Page 80 of Trust My Bodyguard

Callum smiles slightly. “Yes, she is.”

Ivy appears over my shoulder. “Hi, Callum.”

“Ivy.” His brows lift. “I had no idea you were there.”

“Oh, I am.” She moves past that observation quickly. “Where’s Iris?”

“She’s at my house. She’s safe. No one knows she’s there apart from the sergeant keeping an eye on her.”

“Good.” Ivy nods. “Crams?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” She drags a chair over and places it next to mine, taking a seat. “What happened with the shooter? Was he found?”

“No, unfortunately, he was long gone by the time the cops got there. They tried to ask around but his trail was cold.”

Ivy sighs, her shoulders sinking. I wish it were that easy too. I wrap an arm around her shoulder and give it a quick rub. Callum’s gaze shifts and I realize he’s looking at where I’m touching her. I have no urge to back down.

He blinks and refocuses on our faces. “Not to worry. They were able to take the bullets back to ballistics and run some tests. They came from a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm.”

“How does that help us?” I frown.

Ivy turns to me. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“An M&P 9 is a very common gun. Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can get their hand on it. A rarer, more sophisticated brand would be easier to track.” I turn to Callum. “So it doesn’t help our investigation now, does it?”

“Sure, anyone can get it, but it lets us know we’re dealing with an amateur.” He pauses. “A better trained shooter with a better gun wouldn’t have missed, Brody.”

That’s true. I didn’t consider that. All I thought about was finding the shooter and closing down on this as fast as possible. “You’re right. It’s a good thing then that they were lacking.”

“Uh-huh,” he says. “The fact that he only fired two shots is also suspect.” He addresses Ivy. “You said you locked the door after you entered your apartment and he didn’t come after you again, right?”

“Right,” she says.

“Why did he stop?” Callum says.

“Maybe something spooked him,” I say.

Ivy glances at my profile before looking at Callum. “If the bullet was lodged in the door, maybe he saw that he couldn’t get in and it would be pointless trying.”

“Or maybe he could have actually taken the shot and he was just trying to scare you.” Callum rubs a thoughtful finger on his chin. “Anyway,” he snaps out of that thought, “we are not sure yet. After canvassing the area and trying to track where he came through and how he got into the building, we have a theory.”

“Let’s hear it.” I sit forward.

“We don’t think Iris is the only target.”

His words ring in my head. I slowly turn to Ivy. With her dark green eyes and lush brown hair. This shooter is after her life, too?

“How…” I clear my throat. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“If this person wanted to get to Iris, why wait until after she left?” Callum says.

As I’m still considering this, Ivy speaks up. Her voice is unsteady. “Could it be that they just got there? Iris and I take walks to the diner in the evening sometimes. They may have assumed we’d be going together.”

“Someone who’s coming with the intent to kill must have been staking out the place. A neighbor from across the road thought they’d seen a man walk down the street a number of times that day.”

Ivy looks at me with wide eyes, hugging her arms around herself.

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