AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sean walked into the small shop on Wisconsin. It was empty, except for a young female clerk behind the counter. He walked up and smiled.
“May I help you?” she asked.
Sean had considered different ways to get the information about who sent the flowers. Often, retail businesses wouldn’t share private customer information with just anyone. And while he could often flirt information out of women, it wasn’t a guarantee and he’d get only one chance.
He pulled his wallet out of his front pocket and opened to his private investigator’s license. “Sean Rogan, private investigator. I was retained by a woman who is being stalked. This morning, she received one dozen red roses delivered by one of your drivers. There was no signature, but the message disturbed her greatly. Do you have records of who ordered such a delivery?”
She looked closely at his identification and frowned. “I’m not supposed to give out any information.”
“I understand. I’ll file a police report on her behalf and they’ll come back with a warrant.” He pocketed his ID.
“I don’t know—well, I only work afternoons. I can call my mother, who owns the store.”
“Do you keep records of deliveries?”
“Of course.”
“I have the name and address the flowers were delivered to.”
She nodded. “I can look it up by delivery address.”
Sean gave her Lucy’s address and waited a minute while she typed. “Yes, we have one dozen long-stemmed red roses going to that address this morning.”
The tension in his stomach increased tenfold. “Do you have a name?” That he kept his voice professional was a testament to his training.
“Mr. Lorenzo was a walk-in customer and paid cash,” she said.
Sean straightened. “Lorenzo?” he snapped.
She fidgeted and stepped back. “Y-yes,” she said. Sean must have sounded furious, because she looked like a doe caught in the headlights.
“Cody Lorenzo?” he said, forcing himself to sound calm.
“Yes.”
What was Lorenzo up to? After accusing Lucy of getting Prenter killed, maybe—maybe—Sean could see him sending flowers to apologize. But there was no I’m sorry on the card. What was he doing watching Lucy at the ice rink? Why send a cryptic message? The cop had to know it would disturb her.
Yet it happened far too often—ex-boyfriends, and sometimes ex-girlfriends, unable to let go, resorting to stalking. And Lorenzo was a cop—they had access to information the average John Q. Public didn’t. When a cop turned stalker, it rarely ended well. They often used their resources to bully their victims.
Sean would not let Lucy be bullied by anyone, particularly Cody Lorenzo.
“Mr. Rogan?” The clerk bit her bottom lip.
Sean attempted to smile but wasn’t sure if he pulled it off. “Thanks. I may need to talk to the person who helped Mr. Lorenzo this morning, in case I have more questions.”
She handed over a card for the shop, with a number on the back. “That’s my mom’s number. She’ll also be here tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you for your time.” Sean handed her his card. He was still fuming about Lorenzo, unable to figure out what he was up to—other than scaring Lucy—but on his way out, some long-stemmed white daisies caught his eye.
Sean turned back to the clerk. “Can I get one of those daisies in a bud vase?”
TWENTY-THREE
Lucy was silent as Sean drove back to her house. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Cody had sent her the flowers.
He must have followed them after church. It would also explain her intense feelings of being watched for the past couple of weeks. But they’d broken up last year! Why now? Because of Sean?
She felt ill. She’d trusted Cody—was her judgment about people that bad? How could she not know the truth when she saw Cody all the time?
