Blake flashed up a hand. “Save your breath. It’s so obvious even a child could pick up on it.”
Riley didn’t think that was true, but he wasn’t going to stand there and argue.
“Just make sure Leah is available when I need to talk to her, or I will have to bring her in.”
Riley gritted his teeth. “I promise she won’t be going anywhere without me.”
Blake eyed him for a long time then climbed in his SUV and drove off.
Riley took a few minutes to absorb the cool air and calm his emotions. With Blake’s announcement, Riley had to meet with the team tonight to update them and get them moving double time before Blake arrested Leah.
Riley stepped inside and closed the door. He turned to find Leah pacing again. He went to the sofa and patted the cushion next to him. “C’mon. Let’s sit and talk about this.”
“What’s to talk about?” She sighed. “I didn’t do this. Means we could be looking at another person on my team that I trusted betraying me. Maybe Kraig. But that’s not the worst of it. He could be a killer.”
Riley held out his hand and gave her a pointed look until she sat next to him. “Do you really think Kraig killed these women?”
She shook her head. “But then I didn’t think Carolyn would embezzle or Jill cheat with my boyfriend. But they did, so honestly, I don’t know what to think.”
“I need to get the team together for an update and to set priorities.”
She glanced at the mantle clock. “Tonight.”
Riley nodded. “I know you’re tired, but I need you to come with me.”
“Why? I’m safe here, right?” She clutched her hands together.
“The compound is extremely secure, but even a fortress can be breached, so I’d rather you be where I can see you.”
She stared over his shoulder and bit her lower lip. “What about Mom and Owen? I hate to leave them alone.”
“I’ll call Piper. I’m sure she’ll agree to stay with them while we meet.”
“I hate to impose on her vacation.”
“Trust me. Piper won’t mind.”
“But what about Bekah? Who’ll stay with her while we’re gone?”
“Eryn’s mom usually does that, but if not, Eryn can bring Bekah over here. She can sleep in my bed as easily as her own.” At least he thought that was true. When Leah didn’t argue, he figured it was possible, and he dug out his phone. “Let me get things arranged.”
She grabbed his arm. “Are you sure this is okay? I hate to interfere with your team’s home lives.”
He looked her in the eye to convey their commitment. “I promised to keep you safe. If that means no one on the team sleeps to make that happen, then we don’t sleep. You’re our top priority.”
13
Leah used the time while waiting for Eryn and Piper to arrive to check her calendar to determine where she was the day Carolyn died. She opened the calendar program on her phone.
“Anything?” Riley asked from where he stood behind her.
She tapped the blank square on the screen. “I was in Portland that day. A break in the tour bookings.”
“But you don’t have a thing scheduled,” he stated the obvious.
“It was only a few days ago, but honestly I don’t know what I did with every minute of the day. I can talk to Mom in the morning. She’ll help me piece it together.”
A knock sounded on the door.
“I’ll get it.” Riley went to let the women in.
Eryn introduced Piper who wasn’t at all what Leah expected. Piper’s name had evoked a carefree woman with wispy blond hair in Leah’s mind, but she had short, almost black hair and creamy skin plus big brown eyes. She also had an intensity about her that matched the Blackwell team members’ intimidating power. She walked with crutches, and her right foot was bandaged. Leah wanted to ask what happened, but since she’d just met the woman, that would be rude.
She looked Piper in the eye, which was easy to do since they were about the same height. “I’m sorry to ask you to do this when you’re taking some time off.”
She waved one of her crutches. “Are you kidding? I’m only off work because of this lame foot, and I’m not a sit-around kind of girl. I’m glad to be useful.”
“Well then, thank you.” Leah smiled.
“And in case you’re worried that I’m not up to the job with my lame foot.” She rested on one crutch and patted her gun holstered at her trim waist and grinned. “I don’t shoot with my foot.”
Leah laughed and took an instant liking to Piper. “Then you concentrate on that, and my mom will handle Owen’s more mundane needs like water and any trips to the bathroom.”
Piper nodded, and her serious expression returned.
“One thing before we go,” Riley said. “I also don’t want to impose on your time off, but if you don’t mind, I wanted to ask if you had a source for handwriting analysis.”
“No problem.” She waved a hand while balancing on the crutches. “I can introduce you to someone.”
“The sooner the better.” Riley explained the situation.
Eryn shot him a curious look.
“Blake was just here,” Riley said. “I’ll fill you in on the details at the meeting.”
“I’ll make a few calls for you and have a name when you get back from the meeting,” Piper said. “And I’m glad to facilitate getting the letters to them if you want me to take that off your plate, too.”
“Thanks, Piper,” Leah said. “I’ll owe you big time.”
“Nothing a pair of front row concert seats wouldn’t fix. Of course, I’ll be bringing your biggest fan.” Piper tipped her head at Eryn and laughed.
Leah smiled. “You got it.”
“Any word on enhancing that dark video?” Riley asked.
Piper frowned. “I got a guy working on it. Says he can make improvements, but he’s not sure how much. He thinks he’ll be finished tomorrow sometime.”
