed the surveillance footage from Olivia’s cameras and it confirms Susan’s story.” He extended a USB drive toward the chief. “I took the liberty of making a copy for you.”
“Thanks.” Chief Sims labeled another evidence bag and dropped the item inside. “Unfortunately the barber shop doesn’t have any security cameras. Which is probably why the perpetrator delivered the envelope there instead of slipping it directly into Olivia’s mail slot.”
The stalker was angry, but not enough to make a sloppy mistake. “It supports our theory that the stalker is a local. He knows which stores have cameras and which don’t.”
The chief grunted. It was clear he didn’t like the idea that someone from Serenity was involved. “Any progress on suspects?”
“Not yet, but I haven’t dug into any of Olivia’s clients yet.”
