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“Of course.”
She led the way into the great room area where Thor, Maddie, Papa Delta, and Esther were gathered in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Esther glanced his direction and everyone and everything else melted away. Their gazes held, and he thought he could read in those incredible blue eyes that she did need him, that she missed him almost as much as he missed her, and that they had a chance to be together.
Then she looked away, focusing on the onion she was dicing.
“Sheriff,” Papa greeted him, striding around and shaking his hand. “Thanks for coming.”
“My pleasure, sir.” Reed waved at Maddie and Thor.
“Hi, hot sheriff,” Maddie purred, winking at him. Maddie was always a tease.
Esther’s gaze sharpened on him, then she rolled her eyes and chopped at the onion.
“Hi, brilliant artist,” he said back.
Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Um, no. Not quite as fun as my title for you.”
“But more accurate.” Reed smiled.
“Brilliant, beautiful, slightly flirtatious artist would be more accurate.” She pumped her eyebrows, and everyone laughed. Everyone except Esther. Esther was whacking at the onion with her knife as tears formed in her brilliant blue eyes. Was it only the onion she was crying for, or could he flatter himself into thinking she cared for him?
“Thor and I have been talking,” Papa said to Reed, pulling the rest of the group’s attention from Maddie’s teasing and Reed’s attention from the brilliant, beautiful Esther. “Garret Thomson might be hidden in the mountains or the Caribbean by now, but he’s proven his obsession with killing women who’ve rejected him.”
Reed nodded. There were now nine cases under investigation and four they believed they could absolutely link to Garret Thomson or Robert Bend. The women had not only dated him but had been his dental clients as well.
“So he might come back and try to get at Esther again,” Reed surmised. His gut churned at the thought. He wanted Garret to come so he could dismantle him, but he wouldn’t risk Esther for anything, even justice. He would protect her no matter what. Would Papa let him stay here with them?
“He’s tracking her somehow,” Papa mused.
Reed nodded. He’d been stewing on that all day. The guy following them to Sabores on their first date was a red flag he should’ve delved deeper into, but they’d thought he was only a smitten, heartbroken loser. Then Garret had stolen a car in Lonepeak Valley, so he’d obviously been following them last night. The final clue was Garret finding her outside on the patio furniture last night. How had he known her exact location? It was spooky, especially because she hadn’t had her phone on her on their first date or on the patio. It all added up to some kind of tracking device on Esther’s person.
Wait a minute. Reed stared at her beautiful face, unease making his gut churn. “Esther, you said he did free dental work on you?”
She blinked at him, tears from the onion making her blue eyes brighter. She nodded.
Reed looked at Papa.
“An RFID implant,” Papa said as it clicked in his mind as well.
“In her tooth or her cheek?” Reed asked.
“Probably her cheek. Another dentist might see it in the tooth.”
Esther released the knife and the onion and put her hand to her cheek. “You think he implanted a tracking device on me?”
Papa and Reed both nodded.
“What a psycho,” Maddie all but yelled. “You have to find this loser!” She hurried to Esther and wrapped an arm around her cousin. Reed wished that could be his job.
“We will, love,” Papa reassured her. Then he looked at Reed. “I want to just get it out of her, but he’s smart and I’m afraid he’s watching her closely enough that he’d know.”
Reed worried about that too, but how could they keep Esther safe?
“We need to keep the implant in and take her someplace hethinkshe can get to her,” Papa said.
“Good,” Esther said, straightening away from Maddie. “Then I’ll thump him again, and this time he won’t get away.”
“I don’t want him near you,” Reed gritted out.
