Chapter 31
JEREMIAH
By the time the sheriff arrived, the flames that had engulfed Lennon’s ancient Volvo had been extinguished.
The ranch had fire extinguishers and hoses stationed all over the property, and they’d come in handy tonight.
We were fortunate that Lennon’s car had been parked far enough back from the lodge that the fire hadn’t spread to our pine buildings.
“The fire marshal will be out first thing in the morning.” Sherwood stood with me off to the side.
“I want him here tonight,” I bit out.
Sherwood scrubbed a hand over his face. “You know that’s not going to happen. He’s two hours away, and no one was hurt. He can do his investigation tomorrow.”
Most everyone had gone home after answering the sheriff’s questions, but there were still a few stragglers either looking to help or looking to gossip.
Mateo, Holly, Seb, and Liam had closed ranks around Lennon, forming a half circle with their backs to her.
Grace had an arm wrapped around Lennon’s waist as they both stared at the burned remnants of Lennon’s car.
Lennon’s expression was completely devoid of emotion.
Fucking eerie, seeing all the life drained out of her like that.
I stabbed my fingers through my hair and tugged. I wanted to hit something. “It’s arson. You know it’s arson. Her car didn’t spontaneously combust.”
“I don’t disagree. But he needs daylight to run a thorough investigation. And even then, we’ll know the what but not the who or why. We’re not going to be able to pull prints off that, even supposing he left something behind.”
He wasn’t wrong, but hell. That only pissed me off more.
“He’s escalating fast, and we’re standing around with our thumbs up our asses.
” I shook my head. A sternly worded postcard was one thing, but a fucking fire?
“Since Lennon’s been staying with me, he doesn’t have access to her like he used to. Keeping her safe is pissing him off.”
“It’s more than that. She moved in with you a full week ago.
The fire wasn’t planned. Too many potential witnesses around.
My guess is, something happened tonight that made him angry enough that he took immediate action and got lucky no one saw him.
” He studied me in the darkening dusk. “Heard you and Lennon had quite the duet tonight.”
“You think he didn’t like my bullfrog onesie?”
“I think he doesn’t like to share.”
My jaw clenched. Same. I especially wasn’t going to share Lennon with a stalker who set her car on fire. My gaze went to her again. Even surrounded as she was by people I trusted with my life, I had to verify her safety with my own eyes. Cecily had joined them now.
“Whoever lured her here isn’t a stranger, Jay. It’s someone familiar with this ranch and with you. He knows damn well you wouldn’t get into that frog costume for just anyone, much less shake your ass like a fool.”
I didn’t need the reminder that Lennon’s stalker was likely right here under my nose. It was a constant worry in the back of my mind. That was why I didn’t let her go anywhere alone.
We’d done a light background investigation on everyone here—including the guests, which I didn’t take lightly—and no leads had turned up.
Mateo had started in on Lennon’s camming subs, highest donors first, but we still had nearly a hundred to go.
Benny Davis was her biggest supporter, but also the least likely to be stalking her.
The man was shady as hell, but all his criminal activities were financial in nature.
Anyway, he’d had no reason to stalk her when they were dating, and now he was under house arrest while he awaited trial.
Whatever he might be guilty of, he wasn’t stalking Lennon.
“Get some sleep, Jay. Have Lennon do the same. The fire marshal will be here at nine a.m. We’ll talk next steps then.”
I was striding toward her before he finished speaking. With a brisk nod of thanks to our friends, I maneuvered Lennon into my arms. Grace stepped aside with a tiny, empathetic smile, but Cecily held on a moment longer, her eyes searching my face as though wondering if I could be trusted.
“I have her. Thanks, Cecily.” My gaze flicked between Lennon’s friends. “No one goes anywhere alone. Alex is still here to get you home?”
Grace nodded. “We’ll make sure Cecily is safe, too.”
“Good.”
Lennon didn’t respond as her friends hugged her goodbye. Her gaze stayed pinned to her car, but I doubted she really saw that, either. I stepped in front of her and slid my hand under her thick hair to the back of her neck.
“Lennon.” I squeezed gently. “Look at me, honey.”
She blinked a few times like she was coming out of a trance. Her eyes slowly focused on mine. “Jeremiah.”
“There’s nothing more we can do tonight. Let’s go upstairs.”
She looked around like she wasn’t sure where we were or how we got here. But she didn’t protest as I took her by the hand and led her into the lodge. I nudged her up the stairs in front of me, keeping one hand on her lower back so she’d know I was there. I would always be there, if she let me.
