Chapter 3 #2
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked, his eyes moving between the three of them.
He couldn’t help but notice that Tessa looked beautiful even this early in the morning, her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, no makeup, wearing jeans and a sweater.
His breath caught slightly as she looked up at him, and their eyes met once again before she glanced at her wristwatch.
“Oh, no, I’ve been here far too long,” Tessa stated. “I’d better get back before Lori realizes I’m gone.” She stood up and looked at Misty, who was sprawled on the floor near Ryan’s feet. “I can take her back for you, if you want.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said, automatically reaching for Misty’s leash. “I was going to bring her over as soon as I’d dropped Piper off.”
“I’m sure your father has a lot to tell you,” Tessa said, moving toward him to take the leash.
As she reached for it, their hands brushed. The contact lasted less than a second, but Ryan felt it like an electric shock. Her eyes shot up to his, wide with surprise, and she snatched the leash away quickly. Too quickly.
Ryan had to hide a smile, knowing she’d felt the same jolt at the touch that he had.
There was something there between them, whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not.
His gut twisted at the knowledge, but he pushed it away.
Now was not the time to pursue a relationship.
Not while there was a potentially dangerous mystery to solve.
One where his father had already been hurt.
“Well...uh...” Tessa turned to Mitch, clearly flustered. “You’ll keep me...uh...us, updated on what you find?”
“Yes,” Mitch promised. “Let Marcus and me look into this new information. Then we’ll get everyone together to discuss it.”
Tessa nodded, her cheeks slightly pink. “Right. Good.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Ryan offered.
“No need,” Tessa declined quickly. “Your father and Marcus need to talk to you.” She glanced toward the stairs. “And it’s best to do so quickly before Piper finishes her shower.”
Ryan’s worry intensified. Whatever they needed to tell him, it was serious enough that they didn’t want Piper to overhear even a hint of it. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Yes,” Tessa said, already heading for the door. “Later.”
She disappeared through the front door with Misty in tow, and Ryan turned to face his father and Marcus. The seriousness in their expressions made his stomach tighten.
He took a seat at the kitchen counter, and Mitch set a mug of steaming coffee in front of him. Ryan wrapped his hands around it gratefully, suddenly needing the warmth.
“We can’t go into great detail right now,” Mitch said, his eyes landing on the thick folder on the counter. “But Marcus has found out some interesting information.”
“Then Tessa brought us some more,” Marcus added, leaning against the counter opposite Ryan. “Now we have two different avenues to look into.”
“And they are?” Ryan asked, his brow crinkling with concern.
“Sally Lane,” Marcus said.
Ryan spluttered, nearly spitting out the sip of coffee he’d just taken. “Sally Lane? Dad’s ex-girlfriend Sally?” He looked at his father, confusion furrowing his brow. “Didn’t the two of you break up, Dad?”
“Yes,” Mitch nodded. “We’ve been broken up for quite some time now. But Sally had been quite open about wanting to get back together.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Especially over the past month.”
“And now she thinks that Lori is a threat?” Ryan processed this. While he didn’t know Sally all that well, it didn’t seem right to him. Surely no one would go to such...
He paused, turning his arm over to look at his wrist. The scar from the knife wound was faint now, three years old, but he could still see it if he looked closely.
His ex-fiancée hadn’t taken their breakup too kindly.
She had come at him with a butcher’s knife from the block in his kitchen.
Ryan had raised his arm to fend her off as she aimed straight for his heart.
She’d been blind with rage, but the sight of the blood pouring from his arm soon sobered her.
She’d fled his apartment. Ryan had landed up with fifteen stitches and hadn’t pressed charges then.
Which had been a mistake as she’d stalked him for months after that, broken into his apartment on numerous occasions, slashed his tires, and sent hundreds of threatening messages.
He blew out a breath. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so crazy for Sally to hire the windbreaker guy to intimidate Lori. People really did do crazy, irrational things for love.
“Marcus has found out who the windbreaker guy is and where he works,” Mitch explained. “The company is called Barstow Securities.”
Ryan nearly choked on his coffee for the second time. “You’re kidding me?” His eyes widened in shock. “They are not only pricey but shady as heck. I’ve heard stories about that company. They’re the kind of outfit you hire when you want results and don’t care about methods.”
“Yes, and Sally hired them three days before Lori came to town,” Mitch told him. “And it wasn’t the first time she’d used their services either.”
“So she’s our number one suspect,” Ryan said slowly. “She must have a lot of money to burn if she’s hiring Barstow.”
“She does,” Marcus told him. “She got a hefty settlement from her late ex-husband.”
“After his murder case was turned into a death by accident and their main suspect was completely exonerated,” Mitch added, his voice grim. “Sally ended up with a very hefty settlement from her late ex-husband’s estate.”
A cold shiver crept up Ryan’s spine. “And their main suspect was...Sally?” he guessed, though he already knew the answer from the look on his father’s face.
Mitch nodded.
“But Tessa has now brought some new information to light,” Marcus said, pulling the folder closer.
“It seems Lori’s late husband’s firm also hired Barstow Securities two years ago,” Mitch told him.
“Wow!” Ryan said, trying to process this new information. His mind was already working through the implications.
“And...” Mitch added, his expression darkening. “Both Trevor Carlton’s company and Sally got the same agent assigned to their cases.”
Marcus pulled a photograph and an employee record from the thick file and slid them across the counter. “Elias Dane.”
Ryan’s eyes widened as he looked at the photo. The man staring back at him from the employee ID had a hard face, cold eyes, and a professional demeanor. Ryan recognized him immediately.
“That’s him,” Ryan said, his head shooting up to look at his father and then Marcus. “That’s the man Tessa and I saw staring into the cottage the other night. The one watching from the tree line.”
“Yes,” Mitch said with a nod. “And the same man I’ve seen hanging around Pelican Bay since Lori arrived.”
“So this is about Lori?” Ryan asked, alarm slicing through him. His protective instincts kicked into high gear. “Someone is targeting her specifically?”
“We believe so,” Mitch said carefully. “If it’s connected to her husband’s company, it means...”
“The Stansteads are probably involved, which means a shed load of danger and trouble,” Ryan finished, his mind racing through the implications. The Stanstead case had been serious. Federal investigation serious. People had died because of that fraudulent scheme.
He opened the file and started flipping through it, scanning the documents quickly. His eyes caught on a photograph, and he stopped cold. The image was labeled “Crime Scene - Bradley Lane.”
The photo showed a man lying in the woods, his body twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood pooled beneath him, dark against the forest floor. The hunting knife was still visible, and the scene seemed staged. Assassin-type staged.
Ryan looked up at his father and Marcus. “Looking at this picture, Sally is potentially just as dangerous and a little more unhinged than the Stansteads.”