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After Rodney had asked Nox to sweep our place for listening devices, he was informed that Nox had already done so…and that he’d found nothing.
We still had no idea how this guy was showing up everywhere we went.
“Dad, as safe as you think the ranch is, this guy could get onto it from anywhere. It doesn’t make sense to have Morgan stay out there,” Hunter said. He’d joined us minutes ago, having detoured to take poor Bonnie to Urgent Care before dropping her off at her hotel where she’d promptly passed out from the drugs they’d given her.
Ryan was pacing back and forth again, like he had been in the trail parking lot. I could see his mind working overtime.
“I’ve got to agree with Hunter, Dad,” Blayze said. “I think Morgan is better off here, where there’s security and cameras and she’s closer to the police.”
“And no listening devices were found?” my mother asked in disbelief.
Nox walked in through the front door in time to hear the question. He shook his head. “Nothing. We didn’t find any bugs anywhere in the store or on the second level of the building, either.”
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. As much as I didn’t want them to find any, it would have explained how the guy knew nearly every move we’d made so far.
Nox had left the front door open, and Detective Billings walked in. She made her way past everyone, coming straight to me. With a smile that said she was so sorry this shit was happening, she sat down in the seat my father vacated for her.
“David Keller checks out as clear. Every time there was an incident, he had a reliable alibi.”
“Was it his girlfriend?” Nox and Ryan asked at the same exact time.
Billings smiled slightly and shook her head. “He’s been out of town working in Boise on a project his father’s company has there. His girlfriend went with him since she telecommutes and can work from anywhere. There are multiple people who can vouch that they were there during each incident. I checked again just now, and they’re still in Boise.”
“Fuck,” Blayze mumbled.
“You thought it might be David Keller?” my father asked.
“At the time, he seemed like a reasonable suspect,” Ryan said. “He liked Morgan in high school, she turned him down when he asked her out, and he would have access to the whole building.”
My father rubbed his chin, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“Dad?” I asked. “What are you thinking?”
“It’s something Rose said to me when I saw her out riding yesterday.”
“Rose?” Hunter asked.
Dad nodded. “I mentioned something about a few missing calves, and she casually said they were probably in the one place we’d least suspect them to be…”
Frowning, I asked, “How do missing calves have anything to do with any of this?”
He looked at me, then around the room. “Maybe the person we’re looking for is so obvious, we’re simply overlooking them.”
“Them?” Ryan asked. “You think it’s more than one person?”
Dad glanced at Ryan. “I think if this guy already paid someone to do his dirty work once, how do we know he’s not paying multiple people to keep tabs on Morgan, you, Georgiana…? Hell, all of us.”
The idea caused me to shiver.
A light knock on the still-open door had us all turning to see a young girl standing there with a bouquet of flowers. “Sorry, the door was open. I have a delivery for Ryan Marshall?”
“That’s me,” Ryan said as he walked toward the delivery girl. She handed him the huge bunch of lilies.
Detective Billings followed Ryan. She put her hand on his arm when he reached for the card and shook her head. Putting on a glove, she pulled the card off the bouquet and opened it.
She turned the card for Ryan to see—and I watched his expression turn furious.
“What does it say?” I asked as I got up and walked to his side. Billings showed me the card. I read the neat print and nearly dropped to the floor when my knees buckled.
Did you know, Ryan, that lilies are the traditional funeral flower? Tick-tock goes the clock…soon she’ll be mine, and I’ll right this wrong once you’re gone.
Chapter Twenty-One
RYAN
I sighed as I looked over at Lucas, the bodyguard Nox had insisted I let tag along with me everywhere. Everyone’s biggest fear was now that the psychopath would try to do something to me to get to Morgan.
It was the beginning of August. Weeks had gone by with nothing from the douchebag. I wasn’t about to let my guard down, though.
A La Chic Boutique was still going strong, with a steady stream of business. The line that Morgan had designed exclusively for the shop was their bestseller, with many of their customers wanting one of every design. They had customers as far away as England—after Lady Mary was photographed in a dress she’d purchased from A La Chic Boutique.
