Two little girls were running around wildly, screeching at each other, their frantic mother trying to corral them.
Trying not to let them get on her nerves, Katelyn gave the harried young woman an encouraging smile and went straight to the desk to talk to Natalie. “Have you seen Thorne?” she asked.
“Uh, no, not for a while. After he came back from the café with you, he sat there for a long time for some reason, then headed outside.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Maybe ten or fifteen minutes.”
Katelyn checked her watch. The laundry would close in less than a half hour. If she didn’t get on the road soon, she wouldn’t be able to make it. Tension curled her insides into one big knot.
She said, “I’ll go out and look for him.”
“Okay.” Though Natalie appeared a bit puzzled over her wanting to find Thorne, the other woman didn’t comment.
Glad to see the harried mother had clasped the hands of both little girls and was leading them upstairs to their room, Katelyn left. Outside, she looked around. No Thorne. His truck was there, still parked at the back of the lot, but he wasn’t in it. Irritated, she circled the building, but the only people she saw were a family that had rented two guest rooms for the whole week. The mother and father were sitting on the lawn watching their three kids throw a ball to each other.
Where the heck was Thorne? He’d been practically on top of her earlier, but now, when she actually could use his help, he did a disappearing act?
Katelyn checked her watch again. If she wanted fresh linens for tomorrow, she would have to go get them by herself. Now. Fine. Tracking back the way she’d come, she headed for her car.
Geneva Laundry was just north of town. She could drive there, pick up the load, and return to Lakeside in twenty minutes or so. Thorne would undoubtedly lecture her when he realized what she’d done, but so be it. She would have some words for him, too.
Or she would simply ignore him.
Taking a last look around but still not finding him, she drove off the lot and past the police car still parked at the entrance, reminding her that Lakeside was still considered a possible crime scene.
—
Thorne stood in the wooded area west of the Lakeside property. Ears attuned to the slightest sounds, he waited for a footfall or a branch whipping back—anything—to tell him where the person he’d been following had gone. The only noise he was aware of was a rustling on the road above.
With Katelyn holed up in her apartment, he’d left the guest-house lobby just to get some air. And to walk off his mounting frustration. He wondered how or even if he could ever convince Katelyn that he had true feelings for her. He didn’t blame her for not trusting him now, but he hoped to find a way to make her come around eventually.
Though he’d known Katelyn Wade for less than a week, he would never be able to forget her. He didn’t want to forget her.
He’d been thinking about how much he wanted her in his life when he’d seen a glimmer of something within the stand of trees beyond the parking lot. A glimmer like sunlight reflecting off glass. A camera lens? Binoculars?
He’d decided to find out.
By the time he’d gotten into the wooded area, however, whoever had been there seemed to have disappeared. He’d found a few fresh footprints, but they could have been left by a hiker. Even so, he wanted to be extra cautious. That new email Hamilton had received had indeed been pointing toward his oldest child. Thorne was as convinced of that as Katelyn’s father had been. He didn’t want to let anything get by him.
But when he saw nothing more, heard nothing other than birds and crickets and a rabbit’s hopping rustling the ground cover, he figured it was time to back off. Still, he did so cautiously, his gaze continually beaming from point to point to point. As he made his way through the woods, he heard a vehicle he couldn’t yet see leaving the lot. A moment later, he caught the sound of a car starting up at the road beyond the property. Whoever he’d been tracking? Too much greenery between him and the road to see anything.
At least the walk had done him some good. Exercise had relieved some of the stress he’d piled on himself since he’d realized that the woman who had his heart had taken off on him that morning. Dodging a teenager as he entered the guest house, Thorne convinced himself that he simply had to be patient. He needed to give Katelyn some time before he approached her about their relationship again.
That decided, he threw himself into one of the chairs to wait for her to leave her quarters. Chances were he’d be there all night. No problem. He’d slept in much worse places in Afghanistan.
“Did Katelyn find you?”
He looked over to Natalie, behind the desk. “Katelyn? She was looking for me?”
“Yes. A little crisis here. Geneva Laundry’s truck died, so they can’t deliver the linens we need for the morning. I think she wanted you to take her. She went outside to look for you.”
He flew out of his seat and headed for the door, where he scoured the parking lot—Katelyn was nowhere in sight. And her car was gone. He remembered hearing a vehicle leave the lot as he’d been making his way out of the woods. Damn it to hell, she’d gone off on her own!
“Where is this laundry?” he asked Natalie.
“A few blocks north of Main Street.”
The assistant manager had barely given him the directions before he whipped out of the guest house and ran for his truck.
—
By the time Katelyn parked in Geneva Laundry’s loading dock, she was properly spooked. Just her imagination, she tried telling herself, but she couldn’t fight the notion that she’d been followed.
Thanks, Daddy, for putting scary thoughts in my head. You, too, Thorne.
Because of them, she was very much on edge.
She’d seen the dark sedan pulling out from a stand of trees shortly after she’d left the property. Her hands had been sweating by the time she reached Main Street. Then she’d thought she’d lost whoever it was, only to see the sedan again a moment later before it disappeared once more.
