Page 45 of Frost and Venom

“Did you discuss security with her at any time? Where you would put cameras outside or inside? Did you have any discussions with her of that nature?” Rainier persisted.

Harlow nodded. “Actually, several. She was the one to suggest cameras and an alarm system. I thought it sweet that she worried about me being alone here. Rainier, if she talked about that when I bought the property, that would mean she was planning something against me almost from when she first met me. That doesn’t make sense either. I’ve lived here for years.”

That was really difficult to believe. She tried to recall every conversation with Guadalupe and never once had there seemed to be any discord.

“Have you ever had a fight with her? An argument?” Rainier questioned.

Wilder shifted closer to her, his body heat warming her when she hadn’t realized she felt cold. Very fine tremors shook her body. The way he moved into her felt even more protective. In a world that seemed to be turning upside down, Harlow was grateful to have a rock to anchor her. Two of them, really. Rainier was definitely on her side.

“Never. Why would we? It makes no sense that she would make death threats.”

“What of your parents? Does she know who you are? Did you ever discuss your parents with her?” Rainier asked.

Harlow shook her head decisively. “I moved here to get a new start, far away from them and their world. I didn’t say a word to anyone about them.”

“Where did you get the money for this property?” Wilder asked. He rubbed his chin onto the top of her head. “It couldn’t have been cheap, and the down payment had to be quite a lot.”

“My grandparents on my mother’s side left me an inheritance in a trust. There were specific criteria I had to meet in order to receive the money. I had to have an education and an occupation that served the community in some way. I paid my own way through nursing school and didn’t get any money from the trust until I found this property.”

“The trust would have been in your mother’s maiden name, not anything to do with the senator or your mother,” Rainier reiterated.

She nodded. “That’s correct.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Wilder said. “Her family is quite famous, and the senator made certain all of them had a tremendous amount of publicity. It’s possible she was recognized.”

“True, Harlow. We can’t exclude that someone has a grudge against your parents and is willing to harm you because of their political views,” Rainier agreed.

“Guadalupe didn’t seem like a political person,” Harlow objected.

“You don’t seem like a woman someone would want to kill,” Rainier pointed out.

She sighed. “You have a point. I’ll talk to her.”

“No, you won’t,” Wilder said instantly, with hard authority that set her teeth on edge. “You’ll stay away from her and let us handle it. We’ll pick her up and question her.”

She shook her head, her breath catching in her throat. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t approve of Wilder’s and Rainier’s interrogation methods. “We should just watch her to see what she does. What if someone forced her to deliver the threats?”

“What will that accomplish?” Rainier asked. “The threats have escalated to the point that everyone believes, eventually, and I think, sooner rather than later, that an attempt will be made on your life.”

“That’s cheerful news. Thanks for that.” She put her head back, resting it on the chair. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to talk to Guadalupe and find out what is going on? Maybe we could work it out amicably.”

“The problem, Harlow,” Rainier said, his piercing gaze meeting hers with the precision of a laser, “is I don’t believe it’s Brown putting these letters together. I think she’s delivering them for someone else. Someone living out of the country.”

Harlow frowned and rubbed at her temples. The moment she did, Wilder’s strong fingers began a slow massage of her scalp and temples. Gentle but firm. Soothing. She didn’t know how to react when she’d never had anyone treating her the way he did.

“I don’t understand. Someone out of the country?”

Rainier nodded. “I think the original threats from a year or so ago were mailed to someone in the US, not Brown, and the person put them in a different envelope and mailed them to you from a different state. Fortunately, you kept the envelopes, and most appear to come from the same border town in Texas, one that has high violent crime and is considered one of the more dangerous towns to visit.”

“What Rainier is saying is that he thinks the letters were either brought across the border by whoever is threatening you and mailed from that town, or given to someone else to mail them,” Wilder interpreted gently. “Now the letters are being sent to Brown and she sticks them in your mailbox rather than mail them to you. She probably hopes there is no trail leading back to her. She wouldn’t know about cameras.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know what’s in the letters.” Harlow was very hopeful that was the case. She didn’t want Guadalupe to be a part of the threats to her. She liked her. Although they weren’t close friends, they did meet for coffee occasionally to catch up, and Harlow always considered her more than an acquaintance. “Honestly, I’ve never exchanged a single cross word with her.”

“This isn’t about you,” Rainier assured. “Whoever is sending you the threats has some issues that really are more about him than you.”

“Him?” she asked.

“The one putting these letters together is definitely a male,” Wilder said. “The words he uses to make his threats, the names he calls you, definitely male. And over the last year, his anger has escalated.”