Page 49 of Montana Heat

Jensen noticed. In his quiet way, he reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze, like a physical reassurance to pull me back to the present.

“Hopefully this is good news.”

“I hope so too.” I wanted nothing more than to be able to get back to my life.

I looked down at where our hands were entwined. But maybe that wasn’t so true anymore. Maybe there was something I wanted just as much as I wanted to put all this behind me.

This man.

We arrived at the ranch and went straight into the office, finding Jude, Liam, and Lucas already in the room. Jude was at the computer and ready to share the information on his screen with us.

He got right down to business. “I haven’t had much luck with the El Camino, but I was able to trace that direct message you got the first night back to an IP address at a hotel in Denver.”

I narrowed my eyes on the location he zoomed into on themap. It was a national chain, huge, but nothing particularly memorable about it.

“I know that hotel, to be sure. It’s on the west side of town, closer to Boulder. But I’ve never stayed there. I haven’t dealt with the property for work either.”

Jude pursed his lips. “Okay. I was hoping you’d be familiar with it.”

“So, the stalker was staying at that hotel when he sent the message?” Jensen asked. “That would narrow down our search considerably. Hopefully Watters can issue a warrant for credit card receipts.”

Jude looked back at the screen. “Nope, not a guest. The IP address isn’t conclusive, but it looks like the message came from an employee computer.”

“An employee?” I asked.

“That’s why I was hoping you’d stayed there before or maybe gave one of your seminars there.”

“No.” I would’ve remembered if I had. “Most of my work is on the other side of town.”

“Regardless, we’ve got pictures of hotel employees for you to look though.” He started clicking on the keyboard and brought up another set of files. “See if anyone stands out.”

There were hundreds of photos. Jensen whistled. “That’s a lot.”

Jude nodded. “I know. And even more because I’ve also included vendors the hotel deals with that might have access to their computer system. We’re looking mostly at the men and anyone with records, but you should still glance at all of them.”

“Okay. I’ll do it.” If this was a lead, I’d do whatever I could to see where it took us.

For hours, I looked through picture after picture of the people who currently worked there or had any tie to the hotel. A couple of faces stood out. They were vague, but I felt like I’d run intothem before somewhere with the seminars and the courses I offered. I mentioned it to Jude, who then started to gather more information on a different computer.

But I wasn’t very hopeful. I wasn’t even sure I’d met them before.

“Did you ever research using this hotel for one of your seminars?” Jensen asked as he placed another cup of coffee in my hand. It had been a long evening, and my eyes were starting to cross from looking at so many pictures.

Jensen had stayed by my side the whole time. Talking things through with me when I needed it. Rubbing my neck when it had gotten stiff from holding it one way for too long.

I shook my head. “Not at this specific location. Why?”

“I was just wondering if a random inquiry about costs or dates might have put you on the stalker’s radar.”

“No. Although I can check with my team. I wouldn’t have been the one to do that early legwork. If the hotel was out of our price point or didn’t have availability on the dates we needed, I would never have heard about it.”

“It’s worth a try. Anything is worth a try at this point.”

“It just all feels so much more personal.” I set the coffee down and leaned back in the chair. “And impossible.”

Jensen was standing behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I leaned my cheek onto it, needing the connection.

“I know it does. But don’t give up hope, okay? We’re going to figure out who this guy is and make sure you’re safe again.”

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