Still in her car, she looked around for anything suspicious, but the street was nearly deserted. Nothing threatening was visible. Shaking off the sucky feeling that held her trapped in her seat, she opened the door and got out. She had to stop letting her father’s and Thorne’s paranoia affect her. After all, it was possible that no one was after her. That no one had been following her. That there was no connection between the threats of revenge against her father and Sam’s death.
She comforted herself with those thoughts as she went inside to collect the linens, which had been shrink-wrapped in bundles. The delivery manager helped her load them into her trunk and backseat.
“Thanks, Matt. Are you sure you’ll have your truck in working order tomorrow?”
“If not, we’ll get a rental. Sorry about today, though, Ms. Wade.”
“It all worked out. Don’t worry about it.” Every business has at least an occasional setback, as she’d so recently experienced herself.
Nodding to her, the man returned to his work inside, leaving her alone in the loading dock. Katelyn ducked inside her car to straighten a few of the bundles that looked like they would shoot off the seat the first time she hit the brakes. It wasn’t until she straightened up again that she bumped into someone standing directly behind her.
Heart pumping, she whirled around to find her former boyfriend scowling at her. “Aaron! What in the world—”
“We need to get something straight here, Katelyn.”
Anger pulsed off him, making her wonder if she hadn’t imagined being followed after all. Maybe he’d been waiting for her to leave Lakeside and then had followed her. He was in some mood, she would give him that. His hair fell over his forehead in tangles, and his dark eyes looked like molten lava.
“Get what straight?” Flicking her gaze over his shoulder, she looked for a dark sedan but didn’t see one. What had he been driving and where had he parked? Realizing he
hadn’t answered her, she said, “I already told you that I’m not interested in getting back together.”
He was practically foaming at the mouth when he asked, “And because I told you how I felt, you decided to ruin my life?”
And here she’d barely given him a second thought since he’d shown up at Lakeside the other day. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What did you say to your father about me?”
That left her staring at him openmouthed. Her father? “What?” He’d somehow met Daddy after they’d broken up?
“He warned me about your being off-limits. Or else.”
“Wait a minute.” This didn’t make sense. “Are you saying my father looked you up to warn you off?”
“He didn’t have to go far to find me,” Aaron said. “I’ve been working for him since the first of the year.”
So she’d been correct. He had continued to pursue working for her father even after she’d broken up with him—something he hadn’t mentioned when he’d shown up. He’d been too busy acting so concerned about her welfare.
“You’re working for him where?” she asked.
“Where do you think? Hamilton Precision Weapons, of course. Exactly where I wanted to be all along, even though you never helped me like I asked you to. I impressed the hell out of your old man all on my own. He recently promoted me to director of sales. And I don’t intend to stop there.”
“I had no idea,” she said stiffly. “So, congratulations. I have to get going now.”
She opened the driver’s door to get in her car, but he grabbed her upper arm hard, stopping her. Trying to pull free only made him hang on tighter.
“I’m warning you, Katelyn.” His expression closed and his voice deepened, his grip on her arm hard enough to bruise her. “Don’t ruin this job for me or you’ll be sorry.”
There was a darkness about him that frightened her. Her pulse picked up its pace, her chest tight, but she refused to back down. There were several men nearby in the laundry. If he tried anything, she would scream loud enough to bring them running.
“Sorry how?” she asked.
“Remember, I know who you are. The world still doesn’t, at least not in this neck of the woods. Bascom College and Hamilton Precision Weapons are on people’s minds here. Somehow you’ve managed to keep your connection to the shooting quiet.”
“You’re threatening me with telling everyone?”
“Some people around Lake Geneva may be related to the dead or wounded. How do you think they’ll react if they know the daughter of the man who made the assault rifle that killed seven innocent students owns Lakeside Guest House and Café?”
She’d tried not to think about that. She’d spent a lifetime away from her father’s spotlight, and she didn’t want that to change.
“Don’t you think their knowing that might affect your business?” he asked. “Keep your mouth shut about me when talking to your father. Better yet, sing my praises. Just know that if you ruin things for me, I’ll do worse to you.”
“If you want to be able to use that hand anytime soon, you’ll take it off her right now!” Thorne had appeared as if out of nowhere.
When Aaron didn’t immediately respond, Thorne flashed a hand around the man’s wrist and did something to make Aaron yelp and let go of her, though Thorne didn’t let go of him. Pulling her arm away, Katelyn rubbed her bruised flesh as Thorne literally backed the red-faced Aaron into a corner of the loading dock.
“You don’t want to mess with me,” he warned the other man, who was trying to no avail to get away. “Stay away from Katelyn. She’s not the only one who can ruin things for you with Hamilton.”
The second he let Aaron go, the man took off, looking back only once, and his expression when his eyes met Katelyn’s shocked her. She would have sworn he aimed something like pure evil her way.
