by Elle James
Once they were on the highway moving fast, Emily turned to Cage. “I’m sorry.”
He frowned. “What for?”
“I’m sorry about what he did to your truck. Are you sure you want to continue being a bodyguard to me?”
“Why do you ask that?” he asked.
“It seems that your association with me makes you a target as well. For that matter, maybe I shouldn’t go back out to The Lost Valley Ranch. It’s made Gunny and his property a target as well. I’d feel awful if anything happened to him, RJ, JoJo or anybody else out there.” She shook her head. “Take me back to my apartment.”
“No way.” He didn’t slow down. “You’re better off with all of us, and if you ask anyone, they’d tell you they’d be willing to take the risk.”
“But I don’t want them to take the risk. I couldn’t live with the consequences if one of them were to get hurt. They’re my family. They’re the only family I have. I’ve lost family before, and it hurts too much. Take me back to my apartment, please.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“So, does that mean you’re kidnapping me?” she said with a smile.
“If that’s what it takes,” he said. “At the very least, I want to go back to the ranch because that’s where I’ve left my weapons.”
She shot a glance his way. “Wow, this is getting scarier. You think it will come to that? The use of weapons?”
“I don’t know, but I want to be prepared just in case.”
“Seriously,” her smile faded, “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger. I could just go somewhere and stay in a hotel.”
“This guy’s following you,” he said. “He’ll find you. If you’re staying at a hotel, you’re putting all the hotel staff and guests in danger.”
“Then I’ll rent a cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
“You can’t do that. You have a life. This guy is driving you into changing your life. You can’t let him win.”
She raked a hand through her auburn hair. “It’s better than losing people you love.”
“If you’re hiding, you can’t be with the people you love. You’re losing them anyway.”
Emily stared across the console at him. “And then there’s you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“You don’t understand,” he said. “I signed up for this gig. I’ve been in more dangerous situations than this on multiple occasions. I’ve been in a firefight surrounded by Taliban. This is nothing. It’s one guy being an idiot. And when we catch him, everything will go back to normal.”
“You might have signed up for this gig, but Gunny, RJ and JoJo didn’t. I love them, they’re my family.”
“Then don’t make their decisions for them. You already know what they’ll say.”
She laughed, knowing he was right. “They’re not afraid of anything. I am. I can’t lose my family again.”
“Look, we’re going out to the ranch and we’ll pull everyone together and come up with a plan.”
She nodded, her attention on the windshield in front of them. “Okay, but I’m adamant. I’m not going to put them at risk.”
“We’ll see,” he said.
They drove the rest of the way to Lost Valley Ranch in silence. Every once in a while, Cage shot a glance toward Emily. She sat in stony silence, her jaw tight, her lips pressed firmly together. Her vehicle was out at the ranch. If she got it into her head that she was putting them in danger, there was a likelihood that she would take her own vehicle and leave. He’d have to stick with her like a second shadow or she’d bolt.
Chapter 8
As they drove up the road to Lost Valley Ranch and passed Gunny’s Watering Hole, Emily looked for the blue spray paint and was pleased to see that RJ and Jake had managed to cover it with a fresh coat of paint. The Watering Hole looked better than ever. Half a dozen customer vehicles were lined up in the parking lot. Emily had no doubt that Gunny was serving his signature hamburgers and drinks to his customers.
As Cage parked the SUV in front of the lodge, Jake and RJ came out on the porch.
Emily climbed the steps to the lodge, discouraged and worried.
RJ met her at the top, a frown creasing her forehead. “How’d it go in the Springs?”
Emily shook her head.
Cage placed a hand at the small of her back, the gesture reassuring when she needed it.
“We need to have a meeting of the Brotherhood Protectors and everybody involved with Emily,” Cage said.
RJ looked from Emily to Cage and back. “That bad, huh?”
Emily nodded. “Yes.”
Jake’s gaze ran over Cage and Emily. “Anyone hurt?”
Emily shot a glance toward Cage. “No, but Cage’s truck took a hit.”
Jake frowned. “What do you mean?”
Cage’s jaw hardened. “Someone either took a baseball bat or a crowbar to the windshield and the headlights while it sat in the VA’s parking garage.”
Jake whistled. “No kidding?”
Cage’s brow dipped. “That’s not the worst part. The stalker left a present inside Emily’s apartment.”
RJ swore. “This is getting ridiculous.”
“Yup. Let’s get everyone together before I go into more detail,” Cage said.
“I’ll get Max and JoJo,” RJ said. “They’re out exercising the horses in the pen.”
RJ left the deck and hurried out to the barn.
“Let’s meet in the conference room,” Jake said. “Swede’s down there. He might want to bring Hank on virtually. The more heads we have in on this the better.”
“Agreed.” Cage liked working with a team, getting different perspectives on a problem.
“I’m going to take my things upstairs to my room for now,” Emily said. “I’ll meet you in the basement.” She went back out to the SUV, grabbed her bag and carried it to the lodge.
Cage went halfway with her, his gaze on her the whole way as he scanned the surrounding areas and the shadowy areas beneath the trees.
