by Addison Fox
There was Buster the black Lab, who was even now enjoying life on a farm two counties over. And Sinclair, one of the rare German shepherds not to graduate from the program. He’d been adopted by a teacher at the high school and, through a random act of leash twisting, wrapped her up during lunch one day in the park with one of the mechanics from the Red Ridge Tire and Lube. The three of them now lived happily ever after in an apartment over the garage.
It had been fun and silly and had conjured up memories of Buster and Sinclair and a host of other dogs he’d been happy to see adopted so they could go on to a future that was exactly right for them.
It had also been the antidote to the bad mood he’d walked in with. The gift that had come to the precinct that afternoon had gotten to him and he hadn’t fully shaken it off. He’d own it and admit that, finally, his anonymous gift giver had rattled him. Finn knew he should tell Darby about it, but he hadn’t wanted to spoil the evening.
But now that dinner was done and he wasn’t a liar—or even an omitter—on principle, something urgent nagged at him to tell her.
“Dishwasher is on.” He walked into the living room, amused to see Penny curled up next to her on the couch, the dog’s head in Darby’s lap. “What was that you were saying about her coming around?”
“I guess she has.”
Sheer delight filled Darby’s face at Penny’s closeness. Her smile was warm and inviting, and he felt himself being drawn even deeper into the living room.
Finn didn’t want to break the spell with something ugly and unpleasant, but he also wanted to share it with her. Wanted her opinion and her thoughts.
Wanted her comfort.
“Can I show you something?”
“Of course.”
He crossed to his bag and pulled the heavy box from where he’d buried it in the bottom. The inside of the box was coated with fabric over a layer of protective foam and from it he pulled out the glass heart.
“That’s beautiful.” Her smile vanished, replaced with a frown. “But it’s another gift from Anonymous, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He handed her the heart—the lab had already done a quick overview and confirmed no prints—so he’d felt comfortable taking it with him.
Darby shifted Penny slightly before taking the heart and turning it over in her hands. “It’s not as dangerous as the rose. Nothing sharp or out of the ordinary.” She ran a fingertip over the glass. “It’s smooth. Heavy, too. And expensive, by the looks of it.”
“That was the lab’s assessment when I ran it over.”
“Did they say anything else?”
“Only that there weren’t any prints they could find. One of the techs is going to look into the manufacturer to see if they can find anything. It is Valentine’s Day. Any number of stores could be selling something like this.”
She held it up to the light, turning it back and forth before shifting her gaze once again. “Did a card come with it?”
“Yes.”
He pulled that out of his bag, as well, and held it up. Just like the other gifts, it followed a pattern. The writing was neat and it had been anonymously sent. But, like the rose, there was a sense of escalation in the message on the card.
A heart is fragile, take care with it.
Finn handed over the card.
“How do you take care with something, or someone, in this case, if you don’t know who they are?”
“That’s been the mystery from the first.”
“It doesn’t make sense. If the Groom Killer wanted to taunt you, you’d think there would be a better way. There’s no ownership or bragging over the murders.”
Yet again, her sharp intelligence shone through and he was caught up in the wonder of Darby. He and Carson had discussed the situation, and as trained professionals had come up with the same conclusion.
“It also doesn’t make a lot of sense that my cousin Demi would be sending something like this.” He wasn’t ready to rule Demi out, but it was one more point of incongruity in trying to pin the Groom Killer details on her.
Assuming the two were related.
“No one’s seen the delivery person?”
“Lorelei’s been on the lookout but this was delivered in a stack of packages and it wasn’t until after the delivery man had gone that she even realized it was addressed to me. She followed up with the service but they had nothing.”
“That’s even weirder.” Her hand shook slightly as she handed back the card. “This doesn’t feel right.”
“I know.”
“Do you really?” She gently moved Penny’s head from her lap and resettled the dog on the couch before standing and coming to his side. “Does this scare you as much as it scares me?”
“I’m a big manly man. I don’t scare easily.” When the bad joke failed to make her smile, he went with the truth. “Yeah, it does. More than I want to admit.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Keep doing what I’ve been doing. While it may not be related to the Groom Killer at all, I need to follow this lead. Demi is still a suspect and we’re chasing down whatever we can, but she’s poofed. These gifts are from someone who’s actively taunting the chief of police. I need to work with that.”
“And continue putting yourself out there as bait.”
“Yes.”
It was both statement and agreement. And right now, it looked like his only chance to catch a killer.
* * *
The watcher moved through the center of Red Ridge like a wraith. That’s how she’d always seen herself. Neither here nor there, just a spirit that most people weren’t even aware of.
All her life, that’s how it had always been.
Until she’d met police chief Finn Colton.
He was so magnificent. He kept the town safe—kept her safe—and she owed him a debt of gratitude for pulling her from the abyss. No longer did she lie alone at night in bed, afraid of what lurked in the shadows. Her mom had taught her to be afraid of what hid there but the chief had slowly helped her come into the light.
