Chapter Eleven #2
“Why would he do something like this? Maybe it was someone’s idea of a joke.”
He took her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes. I want to get home and make sure the dogs are okay.”
He hadn’t even thought about the dogs. Would Nicholson break in and steal Sky and Angel—or worse?
Nina seemed to share his anxiety. She sped home and was out of the car seconds after she had parked in the garage. Liam raced after her to the back door. No signs of anything outside having been disturbed. No notes left for her to find.
Nina shoved the door open and flicked on the light. Sky lay on one end of the sofa, Angel on the other. Sky looked up at them and yawned. Angel opened one eye and gave one small tail wag before falling asleep again.
Liam gathered Nina close. “Everything’s okay,” he said.
“Everything’s okay,” she said. She closed and locked the door behind them. “I keep repeating that to myself. We made it through another day. No one is hurt.”
Yet. Liam had made it through a war zone with that mantra. He only hoped the outcome was as good this time.
* * *
Despite another restless night, Nina woke the next morning anxious to get back on the slopes, to interact with her fellow patrollers and their dogs and visit with guests.
If nothing else, the events of the previous day had reminded her how much her job mattered—to both the people she protected and her own well-being.
Nicholson was purposely trying to unsettle that equilibrium, but she wasn’t going to let him.
After a quick breakfast, she and Liam parted company, each to their own work. Nina headed for the ski patrol office, but was surprised to find a crowd gathered around the office door. “What’s going on?” she asked as she approached.
Raz turned to her, her expression stricken. “Oh, Nina.”
Nina pushed her way forward. The crowd parted to reveal two photos tacked to the door of the office.
One featured a too-close, somewhat blurry image of Nina’s face, her mouth opened in a scream.
She stared. This must have been taken in the parking garage last night.
Her mouth was open so wide she could make out the uvula at the back of her throat.
Someone’s hand—Liam’s?—rested in the center of her chest.
The second photo was a glamour shot from her modeling days—Nina in a very brief string bikini, giving her best sultry look to the camera.
Her stomach roiled as she stared at it now.
Yes, she had willingly posed for the photo, but it wasn’t the look she wanted her coworkers to see.
She turned to find them all gathered around, some of them watching her, others still focused on the photographs. “Who put these up here?” she asked.
“They were here when I arrived this morning,” Connor said. “You don’t know anything about them?”
She shook her head. “Was there a note or anything?”
“No.” He looked around at the crowd. “Did anyone see anything? Do you have any idea who did this?”
Murmurs and shakes of the head. Those who weren’t part of ski patrol began moving away.
“I’m sure it’s Aaron Nicholson,” Nina said.
“Your stalker?” Brian asked.
“Yes.”
Connor reached up and started to rip the first photo from the door.
“Wait!” Lily said. “Should we call the sheriff? I mean, maybe there are fingerprints.”
“There won’t be fingerprints,” Nina said. “Please, Connor, take them down. The sheriff isn’t going to do anything. Posting photos isn’t a crime.”
“Harassing you is a crime,” Connor said. But he pulled down the photographs. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “He put those up because he wanted a reaction. I’m not going to give him that satisfaction.” She moved past him into the office. “Let’s just get on with work.”
She didn’t miss the looks some of the patrollers exchanged, but she didn’t have the energy to fight a pointless battle. Pictures and notes weren’t going to hurt her. She needed to focus on staying safe from the things that could.
* * *
Liam delivered his finished video footage and photographs to Marlena Friday at 2:00 p.m. She had gone for a softer look today, with a baby blue sweater, skirt and boots.
She was all smiles as she reviewed the work, giving no hint of the animosity with which they had parted yesterday.
“These are wonderful,” she said. “I’ll submit a payment request to accounting, and you should have the rest of your fee in a few weeks. ”
“Good luck with the marketing campaign,” he said.
“So.” She closed her laptop and looked up at him. “Where are you off to next?”
“I’m spending a little more time here,” he said.
The smile faltered. “You need to be out of your hotel room tomorrow morning.”
“I’ve already checked out. But I plan to stick around for a few days.”
She pursed her lips. “Well, I hope you enjoy your time here. It was a pleasure working with you.”
He didn’t think she really meant that. It was the kind of thing people like her said. The correct thing. “I enjoyed the assignment,” he said. True. He would have enjoyed anything that put him back into contact with Nina.
