Page 55 of Another Postcard

The only answer I could come up with was to find out if my suspicions were correct. We had a few days until our next gig. I needed to go home and see Baylee. Maybe I could fix the whole thing before he even knew about it all. There had to be some kind of explanation. Baylee wasn’t the kind of person who could send these threatening letters. She had the biggest heart of anyone I knew. Unbidden, odd little memories snuck into my mind. Things I could have misinterpreted, her response to my relationship with Levi, especially when she caught us kissing… No. It had to be something else.

I jumped from the bed, grabbed my suitcase and set it on top, then started throwing my clothes inside.

31

Levi

“What the fuckis so important that you had to drag me out of bed at seven fucking thirty in the morning?” I groused when Noah opened the door to his suite. He said nothing, simply opened the door wider so I could come in. When he’d called, he’d been serious and adamant that he needed to see me right away. His lack of smartass comment was one more indication that something was very wrong. I became even more concerned once I got a good look at him. He appeared ruffled, suit jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, his hair a mess, obviously, the victim of his hands running through it.

Our security team was standing around the living area, faces grim. Cooper sat on one of the couches in much the same state. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration and stomped over to drop heavily into a chair. Noah walked to Cooper, took a file from him and tossed it to me. I caught it and leaned back in my seat, opening it. On top of a stack of papers was a postcard. I picked it up and lifted my head, looking at Noah and Cooper. “This is the one from Vienna, right?”

Cooper nodded. “We gathered all of the ones that were postmarked after we fired Cecily and filed the restraining order. We’ve had someone watching her as well, they aren’t coming from her.”

I’d figured that was the case. Focusing on the folder again, I went to the next document. It was a list of addresses, dates, and times. Again, I met Noah and Cooper’s gazes, this time simply raising an eyebrow in silent question.

“Those are the dates, times, and post office locations for the last several notes,” Noah explained. “There is one that has popped up more than once lately. Four times, in fact.”

Studying the list, I noted the matching post offices and suddenly realized why they were significant and my attention flew back to Noah. “This is near where Baylee lives.” His head bobbed in the affirmative. “Is this person stalking her to get to me?” Fear for her iced my veins. She had become special to me and not only because she was Brooklynn’s sister. Damn, Brooklynn would fucking kill me if Baylee was in danger and I’d never forgive myself if she got hurt because of me.

“Look at the rest of the folder, Levi.” Cooper rubbed two fingers from each hand on his temples.

I shuffled the top paper to the bottom, revealing a black and white, grainy photo. “What’s this?” I picked it up, bringing it closer to my face and squinting to try and see the image clearer. A dark-haired woman was dropping something in a mailbox.

“Keep going,” Cooper encouraged sounding as tired as I felt. The next photo wasn’t much better as far at the grainy quality, but the woman had turned around and her unknowingly faced the camera head on. “Those photos are stills from the security footage of the post office.”

I blinked a couple of times, then rubbed my eyes, unbelieving of what I was seeing. “That looks like Baylee.”

“She’s on the security tapes for this post office, always dropping something in the mailbox on days and times that match the postmarks for the postcards mailed from that location.” Noah started to pace the small seating area, his hands buried in his pockets.

“Is this someone pretending to be Baylee?” I was wracking my brain to find any other explanation than the one clawing to the front of my mind. “It couldn’t possibly be Baylee.”

“I talked to the employees personally,” Luca broke in, speaking for the first time. “They know Miss Hawk well and confirmed her identity.”

Cameron spoke up. “The best we can figure, she’s been sending them on day trips, but when you replaced Miss Turner and ended her excursions, she began mailing them all from her nearest post office. It looks like she slipped her companion while they were at a bookstore.”

“We’ve already taken steps to have her checked into a hospital,” Noah added. “But, we decided to wait until Luca flew in this morning with concrete evidence. We thought it would be best if you were the one to break this to Brooklynn. Penny helped us get things in motion and she’s still keeping an eye on her, she’ll be a liaison for Brooklynn.”

Fiery anger at Baylee shot through me but it was quickly extinguished by an icy feeling of dread. It spread everywhere and chilled my heart. What was this going to do to Brooklynn? She’d already blamed herself for this situation when we’d thought it was Cecily. I dropped the folder to the floor beside me and leaned forward, my elbows on my knees as I scrubbed my face with my hands. “Fuck. I don’t know how I’m going to break this to Brooklynn.”

“It’s your call.” Cooper mirrored my stance, his greenish blue eyes meeting mine, filled with sympathy. “If you want us with you, we’ve got your back. If you want to break the news alone, we’ll wait here in case you need us to step in with the evidence. Chances are that she won’t believe you at first.”

I shook my head. “I need to do it alone. Can I take the folder?”

“Yes.”

Noah stopped pacing near me, his face a mask of sadness mixed with frustration. “Make it clear that no one blames her. We’ll do anything we can to help her with this situation. Just”—he broke off and swallowed hard—“let her know we’re. . .here for her.” He was letting his feelings for Brooklynn bleed through, but I didn’t have an ounce of jealousy at that moment. I was too consumed with the task ahead. And, I knew exactly what he was feeling, except in my heart, it was exponentially magnified because my feelings for Brooklynn were more than a crush.

“I’ll make sure.” I gathered the papers that had spilled out when I dropped the folder before standing. “If you don’t hear from me in a half hour, you can stop waiting around. If something comes up later, I’ll call you.”

Cooper stood as well, walked over to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Another thing, her contract is not in jeopardy. Emphasize that.” He removed his hand and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. I jerked my chin up in acknowledgment and strode to the door.

Sasha was standing in the hallway when I exited the room. “Do you want me to go with you?” she asked softly. I cocked my head to the side, giving her a questioning look. “Cooper was in the process of lecturing me about something or other I’d done wrong again—whatever. I wasn’t listening anyway. When he got the call from Noah, I eavesdropped and put together a vague idea of what had happened by his half of the conversation.”

I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks. I’ve got it for now. She might need some reinforcement that we are all behind her eventually though. I’ll call you guys when she’s ready for it.”

“Okay.” She leaned against the wall, twisting the strands of her long red hair nervously.

I was never more grateful for the bond between me and my band mates. We loved and supported each other and Brooklynn was a thread in the woven fabric that made up this little family. Which meant, we did the same for her. “Thanks.” She shrugged with a small smile, brushing off my thanks, making it clear she thought it was unnecessary.

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