Page 16 of Nikoli

"Leave that to me." Rosie starts typing on her phone as I hug a trembling Willow.

"I wonder why he sent me the message now." Willow shifts into a sitting position.

"You moved on to Boston, right?" I suggest. "Maybe he just found you."

"Maybe." I can see that Willow doesn't think so. "It's weird that after six months of running, I decided to stay because of you, and now he knows where I am."

"Rhodes and Nikoli, both met him in New York with Sarah." Rosie glances between Rhodes and me. "I wonder if he knew about you and Willow when you met him in New York?”

Tiredly, I say, “I don’t know. However, it would explain the feeling I got when I met them. It was odd.” Pause. “We need to find out what the women Willow works with know. Someone must have handed them the note."

Rosie smiles. "We'll get to the bottom of this, Willow. Dodge is the best."

Rhodes scoffs. "You never give yourself credit, honey." He pulls Rosie onto his lap. "She's good at what she does, too."

11

WILLOW

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask Rosie again. We are outside Evergreen waiting for one of Rosie's colleagues to arrive. I'm nervous about her talking to people I work with. I don't want it to come back to bite me on the ass.

"Chances are they won't know anything. They were paid to deliver the message. They won't have expected you to know it was them." Pause. "Dodge is here. Don't worry, Willow. They won't want the management of this place to know what they've done, and we'll make sure they know there'll be trouble if they don't forget all about it." Rosie grins. "Then we'll go to the arena and see the boys. They'll be coming off the ice."

I raise my eyebrows. "Let me guess, they'll be nice and sweaty."

Rosie chuckles and her colleague raises an eyebrow. "Am I missing something?"

"Nope," we reply. Rosie introduces Levi Dodge to me. The man is tall, broad-shouldered, with blond hair and green eyes. He has a scar across his neck that gives him a rugged look. He winks at me as I stare. I blush.

"Enough flirting." Rosie nudges her colleague. "I think it would be better if we talk to your colleagues while you go visit Nikoli's grandmother."

"I agree." Dodge seconds.

"I suppose."

"I'll tell you everything they say. I promise." Rosie slips her arm through one of mine.

"Wait!" Dodge says. "If we do this alone, we can't be seen with Willow. Might fuck shit up."

Rosie winces and immediately drops my arm. "I'm an idiot." She shrugs. "That's why I usually stay at the office."

Dodge grins. "We'd be lost without you, and you know it." To me he says, "You go in and stay with Martha Southern. Rosie will text you as soon as we leave. We'll meet you back at the truck."

"Okay." I take a deep breath and walk into Evergreen. It's quiet when I do. Only Joyce at the reception desk. I walk the halls, wondering why it's so quiet. It's never this quiet. The residents don't know how to do anything quietly. Even watching television is a noisy event. I poke my head into the media room and a couple of residents are sitting there whispering to each other. I'm about to leave when I spot Martha. She spots me at the same time.

I walk toward her and notice that the whispering has stopped. I pause. Martha has other ideas. She raises her hand in the air and waves me over. She really gets my feet moving. "What are you all up to?" I ask with a frown as I look at the unlikely group of co-conspirators.

"Sit down, Willow." Martha grabs my wrist and pulls me close. "Sit in the corner so you can hide," she whispers.

"What?"

"Shh," they say as one.

I fall into the chair and feel annoyed. "Will someone please tell me what this is all about?" My eyes land on Martha.

"Harold David was found dead."

I sigh. That's one of the downsides of working with the elderly. They die. "That's really sad. I didn't know him that well."

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