heck of a coincidence, I’ll admit, but ruling out something just because it’s unlikely isn’t good practice either.”
It sounded scripted because it was. Caleb had had the misfortune of being partnered with Neil Stewart before Jazz had moved to Overlook. He was a man who thought so squarely inside the box that, to him, even attempting to think outside of it was criminal. Caleb had told him over and over again to look from all angles and not just one. Neil hated the advice. To say the least, he and Caleb hadn’t had the best of partnerships. The several complaints Neil had had filed against him for “conduct issues” had put a definite strain on them before Neil had finally transferred out of Overlook.
“But they sent an email to me,” Nina said. “If they took the picture because of opportunity then they sure committed to making it personal really quickly.” She pointed to the timestamp of the email. “I wasn’t even back for an hour when it came in.”
“There is that,” he conceded. It didn’t feel like a random, spur-of-the-moment thing. Still, that didn’t mean it wasn’t.
“It could have been a prank, too,” he had to say. Nina scowled and he held up his hand to stop her from attacking. “I’m not saying it’s a good one or one that should be taken lightly. But, as pretty as Overlook is, it’s dreadfully boring for the younger demographic. One time Jesse Langford stole a surveyor’s reel and a garden roller from the local hardware store and made crop circles out near the county line in Dresser’s fields. Because, as he claimed, there wasn’t anything to do in town that got his blood pumping.”
Nina stood tall, leaving only the smell of her shampoo to linger, and went around to the front of the desk. She balled her fists on the top of her hips.
“That email reads a lot more sinister than crop circles made by a bored teenager, don’t you think?”
Caleb stood, still trying to show he wasn’t trying to offend her or make light of the situation.
“I just meant that we don’t know what this is yet.” He grabbed his cowboy hat and held it against his chest. “But I promise you I’ll find out. Okay?” Nina considered him a moment before nodding. “Now, I’m going to head out to the trail and see if our photographer isn’t still out there. Are you doing anything in town today or hanging out here for a while?”
“I can stay here for now,” she decided quickly.
Caleb nodded and put on his hat. He asked for her phone number and immediately called it. Nina saved his number.
“Call if you get another email or anything else happens that seems out of the ordinary. I’ll come back by when I’m through.”
Nina thanked him but before he could clear the doorway she called his name. Her eyes bore into his with a new intensity. Caleb was caught off guard once again.
“That’s my work email for the Retreat. I’ve only used it for, and given it out to, shop owners and a few people around the ranch. It’s not even on the website yet.”
She didn’t say anything more. Caleb didn’t respond. They both already knew what that could mean.
Nina had already met whoever had taken her picture.
* * *
THE OFFICE DOOR remained shut and locked. Not that it made much of a difference if it were unlocked or even wide open. From the two large windows that sat behind her desk, she could see if any cars approached. Still, she felt better for throwing the deadbolt as soon as Caleb had left. The mysterious photographer hadn’t had a car outside of the trail that she’d seen when she’d first arrived. He hadn’t needed it to do what he’d done.
To spy on her, to take advantage of what she would have sworn was a private moment.
The email stayed open on her computer but she didn’t want to use it. Not until this person was caught. Instead, she spent the time between Caleb’s departure and when she could see his truck kicking up dirt along the road when he returned trying to stay on task. She double-checked events the town had going on through the next half year as well as notes for suggested events for the Retreat. They were already booked through the first month but she didn’t want a slump in reservations soon after.
The need to succeed pulled at the center of her gut.
She wanted to help put the Wild Iris Retreat on the map. Even if she’d rather spend her life beneath that same radar.
Caleb parked out front and took a second to finish up the call he was on. He leaned against his truck, cowboy hat in line with the angle of his head tilt, brow drawn in and a frown darkening his expression.
He was a relative stranger to Nina. She’d caught him at the stream. He’d admitted to knowing the area and the trail by heart. Knowing where she worked and getting access to her email address would have been easy and more than plausible.
And yet...
Nina had believed him.
He wasn’t the person who had taken her picture and, what’s more, he’d been just as surprised at the email as she had been. Angry, too.
She bit the bottom of her lip in thought, watching his concern through the window. Caleb had certainly been a different kind of surprise, that was for sure.
He was handsome. There was no doubt about that. A cowboy who wore the title of detective well. Imagining him sitting behind a computer or sleuthing through a crime scene with a gun at his hip and a badge at his belt was as easy as picturing him out in the fields with the horses or down at the docks with a fishing pole. It was an interesting dynamic Nina hadn’t thought to put together.
Though it certainly fit the attractive, strong-jawed man currently concentrating on a conversation she couldn’t hear.
It was almost a pity when he finished it and headed to the Retreat’s front door, ending the small show he’d unwittingly been giving her.
“I didn’t find any clues other than some footprints and broken twigs and disturbed ground near the stream.” He greeted her as she opened the office door wide. Caleb had already pulled his hat off and had it tucked against the side of his leg. “Whoever they were, once they got back onto the main trail I lost them.”
Nina rolled her bottom lip over her teeth. She didn’t know which she preferred, no clues at all or inconclusive ones.
“Don’t worry,” he continued. “I’m not going to just let this go away. Do you mind if I get on your computer to look up the IP address of the email that was sent?”
Nina didn’t mind in the least. She waved him toward the desk and stepped aside. Beads of sweat ran along his neck. It seemed like morning had turned into late afternoon in the blink of an eye. A hot one, too, by the looks of it.
“Could you also make a list of everyone you’ve given your email address to?”
“I’m not the greatest with names yet,” she admitted, a bit of heat pooling in her cheeks. “But those I can’t remember I’m sure I could point out.”
He fell into the office chair, eyes already narrowing in on the email.
“That works out fine. I can just fill in the blanks,” he said offhandedly. “Overlook
