“She really does. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes.” A man with fiery red hair sitting next to her stood up and extended his hand as he towered over her in his six foot plus height. “Trey Sawyer, and the woman gawking at you in shock is my soon-to-be wife, Eryn Calloway.”
“Sorry.” Eryn clutched Leah’s arm. “I should have introduced myself.”
Leah chuckled and then gave Riley a smile. He was right about Eryn, but totally wrong about Trey. He wasn’t intimidating at all, even though he was a big muscular guy.
“If Eryn can let go of your arm.” Riley laughed. “I’ll introduce you to the others.”
“Oh, sorry.” Eryn released Leah’s arm and brushed the sleeve off as if she needed to remove her touch.
Leah experienced this kind of behavior all the time, but she never got used to it. She didn’t deserve it. She simply sang songs, so why did that make her special? It didn’t. It was these men and women sitting at this table who were special. They deserved the applause and the crazy salary.
“This is Cooper, Coop Ashcroft.” Riley rested his hands on the next man’s shoulders. He was a burly guy, and she noticed he wore a wedding ring. She took a quick look around at the others and found a ring only on the next man. Interesting. The team was mostly single. Not surprising, she supposed, with the dangerous work they did. Having dated Riley when he was a police officer, she knew how it was excruciating to wonder if the man you loved would come home every day or if someone would gun him down.
“Coop’s a former Army Ranger and teaches our air assault classes—among others,” Riley added.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, his expression serious and intimidating. He must be an okay guy, though, because obviously a woman fell in love with him and married him.
Next came a man with dark black hair and a genuine smile.
“Gage Blackwell.” He stood and offered his hand.
“Thank you for allowing your team to take this assignment,” she said. “I’d like to talk about paying you.”
He released her hand. “Riley’s already got that covered.”
Riley looked upset that she brought it up, but he didn’t say anything and moved to the next man. He also had dark hair, but a close-cut beard where Gage was clean-shaven.
“Our team joker, Alex Hamilton,” Riley said.
Alex didn’t stand but looked up at her, a dazzling smile crossing his face. “I’ll skip shaking hands because I’m having a fangirl moment, too, and don’t want to embarrass myself.”
“Right.” She chuckled. “The joker.”
“No, I’m serious. Well, not about the girl thing, but I do like your music.”
“Thank you.” Again, not too intimidating. So far Coop was the only one giving off-putting vibes.
“Alex was once a recon Marine,” Riley said and stepped to the other side of the table.
The guy on the end looked at her like a bug he wanted to swat.
“Jackson Lockhart, former Army Green Beret,” Riley said. “And I should have mentioned Gage was once a SEAL.”
Jackson’s mouth curved into a half smile, and he shook her hand. “Welcome.”
“Thank you,” she said and released his hand.
“And you already met Sam.”
Sam nodded, a broad smile on her face. “I echo Jackson’s comment but with a bit more enthusiasm.”
Riley pulled out a chair between Sam and Eryn. “Go ahead and have a seat.”
She slipped into the chair and scooted her chair in and took a quick look at the women beside her. Their focus was on Riley standing at the far end of the table. Had he placed her between the women on the team hoping she’d feel more at ease? It was just the kind of considerate thing he would do.
“Eryn said you promised lunch,” Coop said.
Riley glanced at his watch. “It’ll be here in thirty minutes at most.”
“Better be.” Coop grumbled. “I gotta get back to class and I don’t want to teach on an empty stomach.”
“No one wants that,” Alex laughed.
Riley rolled his eyes and launched into describing the murder. She was impressed with his command of the room as the others listened quietly. She glanced around the faces and could see the respect his team held for him. She honestly didn’t like that he’d lost a kidney and could be hurt, possibly losing the other one while working, but it was clear he loved his job and the others loved him.
He grabbed a marker and turned to the whiteboard. He jotted down Stalker and Murder before facing the group again. “We really have two investigations going on here, but there’s a chance that they’re one and the same. Here’s what we know about the stalker.”
