Page 15 of Unstable

“They were bled.”

She blinked. “What?”

“Your brakes were drained of all fluid. I spoke with Lt. Shepler on the way over here. They found the bleeder valve wide open and a significant amount of brake fluid in the drain in your garage.”

Ice sluiced through her veins. The police had been back to look around and take fingerprints; she knew that, but they hadn’t said much. She watched warily as Knox tossed a manila folder on the countertop between them. Her mouth opened, then snapped closed again, and she was dimly aware of Roman murmuring a soft curse beside her.

“Do you understand why you’re under protection? Have they told you anything?”

She reluctantly met Knox’s gaze, then shook her head.

His lips flattened into a thin line of displeasure. “Those letters you’ve been getting?” He spun the folder toward her and flipped open the front flap. “This one included a couple lovely recipes.”

“Recipes?” She tentatively touched the first page on top, a copy of a list of ingredients someone had scribbled on a piece of plain white paper. At the top were the words She-girl Stew. She slid the paper to the side and read the one beneath. Fa-Rina. Mozza-Rina.

“I don’t…” She trailed off, her mind struggling to make sense of what she was reading. Realization hit her hard, and she rocked back on her heels, stunned.

“Come on, Knox.” Roman’s voice came from behind her, and a firm hand clasped her shoulder, giving her strength.

She slowly lifted her gaze to the dark brown eyes across from her. “But I thought… Louis said they were just sappy love letters.”

Knox snorted. “Well, there’s a fine line between love and obsession, and this guy blew past it a long time ago.”

The hand on her shoulder eased and slipped away as she crossed her arms over her midsection. “Why didn’t Louis say anything? I never would’ve tried to leave if I had known about this.”

Knox studied her for a moment. “It doesn’t take much knowledge or experience to open a bleeder valve and let the fluid run out. Have you gone anywhere else over the last couple of days?”

She shook her head. “Not since…” She drew back, trying to remember the last time she had left the house. “I think it was last weekend, maybe a week ago? I went to the grocery store off Alto Palo.”

“Did you notice anything strange when you were driving it?”

“Not that I remember.”

Knox’s brooding, dark gaze slid to Roman. “You’ve been doing perimeter checks?”

“Every hour,” he acknowledged. “Nothing out of the ordinary, but I never thought to check under the car since the garage doors are kept locked.”

Knox seemed to think it over. “There’s a good chance that it was done elsewhere and you just didn’t realize it. I don’t think anyone would be brash or stupid enough to try to bleed the lines with Ink here making cursory checks unexpectedly.”

So where did that leave them? “What do I do now?”

“I don’t know if this person knows where you live, but I’d rather err on the side of caution until we determine otherwise. I spoke with Shepler, and we’re going to increase police presence for a while.” He directed his next words to Roman. “They’ll have patrolmen doing drive-bys every hour or so, as well, so you’ll have some backup close if you need it.”

She nodded, still feeling numb and off-balance. She couldn’t believe someone was doing this to her. It all seemed so far-fetched, so juvenile. At least, that’s the way Louis had made it sound. He played it off as if this person were merely infatuated with her. Nothing strange had ever turned up in her dressing rooms while she was on tour, and this was the first time anything ever happened near her home. She felt violated, like the one place she should feel safe had been breached.

Knox blew out a breath. “I also need to check—do you know where the key to the garage door is?”

She nodded and pointed to a drawer on the far right. “Should be in here.” She dug around for a minute, then produced two generic-looking silver keys on a small ring. “I had the locks changed as soon as I moved in, but I never come in that way, so I just tossed the keys in here.”

He nodded. “We’re going to get someone out here to change the lock again, just in case. I’d suggest changing the code to the front door and only giving it to those absolutely necessary.”

“Okay.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Is there anyone who would have had access to that door, or to the keys?”

She shook her head. “They’ve been in that drawer for as long as I can remember. I never made a copy for anyone, not even a spare, because I never needed one.”

“No neighbors to take care of the house?”