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Peyton laughs hard. “Must be a rocker band then.”
I love that she’s comfortable teasing my family. I’m also terrified by how easily she seems to be slipping into my life. Brady laughs and follows up with, “That darn rock music hurts my ears,” in an old man voice.
“Damn hippies,” Peyton snorts.
The color in her cheeks and her lively smile makes me want to take her back to the loft and pick up where we left off this morning.
“You two want to stay for dinner?” Brady asks.
Peyton looks at me to see what I think. I nod and answer that we’d love to.
As my eyes pop open, I expect to find an angry Eduardo in my room, holding the cell phone in his hand, but he’s not here. The mansion is quiet as I descend the stairs. I find Guadalupe in the front room, reading a book. She informs me Eduardo took Javier riding. We’ve been taking the horses out for a daily ride as a family activity, but I guess they went without me today.
I venture into the Foyer toward the coat rack. Cameras mounted to the ceiling watch me closely. Retrieving my jacket has to appear natural or the jig is up. I pull it off the rack and slip it on before walking out the front door. To keep up the charade, I look toward the stables as though I’m simply trying to see Eduardo and Javier. When I don’t find them, I go inside and straight to the bathroom where there are no cameras.
I reach into the pocket the kid slipped the phone into—empty. Frantic, I check the other pocket—also empty. I cover my mouth, sagging against the bathroom wall. Eduardo has the phone. He knows.
After returning the jacket to my closet, I go the kitchen for a glass of water. On the way, I run into Eduardo and Javier.
“Feeling better?” Eduardo asks without a trace of
anger in his tone.
“Yes, thank you,” I answer with effort to keep my voice from trembling with the fear assaulting my insides.
“You missed a beautiful ride,” Eduardo tells me, taking my hand. “We went up the back of the ridge today. You can see the whole state from up there.”
“Maybe you can take me to tomorrow,” I offer, smiling down at Javier. “What do you think?”
“Can we, Daddy?” He beams at Eduardo.
“Of course. I think she’ll love it.”
It’s obvious Eduardo didn’t find the phone.
The question is . . . who did?
On the drive to the loft, Sid texts that he knows who broke into Peyton’s place. I have a name and an address. My first instinct is to drive straight to the psycho’s house and retaliate, but under Sid’s advisement, I’ve chosen not to.
“Do you know anyone named Robert Dellisen?” I ask Peyton.
She smiles. “I work with him. Why?”
I anticipated the name belonging to heartbreaker number one or two. Knowing she works closely with the perp sets my senses on full alert. “Has he ever bothered you?”
She shrugs, but something in her expression is off. She lowers her head and her knee bounces with nerves. “He’s asked me out a dozen times or so, but he’s harmless.”
“He’s not harmless,” I shout as she lifts her head to look at me. Her eyes widen slowly, growing larger when I add, “He’s the one who broke into your place.”
“Robert?” Her voice doesn’t rise in shock like I anticipated. “Are you sure?”
“Sid has proof from a security camera on the street.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Why?”
“I thought you might know. Was anything missing?”
“I don’t think so, nothing valuable and the only jewelry I have, I was wearing.”