Facing the board again, he wrote down emails, letters, and personal appearances. “I’ve asked Eryn to review the emails Leah received from the stalker. The letters are still at Leah’s house in Portland and someone will have to retrieve those.”
The blood drained from Leah’s head. She had pictures of Owen there. His toys…they’d find out. Wait. No. They could go to her house now. She no longer needed to hide Owen from everyone. Not this team. How long would it take until she stopped reacting in fear when anything regarding Owen came up? But she couldn’t fully relax as she was still trying to keep reporters and Riley’s father from finding out about him.
“Gage, with your permission I’ll take the helo to Portland and pick them up,” Riley said. “We might be able to pull prints from them and that could be our biggest lead.”
“Of course,” Gage said. “Just keep me updated on your schedule.”
She didn’t like the thought of him in her house without her. “I’d like to go along.”
“Um, yeah.” A sheepish expression crossed Riley’s face. “I assumed you would since it’s your house and all.”
Riley jotted his name next to letters and Eryn’s by emails before looking at the group again. “Leah, can you give us a list of the concerts where you saw the stalker, along with the times and dates?”
“Felicity and I can come up with everything you need.”
He shifted his focus to Eryn. “Once we have that list, can you pull CCTV for the area to see if we can get this guy on video?”
“Absolutely.”
Leah swiveled to look at Eryn. “You should know when I filed the complaint with the police in Minneapolis, they said there were cameras, but the video was too dark to make anything out.”
“I’ll still look at them as I have tools and resources to improve video that local police don’t have.”
Gage, his expression skeptical, locked his focus on Leah. “I take it you got a good look at this guy.”
“Yes. He didn’t try to hide his face. Felicity and I both saw him.”
Gage gave a clipped nod, and she was beginning to think he was a man of few words. “Then we should get a sketch made. My wife, Hannah, is a sketch artist. You can meet with her ASAP and get that done so we know who we’re looking for.”
Leah nodded. “I just met her. She seems really nice, and I’d be glad to work with her. I have another concert tonight, but I’m free all afternoon.”
Gage fired a questioning look at Riley, probably wondering why they’d talked with Hannah, but Riley either didn’t notice or was ignoring it. Leah figured it was the latter.
“As Leah said, the concert is a go. Means I need everyone on protection detail tonight,” Riley said. “And the sketch will tell you who to be on the lookout for.”
Gage stood. “Let me call Hannah to see if she can do it after our meeting.” He stepped from the room.
Riley looked at Leah. “Can you get Felicity here ASAP to work with Hannah?”
“I can call her.” Leah dug out her phone.
“There’s a buzzer at the gate. Tell her to ring that and one of us will let her in.”
Leah nodded and stepped out to the area where Gage was talking to Hannah whose excited “yes” came over the phone. Was Hannah excited about the getting to work in her area of expertise or was she plannin
g to question Leah about her past with Riley? Leah would need to prepare herself for that and be ready and on guard, not revealing anything more than necessary. There was too much up in the air to say more. Especially not before she met with Riley tomorrow and they worked some things out.
Tomorrow. Less than twenty-four hours. A face-to-face meeting. That was going to be some meeting, and she was honestly afraid of what he might say—ask for. For a man who just found out he was a father, he was taking to fatherhood just fine, and he seemed eager to make up for the lost years. Which meant Leah would have to allow Owen to spend time with him when she wasn’t around. Her stomach knotted, but there was no point in thinking about it now. Not when she couldn’t do anything about it.
She stepped out of Gage’s earshot and dialed Felicity. When she answered, Leah told her about the sketch. “Could you drive out here?”
“Sure.” Felicity’s usual zest for life lifted Leah’s spirits. “Glad to help. Tell me how to get there.”