She halted at the top of the staircase, and I reached around her to unlock the door. Her sudden sharp intake of breath had my gaze snapping to her face. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the postcard taped to the door.
Before I could stop her, she snatched it off the door and flipped it over to read the message.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE US.
Bold, angry letters.
This postcard was different. It didn’t smell like vanilla and oranges. It smelled like lighter fluid.
Lennon’s hand clenched into a fist around the postcard. Color rose in her cheeks. “Fuck you,” she hissed to the postcard. “Fuck. You. There is no us.”
“There she is,” I muttered, gently prying her fingers open. “Please don’t destroy the evidence, honey.”
“My car. He burned my car.” The helpless fury in her voice made me want to hit something.
“I know.” I managed to get the door unlocked and both of us inside while only touching the corner of the postcard. It was doubtful we’d find prints, but maybe his anger had made him careless.
“I’m trapped here. Trapped.”
“You’re not trapped. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Or you can stay.” Please fucking stay. I stole a glance at her as I carefully slipped the postcard into a sandwich baggie and sealed it shut.
She didn’t seem to have heard me. She faced the window, hands planted on her hips, her brow pinched. “It feels like a big jump. I mean, two years of postcards and then boom, he sets my car on fire? That escalated quickly, don’t you think?”
I rubbed my jaw, frowning. “Sheriff thinks that might have something to do with me. He doesn’t want to share your attention.”
“Well, I don’t want to give him any of my attention. I just wish I knew who he was so I could tell him to his fucking face.” The furrow between her eyebrows deepened and she shook her head slowly, like she was thinking something through. “But it’s not like you’re my first boyfriend. So why now?”
My brain stuttered. Did she just call me her boyfriend? Focus, you dumbass virgin. You have a stalker to catch. I cleared my throat. “You said the postcards started two years ago? Have you dated anyone seriously since then?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek. “It was serious with Benny. If he asked me, I probably would have married him. And, yes, I wouldn’t have been with him if he didn’t have money.
But if I hadn’t liked him, no amount of money could have kept me there.
Which is more than a lot of marriages have.
Maybe it wasn’t storybook love, but we cared about each other and we took care of each other.
It was honestly the healthiest relationship I ever had. ”
The jut of her jaw told me she expected condemnation. But she wasn’t going to get it. Not from me. All I had to give her was respect.
“All right. So it was serious with Benny, but would your stalker know that?”
She blew out a heavy breath. “There were photos of us. Dinners, galas, that kind of thing.” Her head tilted as she mulled it over.
“Nine months ago. That’s when I started dating Benny, and that’s when the postcards started getting…
I don’t know…judgmental. Telling me I was making a mistake, that kind of thing.
And then six months ago, I started getting the brochures for Mercy River Ranch. ”
I nodded slowly. “So the stalker does escalate when you’re in a relationship.”
“But it still doesn’t make sense. Benny and I were heading to marriage. That’s permanent. Being here with you is…” Her face scrunched like the words physically hurt her.
That same pain echoed in my chest. I rounded the counter to get closer to her. Cupping her face in my palms, I forced her to look at me. “Lennon.”
I could feel her swallow against my fingertips. “Being with you is wonderful, but it’s temporary. If Mr. Stalker doesn’t like the attention I’m giving you, all he has to do is wait another four weeks and I’ll be gone again. He didn’t need to set my fucking car on fire.”
“Lennon.” I tried to keep my voice gentle, because she wasn’t going to like what I had to say next. “I don’t think your stalker has any intention of letting you leave this ranch.”
“Shit,” she whispered. Her eyes widened as the realization hit. Of course he hadn’t lured her out here just to let her leave again. “Shit.”
“He’s getting careless. That fire tonight was brash. Anyone could have seen him. He was so angry he couldn’t stop himself. He’s going to fuck up, Lennon. It’s only a matter of time. He’s getting careless.”
“I’m not going to sit around and wait for that to happen.
” She wrenched free and paced the small living room.
“Every time I do something he doesn’t like, he pops in to let me know.
I move into your apartment, he tells me it was a mistake.
I sing a duet with you, he sets my car on fire.
What a little bitch.” The scorn in her voice had me biting back an inappropriate laugh.
“I did not rescue myself from my mom’s handsy boyfriends and New York’s insane rental prices to be taken down now by a delusional man. Absolutely the fuck not.”
She stopped. Turned to look at me.
Ah, hell. That gleam was in her eye, and that gleam meant trouble.
“I have an idea,” she said.