An acrid smell made my nose wrinkle. It must have hit him at the same time because his eyebrows drew together, and then his expression cleared as he remembered. “The campfire. Our friends are waiting for us.”
“Or we could?—”
Shouts pierced the air.
31
JEREMIAH
By the timethe sheriff arrived, the flames that had engulfed Lennon’s ancient Volvo had been extinguished. The ranch had fire extinguishers and hoses stationed all over the property, and they’d come in handy tonight. We were fortunate that Lennon’s car had been parked far enough back from the lodge that the fire hadn’t spread to our pine buildings.
“The fire marshal will be out first thing in the morning.” Sherwood stood with me off to the side.
“I want him here tonight,” I bit out.
Sherwood scrubbed a hand over his face. “You know that’s not going to happen. He’s two hours away, and no one was hurt. He can do his investigation tomorrow.”
Most everyone had gone home after answering thesheriff’s questions, but there were still a few stragglers either looking to help or looking to gossip. Mateo, Holly, Seb, and Liam had closed ranks around Lennon, forming a half circle with their backs to her. Grace had an arm wrapped around Lennon’s waist as they both stared at the burned remnants of Lennon’s car. Lennon’s expression was completely devoid of emotion. Fucking eerie, seeing all the life drained out of her like that.
I stabbed my fingers through my hair and tugged. I wanted to hit something. “It’s arson. You know it’s arson. Her car didn’t spontaneously combust.”
“I don’t disagree. But he needs daylight to run a thorough investigation. And even then, we’ll know the what but not the who or why. We’re not going to be able to pull prints off that, even supposing he left something behind.”
He wasn’t wrong, but hell. That only pissed me off more. “He’s escalating fast, and we’re standing around with our thumbs up our asses.” I shook my head. A sternly worded postcard was one thing, but a fucking fire? “Since Lennon’s been staying with me, he doesn’t have access to her like he used to. Keeping her safe is pissing him off.”
“It’s more than that. She moved in with you a full week ago. The fire wasn’t planned. Too many potential witnesses around. My guess is, something happened tonight that made him angry enough that he took immediate action and got lucky no one saw him.” Hestudied me in the darkening dusk. “Heard you and Lennon had quite the duet tonight.”
“You think he didn’t like my bullfrog onesie?”
“I think he doesn’t like to share.”
My jaw clenched.Same. I especially wasn’t going to share Lennon with a stalker who set her car on fire. My gaze went to her again. Even surrounded as she was by people I trusted with my life, I had to verify her safety with my own eyes. Cecily had joined them now.
“Whoever lured her here isn’t a stranger, Jay. It’s someone familiar with this ranch and with you. He knows damn well you wouldn’t get into that frog costume for just anyone, much less shake your ass like a fool.”
I didn’t need the reminder that Lennon’s stalker was likely right here under my nose. It was a constant worry in the back of my mind. That was why I didn’t let her go anywhere alone.
We’d done a light background investigation on everyone here—including the guests, which I didn’t take lightly—and no leads had turned up. Mateo had started in on Lennon’s camming subs, highest donors first, but we still had nearly a hundred to go. Benny Davis was her biggest supporter, but also the least likely to be stalking her. The man was shady as hell, but all his criminal activities were financial in nature. Anyway, he’d had no reason to stalk her when they were dating, and now he was under house arrest while he awaitedtrial. Whatever he might be guilty of, he wasn’t stalking Lennon.
“Get some sleep, Jay. Have Lennon do the same. The fire marshal will be here at nine a.m. We’ll talk next steps then.”
I was striding toward her before he finished speaking. With a brisk nod of thanks to our friends, I maneuvered Lennon into my arms. Grace stepped aside with a tiny, empathetic smile, but Cecily held on a moment longer, her eyes searching my face as though wondering if I could be trusted.
“I have her. Thanks, Cecily.” My gaze flicked between Lennon’s friends. “No one goes anywhere alone. Alex is still here to get you home?”
Grace nodded. “We’ll make sure Cecily is safe, too.”
“Good.”
Lennon didn’t respond as her friends hugged her goodbye. Her gaze stayed pinned to her car, but I doubted she really saw that, either. I stepped in front of her and slid my hand under her thick hair to the back of her neck.
“Lennon.” I squeezed gently. “Look at me, honey.”
She blinked a few times like she was coming out of a trance. Her eyes slowly focused on mine. “Jeremiah.”
“There’s nothing more we can do tonight. Let’s go upstairs.”
She looked around like she wasn’t sure where we were or how we got here. But she didn’t protest as I tookher by the hand and led her into the lodge. I nudged her up the stairs in front of me, keeping one hand on her lower back so she’d know I was there. I would always be there, if she let me.