Leah was so thankful for all of Piper’s help. “I’ll owe you even more.”
“A backstage pass, too?” She winked.
“Glad to. You can even come on stage if you want.”
“Hey, now,” Eryn said. “I’m working hard, too.”
“Of course you are.” Leah patted Eryn’s arm. “When this is all over the three of us will get together and figure out something special.”
“Oh, you know it.” Eryn pumped her fist.
Laughing, Leah grabbed her jacket and started to put it on.
Riley took it from her and helped her into it. She heard Piper sigh, and Leah had to agree. Nothing more attractive than a man with good manners. Except maybe seeing Riley holding their son in his arms as he carried Owen to bed. That got Leah’s pulse pounding in a way she never expected.
He opened the door for her, and they stepped into the crisp night.
“Want to walk?” Riley asked.
She nodded. She was glad for the time to clear her muddled brain of everything. She wanted to be clearheaded when she met with the Blackwell defenders who meant well but were daunting. Especially when so much was at stake, and she didn’t know what conclusion they would come to. At least Riley was solidly on her side.
They walked in silence…easy, comfortable silence as if they’d turned a corner and were on more solid footing with each other. But had they? Not as far as she could tell.
She hadn’t really allowed herself the luxury of looking at him for the joy of it, and she kept sneaking glances at him. It was a luxury, as he was like a fine sculpture in the bright moonlight. His profile was chiseled, his jaw like granite. But his hair reminded her of Owen’s, and she knew it was soft to the touch.
The same warm emotions washed over her as when she used to watch him on a stage, singing to a small crowd, addressing each person like they were a personal friend.
Oh, man. She really was in over her head here with him. Way over her head. And the worst part was not knowing the motives behind her attraction.
&nbs
p; Was it remembering the past when they’d been blissfully happy? Was it because she didn’t want to share Owen with Riley and was fooling herself to keep him around? Or was she really and truly in love with him?
Confused, she ran a hand through her hair, getting stuck on tangles.
He looked at her and caught her gaze on him. “Do I have food on my face or something?”
She shook her head but didn’t speak. What could she say? Two women have been murdered, I might be a suspect or my manager might be a murderer, and I’m shallow enough to be noticing how handsome you are.
Not hardly.
“What about you?” She turned it back on him. “You seemed lost in thought, too.”
“I was thinking how comfortable this walk was. I’d forgotten how well we know each other.”
“Yeah. We were close.”
He quit walking and glanced at her. “Do you ever wonder what might have been if we hadn’t broken up?”
All the time.
“I try not to dwell on the past.” Okay, the truth, but not a real answer to his question, so she started forward again.
He took her arm and stopped her. “There’s something I need to say. I’ve been waiting for the right time, but there hasn’t been one.”
He was scaring her. Was he going to share something else that would rock her already shaken world? “What’s that?”
“I want you to know that I forgive you for not telling me about Owen. I get that you were thinking of what was best for him. Now that I know about him, I totally understand. If I’d been in your shoes, I would’ve done the same thing.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she couldn’t stop them.
“Thank you,” she managed to get out as her love for this man increased. “That means so much to me.”
He squeezed her arm and let go. “I’m glad. I wanted you to know so when we sit down to talk about Owen’s future, that you don’t think I’m holding a grudge.”
Right. Give her good news then douse it with a bucket of ice water. Still, he’d forgiven her. She didn’t deserve it, and she was so grateful. But he sounded like he planned on trying to take custody of Owen.
She had to face that head on. “You’re not going to fight me for custody, are you?”
He shook his head. “At least not unless we can’t work out some agreement between us and stick to it.”
She nodded and resumed walking. He had a right to spend time with Owen, and she would have to come to grips with that. She just couldn’t do it right now.
The ease between them had evaporated, and her mind traveled to the upcoming meeting.
Could she withstand additional stress, or would she fall apart in a room filled with people she’d come to respect?
Please, God, help me stay strong. This is all so over my head—please give me wisdom to know what to say.
He opened the door for her, and she was surprised to see that no one else had arrived. She sat in the same chair as their earlier meeting, and the others filtered in, taking the same seats at the table, too. So much had happened since the update meeting that Leah couldn’t believe such little time had passed.
Riley stood at the head of the table, and when Gage closed the door and took a seat, Riley brought them up to speed on the latest developments. He turned to the whiteboard. “Let’s first review our action items then move forward.”
“Blake has the sketch,” Gage said. “And he’s distributed it nationally, but he hasn’t gotten any hits.”
“Let me know if that changes.” Riley put a checkmark by the item. Then he tapped the picture where she was running, her tattoo exposed. “I showed the picture Eryn made without a tattoo to Leah’s people last night and none of them recognized the area.”
“I’m still trying to gather more information on the person who uploaded the image,” Eryn said. “Don’t hold your breath on that though. And also, I can update the stalker video from the concert venues, too, since that’s next on the list. The Minneapolis video was the only one that caught the stalker and it’s too dark to do much good. Piper has passed it on to experts, and if we’re lucky, we’ll get a clear enough shot for facial recognition.”
