“The tow truck should be here soon.” Colsen says a few moments later. “If you want to take Taryn to get out of those wet clothes, I can wait for them. I texted Tucker to make some hot tea. Your lips are blue and you’re shaking.”
Taryn looks alarmed rather than soothed by Colsen’s offer. “No. We can’t leave you here by yourself. What if my stalker is waiting? If he hurt you, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”
I hate the look of terror in her eyes. “Taryn,” I try to stay calm. “You keep sayingmy stalker. What is going on?”
“I…”
She’s shutting down, but I need to know what’s happening to keep her safe.
“Please, Trouble, talk to us. Do you think someone sabotaged your car?”
Taryn nods. “I had filled my tank. Shell Cove is twenty minutes away. There’s no way.”
I voice my perplexities again. “But if that’s what happened, how would the stalker know where you would break down? Unless they were tracking you somehow.”
“I don’t know. But they seem to always know where I am and when I’m alone. They always text me when there is no one around.” She shudders.
“They text you?”
Her answer is covered by the loud noise of a motorcycle engine. A black motorcycle comes out from the side of theroad racing past us. It happens so fast that I can’t make out what kind of bike it is or who’s riding it.
“Do you think what I’m thinking?” Colsen asks. “That could be Taryn’s attacker.”
He’s right, and I think about chasing the fucker, but on foot, I have no chance in hell to catch him. My mind is in overdrive as things still don’t add up. “I agree. But I still don’t get it. Do you think you were followed from Shell Cove?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” Taryn shudders. “I’ve been getting some threats by text. I… my phone. I lost it.”¹
“Is it in the car?” I ask.
She thinks about it. “I don’t think so. I think I had it with me when I tried to run. But I’m not sure. I was so scared, I can’t remember.”
I hate the way she’s tormenting her bottom lip with her teeth. I hate seeing her so frightened. “Let’s find your phone, Trouble.” I say, squeezing her shoulder. “And do you have a purse? We should get that out of your car, too. It would be better to get your car towed to a mechanic shop, but I don’t know if there are any that are open twenty-four hours in town. But regardless, I wouldn’t leave your purse in the car just in case.”
We decide to divide and conquer, and while I search the car, Taryn and Colsen trace their way back to where we found Taryn in search of her phone.
“We found it.” They come back a couple of minutes later. “I had it with me when I ran. The screen is cracked, but it’s still working.”
I hand Taryn her purse.
“Nash. What’s up? You look angry.”
My jaw ticks, but I do my best to keep my expression as calm as possible. “Can I see your phone?”
Taryn flinches, reluctant. “I’ll show you the text messages if you want. But before I do, there are some things I need to explain.”
“Fine. But I’m not going to look at your text messages, I promise. There’s something else I need to check. I think I know how your stalker knew where to attack you.” I show her what I found under the glove box.
She blinks a couple of times as she holds the small, round object that was taped under the glove box. “Is this some kind of spying device?”
“It’s an air tag.” I explain. “Unless you put it there…”
“I didn’t.”
Just as I thought. “Someone has been keeping track of you. And if I’m right, I bet this air tag isn’t the only way they did it.”
Taryn unlocks her phone for me, and it takes me a couple of minutes to find what I was after. “See this?” I show her an app in her general settings. “I bet every cent I’ll ever earn as a pro player and every possible future Stanley Cup I might win that you didn’t download this app.”
“What is it?” Taryn’s confusion confirms that my hunch was right.