He left the office and headed for his favorite coffee cart. While he was waiting for his order, Renee arrived. “Hey, Liam. How’s it going?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
“I’m okay.” She ordered a mocha, then glanced over at him. “Sorry I crashed your meeting with Stevie last night.”
“No big deal. She’s your friend, too.”
She hugged her arms over her chest. “Not really. She’s Raz’s ex. When I heard Raz was going to see her again I guess I overreacted.” She shrugged. “It’s none of my business what Raz does. It’s not like the two of us are involved or anything.”
“Uh-huh.” Liam wasn’t going to point out that the way she said involved made him wonder if her feelings for Raz ran deeper than casual friendship. But that was none of his business.
His order was up, so he took it and moved aside.
Renee followed him to the counter where the sweetener, creamer, napkins and lids were kept.
“The thing is,” she said, “Raz wants things to be more serious between us, but I’m just not sure I’m ready for that.
I really like her. A lot. But a relationship? That makes things complicated.”
“Relationships do that.” He felt a lot of sympathy for Raz, considering his own situation with Nina.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all this on you,” Renee said. “You’ve got your own problems, what with everything that’s going on with Nina.”
“Has something else happened to Nina?” He tensed.
“When we got to work this morning, there were two photos of Nina tacked to the door of the ski patrol office.”
“What kind of photos?”
“One was a picture of her in a really sexy swimsuit. I mean, really sexy.” Renee blushed. “The other was a really close-up shot of her face, with her mouth wide open. She still looked beautiful.”
He thought of that moment in the parking garage—the flash of a camera, then someone running away. “Was there a note?”
“No. Just the photos. I don’t understand.”
“I don’t, either,” he said. “But it’s upsetting to Nina. And this man tried to hurt her before. He’s dangerous.”
She hesitated. “Is there something else?” Liam asked.
Renee blew out a breath. “I don’t want this to sound wrong, but I’m a little worried about Nina. You know about what happened yesterday, at the terrain park?”
He nodded. “A man dressed all in black skied up to her and wouldn’t leave until she called for help.”
“Yeah. Connor and I got there right away.” She bit her lower lip. “The thing is—there was no one there. No one anywhere near the terrain park at that early hour. There were a couple kids farther down the run. I asked them if they had seen anyone with Nina, and they said they hadn’t.”
He stiffened. “If the kids were at the bottom of the run, they wouldn’t necessarily have been looking back up the run.”
“Yeah, but Connor and I approached from two different directions and we didn’t see anyone, either.”
“I saw the man,” Liam said. “In those photos I took. He was there more than once, staring at Nina.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not accusing Nina of making this up. I know she was really hurt when that guy attacked her before. I read about it online. I’m just…confused. What is he doing here, just hanging around?”
“I don’t know,” Liam said. “But it can’t be good.”
“Please don’t tell Nina I said anything. I don’t want her to think I don’t believe her. And all of us on patrol have been watching for this guy. We just haven’t seen him.”
“He’s good at being invisible,” Liam said. “But he’s real. I promise.”
“Right.” The barista called her name. “I have to go. Don’t say anything to Raz about this, either.”
“I won’t.”
She collected her coffee and left. Liam walked toward his car, Renee’s words niggling at him.
First Marlena, now Renee was doubting Nina.
Were other people dismissing her fears as imagination, a desire for attention, or some manifestation of post-traumatic stress?
He didn’t believe any of that. Were he and Nina the only people who believed she was really in danger?
He stopped several feet from his rental SUV, his gaze fixed on the piece of paper caught beneath the driver’s side windshield wiper.
After a moment, he took out his camera and clicked off a few shots, panning the area for any sign of Nicholson. But he spotted only a young couple at the far end of the lot, emerging from the car they had just parked.
He approached his SUV cautiously and lifted the wiper blade with gloved fingers, then unfolded the note.
You can’t take my darling from me. She’ll always be mine.
Like the others, this contained no signature. There would be no prints. Nothing to tie it to Nicholson. Nothing to persuade the sheriff to take the threat seriously.
He folded the note and tucked it into his jacket pocket. He wouldn’t show this to Nina. No need to upset her. But Liam would be even more vigilant. Maybe it was time to set a trap, to see if they could catch this person red-handed.