“FYI,” Riley said. “I also asked Piper to find a handwriting expert to evaluate the letters found at Carolyn’s house.”
“I thought she was here to rest up and recuperate from the shoot-out,” Gage said.
“Shoot-out?” Leah asked.
Eryn nodded. “She was involved in an altercation with a hacker that turned ugly. She was pinned down with another agent for hours while a negotiator worked with the suspect. Piper took a bullet to the foot when she was diving for cover.”
“She seems like such a nice person,” Leah said sincerely. “That’s horrible.”
Gage nodded. “Bad things happen to good people. Which is why we have this team, and I’d like to think we’re making more of a difference here than we would’ve in our past jobs.” He looked at Eryn. “How’s Piper doing?”
Eryn’s eyes narrowed. “She’s pretending everything will be okay, but it looks like her foot isn’t going to return to normal.”
“Too bad there’s not a position for Piper here,” Alex said.
Eryn frowned. “There would be if I gave up my job.”
“Or with all you do, I could see Gage needing another person.” Trey gave Gage a pointed look. “Or at least half a person. Also if Eryn decided to work part-time once our first bambino is on the way, you might need someone.”
“Right, the million kids you want to have.” Alex laughed.
Trey mocked offence. “I only want six, and with Bekah, that would only be five more.”
Leah snorted. “Seriously. Six?”
“Yep.” He slid an arm around Eryn’s shoulders. “Want a huge family with the little woman.”
Eryn shrugged his arm off and socked him. “Just for that comment you can sleep on the couch.”
“Um, honey we aren’t married yet. I live at my own place, remember?”
“You’re here so much, how can she?” Alex asked.
Eryn ignored him and gave Trey an angry look that was obviously fake. “Then I’m saving this for after we’re married. When you least expect it, you’ll get the couch.”
“Yup, this is the woman I want to marry. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Trey sat back with a contented smile.
Gage cleared his throat, drawing attention his way. “What’s happening with the stalker’s letters you picked up today?”
“I’m processing them for prints and DNA,” Sam said. “So far I’ve lifted several good prints that aren’t Leah’s.” She faced Leah. “Did anyone else touch them besides you after they arrived?”
“Kraig and his assistant because they were sent to my public address which is a P.O. Box they monitor. And my mom because I was so freaked out.”
“Okay, I’ll need your mom’s prints, too. I can get those in the morning. Where can I find the assistant?”
“She lives in L.A.”
“Give me her contact information, and I’ll figure out how to get them.”
Leah gave her the details from her phone and made a mental note to tell Kraig about this. She planned to talk to him the moment Blake finished interviewing him in the morning.
Riley jotted the information on the board. “What about the prints from the crime scene?”
“None have returned a match in the system.”
Riley made a note of that. “I’m assuming you eliminated Kraig’s from the mix, but with the new developments, I need you to go back and reevaluate any place where you lifted them.”
“Will do, and I can have that done by morning.”
“Perfect,” Riley said. “Blake will be interviewing Kraig first thing in the morning, and I’ll talk to him immediately afterward.”
Riley turned back to the board. “Anything else come up in your algorithm search, Eryn?”
“Nothing of substance, but I’ve left it running in case anything new is posted onl
ine.” She shifted in her chair. “Since Piper was acting so antsy, I had her do the measurements on Leah’s tattoo in the jogging picture and compare to actual measurements.”
“And?”
“And the tat in the picture is a fake.”
Coop narrowed his gaze, looking so intimidating Leah almost moved back. “What do you mean a fake?”
“It’s Photoshopped onto the picture.”
“Wow,” Alex said. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to create this photo.”
“Then why put it in a comment section?” Leah asked. “I don’t get it.”
“Honestly, neither do Piper and I,” Eryn said. “We discussed it at length, and it makes no sense. I’ve asked Blake to get a warrant for the commenter’s user information. He’s trying for it, but he’s not sure if I’ve given him enough probable cause to get one.”
“What about fan videos on YouTube?” Jackson asked. “I’m assuming fans will have posted videos of the recent concerts, and we should be looking at those for leads.”
“Oh, you know I’m all over that,” Eryn grinned. “I’ll start the minute I get home.”
“Just remember what time Bekah will wake you up in the morning,” Trey said.
As a mother, Leah knew he made a valid point, but she could tell that there was nothing that would stop Eryn from watching the videos tonight.
“What have you found at tattoo shops, Alex?” Riley asked.
“You mean besides every kind of tat you could want?” He chuckled. “Nothing. Not a single person I talked to will take credit for this particular tattoo.”
“You cover the whole area?”
He nodded. “I visited local places and called every place in the near vicinity. Nada.”
“So we have two murdered women both with recent tats and no one in the area claiming they did the tattoo,” Riley summarized.
“Maybe the killer did them,” Jackson offered as he looked at Leah. “Know anyone with those skills?”
She shook her head. “I mean, not other than the person who did our tats, and I don’t remember a thing about him. Not even what he looked like…other than maybe he had facial hair. And he had tattoos, but I couldn’t tell you what they looked like.”
Cold Fear: (Cold Harbor Book 5) Page 15