“Get in your car and drive straight back to Lakeside,” Thorne ordered her. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Thinking she was done taking orders from Thorne Hudson, Katelyn opened her mouth to tell him so, then snapped it shut just as quickly. The hard stare he gave her brooked no argument. He was definitely in bodyguard mode. Which, Katelyn had to admit, was a very good thing, given the circumstances.
Even so, when she slid into the driver’s seat, she slammed her car door in response. If she expected him to flinch, she was disappointed. He was already heading for his truck.
A quick look back assured her that Aaron had disappeared. That didn’t keep her from looking for a suspicious sedan the entire way home.
—
Back at the guest house, they carried several of the bundles of tablecloths and towels from Katelyn’s car to the lobby before Natalie and one of the daytime maids took over.
“My apartment?” Katelyn said softly, not waiting for him to reply before getting out her keys and heading for the door.
Thorne followed her. They needed to get a few things straight. She could have gotten hurt. Killed. His heart had nearly stopped when he’d seen Aaron Starkman threatening her. He’d had to use the utmost restraint not to do serious damage to the man.
When Katelyn closed her apartment door behind them, Thorne wasted no time in laying into her. “What were you thinking by leaving here alone like that?”
Part of him wanted to shake some sense into her. The other part wanted to hold her in his arms, to feel her against him, where he could protect her with his life until this thing was done.
“I was thinking we wouldn’t have linens for tomorrow”—she brushed by him so close he had to keep himself from reaching out to pull her to him—“and you found some reason to be gone at the very moment I needed to pick them up.”
“You could have waited for me to come back,” he countered.
“You could have been here! Isn’t it your job to be on my ass twenty-four–seven?”
“I was in the wooded area to the west.”
“Why?”
“I thought I saw someone who might have been watching this place, maybe through binoculars. Whoever it was got away. I’m pretty sure he had a car hidden off the road. And I’m pretty sure it was your former boyfriend.”
“Aaron.” She nodded. “That works for me. I swore a dark sedan pulled out of nowhere and followed me. I didn’t see it when he showed up, though.”
“Probably parked around the corner.”
“Probably. I don’t know how much you heard, but he works for—”
“Your father’s weapons plant,” Thorne finished for her. “Hamilton told me.”
“Aaron works in sales. Actually, he’s the new director of sales, which means he has full access to the weapons.”
“And someone stole the assault rifle discarded by the shooter at Bascom College from the plant,” Thorne added. “You think Starkman had it in him to do it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t see him as a killer. Then again, I never saw him as horrible as he was today, but…”
“But?”
“But I was wondering if he needs money. I know he likes to gamble. When we were dating, he promised it wasn’t a problem, but he always went for broke, in all aspects of his life. And there was a time I walked in on him when some lowlife was threatening him for money he owed. That was around the time I broke up with him, when it was becoming more and more apparent that he wasn’t the man I’d thought he was.”
“Then he might have stolen the weapon to sell to someone else,” Thorne said. “And for all we know, he could be using your father to get to you. He could be the one sending those threatening emails.”
Katelyn gasped. “You think Aaron wants me dead?”
“I think he wants you scared. Terrified. At least it seemed that way to me today.”
“So the revenge isn’t really against Daddy? You think Aaron might want revenge against me for spoiling his plans by breaking up with him last year?”
“Just a thought.”
“Nothing we can prove.”
<
br /> “Maybe we can’t prove any of this, but the authorities might have a field day with that information,” he said. “We need to put it on the table, let the FBI run with it, and see where it gets them.”
“What if we’re wrong?”
“What if we’re not?”
Appearing defeated, she sank down on the sofa. “You’re right. And then Aaron will carry through with his threat, and life as I know it here will be over.”
“Didn’t that already happen the other night?”
Thorne felt certain that their finding Sam Gilbert dead was still tearing Katelyn apart. How could it not have changed everything for her? And now, her former lover potentially being involved in a mass killing had to be quadruply devastating.
“People here discovering who I am will make it all worse.”
She sounded as if she thought other residents would run her out of town on a rail because of her father’s company.
“In your mind, I’m sure,” he agreed. “But I would bet most people are fairer than you give them credit for.”
“Is that really your experience in life?” she asked.
Making Thorne remember his own shortcomings when it came to her. “Not a good comparison.”
“I can’t let this ruin my dream and everything I’ve worked so hard for.”
She sounded so forlorn that he wanted to take her in his arms and convince her that it would all work out, that everything would be all right. Only he wouldn’t lie to her again. He hadn’t known the kindness of strangers very often in his life. Though he was trying to be hopeful for her, he couldn’t say for certain how the community would react to the truth.
“If it’s not Aaron,” she said, “then it has to be someone else I know.”
“Someone who knows that Robert Hamilton is your father.”
“Someone who already lives here in Lake Geneva.” Her brow creased into a frown.
If they didn’t figure this out soon, Thorne was certain things were about to get a lot worse.
Chapter 12
Despite her reluctance about Thorne moving in with her, Katelyn let him spend the night on her couch. She thought it might be the only way she could sleep after what had happened with Aaron. Even so, she awoke multiple times, with the bad dreams she had lingering in her mind.
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