Page 66 of Locked In Ice

She could not take her gaze off the flowers.

“I think at this point,” Lane continued in a voice gone grim, “it’s safe to assume that you were absolutely right.”

She reached down and touched one of the blue petals.“He wants me to know it’s him.He wants me to know what he’s doing.”The petal broke beneath her fingers.“He will be killing again.”

And we have to stop him.

***

“I need access to her phone records.”Ophelia unlocked the door to her PI office.Second-story office in a converted warehouse.The first floor was a bar.One that was busy as hell at night, but quiet as a mouse during the day.That was why the place worked so well for her.She saw her clients during the day.And during the night, she was out hunting so she didn’t care how loud Beau and his crew at LeBlanc’s became.

The rental rate was cheap because of the bar and because the owner owed her.Plus, she got a beautiful view of the river.A view that she normally loved.But at that moment, her emotions were too tangled for her to appreciate it.She rushed through the small waiting area and hurried into her office to see—

She stopped.

Froze.

Went absolutely ice cold.

“Uh, Ophelia?”Lane said from behind her.His fingers brushed over her shoulder.“Something wrong?”

About a million things.But the currentthingwould be…

Ophelia stepped to the side so he could see what had snagged her attention.“I can assure you,” her voice came out surprisingly steady, “those flowers should not be on my desk.”

But there they were.A clear vase full of water and blue flowers.Flowers that she now knew to be Forget-Me-Nots.

“Sonofabitch,” Lane snarled.

She could have echoed him.Would have, but she was already rushing across her office and snatching up the small, white envelope that lay nestled amidst the petals.No writing on the outside of the envelope, just like at Marjorie’s.But when she opened up the envelope…

Ophelia swallowed.You won’t stop my work this time.And she finally did echo Lane.“Sonofabitch.”

Chapter Fourteen

“That’s a threat, Ophelia.”Fury flooded through Lane, but he thought he’d done a fairly decent job of keeping the emotion from his voice.

But when Ophelia slanted him a fast, searching glance, Lane realized that—maybe—he’d let the fury bleed through.Too damn bad.He was currently furious.Fucking fucker.

Someone had broken into Ophelia’s office.

Someone he suspected had not only murdered Thomas Bass but also followed Ophelia all the way home.I think he murdered Thomas because of Ophelia.I think everything the prick is doing is because of her.

If that didn’t spell obsession, Lane didn’t know what the hell did.

“He’s not saying he plans to kill me.”She put the envelope and card down on the desk.

“He’s saying you won’t stop him.That means he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure you don’t get in his way.”Tension knotted at the nape of his neck.“That’s a threat, Ophelia,” Lane repeated.“Just like breaking and entering is a threat.Just like stalking you back here is a threat.Everything he is doing is a threat.”

She stared at the card.“Gonna get it dusted for prints.The vase, too.”Her head lifted.“There was no sign of breaking and entering at my office door.The alarm wasn’t triggered.”

“Because he knew how to get past your security.”Problem.

“And that tells us something about him already, doesn’t it?”

It tells me he’s dangerous as hell and knows how to get to you.What if the guy hadn’t come to her office?What if he’d gone straight to her house?

I would have been there waiting.“Definitely staying with you,” he swore.“From here on out.No hotel.”

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