There was a big world and if the right man was there protecting it, everything would be okay.
He was even going to catch the Groom Killer. He might be short on clues now but she’d been keeping watch for him. She’d pay attention for any changes in town and she would tell him. A concerned citizen.
The only problem was that Gage woman. She put the chief at risk. Made him turn his head away from his responsibilities, and it had to stop.
The watcher drifted to the edge of the town square. Work had already started on the booths and stages for the winter festival. She usually hated the festival. It came right on the heels of Valentine’s Day—a holiday that never favored her—and was always a celebration full of happy families, sappy couples and people out in groups enjoying themselves.
Her mother had called them heathens and it was a term that had stuck. The Red Ridge Heathens. It happened every year, a beacon the town looked forward to in the middle of winter. Because what it really was, after all, was a chance to drink in public and make a lot of noise and ruckus.
Images of those people enjoying themselves made her think again about the chief. He’d been squiring that Gage woman around town and she knew she had to expect he’d come there with her.
Didn’t he care there was someone out there who only wanted his happiness? Who loved him? She’d sent the heart to show him how much she cared. Maybe that would be enough to make him think twice about Darby Gage.
She hoped so.
She continued on down Main Street, the lights from the restaurant windows spilling out onto the street. They weren’t all crowded for Valentine’s Day—another side effect of having a killer on the loose—but there were people out. Couples staring at each other across the table. A few families out enjoying being together.
If the chief would only pay attention to her gifts, they could be sitting there, staring at each other, too. If he only knew how much he mattered to her.
She’d put herself squarely in the Groom Killer’s sights for a date with the chief.
Her gaze caught on the town square once more and she considered what she’d do. The festival would be the place to make her move. To let him know how important he was. To show him they should be together.
She could do it. She could be a heathen, too. Her mother might not approve, but Mother wasn’t here any longer.
It was time to step into the light.
Chapter 17
Darby came awake, the angle of the light shining in the window a surprise. This wasn’t her room.
Where was she?
Before the question could register, a large male arm tightened around her stomach, a lethargic groan emanating from the back of his throat as he pulled her close in his sleep. And then she remembered.
She and Finn had put on their love show for all of Red Ridge since Valentine’s Day. Big, flashy outings around town including a snowball fight he’d initiated at the edge of the town square the night before that had ultimately gotten what seemed like half of Red Ridge involved. By the end, they’d had a laughing pile of people, tired from tossing snowballs and melting snow dripping off their winter caps. Finn had used the moment to his advantage, tackling her in front of everyone and kissing her senseless in the middle of the town square.
Which should have made her embarrassed but had only left a warm, rosy flush to her skin every time she thought about it.
After last night’s snowball fight and dinner at the diner with the rest of the snow battalion, they’d come back to his place and made love.
Which only made her more rosy and even more flushed as she thought about sex with Finn.
He was amazing. He’d unlocked something inside her that she knew she had been missing, but hadn’t realized quite how much. Yet now that he was here, in her life every day, she couldn’t deny how welcome he was.
Which took her right back to being in love with him.
She’d managed to put it out of her mind since Valentine’s Day, but like those erotic flashes of making love with Finn that kept her company off and on throughout the day, her feelings popped in and out, as well. A few days to consider how she felt and let it sink in hadn’t changed her mind. Nor had it gotten much easier to digest.
She glanced down at the large forearm that rested over her stomach, tracing the length of corded muscle with her gaze. He was a powerful man—impressively so. But his strength came not only in the physical but in his ability to practice restraint in equal measure.
He was unfailingly kind to his constituents. Any number of people had stopped him over the past few days and he’d been cordial to all of them. Even his family members who clearly believed it was wrong of him to keep looking toward Demi as a suspect had earned his kindness and respectful, affable conversation. Even his ranting uncle Fenwick—an unexpected visitor to their table the other night as they’d shared a steak dinner—had been met with Finn’s easy manner and efficient competence.
Which only shows how far gone you are, Darbs.
Willing her gaze off the sexy length of his forearm—and, seriously, obsessing over his forearm?—she forced herself to look around his bedroom to distract herself from her thoughts. The warmth spreading through her chest, reinforcing all she’d eagerly observed, needed to be squashed.
Or, at minimum, contained.
For all the time they’d spent together he hadn’t indicated he had any thoughts about something longer term. He said he wanted to try a real relationship, which had been wonderful so far, but what did that really mean? Would he still be with her by spring? Or summer? And what happened once he caught the Groom Killer?
She’d heard stories of how heightened danger could make a person feel intense feelings that couldn’t possibly last. What if that was true for Finn? While she knew her feelings were genuine, what if his were of the moment? How would she ever survive what would no doubt be a major heartache if what was between them suddenly vanished once the lingering threat of a killer was contained? Ignoring the hitch in her throat the thought induced, she focused on his bedroom instead.