If this guy knew where she was staying, he could be out there watching. He’d followed them to the hospital; he’d been at her apartment. Cage couldn’t let her get too far away from him. If the stalker got close enough, he could snatch Emily and get away before Cage could do anything about it.
Cage would be damned if he’d let that happen.
Emily passed him and entered the lodge. When she started up the stairs, he followed.
She turned around with a crooked smile. “I’ll be okay. I’m just going up to my room.”
“Glue,” he said. “I’m sticking to you like glue.”
She nodded and didn’t argue but continued up the stairs, carrying her bag.
When he reached for it, she pulled it away. “I can carry my own things.”
He nodded and let her have her way.
Emily opened the door to her room, stepped inside and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Cage said. He moved past her and entered the room. It looked as it had when she’d first come. The bed was made neatly, everything was in its place and there was even a nice bouquet of flowers on the table beside the bed.
A bouquet of red roses.
“Those weren’t there when I left,” she said, her voice shaking. “RJ,” she called out. When she didn’t get a response, she left the room and went to the top of the stairs. “RJ?”
A door opened somewhere below.
“RJ,” Emily called out.
“Emily?” RJ’s voice sounded below.
“I need you up here, ASAP.”
RJ ran up the stairs. “What’s wrong?”
Emily turned and led her back to the bedroom. As she reached the door, she stood aside and let RJ go in.
“What’s wrong?” RJ looked around the room.
“The roses,” Emily said.
“They’re beautiful,” RJ said. “Who gave them to you?” Then she looked back at Emily, her eyes widening. “You didn’t bring those back from Co
lorado Springs with you?”
Emily shook her head. “No.”
RJ’s brow knitted. “Jake and I have been out painting the Watering Hole all morning. Gunny got busy with the lunch crowd and Swede’s been in the basement all day. Do you think one of the guests might have given you those roses?”
“Let’s ask,” Emily said.
RJ and Emily hurried down the stairs.
“The only ones who know me are the Daughtrys,” Emily said as she hurried past the empty great room to the back porch.
They found Mr. and Mrs. Daughtry sitting on the back porch in rocking chairs, drinking tea. Emily approached them with a tight smile. “Mr. and Mrs. Daughtry, there was a bouquet of roses in my room. You wouldn’t happen to know how they got there, would you?”
Mrs. Daughtry smiled. “They are lovely, aren’t they?”
“So, you know who brought them?” Emily asked.
The older woman’s smile broadened. “Well, yes, of course.”
Emily let go of the air she’d been holding in her lungs. “Oh, Mrs. Daughtry that was so nice of you.”
She frowned. “No, it wasn’t us. The flower delivery truck arrived a couple hours ago. They said the flowers were for you, so we put them up in your room. There was a card attached, did you not see it?”
Emily shook her head. “No, I didn’t see it.”
“Oh wait.” Mrs. Daughtry fished in her pocket. “Oh, here it is. It fell out as we were going up the stairs. I put it in my pocket for safekeeping and forgot to put it on the bouquet. Here you go.” She smiled as she handed it to Emily. “See, it says to Emily. From your secret admirer. Isn’t that sweet?”
Emily’s face blanched as she held the card in her fingers. “Thank you, Mrs. Daughtry.” She turned and walked away. As she entered the lodge, Cage slipped an arm around her waist.
RJ walked with her on the other side. Once they were out of earshot of the guests, RJ asked, “What does it say?”
Emily’s hand shook as she tore open the little envelope. The message inside read:
Roses are blood red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And I will have you
Her hands shook so badly she dropped the note.
“I’ll be right back,” RJ said. She went out the backdoor and was back a few minutes later. “Mrs. Daughtry gave me the name that was on the van that delivered those flowers. We can call and find out who ordered them. Maybe they have a trail we can follow, a credit card or something. In the meantime, I’ll get them out of your room.”
Emily gave her a weak smile. “Thank you.”
RJ wrapped her arms around Emily and hugged her tightly. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”
“I’m okay,” she said.
“No, you’re not,” RJ said and held her at arms-length. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”
Emily lifted her chin. “I can handle this.”
“Well, you’re a stronger woman than I am. I would be freaking out by now.” RJ hugged her again. “I’m going to go get them out of your room and throw them on the burn pile.”
RJ left Emily with Cage. He could tell that she was not handling it as well as she professed. He opened his arms. “Hey, you are allowed to be scared. Come here.”
She took two steps forward and fell into his arms.
He held her until she quit shaking. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.” He hoped he could fulfill that promise before anything happened to Emily or anybody else she loved.
Cage led Emily into the basement.
Swede sat at a computer terminal talking to somebody on the screen.
When Cage stepped up behind him, he said, “Cage, I know you’ve spoken with him on the phone before, but have you ever met Hank Patterson in person, the leader of this organization?”
Cage shook his head. “Not yet.”
Swede tipped his head toward the monitor. “Cage Weaver, this is Hank Patterson, our boss.”
Cage nodded toward Hank. “Nice to put a face to the name. Thanks for bringing me on board.”
