Page 67 of Locked In Ice

“Glad we cleared that up.”Her hand hovered over the flowers.“Okay, Mr.Flower Expert.These things in season now?How hard are they to get?”

“They’re in season, and, no, it’s not hard to get them.You can pick them up from any florist or any grocery store at this time.”

“Crap.”

“Right.And if he followed you all the way here, then he could have picked up the flowers at any point.”So narrowing down the location wasn’t going to be easy.Lane could hear the echo of his heartbeat in his ears.“He’s down here, Ophelia.He camehere.”

She hummed.“That means we can catch him much easier.”

“It means he came here for a reason.”Lane was afraid he was looking at that reason.All five feet and six inches of her.And that gorgeous reason looked all cool and confident.Like a dead serial killer just sprang up and threatened her all the time.“Aren’t you scared?”

She turned toward him.“Sam Hitchcock is dead.He scared me because he was trained to kill.To hunt.He was a mission-oriented killer.He thought he was delivering justice, and nothing was going to get in his way.Certainly not little old me.”Her chin tipped up the smallest bit.“Whoever left the flowers is an unknown quantity.A copycat?Someone who might have worked with Sam?Someone who just put all the puzzle pieces together and now has his own mission?I don’t know yet.And I—” An inhale.“I can’t be scared.I can’t afford fear right now.”

Bullshit.

“There’s a security camera downstairs,” Ophelia said as she suddenly snapped her fingers together.“I don’t have one up here because my clients need privacy.But Beau has one downstairs.Actually, he has two.One at the front and one at the back of his bar.I always figured I could use them in a pinch if anything went to hell up here.”

Uh, went to hell?

“This is one of those hell situations.Leave the flowers.Touch as little as you can until we can get a crime tech guy in here.Come on.”She grabbed his wrist and tugged him toward the door.

Lane dug in his heels.“I think you should be calling the cops.”

“I’ll call the Feds.Already texted them a heads-up last night, anyway.But before I reach out again, I want to see if we can recover video footage.Come on.”She tugged harder.

He followed.But Lane damn well didn’t like it.On their way out, Ophelia paused to look at the lock on the door.Lane couldn’t see so much as a scratch on it.“Anyone else have a key to this place?”he asked her.

“Beau does.”

Again with the Beau.

“He has a backup key to my place, and I have a backup key to his.”

Lane’s eyes narrowed at that bit of trivia, but he didn’t speak again, not until they were downstairs and in front of the bar.LeBlanc’s.Graceful, swirling letters etched on the glass near the entrance.He eyed the small security camera to the right of the door.

“There’s usually a bouncer on duty at night, too,” Ophelia explained as she leaned forward and peered through the glass.“Beau is the only one who ever shows up during the day.Heshouldbe here, anyway.”She pounded on the glass.“Yes!I see movement inside.Beau!Beau!”She pounded again.

Lane had also caught sight of a shadowy form moving inside.He tensed right before the door swung open.A male—looked like he was close to Lane’s age—filled the doorway.White t-shirt.Battered, holey jeans.Blond hair that dropped over his forehead.Probably around six-foot-two or three, and the guy’s brown eyes immediately locked on Ophelia.And seemed to lighten.

“Ophelia.”A faint drawl dipped in his voice.“Didn’t know you’d be back in town so soon.”A wide smile curved his lips.“You are looking extra gorgeous today.That red lipstick is always killer.”

“Save the false flirtation, Beau.I need to see your video feeds.”

Beau frowned.“False?That’s hurtful.Wounds my heart.”He touched his heart even as his gaze slid to Lane.His brown eyes immediately went hard.“New friend?”

“New partner,” Lane corrected.

“Really?You took on a partner?”Beau swung his gaze back to Ophelia.“Thought you were always gonna fly solo.Your business, your rules.Isn’t that what you told me once—or was it ten times?”He whistled.“What happened, Ophelia?Did you meet Mr.Tall, Dark, and Moody and you decided to go all in with a stranger?So disappointing.I had such hopes for us.”

“You had zero hopes.What you have are flavors of the week.The day.The minute.You have never been seriously interested in me so don’t pretend otherwise now.”Her right foot tapped.“As fun as this chat is, I am operating under some extreme stress.The video, Beau.”Her voice gentled as she added, “Please.This is important.I need to see video footage from yesterday and last night.”

Any and all humor fled his face.“I’m sorry.I can’t help you.”

“Can’t or won’t?”Lane demanded.He did not like this guy.At all.The dislike had started the minute the man began flirting with Ophelia.

“Can’t,” Beau fired back.“Look, Ophelia, I would give you my right kidney if I could.You know that.I owe you more than I’ll ever be able to repay.But I can’t give you the footage.”

“I willpayyou!”Ophelia offered quickly.“This is extremely important.”

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