Page 46 of Frost and Venom

Rainier leaned toward her, drawing her gaze. Wilder’s fingers tightened at the nape of her neck as if to steady her. Her heart thudded. Whatever they were about to say, she wasn’t going to like.

“The escalation into real threats came after your father was named in the investigation of the disappearance of Oliva Dunstin. I believe this has something to do with that.”

Her mind rejected the conclusion. “I’ve been getting threats from that same person for well over a year.”

“True,” Wilder agreed, “but not death threats. Not vile, call-you-names-and-act-as-if-you’re-responsible-for-something-reprehensible. This man believes you are. He believes your father is. It’s possible he’s a relative of the girl, and when she began working with her mother at the senator’s home, if she confided that the senator was molesting her, he may have started sending you letters as a way to vent his anger. Then she disappeared, and his anger grew into rage.”

She reached up to find Wilder’s hand, to thread her fingers through his. He steadied her, and she needed him right at that moment. “He would have every right to feel that way if he knows her. If she’s a relative. You would feel that way, Rainier. So would you, Wilder.”

Rainier shook his head. “You aren’t responsible for a single thing your father has done, Harlow. You can spin it different ways to convince yourself you are, but he made his own choices. Your mother made hers. You left. You got out and separated yourself from them. Even if this person lives in Mexico, Guadalupe Brown has been around you for several years. She has to know him or she wouldn’t be helping him. She knows you want nothing to do with the senator. It’s common knowledge in Knightly. One would think she would have informed whoever is sending you threats.”

She lifted her chin and met Rainier’s piercing gaze. “I’m holding out hope that she has no idea what’s in those letters.”

“For your sake, I hope you’re right,” Rainier said.

“For her sake, I hope you’re right,” Wilder corrected. “We’re picking her up to question her. We’ll do it quietly and hopefully have answers by tomorrow. I won’t be home tonight.”

She shook her head. “I’m not comfortable with the two of you asking the questions. Take this to the sheriff.”

“To Bale Landry’s uncle?” Rainier said. “The man doesn’t like you any more than his nephew does. You and your friends exposed him for what he was in front of the FBI. I don’t think he’s going to be much help to us. And we want to act quickly on this.”

Wilder leaned into her, his arm slipping around her shoulder, his mouth moving against her ear. “Mon rêve, this is one of those times you will have to trust me to do what’s right to keep you safe. I don’t ever harm innocents. Not ever. Neither does Rainier.”

“Even if she’s part of the threats against me, even if she knows about it and is helping, she hasn’t done anything to me. It’s likely that she never would.”

“That’s absolutely true, Harlow,” Rainier agreed. “We’re looking for information, not to hurt her.”

Harlow was feeling a little desperate. “If you talk to her now, won’t she tell her partner that you can identify her and that you’re getting close to him? He might run, and then you’ll never catch him.”

That was a good argument, one she thought they’d buy. Wilder sighed, and she looked up at his face to see a mixture of exasperation and male amusement. She narrowed her eyes at him and did her best to scowl. She had never been particularly good at scowling, but she thought she might get in some practice with her friends at their next get-together. It was very clear to her that she was going to need that expression in her bag of armor.

She lifted an eyebrow, stared down her nose at him and gave him her haughtiest look, the one she was good at. She’d perfected the princess-to-peasant look in her early teens, when she was facing the cameras and reporters during the senator’s endless bid for fame and adoration.

“What?” She’d perfected that haughty, sarcastic tone as well.

For some reason, her tone and look didn’t faze Wilder in the least. He burst out laughing, and the sound played along her nerve endings and, sadly for her, reduced her annoyance with him. There was just something beautiful about the man’s laughter, even if he might be laughing at her for no good reason.

“Baby, you just refuse to get the fact that your man is a hunter. If I have to brag so you get it, I’ll tell you I’m one of the best. No one runs from me and gets away. Tracking runners down is what I do. If you need confirmation, you can ask Rainier. You know the man won’t tell you a lie.”

It wasn’t like she’d forgotten, she’d just buried that knowledge somewhere deep so she didn’t have to think about it too much.

“Fine.”

Rainier laughed. “Wilder, you’re new to relationships, and I can give you a little piece of advice. A woman says fine to you, that means you’re in trouble. Big trouble. Shabina doesn’t say it often, but when she does, I consider putting on my vest just in case she decides the best course of action is to shoot me.”

“Shabina is too crazy about you to shoot you.” Harlow stuck her chin in the air. “On the other hand, I don’t know how crazy I am yet about Wilder. He’s very bossy.”

“I’ve noticed that,” Rainier agreed. “But just to be fair, someone already shot and stabbed him a few times. That might be enough to humble him a bit.”

Wilder burst out laughing. “You two should take the show on the road.”

Rainier raised an eyebrow. “Shabina has never displayed a jealous streak, but you have,” he pointed out to his friend. “I know Shabina wouldn’t shoot me, and neither would Harlow. You, on the other hand, might consider it if you thought for a moment I was spending too much time with your woman.”

“That could be true,” Wilder said, without the least bit of remorse.

Harlow rolled her eyes. “There’s something wrong with both of you. I have an idea. I’d like both of you to just consider it. Rather than you picking up Guadalupe, why don’t you let me invite Guadalupe to lunch at the Sunrise Café with Raine, if Rush allows her out, and any one of our other friends who can attend. You can easily monitor us there.”

Rainier shook his head even before she finished speaking.