Leah gave her directions and considered Felicity’s reaction when she drove up to the imposing gate. Just like Riley warned Leah about meeting the team, Felicity deserved a heads up, too. “It’s like this massive secured compound. With a crazy fence and gate. You have to ring a buzzer, and then someone will meet you.”
“Sounds like something you’d see on TV or in the movies.”
“It really is kind of surreal.” Leah said, thinking about everything she’d learned from Riley. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am for the team’s help. And how completely defenseless I feel around them.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Them or Riley?”
“Both,” Leah said quickly as she didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to draw attention to her interest in Riley. “The team members are very intimidating. Riley is, too. But in other regards, he’s the same easygoing guy I once knew.” And loved.
Silence filled the phone again. “You need to watch yourself with Riley, sweetie. Unless he’s changed and is ready to travel with you.”
She was so right. “No. He hasn’t changed in that regard.”
“But in other ways?”
“Yeah, he’s still laid-back, but there’s a quiet strength about him that he didn’t have before. Probably from his years as a cop and sniper and now on this team.” He’d really matured into quite a man, and she was very happy for him and the success he’d found in the job he wanted to do. But what if he lost his other kidney? Or worse—his life?
“Okay fine,” Felicity said. “Your silence says it all. There’s something going on. I won’t stop until you tell me all about him and this team—and you know it.”
Leah laughed with her friend, and she loved the light feeling. It also felt good to know that she was safe at the compound and didn’t have to hide Owen. Wait, she did have to hide him from Felicity. She’d have to get to Hannah’s house before Felicity arrived, bring Owen back to Riley’s cabin, then swear Hannah to secrecy and hope her kids didn’t say anything.
“You know you’re still in love with him, don’t you?” Felicity asked.
“What?” Leah had been too focused on Owen to catch Felicity’s comment. Or at least she didn’t think she’d caught the right thing.
“You. You’re in love with Riley.”
“Hah. You’re crazy.”
“Nah, just observant. I watched you last night. Every time he came in the room your eyes lit up for a moment before you hid it. And when he wasn’t looking at you, girl, you were so checking him out.”
She didn’t doubt that she’d been doing just that. “Don’t you dare mention this to anyone. Especially not Riley.”
“Mention, what?” Riley’s voice came from behind, and she jumped as her heart plummeted toward her stomach.
She took a second to gather her thoughts and calm down. “I gotta go, Felicity. Buzz when you get here.”
“It’s him, isn’t it? The person who just said something. See? I can even tell on the phone because your voice is all breathy.”
“Goodbye, Felicity,” Leah said pointedly and put on a fake smile before turning to Riley. “Felicity’s on her way.”
“Great,” he said and watched her expectantly.
She started back toward the room.
He clutched her arm to turn her to face him. “You’re not going to answer my question, are you?”
No way. She shook her head.
Intensity darkened his eyes a few shades from soft blue to storm-cloud gray. “What are you hiding from me?”
“It’s nothing really. Just Felicity being crazy.”
“You’re sure that’s all it is?”
She nodded, but Felicity was very intuitive, there was likely some truth to her observations, and Leah needed to think about it before she did something she regretted.
She rushed back to the room, putting everyone around her so Riley wouldn’t continue to badger her. He went back to the whiteboard, and she took her seat but couldn’t concentrate. She knew Riley was jotting something down, but it was like her mind had a will of its own and wanted to think about the mess her life had become instead.
“Leah, did you hear me?” Riley’s insistent voice broke through her fog.
“Sorry, no. What did you say?”
“Eryn found a picture online of your tattoo.”
Leah turned to Eryn who held out her phone. “This photo was posted on a gossip blog a few weeks ago. Do you recognize where it was taken?”
Leah stared at the picture of her running down a street lined with large, well-maintained houses, Neil by her side. Her hand was lifted as if she was waving at someone or hailing a cab and her tattoo was clearly visible.
She was stunned. “That’s impossible. I didn’t want the press to hound Riley and his family, and I never left home with my tattoo exposed.”
