Page 78 of Locked In Ice

His phone vibrated with the incoming text.Why are you keeping secrets from Ophelia?Memphis wanted to know.

That was simple.He actually did think there were good people in the world.Ophelia was one of those people.And he would do whatever it took to keep her safe.Because I need to protect her.His response to Memphis.

Ophelia was one of the good people in the world.Inhisworld.And he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.

No one hurts Ophelia.Not on his watch.

***

Lane shut the door of his guest room.He pulled out his phone and dialed Memphis as he paced toward the balcony.The French doors were closed, but he could easily see down to her garden.A bright explosion of colorful flowers greeted him.

Damn if the sight didn’t make him want to smile.

The phone rang in his ear.

His breath slowly exhaled.

Ophelia was still downstairs, so he had a little time.They’d made a pitstop on the way to her house.His new tux waited on the bed.

The phone rang a second time.

“What the hell is happening?”Memphis blasted before the phone could reach the third ring.“I barely leave you alone at all, and now I’m hearing about a dead body?Already?Ophelia was supposed totrainyou.Not link you to another murder.”

“Relax.I’m not linked to it.”Not anymore, anyway.“She’s my alibi.”

“You needed an alibi?”

Yes, okay, he needed to get the other man to focus.“You ever heard of the Forget-Me-Not killer?”

A sharp inhale.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Lane stated.

“He’s a myth.”A stilted response.“Someone you use to scare the predators.The boogeyman for the monsters.He’s not real.”

You don’t need to cover, Memphis.I know the truth.“According to Ophelia, he is.Real and very dead.”

“If he’s dead, then why are we talking about him right now?”

Lane turned away from the garden and let his gaze sweep toward the closed bedroom door.Why the hell did he feel guilty for talking to Memphis about this?“Thomas Bass had a string tied around the ring finger on his right hand.”

“So?”

“So, again, according to Ophelia, that was the Forget-Me-Not killer’s signature.”

“Fuck.”

“Indeed.And the fact that Forget-Me-Not flowers were left in her office today?Well, you can see where I might be feeling a little on edge.”

“They were left where?”

“Inside her locked office.Oh, and some were delivered to one of her clients.Granted, I am the new Ice Breaker.I don’t have all the crime-solving and criminal-hunting experience that you possess, but, to me, those are some seriously waving red flags.”

“I’m coming to you.”Immediate.“I can give you backup.Whatever you need.I am on my way.”

“No.We’re leaving first thing in the morning.”Because Ophelia was determined.“We have a job tonight, but we’ll head out early on a return trip to Atlanta.We want to talk to the ME who worked on Thomas.We also want to search the guy’s house.”

“Uh, can’t help but notice that I sure am hearing a whole lot of ‘we’ talk.”

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