Page 10 of Frost and Venom

“Did you mess with the cameras?” Harlow asked as she slid onto the seat. “I told them I was meeting you early this morning at the Sunrise Café because I wanted to take pictures of the sunrise.”

“Of course I messed with them. They’re playing a very long loop, so it will take some time for anyone to realize, and that’s only if they’re looking specifically. You asked for it, and I did it, mostly because every single time Rush comes around, he plays the doctor, and it annoys me.”

“Um, Raine?” Harlow sent her a little grin. “Rush is a doctor and a very good one at that.”

“Very true,” Raine conceded, “but he isn’t my doctor anymore.”

“Are we going to talk about your leg?”

“Nope.” Raine was decisive. “We’re going to go somewhere far away from civilization where we won’t be found. You’re going to take kick-ass photographs, and then we’re going to climb a boulder or two.”

Harlow nodded in agreement. “You didn’t tell anyone else, did you?”

“Our treacherous friends? Stella would tell Sam. Vienna would tell Zale. Shabina would go to her grave with our secrets, but Rainier has some kind of ability to read minds—especially hers. We are free.” She took her eyes from the road for a quick look at Harlow. “Are you going to tell me why you’re hosting half of Rainier’s security force?”

Harlow’s heart skipped a beat. Raine always knew everything, classified things no one else seemed to know. For her to ask meant she didn’t know.

“Rainier is being obnoxious over my safety,” she said. She wasn’t going to lie outright to Raine, but misleading her with the partial truth was acceptable until she talked to Wilder.

Raine kept her eyes on the road as they took one of the dirt tracks leading up toward a property no one lived on. There was an old barn that was falling down that Harlow had wanted to photograph for ages. There was also a set of boulders few knew about, even though Knightly was a climbing community. Harlow had been working on the project on and off before winter had set in. The boulder was considered a “high ball,” one over thirty feet. It wasn’t an easy ascent, but she was determined.

“Have you received more death threats?”

Harlow sighed. “Two in my mailbox in the last week. One just said ‘die, bitch’ and the other said ‘coming for you.’ ”

“Did you turn them over to Rainier?”

Harlow shook her head. “I didn’t hire his security company. Quite frankly, I couldn’t afford it. In any case, I’ve gotten a few of those weird magazine cutout threats just stuck in my mailbox over the last year. I’ve never actually had anyone attack me.”

The Jeep bumped over several potholes and rocks. Raine handled the vehicle with more skill than Harlow had thought possible. There was no tension in Raine; she appeared as if she were driving a perfectly straight paved highway, not a rocky, pitted track that was nearly grown over with brush and weeds.

“Honey, you know if the contacts are getting more frequent, the threat is escalating. Are you certain they’re from the same person?”

Raine wasn’t going to like the answer. Harlow stared out the window. The light was just beginning to thread through the darkness. The pattern was beautiful, layers of gray and black streaked with light.

“It’s definitely two different people. One started about a year ago,” she admitted. “The other started after Lawyer died, and he didn’t threaten to kill me. It was just…ugly. I’ve gotten two from that person. I already told you and the others about it.” For some unexplained reason, just voicing aloud to someone else that she was hated for the death of a patient made her throat close. The lump took forever to go away, so she continued to stare out the window.

“A year?” Raine said, pouncing on the very real threat. “In your mailbox?”

“Three came through the mail. That was right in the beginning.”

“You kept the letters and envelopes they came in?” It was a statement in the form of a question.

Harlow sighed. “Yeah. They’re filed away. With the senator being my father, I learned a long time ago to keep evidence of any threats.”

“What’s really going on, Harlow? You can tell me. You know I would never say anything to anyone. Why is Rainier really at your house every single day with a full medical staff? Why does he have guards patrolling around your home and snipers sitting up on your rooftop?”

Harlow’s head swung around to stare in shock at Raine. “What? Is that true? I had no idea he’d done all that.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s going to be royally angry at me for taking the day off, isn’t he?”

“He takes threats against his family very seriously. If he knew everything you told me, he might very well have all of that security as well as a personal bodyguard. Since he doesn’t know, his men are there for another reason. The fact that you didn’t know how far he’s gone to protect everyone means it has to do with one of his men.”

Harlow ignored the assessment, but it suddenly occurred to her that Rainier would blame Raine for the two of them running off for an early morning photo shoot and climb. Raine was the youngest of the friends, but always the one most responsible. He would hold her accountable for Harlow’s escape. She was always expected to be the one to keep everyone on the right path.

“Rainier’s going to be furious. I didn’t do this to get you in trouble, Raine. Maybe we should give him a heads-up.”

“You aren’t worried about yourself, Harlow,” Raine pointed out.

“Why should I be? He can get all grouchy with me, but he doesn’t have the right to tell me what to do. I’m not in your line of work.”