“Never?” Coop asked, clearly doubting her.
“Never, but let’s say that I somehow forgot. If I was meeting with Neil, I definitely would’ve covered it. I was always very careful around him.” She stared at the photo. “I don’t even know where this is. It doesn’t look familiar at all. It’s definitely not my neighborhood.”
“If it was taken the day it was posted, you could look at your calendar and see where you were,” Alex suggested.
“Good idea.” She found the date in the corner of the screen. “I broke up with Neil long before the day the photo was posted. Whoever put this up has been holding on to it for a while.”
She looked at her arm and shook her head. “Which is weird. Usually when a fan catches me doing something in my everyday life, the pictures show up right away.”
“Could this be near your house?” Riley asked. “Have you lived in the same place since you started touring?”
She nodded. “Well, nearly anyway. I lived in an apartment until I could afford to buy my house. That was two years ago. But I don’t recognize the area.”
“Eryn can you put this up on the screen so we can see the details better?” Riley asked.
Eryn nodded and went to a small projector in the back of the room. Her back was to the group, blocking what she was doing, but within a few moments the image appeared on the large screen on the front wall.
Leah studied the picture carefully. She had her hair pulled into a ponytail as she always did for a run and was wearing clothes she only wore for exercise. Clearly she was out for a jog. “I try to run most every day, even when on tour. There are tons of neighborhoods that I have jogged in and wouldn’t recognize again. But I only ran with Neil a few times. Problem is, I don’t remember all of the places we went. I know we ran in a few different parks, but a neighborhood doesn’t seem right. And exposing my tattoo is not something I would have done. Ever.”
“You must have this one time,” Riley said, sounding suspicious. “Since you seem so adamant about not showing it, I would think you could remember the one time that you did.”
She didn’t like how he was looking at her. He clearly didn’t trust her any
more, but she understood that after she hid Owen from him and refused to answer his earlier question. “The other question is, am I waving at someone? Hailing a cab? What? Maybe waving hello at a fan? But the tattoo. That’s the oddity here.”
“All of that’s possible,” Eryn said.
“And who took this picture?” Leah squinted at the screen. “Maybe it was after Jill started seeing Neil, and she followed us. Then she posted it online. Maybe to reveal the tattoo to create a publicity nightmare and get back at me. But then she would’ve sold this photo to media outlets, not hide it in a blog comment.”
“It would explain how she knew about the tattoo,” Gage said. “But not why she recently had it inked on her own wrist.”
Leah didn’t get it. Any of it. “A better explanation is that my stalker took the picture and posted it, but again, why put it in a comment? And how did my tattoo end up exposed?”
“What about the clothes you’re wearing?” Coop asked. “Might that narrow it down?”
“I still have them and wear them when I run, so not really. I just can’t explain any of it.” She squinted at the screen. “Could this have been Photoshopped? Maybe I was running another time, and I was put in the picture with Neil? Or what if the tattoo was added as well? Whoever took the picture could’ve talked to people in my past and found out about it, then added it.”
“I can’t tell you if the photo was altered,” Eryn said. “But I can do some measurements of the tattoo placement and compare it to your actual arm. The process is called photogrammetry, a science of making determinations about objects in an environment based on visual evidence. That way we’ll know if it was added.”
“Don’t you think that’s pretty far-fetched?” Riley’s skepticism was growing.
“That’s the only explanation, though it does sound like a crazy one.” Leah wrung her hands together. “I just don’t remember this. I’m sorry. I really am. I wish I could.”
“It’s okay.” Eryn patted Leah’s hand. “If you run every day, there’s no way you can remember every location.”
“Maybe this was when I was on tour. Neil visited me several times then. I run with a few of my staff, too, and there could’ve been other people with us that day who aren’t in the picture. Can you remove the tattoo from my arm so no one learns about it, and then show my staff the picture to see if anyone remembers the area?”
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