Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Riley bounded down the back stairs in gray sweatpants, crimson Harvard sweatshirt, and thick, white socks, her defense against the cold from the storm that still howled outside.
She’d slept later than usual, jumping out of bed at a quarter past nine.
Leaving her face clean, she’d pulled her hair into a ponytail and called it good.
No need to get prettied up to work from home all day.
“Good morning, Hilda.” She kissed the cheek of the cook she’d known since she was nine years old.
“Hi, sweetie.” Hilda scooped pancakes from a griddle onto a plate with eggs, bacon, and hash browns. “Sleep well?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Except for the nightmare. The same one she’d had too many times over the past week. That voice. So near her ear. The arm pressed against her neck. Something he said …
She gave herself a mental shake. “Too late, probably.”
“Nonsense. It’s Saturday. Get all the rest you need.”
She took the plate Hilda held out to her. “You’re the best. This looks fantastic.”
“Eat up.”
“I plan to,” she answered with a wink as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
“The others are in the dining room, dear. Everybody got a later start today.”
“Thanks.”
She backed through the swinging door, turned, and stopped. “Colton? What are you doing here? You had strict orders to go home and not report back until four.”
He grinned at her. “You think you’re giving the orders, huh?”
“But of course.” She set her plate down. “Good morning, Mom. Daddy.” Before she took her seat, she walked to the end of the long, cherry wood table and hugged her grandfather from behind. “Good morning, Gramps.”
“Good morning, sugar. Glad you could join us.”
Riley took the seat next to Colton, across from her parents, and picked up the syrup to douse her pancakes. “Why are you here so early?”
“I, uh … I never left.”
“Never left?” She cut a three-layer bite and picked it up with her fork, syrup dripping onto her plate and the scent of maple mixed with vanilla making her stomach growl. “Why? Roads bad?”
He peered down at his half-eaten stack. “We can talk about it later.”
“Arrout rhat?” she inquired around the huge bite of fluffy pancakes.
Her mother shook her head. “Riley, I swear, you eat like a linebacker.”
She swallowed and followed it with a gulp of orange juice. “Only when it’s us, Mom, I promise. I’m the very picture of manners in public. Ask Colton. He was right next to me at the Cantrells, and I didn’t put my elbows on the table or anything.”
Colton turned to her mother. “Yes, ma’am. I can attest to the fact she was on her best behavior.”
“Glad to hear it,” Mom replied with a wink.
“So, talk about what later?” Her gaze roamed from Colton to her father’s furrowed brow and returned. “Something happened. With the creep? Or something else?”
The two men exchanged a glance.
“Hey. Right here.” She pointed two fingers at her eyes, to Colton, and back. “I’m a big girl. Tell me already.”
Her dad looked at the man next to her. “Go ahead. Or she’ll badger you senseless until you do.”
She inclined her head toward her father. “What he said.” She forked another bite of pancake into her mouth. All that dancing last night must have burned a ton of calories, because she was famished.
With a sigh, Colton put down his fork and finally gave her his full attention. “I got a call from Tech Ops last night after you went up to bed. They found something in a social media scan.”
“Is that as serious as your face is saying right now?”
“Somebody cloned your social media account and has been posting as you since Thursday. Some pretty questionable stuff. Designed, we surmise, to tarnish your reputation or credibility. Petersen got it taken down, but we don’t know what damage might’ve already been done.”
She stared at him for a pregnant second. “I see.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Except you don’t appear all that surprised.”
Nodding, she wrapped her cloth napkin around her hands in her lap. “I guess I should’ve seen something like this coming.”
He twisted in his seat to face her. “Now I’m getting the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“In my defense, I didn’t know if there was actually anything to tell you.”
“Until …”
“Last night.”
His eyes widened. “Last night. After we got back?”
“Yes, but I thought you’d left. Figured I’d tell you today.”
“Tell me what, exactly?”
The icy glare was back. Perhaps she should have clued him in after the first card arrived. What was that thing about hindsight?
“I got a card.” She moved her head from side to side. “Actually, three cards. One Monday, one Wednesday, and the last one yesterday. Delivered to the lobby security desk.”
“Like greeting cards?”
“Yes. Unsigned. The first one was ambivalent. Couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.
Said they were a fan, but I should be sure my current pet project wasn’t my undoing.
The second one said he hoped I would see the light before the train hit me.
That nobody could survive a hit like that.
I assumed he meant my career taking a hit—maybe my reputation—if I lost my current case. ”
“You believe they pertain to the Everett case?”
“That was my first guess, of course, since I don’t have any others right now.”
“Why did you take that case? I thought Caitlyn Mulaney was your friend.”
She glanced at her father, then her mother sitting with her head down. She understood why that would be hard to comprehend and was all too aware of the problems her decision had already caused her family.
The Mulaneys had been long-time friends, but the judge wasted no time letting her father know his opinion on the matter.
A day later, Priscilla Mulaney uninvited Mom to a Christmas tea at their home the week after Thanksgiving—a tea her mother had been attending for over a decade.
And Caitlyn’s sister hadn’t spoken to Alex’s wife Delia since the news conference about Riley taking over Shane’s case almost two weeks ago.