Hank grinned. “I’d like to say I had something to do with it, but Jake hired you and I trust his decisions implicitly. I understand you have your first assignment.”
Cage nodded and held out his hand. Emily took it and joined him in front of the monitor. “Hank, meet Dr. Emily Strayhorn. She’s a close friend of Gunny and RJ.”
Hank smiled. “Nice to meet you, Dr. Strayhorn. Swede tells me you have a stalker.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir, I do. I wish I didn’t.”
“I’m sure,” he said. “So, what’s the current situation?”
“We’ll fill you in as soon as everybody else gets in here,” Cage said.
Hank nodded. “Well, that’s good timing. I’m glad I called.”
“We are too,” Cage said. “We can use all the suggestions you might have to find out who this person is and stop him.”
“Hopefully before Hank brings his wife and children out,” Swede said.
“That’s right,” Cage frowned. “You’d planned on coming out for the grand opening of the Colorado division of the Brotherhood Protectors.”
“Yes, and my wife has decided that she wants to come, and she has some friends there in Colorado she’d like to invite to the opening celebration.”
In the next few minutes, everyone filed into the conference area of the Brotherhood Protectors. Jake and RJ entered with Max and JoJo right behind them. Gunny was the last to walk through the door.
“Who’s minding the bar?” RJ asked.
“I put my customers on an honor system. What’s going on?” he asked. “Emily, are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Things are just heating up and getting even closer to home,” RJ said.
“Tell me about it,” Gunny said.
“And by the way,” Swede interrupted. “Everybody say hello to Hank.”
Everyone turned at the same time and waved.
“Okay, shoot,” Hank said. “What’s happening?”
Cage laid it out for them from the beginning when Emily received the rose on the seat of her locked Jeep to the roses delivered to her room at the lodge. “At first it seemed like a simple secret admirer, leaving a gift of a rose and a piece to a poem,” Cage said. “But now we add breaking and entering and damage to the Watering Hole.”
“And pretty violent damage to your truck,” Emily said.
Cage’s mouth firmed into a tight line. “The dude had to be angry when he destroyed my windshield.”
“He must feel like you’re a threat to his relationship with Emily,” Jake said.
“Relationship?” Emily said. “I haven’t encouraged anyone.”
“You didn’t have to.” RJ snorted. “Apparently, this person is obsessed with you.”
“Emily,” Hank said. “Swede tells me that you’re a psychologist at the VA hospital.”
She nodded. “I am.”
“Is it possible your stalker might be one of your patients?”
“It could be,” Emily said. “Right now, I haven’t a clue which one.”
“I understand you’re regulated by HIPAA regulations, but if you have any concern that some of them might have had a criminal record related to violence, you might look at them first.”
“I’ve only just begun going through my files.”
“I can help you with background checks,” Swede said.
Emily nodded. “I understand, but I can’t just hand over names of my patients. It puts me at risk of losing my job and my license.”
Swede nodded. “Anytime you need help mining data bases, just let me know. I’ll set you up, and you can do your own background checks.”
“I appreciate that,” she said.
“We also understand that he sent you a recorded message. If you want to give Swede your phone, he might be able to backtrack through phone records and find out who sent it.”
“Please, by all means.”
She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and handed it to Swede.
“No guarantees,” Swede said, “but I’ll give it a shot.”
“In the meantime, you need to tighten security around the lodge,” Hank said. “Jake, how’s it going on hiring the two new people you interviewed?”
“Heard from them today.” Jake smiled. “They both accepted the offers.”
“Good to know. The sooner they come onboard the better. Swede,” Hank asked, “have you got all the exterior security cameras up?”
Swede nodded. “I have, and they’re fully operational around the lodge.”
“You need to add them to the bar.”
“Already started this morning. I should have them operational by this afternoon.”
“Good,” Hank said. “We need to do our best to catch this bastard as soon as possible.”
Swede nodded. “And we need to do that before you, Sadie and the kids arrive.”
“Agreed,” Hank said. “And by the way, Kujo, his wife and baby are coming as well.”
“Is he bringing Six?” Swede asked.
Hank grinned. “Yes, he is. We’re all coming on the same plane.”
“Good to know,” Gunny said. “I’ll be sure to set aside rooms.”
Emily shook her head. “I can’t stay here.”
Hank frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“If we don’t find this guy by the time your people come, I can’t be here. It puts everybody else at risk. And you’re talking about small children…? I’m not going to put them at risk. I’ll go stay at my apartment.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Hank said. “We’ll have enough people there to protect you and our families.”
“I don’t feel good about this,” she said. “It’s me he’s after, but he’s impacting the people around me. I don’t want anybody else hurt.”
“You can’t stay at your apartment,” RJ said. “It’s not safe.”
“You have to stay here,” Gunny insisted. “We won’t take no for an answer.”
“Wait.” Emily held up a hand. “You’re all making these decisions on my behalf. What about what I want? Does that even matter?”
“Of course it matters,” RJ said. “But your safety is important to all of us.”
