Page 61 of Mine to Keep

The back door opened, and Four and Gabe walked in.

“How’d it go with Aziza?” JJ asked.

“Good.” Four walked to where we were, his eyes going to the note. “The stalker?”

I nodded. “Yep. Left it on my car this time.”

Four hummed.

“What is it? You hummed.” JJ pointed at Four.

“Nick is a threat. An obstacle. If I were them I’d kill Nick, make Matt vulnerable and needy, and swoop in.”

We all froze and stared at Four.

“What?” He shrugged as he stole a cookie from the tray.

“That’s a dark assessment.” JJ looked at me with wide eyes.

“Yes, this person is escalating.” Four narrowed his eyes at the note. “It’s a woman.”

That, once again, had us all still as glass. “How do you know that?” I wondered.

He pointed to the note. “The note. I studied handwriting. This is neater, more rounded, and decorative. Not an exact science, but I’d bet it was a woman. Men write sharper, hurried, larger lettering.”

“So you’d say this was a woman?” Shep put the bowl on the table.

“I’d focus there, yes.”

“But the bagger bike belonged to a Greg Morgan. He never reported it stolen. When I tracked him down, it wasn’t on the property. He’s well…a man, not a woman.”

Four took a bite of his cookie, slow-blinking at me like I was an idiot. “You already know it isn’t him—otherwise, you’d have killed him and this would be over.”

“He doesn’t fit, and I did some background. He’s obsessed with cats to a very unnatural level. He’d more likely be stalking Matt if he had one just to steal it.”

Four nodded. “Why would a person buy a bike but not have it on them? Does he pay the insurance and payments?”

“He does.”

Four shrugged. “I was never the brains of an operation, just the weapon. But I’d focus on Greg Morgan. He’s letting someone use his bike.” He walked out to the front of the store, and I stared in the direction he’d gone.

“Did you really never bother to find out who was using his bike?” JJ scrutinized me.

“And who would that be, JJ?”

“Who is in his life?”

“Cats…for real. He works and goes home to his cats.”

Shep furrowed his brow. “Cats are cool.”

I sighed. “This isn’t helping. I’ll cover lunches for everyone; then I gotta get home to dig.”

I went to the main area, where Four was smiling at Lizzy. I’d never seen him look so happy. She was going on and on about this band she’d seen, and started singing songs when he said he wanted to hear.

I backtracked into the kitchen and pointed the way I came. “Four and Lizzy?”

JJ laughed. “He is crushing hard.” He placed a hand on his heart. “It’s so sweet.”

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