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Lark’s shoulders curled inward. Her arms were wrapped around herself and she tightened her hold, her fingers digging into her own skin. “Thea was wearing it that night.” She trembled again, and I didn’t give a damn what Xander or her mother thought. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side.
“It’s all right,” I said softly, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “You’re safe.”
Xander glanced between the two of us, his eyebrows raised. “And from what you’ve both said, it hadn’t been seen since the murders?”
Both of our heads bobbed in confirmation.
Xander’s eyes cut back to Winnie. “Which most likely means, Mrs. Meadows, that whoever left that necklace had something to do with Thea’s murder.”
Winnie’s nose wrinkled in either disdain or disbelief. It was hard to tell. “Why would someone leave it here, then? What’s the point of that?”
Xander stared at her as if he couldn’t tell whether she was messing with him or not. He tucked his notebook into his shirt pocket, and his hands fell to his hips. “Honestly, Mrs. Meadows—”
“Miss Meadows,” Winnie sharply corrected him.
The lines around Xander’s mouth deepened. “Sorry, Miss Meadows. But from what I’ve already gathered, your daughter has been receiving threatening messages for over a week now and this only seems to be an escalation of those threats. Whoever did this wants Lark to know, or think, that they had something to do with murdering two people. With everything going on in town right now, I think we need to take this seriously.”
Winnie’s face paled. Her eyes shot to Lark. “You’ve been getting threats?”
Lark pressed harder into my side. She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Kind of. But I’ve gotten threats before…I didn’t think too much of them. Not until now.” Her voice broke, and I rubbed a hand up and down her arm.
My back teeth ground together. I should’ve been doing more. I should’ve done everything possible to figure out who was leaving those notes…
“What can we do?” Winnie looked back at Xander. “How are we going to make sure she’s safe?”
Xander gestured toward the box that he’d placed into a plastic evidence bag. “I’ll take this for testing. Fingerprints, DNA, hair…if there’s any evidence on it, we’ll find it.”
“That didn’t answer my question.” Winnie’s eyes sharpened. “What are you going to do about my daughter’s safety? If a murderer is leaving her gifts on my own doorstep, something needs to be done.”
My gut twisted. For once, I agreed with her. “I’ll take care of that.” I locked eyes with Xander. “I’ll have August come in and secure the place with the best security system and surveillance cameras available.”
Xander nodded, but Lark stiffened.
She glanced up at me. “You can’t do that. It’s too much—”
I cut her off with a shake of my head. “I’m doing it. I’m mad as hell I hadn’t done it already.”
Part of me wanted to lash out at myself until my figurative back bled. I wanted to punish myself for not getting her safe sooner, but I had to fight those thoughts. Not only for her, but also so I could keep my mind clear. I needed to be sharp to protect her.
“I think that would be a good idea. I can have patrol cars make regular drive-bys of the house and look out for anything unusual. Do any of the neighbors have security or doorbell cameras?”
I shook my head. “None that are close enough.” I’d already checked the neighborhood when I heard about the notes being left. In a town this small, people didn’t see the need for things like that.
Xander sighed. “That’s unfortunate, but not shocking. I think that the security system and cameras will be a big help until we can get some answers. I wouldn’t worry yourself too much, Ms. Meadows.”
Winnie didn’t look convinced, but before she could open her mouth to argue, I cut in. “Lark can come and stay with me, too. August has already decked my place out in the best security system he could get his hands on. I can keep an eye on things if she is with me.”
Winnie’s face fell, not looking as if that idea soothed her at all.
Lark pulled back from me slightly, but I wouldn’t let her go. “I can’t stay with you,” she said.
Those words had a pang hitting my chest. “You’d be safer at my place.”
Lark pressed her lips together, her face pained. “I can’t leave Mom. She needs my help, and I can’t leave her alone here.”
Lark said it softly, but one look in Winnie’s direction told me that she’d heard. Her lips twisted upward as she stared at us. My muscles stiffened as my gaze bore into Miss Meadows’s. I hadn’t confronted her yet about my suspicion that she wasn’t really as injured as she made her daughter think—and it wasn’t as much a suspicion at this point as much as it was a proven fact.
Winnie threw her shoulders back, cocking a brow at me like she knew she had won.
