Page 44 of Hero's Prize

“Escalation,” Callum muttered without looking at Rick.

Rick snapped three times and then pointed his fingers at Callum. “Yes, exactly! The stalker is obviously escalating. I have a lot of theories. Maybe it’s someone who knows Colton. Right? An ex-girlfriend or something. That would make sense. Or?—”

Callum stepped back from his study of the note that was pinned to the door with the knife.

“Nick—”

“Rick,” the other man corrected, “but it’s cool, man.”

Callum gave a tight nod. “Rick. Look, you’ve obviously given this a good deal of thought.”

Rick nodded, fairly buzzing with excitement. “Yeah, I have. I really have.”

Callum slapped him on the shoulder. “I need someone like you, someone who has really thought through this situation, to be a sort of unofficial deputy for me. Do you think you’re up for that?”

Rick’s eyes got wide. “Yes. Yes, sir. I definitely am.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m wondering, since you’re so close with this case, if you’d be willing to walk around the property and look for anything out of place. The stalker had to get here somehow and maybe left a clue that could help us. Would you be willing to scour the area and look for anything you think might be of any importance?”

Rick took a step back, still nodding. “Absolutely. You can count on me. Do you, like, need to swear me in or anything?”

Callum shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary for this. And I don’t want to waste time. Time is of the essence, right?”

“Yes, sir. Yes, it is. I’m going to start right now.”

Rick bounded off the porch.

“Be thorough and methodical,” Callum called out. “Start very far back and work your way slowly closer.”

“Yes, sir!” Rick didn’t slow down as he said it, running around the back of the house.

Callum crossed his arms over his chest once Rick was out of earshot. “Okay, now we can try to figure out what’s going on here.”

Colton chuckled. “You got rid of him on purpose.”

Callum shrugged. “That kid has way too much energy, and I need to think.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him to get lost?” Tony asked.

“Kill two birds with one stone. Maybe he’ll actually find something useful. You never know.”

The older man was astute, Colton had to give him that.

“Is that what you were doing that time Mrs. Boyd’s dog got lost, and we all wanted to help you find it?” Colton could remember Callum lining them up and assigning them all sections of town to search.

“Did we find the dog?”

“Yeah.”

Callum grinned and looked years younger. “Then I stand by my methods.”

They all turned back to the embedded note on the door, much more serious.

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, Sheriff,” Colton said. “Not right now, not while the camp is going on. Those kids are what is important.”

“Understood. This has nothing to do with them, and the Linear Tactical property is expansive enough that there shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Rick was right about one thing he said.” Tony pulled his ever-present digital notebook up so Callum could see it. “There have been multiple letters, and this really does seem like an escalation.”

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