Page 56 of The Murder Club

“Yes.” She tilted the phone so he could see the screen. “This time he sent a picture.”

Dom was momentarily baffled as he took in the image of a bedroom. There was no one in the picture. Just a bed with a wooden headboard and a matching dresser. Then he noticed the open window with blue-and-silver-striped curtains that were blowing in the breeze.

Striped curtains he easily recognized.

“Shit,” he muttered. “I’m going to search the house.”

Bailey grabbed his arm before he could turn away. “Take Ernie with you.”

He glanced toward the dogs, who had easily sensed his tension and gone from goofy to vigilant as they pressed near Bailey. Touching the larger of the two Labs on the head, he murmured the word “Come” and headed toward the back door.

Tapping the code into the keypad, he entered the house and made a quick investigation of the downstairs before heading up to the spare bedroom Bailey had chosen to use when she arrived yesterday. Ernie dashed forward, jumping on the bed and regarding him with a curious expression. Obviously the dog didn’t sense an intruder. Still, Dom wasn’t satisfied until he’d searched through every closet and bathroom and under each bed. He even crawled into the attic to make sure no one was hidden among the empty boxes and leftover building supplies.

At last satisfied that whoever had been in the house was gone, Dom returned to the backyard.

“Nothing,” he assured Bailey.

Her features were tight with fear. Or maybe it was annoyance. “How did they get in?”

Dom considered the question. There was a fence around the large property, but it would be easy enough to climb it. And it was isolated enough that no one would notice if they were sneaking around. No, wait. It might be isolated, but it wasn’t unprotected.

“We can find out,” he assured Bailey, turning to lead her into the house. “Kaden had security cameras installed everywhere.”

Walking through the kitchen, they battled past the dogs, who continued to vie for Bailey’s attention as they entered Kaden’s office. The room was as large as the kitchen, with a row of windows that overlooked the lake and cabin that they were building to serve as Lia’s private office. As if Kaden needed to be able to see where his wife was spending the majority of her time. Dom suddenly understood his friend’s obsession. Being with the right person filled a void he hadn’t even known he possessed. He didn’t doubt it was exactly the same for Kaden.

Moving toward the desk near the windows, Dom opened the laptop. Then, logging on with the password his friend had used for years, he pulled up the security footage, rewound it back seventy-two hours, before pressing fast forward.

Bailey pressed next to him as they studied the small squares where the images from the various cameras flickered on and off. Most of the cameras were motion activated, with only the front and back doors recording 24-7. They watched as deer and racoons strolled around the empty pastures along with the dogs and occasionally Dom roaming in and out of the house. Two deliveries arrived at the front gate and the trashman drove past, reminding Dom he hadn’t remembered to set out the cans. Something he’d deal with later. And eventually Bailey arrived with Bert and Ernie.

“There’s no one,” Bailey muttered in confusion.

Dom was equally confused. “I suppose a talented hacker could have erased any evidence of their trespassing.”

She furrowed her brow, obviously sifting through the various possibilities. “Or maybe there was no trespassing,” she slowly suggested. “At least not today.”

Dom released a breath that hissed between his clenched teeth. Of course. Why hadn’t he noticed it when he first looked at the picture?

“You’re right. This was taken before I came to Pike,” he said, his voice sharp with annoyance.

She looked surprised at his absolute conviction. “How can you be sure?”

“Lia mentioned they’d been late in getting into Vegas because a painting had arrived that she’d bought when she was in Paris and she wanted to hang it in a spare bedroom before she left,” he explained.

“Oh. The one of the Champs-Élysées over the bed. I noticed it when I was unpacking my case,” Bailey said, fumbling to pull out her phone to study the image sent in the text. “You’re right. The painting isn’t there.”

“The question is, how did anyone get a picture of this room before either of us arrived?”

It wasn’t the only question on Dom’s mind. He was far more worried about why the stalker had sent it, not how he’d gotten it. But it was easier for them to figure out the how.

“Lia and Kaden have both been fanatical about avoiding all social media,” Bailey agreed. “But it’s possible that someone else might have posted pictures of the property. There were dozens of workers around here during the construction of the house, plus, there were a couple of interior decorators. And then they hosted the wedding here. It wasn’t large, but there were caterers and florists.”

Dom slowly nodded. It might have been bizarre to suspect random construction workers or caterers of taking pictures of a client’s place and posting them online, but Kaden was famous. It would be human nature to want to brag that they’d been working for him. Or just to share the inside of the beautiful home that very few people ever got to see.

“There was also a photographer,” he reminded her.

“Lia will have a list of who she paid, both for the building of the house and the vendors for the wedding.”

“True.” He’d only known Lia for a few months, but he’d already discovered that Kaden’s new wife was not only a financial wizard, she planned and organized everything down to the smallest detail. It was a trait he admired. “And each file will be color coded in alphabetical order with names, dates, and the amount they were paid and their eye color and birth date.”

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