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Lia agreed. She didn’t have any idea how Cord could be connected to their investigation, but she was certain it was his truck she’d heard drive off after she’d been hit by the brick.
Together they entered the office and Kaden grabbed his coat. He was pulling it on when Lia noticed a piece of paper on the floor beneath the table at the back of the room.
“What’s that?” She moved to grab the paper, turning it over to read the words that were written in bold letters.You’re next.“Oh my God.”
“Lia?” In two long strides, Kaden was at her side. “What’s wrong?”
“This.”
She held out the paper and he read the words with a grim expression.
“Someone put this in here after we left for Madison,” he said. “How did they get in?”
Lia forced herself to take a deep, calming breath. Panicking wasn’t going to help. Even if the thought of someone creeping around her home to leave threats was sending icy chills down her spine.
Managing to maintain her composure, Lia headed toward the computers on her desk. “Let’s check out the security cameras.”
Kaden was quickly at her side, watching as she tapped on the keyboard to pull up the video from the cameras.
“How far does this go back?” he asked.
“Twenty-four hours.” She tapped the mouse set next to the computer and scrolled backward. “I’ll start at the beginning.”
Two black-and-white screens popped up, one showing the grocery store and the other displaying the office. They remained steady as she skimmed through yesterday afternoon and into the early evening, but once night settled in, the view became shadowed. And worse, the flickering from the Christmas lights outside the store caused the front camera to zoom in and out of focus. The security system was installed by her mother in case someone fell in the store and tried to sue her for damages, not to capture criminals in the dead of night.
It wasn’t until the video hit midnight that there was a movement as the front door was pushed open and a figure stepped into the building.
“There,” Lia murmured.
Both Lia and Kaden leaned forward, as if it would help them peer through the gloom as the form moved toward the back of the store and disappeared from view.
Kaden hissed in frustration. “It’s too fuzzy to make out any details.”
“Fuzzy” was an understatement. The intruder appeared to be wearing a heavy coat and a fur hat with a scarf wrapped around their face. But honestly, it was nothing more than a smudge on the video.
A few seconds passed and then the door to the office was pushed open and the dark form entered. The video didn’t zoom in and out, which made it easier to see what the intruder was doing, but it was still impossible to determine who it might be. Lia couldn’t even be sure whether it was a man or a woman.
The mystery person stopped, as if glancing around, then with quick steps was headed toward the back of the room. Clearly they knew where they wanted to go. Halting next to the table, they reached into their pocket and pulled out something. Was it the note? Probably. There was a tense minute as the form bent forward, perhaps arranging the paper in a precise spot. Then, weirdly, the person lifted their arms, as if they were shrugging out of their coat. Lia frowned. No. It wasn’t their coat.
“What is that?” she muttered.
“It looks like a backpack.” Kaden leaned his palms on the desk, watching the video with the intensity of a hawk spotting its prey. Then he stiffened as they both watched the intruder shoving something into the backpack. “Shit. The files.” Kaden spun around to glare at the bare table. “I didn’t even notice they were missing.”
Lia grimaced. She had a vague memory of catching a glimpse of the files before they left for Madison, but she hadn’t noticed they were gone when they returned. Not even when she grabbed the cookies to take upstairs.
“Neither did I.”
Kaden turned back to the computer. “What time did this happen?”
Lia pointed toward the bottom of the screen, where the video was date- and time-stamped.
“Just after midnight.”
Lia pushed the mouse to restart the video and they watched in silence as the intruder left the office with the backpack in their hand and hurried out of the front of the store. She kept the images rolling, hoping they might catch a glimpse of a vehicle drive past the front window, but there was nothing but darkness. At last she switched off the camera and straightened.
The stranger hadn’t tried to get into the cash register or searched the office for money or valuables that might have been left in the desk. They hadn’t even glanced toward the computers that were worth a fortune. They’d come in with a specific purpose.
She shook her head in confusion. “Who would even know about the files? Or where to find them?”
