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Rory’s head snapped up. “I’m still really pissed.”
“Of course you are. That’s second nature for you.”
Rory smirked.
Christian said, “Be pissed all you want. For as long as you want. You have every right to be, and so do I. But the bottom line is, we need to know what’s really going on here. Who’s really trying to hurt Bayli.”
“Agreed.”
They stared at each other a few moments. Then Christian’s cell rang with the specific jingle for gate access. He answered the call, confirmed it was the hired physician, and then punched in the code to let him through.
Christian said to Rory, “Maybe you can make her something easy to eat. Then she should probably sleep.”
TWENTY-TWO
Bayli woke the next morning to familiar voices approaching. She opened her eyes as Christian entered the suite, followed by Rory. But she homed in on the female voice. Sat up and grinned as Scarlet stepped around the men and rushed over to the bed.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Bayli all but squealed as Scarlet sank onto the edge of the mattress and they hugged.
Scarlet said, “Christian sent a plane for me. I have tons of news. Been up most the night. But first, how are you feeling?”
“Like I could drain a lake.” Bayli reached for her glass of water bedside and gulped half of it down. “And it feels like there’s a marching band playing inside my head, heavy on the drums and cymbals, epic tempo, totally out of sync with each other. Not to mention my skin is fried, so I’m shivering, even though psychologically I’m still burning up on the inside.”
“Sorry I asked,” Scarlet deadpanned.
Bayli laughed. “Aside from all that, I’m just fine.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Now, here’s the lowdown, if you think you can handle it before breakfast.”
“Definitely before breakfast so I don’t heave on you if this gets too terrifying.”
“Bayli—” Rory cut in.
She raised her hand. “I can deal with this. Don’t go all Superman protecting Lois Lane on me.”
“More like the Beast saving Beauty,” Scarlet muttered under her breath. “But anyhoo. Here’s the situation: Your stalker is still locked up in Japan. He was definitely the one to send you e-mails and post the hatergrams on YouTube. He was not, however, the one to send you the creepy-crawlies via courier.”
Bayli’s stomach churned. “Thoughts on who did?”
“Not just thoughts. I’ve nailed it down. So, the officers who investigated the break-in at your apartment found a guy who saw the would-be robber on the fire escape. They had a sketch for me, which they e-mailed. I forwarded that sketch to the courier service, and they confirmed the NYPD rendering was the same guy who hired them to make the delivery.”
Bayli sighed dejectedly. “Let me guess. That man was someone hir
ed off the street. So no way to track him down.”
“Wrong!” Scarlet instantly lit up like a Roman candle. “This guy isn’t cloaked in shadows. See, I scanned the rendering into a digital file, uploaded it, and ran matches. That led to an actual photo. Which led to a craigslist account. When I delved deeper into that, I discovered this guy is linked to a service that’s sort of like mercenaries for hire.”
“I’m starting to get queasy,” Bayli said. Christian and Rory moved in a little closer. She gave a slight shake of her head at them. “Don’t coddle me. I have to hear this. I have to face this.”
Scarlet was clearly locked in investigator mode and excitedly told them all, “I had someone from my network track down Paul Richards, our bad guy, and my pal did a little shakedown that I don’t even want to know about, but we learned Richards was hired through the Internet links. And I pinpointed the ISP for where those communications to him originated.”
Bayli spared a glance toward Christian and Rory. This was going to be a big reveal that would set the stage for everything that followed.
Her gaze drifted back to Scarlet. “Please tell me the ISP is from a Japanese prison server.”
Scarlet frowned. “Not this time. The domain associated is in Manhattan.” She peered at Christian, then Rory, and added, “More specifically, from Davila–St. James Enterprises.”
“Nobody yell,” Bayli quickly said. She shot both men a look. “No. Yelling. My head is killing me as it is. Just … process. And don’t point fingers.” She turned back to Scarlet to explain, “This is very sensitive. The woman I told you about is not only Christian’s assistant, but they also slept together on occasion. Over the course of three years. Touchy subject.”