Like the rest of his condo, it was small but comfortable, with more than enough room for a single man. He lived in a complex near downtown Red Ridge, which he’d mentioned he’d chosen for the easy access to work.
The warm, overstuffed furniture in his living room was welcoming and lived in, and his condominium felt like a home. A bachelor pad, evidenced by the limited supplies in the fridge and the layer of dust on his bookshelves, but a comfortable home all the same.
“And you accuse me of being a loud thinker.” Finn punctuated his sleepy comment by shifting onto his side and tightening his hold at her waist. He pulled her close in one smooth move, his mouth finding a particularly sensitive spot on her collarbone.
“Good morning.”
“That it is.” He smiled against her skin. “The sun is shining and I’ve got a beautiful woman in my arms.”
“You sweet talker, you.”
He lifted his head, a wry smile tilting his lips. “Is it sweet talk if it’s true?”
She snuggled closer. “I don’t see why not.”
They spent several quiet moments, kissing and touching, wrapped up in each other, when Finn let out a quiet curse.
“What is it?”
“I’ve got an urgent paw in my back that doesn’t care about our make-out session. She wants to go out.”
Darby sighed, knowing Penny and Lucy would need to do the same. Finn rolled out of bed and as she stared at his incredibly attractive—and entirely naked—backside, she acknowledged how morning routines worked at his place. “I guess it’s a bit different having a dog in a condo than letting them out into the backyard.”
That smile was back, deeper and naughtier this time. “My neighbors prefer I wear pants. Since I feel the same way about them, it works nicely. But, yeah, it’s not as easy as just opening the door.”
“I’ll let you get to it, then, and I’ll put coffee on.”
“Deal.”
He dressed quickly and Darby couldn’t quite persuade herself to get out of bed. She watched him pull on an old sweatshirt and gym pants, fascinated by the stretch of muscles before that magnificent chest disappeared under thick cotton. Finn shot her a wink before rounding up the dogs, and she realized he’d been well aware of the show he’d put on.
Their quiet interlude at an end, she sighed and got out of bed. Dragging on the sweater and jeans she’d worn the night before, she padded out to the kitchen in the wake of Finn and three dogs. It didn’t take her long to find coffee in his fridge and filters in a drawer. In short order the pot on his counter was up and running.
Her gaze caught on his workbag, nestled in one of the kitchen chairs. The box holding the glass heart peeked out of the top and she considered it from where she stood. Like a coiled snake, it became her sole focal point as she stared at it across the kitchen.
Although she had nothing to go on, the entire situation suggested a woman. Which was irrational and likely territorial, she acknowledged to herself, but there it was.
The anonymous notes, the deliveries and even the types of gifts. Whatever Finn might be dealing with, Darby instinctively believed Anonymous was female.
She was also certain the sender wasn’t Finn’s cousin Demi. Not only did the presents have an underlying sense of something sexual, which would be odd from a family member, but all Finn’s comments up to now suggested that he and Demi weren’t close. And if they did follow the supposition that Demi had killed Bo in some sort of lover’s rage, why would she suddenly become attracted to her cousin?
Which was when it all clicked.
Hard.
The presents hadn’
t seemed to have anything to do with the Groom Killer because they weren’t about the Groom Killer at all. They were about Finn.
If the escalating notes and gifts were any indication, he was possibly in more trouble than either of them had suspected. Finn and his team were on the lookout for a killer with a gun and a grudge.
But what if the real threat came at him from a direction he’d never even considered?
* * *
Finn laughed as he coaxed Penny into the hallway of his building. Although he had a small fenced patio off his first-floor unit, which he allowed Lotte to use in a pinch during bad weather, he believed it was his responsibility to get her outside to deal with her needs every day. Penny and Lucy deserved no less.
Lotte had long gotten used to a common entryway, but Penny seemed overly intrigued with the setup. Between the smells entering the hallway from his neighbors—including the tantalizing scent of Saturday morning bacon—and the perpetual layer of noise from the elevator, she hovered in a confused haze of activity. She’d raced inside as soon as they’d all finished their outside business, sniffing everywhere she could find and then trotting back and forth from the elevator bank to the hallway and right back again.
“Come on, girl. Let’s go see what Darby has.”
Penny reluctantly followed, her training and obedience taking over, but he didn’t miss the look she shot the hallway over her shoulder.
“Poor thing. Pot roast on Wednesday. Bacon on Saturday. It’s a crazy world.” Those soulful eyes looked up at him in agreement as they walked into his condo.
Penny’s attention shifted immediately and she barked as she ran over to Darby. The swift change in behavior had him following on the dog’s heels into the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”
She leaned against the counter, her arms folded over her stomach, her face pale.
“Darby?”
“The heart. I think I get it.”
“Get what?”
He followed her gaze and saw the box holding the glass heart. He’d been carrying it around, hoping he’d find out where it had come from. But his canvassing of Red Ridge stores, the closest mall in the county and an outdoor shopping district in Spearfish hadn’t turned up a single clue.
