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“Thanks. We appreciate it.” He thought hard for a moment. “How about readers or other authors? Are there any who have made you uncomfortable?”
I pulled a face. “I doubt it. They’re pretty great, and I don’t think there are any who’ve raised red flags in the past few years, but I’ll check with Alice. She manages a lot of my communications, and she might have deleted anything like that before I saw it.”
“Can you get her to do that today? We’d like either electronic or print copies of anything she can think of that might be worth investigating.”
“I’ll ask her when I get back.” Considering the massive mess my book release had become, hopefully she wouldn’t mind working overtime.
Nate asked a few more questions before releasing me—but only after I’d promised to go to his place as soon as Alice finished work so I wouldn’t be alone at home. When we left the police station, Kennedy wrapped me in a hug.
“Oh, honey.” She pulled me close. “I’ve got you.”
“Thank you,” I hiccupped.
“Come on.” She eased away but kept an arm around my back. “Let’s get you something to eat, and I’ll help you pack a bag.”
I gave a watery laugh. “Thank you.”
“I know how you’re feeling. I’ve been there.” Her tone was gentle, and I thanked the universe that I had her there to help me through the day from hell. “We’re going to figure this out.”
35
NATE
I wanted to punch something.I needed to get home and lay into the boxing bag in the garage. The thought of some asshole terrorizing Grace made me madder than I’d ever been before—and that was saying something. I practically vibrated with fury, and it was only thanks to years of training that I forced myself to follow proper police protocol. It didn’t help matters that I’d had to ask her questions I should know the answer to already. I wanted to simultaneously kick my own ass for not paying enough attention to her and grump at her for not being honest with me in the past. We were caught in such a quagmire of lies and half-truths that I hardly knew what “facts” I could rely on and which I couldn’t.
While Patton tracked down Darrel Weich, I looked into Weich’s criminal history. He’d been arrested for being drunk and disorderly a few times and for driving under the influence, but there were no major blemishes on his record. The nastiest incident was a bar fight where he’d punched someone who’d been hassling a female patron. Clearly, he had it in him to be violent, but I didn’t see any evidence that he made a habit of stalking women. Grace’s was the only restraining order against him. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean he’d never stalked women before, just that no one had made a formal complaint or filed any kind of protective order. Perhaps I should ask Mehrtens to question his ex-girlfriends and women from his workplace to see if he had a history of harassment when she was done cataloging evidence from this morning.
“Sir.” Patton appeared in front of me, his wisp of a mustache twitching. “I just got off the phone with Weich’s manager. Weich is currently at work and has been there for all of his scheduled shifts for the past month.”
My stomach sank. It would have been so convenient if Weich was behind Grace’s problems because he was a known quantity. I could have had everything wrapped up and Grace out of danger by nightfall.
“Thanks, Patton.” Weich’s presence at work didn’t mean he wasn’t responsible—I’d learned during the investigation into Kennedy’s stalking that letters could be delivered by intermediaries—but if Weich was the culprit, he was being clever about it. “Can you call the manager back and ask for the names and contact details of any women who have worked closely with Weich since he started?”
Patton hesitated. “We don’t have a warrant.”
“I know.” I grimaced. “Just ask. They’re not obligated to give us anything, but if you share the context with them, they may be willing to offer us a name or two.”
“Okay. I’ll do that now.”
The investigation continued in the same vein until I finally decided to call it quits for the night. Weich’s car hadn’t been seen in the area. Ezra Mendel appeared to be exactly what he said he was: a divorced man who’d lost a parent and taken a temporary leave of absence from work to stay in Destiny Falls. Perhaps the reason he pinged on my radar as someone to be wary of was that he was on the verge of a breakdown. There wasn’t necessarily anything sinister about it. His employer had only good things to say and had laughed his ass off when I’d asked whether I thought Ezra was capable of stalking a woman. He’d told me the man had a reputation among the hockey players as having the hands of an angel. He was gentle and kind.
Supposedly.
I wasn’t convinced. After all, everyone thought Ted Bundy was charming.
My need to hit something waned as the day wore on, and by the time I drove home, all I could think about was how lovely it would be to flop on the couch with Grace, drink a beer, and start rebuilding the connection that had somehow frayed between us over the years.
I parked behind Grace’s car and strode up the path to the front door. When I turned the handle, I was pleased she’d locked it. I let myself in and was greeted by a bouncing Duke.
“Sorry!” Grace appeared behind him, flustered. “He’s excited by all the new smells. It’s taking him a while to calm down.”
I bent to pet Duke, dodging out of the way as he leaped up, narrowly avoiding a face-to-face collision. “It’s no wonder he’s energetic.” I straightened. “It’s been a big day for all of us.”
She nodded, and I couldn’t help noticing how tired she looked. Not just like she needed a decent night of sleep, but as if she was exhausted on a bone-deep level. Today’s events had taken a toll on her.
“It has. I started making a curry,” she said. “You didn’t have much in your fridge I could work with.”
“Sorry. I’m hopeless on weeks when Maddy has Tess. My healthy eating goes right out the window.”
