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I showed her my phone. “Someone has withdrawn twelve hundred dollars from my personal account at the ATM on Centennial Street.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my god.” She scanned the details. “Could it be one of those scams where they have a device that records your card details if they can get close to you?”
“Good question.” That hadn’t even occurred to me. “Let me check if my card is in my purse.”
I stood up. Duke’s ears perked up as I passed him on the way to my bedroom to get my purse. He trotted after me. When I checked my purse, I discovered that my personal debit card was missing. I slumped onto the edge of the bed, stunned. Duke jumped up beside me and laid his head on my lap, whining. I patted his head absently.
How could someone have gotten access to my card? Apart from when I used them, my cards all stayed in my purse, and my purse remained either in my bedroom, my office, or with me at all times. That meant whoever took it had been close to me at some point.
The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. I shivered. Was this theft related to whoever had sent me the note? Nate had shared that Darrel Weich was unlikely to be responsible unless he was using an intermediary. Nate had also reluctantly admitted that Ezra seemed to be on the up and up. If anything else had been taken, I would have immediately thought it was related to the note and the previous thefts, but a debit card wasn’t like the other things that had gone missing. It had financial value. Any thief might be interested in it, not only one who was obsessed with me.
I glanced back at the purse and stilled. My debit card wasn’t the only thing missing. My driver’s license was gone too. There was no reason I could think of for someone to take that unless they either were hoping it would have useful information for guessing the debit card’s pin number or they intended to impersonate me—presumably online, since a quick glance at the photo would show anyone in real life that the person wasn’t who they were claiming to be.
Duke whimpered, and I realized I’d stopped petting him. He looked up at me, eyes wide with concern. No doubt he could sense my distress.
“It’s okay, boy,” I whispered. But honestly, I didn’t know if it was. If someone could get close enough to me to access my cards, what was to stop them from taking that next step and doing something to me?
Perhaps they’d taken the card before I moved to Nate’s place, back when I was being less cautious. I wracked my mind, trying to recall when I’d last used either the debit card or the driver’s license, but I came up empty. All I knew was that it hadn’t been since Wednesday. I’d been lying low, only moving between Nate’s place and my office.
I sighed. I needed to call Nate and update him. He wouldn’t take this well, but at least it might provide them with a new lead.
41
NATE
I grittedmy teeth as Mehrtens and I returned to the police station from the scene of a traffic accident on the side of Destiny Peak. It had been a one-vehicle-car-versus-railing crash, where a group of friends who’d spent the day skiing had taken a bend too quickly, slid on the icy road, and slammed into the protective railing that wrapped around the edge of the corner. The momentum of the crash had partially torn out the railing, and now repairs would be needed, but everyone in the car would be all right. The driver had bruises from the airbag inflating, and one of the passengers was suffering from whiplash, but the paramedics hadn’t been too concerned. I felt for the passengers, who’d been badly shaken, but I couldn’t help thinking that every avoidance incident like theirs I had to deal with meant less time I could focus on who had it in for Grace, which meant more possibility of the stalker becoming dangerous the way Kennedy’s had.
I parked, and Mehrtens threw the door open and leaped out before I’d even turned off the engine, as if she couldn’t wait to get out of the car with me. I didn’t blame her. My mood had been foul since we’d struck out on every single lead we had for Grace’s case. I tried not to take it out on the team, but they could sense my frustration, and Mehrtens wasn’t the only one tiptoeing around me.
She waited for me to join her, and we headed inside. We were halfway up the steps when my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket and answered without checking Caller ID.
“Sergeant Braddock speaking.”
“Nate.” It was Grace. “Is now an okay time to talk, or are you in the middle of something?”
“Now is fine.” I paused and gestured for Mehrtens to go ahead. She left me alone outside the station’s entrance. “What is it?”
“My debit card and driver’s license are missing,” she said. “Someone withdrew twelve hundred dollars from my account from the ATM this morning.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Damn. The situation was escalating. “Are you alone? Do you know when they were taken?”
“I’m not alone. Alice and Duke are with me. I’m not sure when they were taken.” I could hear the distress in her voice and hated it. “I’m sorry, I know that’s unhelpful.”
“It will be fine,” I assured her. “This might actually be a good thing. ATMs have cameras. If we can get a warrant for the camera footage, we might be able to identify the perpetrator.”
“Really?” Her tone lifted. “Then it could all be over.”
“It’s possible.” I wanted her to keep her optimism but not pin all her hopes on it. “I’ll put in a request for a warrant. In the meantime, stay with Alice or someone else you trust. I don’t even want you going to my place alone. If the stalker is in town, that means you’re in danger. You need to take every precaution.”
“I will.” Grace sighed. “But it annoys me that I have to be so careful. I know that’s just the way it is, but I should be able to live my life without thinking of whether what I’m doing might expose me to someone dangerous.”
“I know, honey. It pisses me off too. It’s not fair that you have to make changes because of someone else’s problems, but your safety matters more to me than what’s fair.”
“I know it does.” She huffed. “I promise I’ll be careful. It just makes me angry.”
“Hold onto that anger,” I urged. I’d rather she felt mad than scared as long as she didn’t do anything reckless. “Channel it. Don’t let it overwhelm you.”
She snorted, and I could picture her rolling her eyes. I got it. I could hardly lecture people about how to deal with their anger.