All three situations were painful and disconcerting, but her family, to a person, had encouraged her to be true to her convictions.
Her gaze went back to Colton. “I was never convinced the cops got it right. And that was before I sat through every day of the trial. There were … a lot of holes. Yes, Caitlyn was my friend. That’s why I want to be sure the right person pays for what he did.
I don’t believe that person is Shane Everett. ”
Those cool blue eyes considered her for a long, silent moment. “Were you ever involved with Everett?”
She pulled her head back. “What? No. Of course not. I didn’t meet him until after he and Caitlyn started dating. About three months before her death. And was never alone with him until I interviewed him at the prison last month. Why would you ask that?”
“One of the phantom posts was a photo of the two of you. Let’s just say it was a little more than friendly.”
Her face heated. “Show me.”
With a wince, he pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans and brought up a screenshot of the post from the now-deleted page.
Her skin crawled as she scrutinized it. “That’s Cait. It looks like me, but that’s definitely Cait.” She put her hand on her stomach, where the breakfast she’d been so enjoying now stirred violently. “That’s really sick.”
“Agreed.”
“What else was posted on there that I may have to answer for?”
Her father sat back and crossed his arms across his stomach, drawing her attention.
“What? Was it about you? The family?”
He shook his head. “Remember when we let Arman Fletcher go a year or so ago?”
“Of course. Major stink.”
“Somehow, this … person pulled up that old photo of Arman with one of our interns. The one that broke the camel’s back after she posted it.”
“Don’t tell me. He doctored it to look like me.”
Mom’s eyes widened. “That sounds very tech-savvy. To clone someone’s page and doctor images?”
Colton nodded. “It does take some tech know-how. I don’t think your average user could make images that credible to the general public. Our techs know what to look for to determine authenticity, but most people would take it at face value, unfortunately.”
Dad sat up and folded his arms on the table. “Hopefully, anybody who might’ve seen it will remember he was fired due to his indiscretions with that intern. That it had nothing to do with you.”
Yesterday’s phone call made sense now. She hadn’t recognized the voice—obviously altered—but the message appeared a bit more focused.
“I told you,” the man had hissed on the other end of the line. “Your confidence is actually your weakness, Miss Hudson, misplaced as it is. I’m trying to keep you from making a big mistake. One there’s no coming back from. How much is your reputation worth to you?”
He’d hung up before she could come up with any words, but it had left her stunned and confused.
A mistake there was no coming back from? Did he mean the loss of her career? The loss of her credibility?
Or something even worse?
“I want to see those cards.” Colton studied her with that furrow in his forehead that told her he saw more than she wanted him to. “Is there anything else I should know?”
She swallowed hard. “Um, well, he … he called. Yesterday at the office.”
Gramps’ mouth gaped open. “You actually spoke to this person?”
“Not exactly. He hung up before I could say anything.”
Colton turned fully in his chair to face her. His dismay quickly morphed into anger. “Yesterday? And you opened three notes from this person in your office over the past week? With me standing right outside your door? Riley, I have to know these things. When are you going to get that?”
“Sorry.” His sharp tone took her aback. “I wasn’t sure it had anything to do with what happened last week or not. And I didn’t want to worry my family any more than I already have.”
He released an impatient sigh. “Riley, listen to me. You cannot keep these things from me. Nothing. I want to know about every questionable phone call, e-mail, letter, or even if you notice somebody looking at you the wrong way. Understand? This is not a game. It’s not a joke.
You have to level with me, or I’m useless to you. Got it?”
“I got it, Colton. Chill.”
“I don’t have the luxury to chill. It seems clear your life could be on the line here.
If this is the same guy who attempted that grab last week, he’s not just pulling your chain.
He means business. Do you not get that? Do you not understand how serious this is?
He wants to destroy you. One way or the other.
And it’s the other that has me concerned. ”
If this is the same guy …
Her chest constricted her lungs as that morning exactly one week ago rushed back to her.
Don’t scream …
That voice. Over her shoulder. Hot breath brushing her ear.
Colton’s face swam in front of her as those harrowing moments replayed in her mind. Panicked. Confused. Why her? Where was everybody? Her frantic prayer.
Don’t scream … Miss Hudson.
Her hand flew to her mouth. It couldn’t be. It was random. A crime of opportunity.
Don’t scream, Miss Hudson, or I’ll end you right here.
Colton’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
She shook her head. To say the words would make it true. And it couldn’t be true.
Her stomach heaved. She jumped up and ran toward the downstairs bath.
“Riley …”
Ignoring him, she made it there in time to lose what little of her breakfast she’d had time to eat.
Sitting with her back against the wall, she braced her elbows on her bent knees and covered her face with her hands. Her eyes stung, her throat burned, every inch of her trembled.
A knock sounded at the door. “Riley, honey.” The worry in her mother’s voice again had her fighting tears. She hated what this was doing to her family. “Are you okay?”
She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
Another moment passed before Mom’s footsteps faded, heading back toward the dining room.
When the shaking eased enough to allow her to get her feet under her, Riley stood and made her way to the vanity. She rinsed her mouth, then studied her reflection in the mirror. Fear had sucked all the light from her eyes, the color from her face.
It couldn’t be true.