of thought.
“Cy? Are you still with me?”
“Yeah.”
“I was just saying I can’t wait to hear your difficult answer.”
Neither could Cy, but this was pure business and that was the way it would stay. “Got to go. Thanks for your help. I’ll catch up with you later at the office.” He clicked off and stood to greet her. “Good morning. How do you feel?”
“Thanks to you I was able to go right to sleep.”
“That’s good news.”
“But I bet you didn’t get a wink.” Her eyes had filled with concern.
“I’ll make up for it later. Sit down and I’ll serve you breakfast.”
“I could smell the bacon. I should have gotten up to do it. Fixing food for me isn’t your job.”
“But you need more sleep than I do after what you’ve been through this last month.” He put a plate of food in front of her and poured coffee for both of them before sitting down.
“Thank you, Cy.” She ate a piece of bacon. “Yum. Crisp, just the way I like it. Were there any more phone calls from him after I went to bed?”
Cy eyed her directly. “He rang on the half hour eight times. I let it ring every time. Your marriage announcement has set him off, exactly the reaction I’d counted on.”
“Did he leave messages on the voice mail?” There was a tremor in her voice.
“Yes, but you don’t need to hear them. I’m taking your laptop and phone into the lab today, but I’ll bring them back.” The stalker probably had a stack of prepaid phone cards, but there might be a time when he had to use a pay phone that could be traced.
Her brows furrowed. “You think they’re too awful for me to hear?”
“No. They were more of the same. He was ranting like before.”
She sat back in the chair. “Then you really didn’t get any sleep.”
“I’ll catch up today while you’re at the ranch. Someone on the team will be monitoring you every time you leave your condo. A member of the crew will follow you. If you have any concerns, call me on your parents’ phone. This is my cell number.” He wrote it on the paper napkin.
“While I clean up the kitchen, I’d like you to get on your laptop. Post a new message on your blog. Say that you’ve read the messages and you’re overwhelmed by all the good wishes. Then start to read any messages that have come since last night. I’m curious to see if he’s posted anything. It’s my hope he’s so angry he might explode and give himself away.”
As he cleared the table, she reached for her laptop and opened her blog file. “I don’t believe it! Hundreds more messages have been added since last night.”
“That’s not surprising. Your online tips about barrel racing have won you a loyal audience. Everyone’s intrigued about your new relationship.”
She lifted her eyes to him. Along with her silver-gold hair, her eyes were a deeper blue this morning and dazzled him. “The fans want to hear about you, not me. If they knew you were one of the Sons of the Forty, they’d go crazy and you’d be forced to go into the witness protection program.”
With those words his pulse sped up. “Hiding out with you is virtually the same thing.”
He loaded the dishwasher. Cy had been a bachelor for so long in his own house, he was used to doing his own cooking and housekeeping. He felt right at home in her kitchen. “Why don’t you start reading and see if there’s a message that strikes a different chord with you?”
“It’ll take me some time.”
If they’d met under different circumstances, nothing would have pleased him more than to have whole days and nights with her with no life-threatening issue to deal with. But he had a case to solve and needed to get to headquarters pronto. As he was finishing up, he heard her cry out in alarm.
“What did you read?” He walked over to the table and stood behind her so he could see what had disturbed her. In looking over her shoulder, he could breathe in her fragrance from the shower.
“It’s this one sent at eight twenty this morning.”
“That’s when the phone calls stopped. Read what it says.”
“‘I bet you’re making it up that you have a husband. Why do you enjoy being a tease? No one would watch you in the rodeo if they knew you were such a liar.’” She let out a quiet gasp.
Without thinking, Cy put his hands on the back of her chair. He could tell she was trembling. “I’m going to stop him, Kellie. This morning he made his biggest mistake so far by posting this message on the blog. When I’m at the office, we’ll trace it to its source. With every misstep, we’re closer to catching him.”
She nodded without turning around. He quickly removed his hands and walked over to the kitchen counter where he’d put her phone. He heard her chair legs scrape the tile and turned in her direction.
“I know you’re anxious to get going, Cy. I’ll run upstairs for my purse and leave for the ranch.”
“I’ll walk you out to the garage.” While he waited for her, he put her phone in his pocket.
The door to the garage was located at the other end of the kitchen. He unlocked it and turned on the garage light where her white Toyota sedan stood parked. He and Vic had checked it for fingerprints yesterday.
When she came out, he opened the driver’s side door for her. Once she was inside, he asked her for the remote. “I need it to get in and out with my own car. I’ll let you in when you come back from the ranch.”
Her eyes played over him as she handed it to him. “Where is it?”
“Parked around the block. Try to enjoy the day, Kellie. You’ll be constantly watched. Call me from your parents’ when you’re ready to come home.”
“I will. Have a good day yourself. Be careful,” she whispered.
He took a quick breath. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“But I do, and I will.”
It had been a long time since a woman he cared about had been concerned about him. Her unexpected smile revealed the spirit inside her that had dominated her life and made her a champion. He admired her passion for life.
As she started the engine, he pressed the remote so the garage door would open. After she’d backed out, he retrieved his phone and alerted the surveillance team that she was leaving the condo.
Once he couldn’t see her, he hurried inside for her laptop and the bagged letter. After he had everything he needed, he left through the garage, closed it with the remote and walked down the alley to the end. Eight-foot-high heavy-duty vinyl privacy fencing ran the length of the alley to separate the backyards of another set of town houses. It was a gorgeous
