Page 52 of Instinct & New Identity

“Officer,I’mnot sure how this man found them, since nothing regarding them can be linked to this address,”Itold him. “Iwas very certain not to put their names on anything tied to this location, and my business partner,Wade, who isVal’semployer, listed her address as aPObox we have for the company.”

“It may have been a bit of an educated guess on the delivery person,”Jackanswered as he walked into the room. “Sanditold us the delivery guy, and he may be just that—a delivery guy and not associated with the threat itself—showed her the delivery order form was written in pen, and part of it was smeared, so he didn’t knowCat’slast name or unit number.Sandi, recognizingCat’sname, helped fill in the other information.Though, she didn’t let him upstairs to deliver it, rather just signed for it and kept it at the front desk.”

That clarified a few things, but not all of it.

“But he still knew her first name,”Ipointed out.

“Which is whyI’dlike to reach out to your person at theMarshal’sService,”OfficerHesssaid. “Doyou mind if we call him now and fill him in?I’dlike to get his take on a few things.”

“I’ve got it,”Valsaid, pulling her phone out from her pocket.

We spent the next twenty minutes filling in theU.S.Marshal,AdamKeys, and answering his questions.Afterwe’d given him everything we could, he took the number forOfficerHessand promised to get back to us after he made a few calls.

Just as he ended the call with us,Axeland another officer,Iwas assuming was the partner, walked into my place and joined us in the living room.

The two officers had words withAxelwhileIfocused onCatandVal.Thetwo sisters sat on the couch, whileIwas on the ottoman in front ofCat.Iused that proximity to study her face.

“How are you two holding up?”Iquestioned them, then grabbedCat’shands, which were clutched tightly in her lap.

“I guess fine, all things considered,”Valanswered somberly.

“Same,”Catresponded a little softer. “Thoughalso a little angry, too, becauseIthought this was over.”

I understood her frustration.Iwas pissed too.Pissed, they were found.Pissedthey were scared.Pissedthat my date night withCatwas ruined now because of this.Iwanted to take this burden away so she didn’t have to worry about it in the future.

“We’ll get this figured out,Kit-Cat,”Itold her quietly, and whileIdidn’t know how yet,IknewIwould do everythingIcould to make that statement the truth.

Both officers walked back over to us, and the partner approachedCatandVal.

“My name isOfficerGreer, and my partner filled me in on whatImissed, but nowI’dlike to show you ladies the photo of the man who delivered the note and see if either of you recognize him.”

“I thought he was just a delivery person?”Catquestioned the officer.

“It’s likely that’s the case, but we’d like to cross ourT’sand dot ourI’sto be sure,”OfficerGreerresponded.

He pulled up an image of the man’s face as he handed the box of chocolates toSandi.Itwas a bit pixelated since it had to be zoomed in quite a bit, but it was still clear enough to see some distinctive facial features.

BothCatandValtook turns looking over the photo of the man, but both shook their heads in the negative.

“No, never seen him before,”Catresponded.

“Same,”Valalso replied.

“I know it’s a long shot, as this man is likely just the messenger, but we’re going to take the candies and the card down to our forensics department to see if they can get any prints off them,”OfficerHesssaid.

Val’s phone rang, and she looked down to see who it was.

“It’sKeys,” she blurted out.

“Put it on speaker, please,”OfficerHesspolitely requested.

Val swiped it and let theMarshalknow he was on speaker phone, listing who all was in the room.

“Right,Imade some calls,”Keyssaid, getting right into it without the pleasantries. “Eventhough all the original perpetrators are dead, it’s possible other members of the gang may be usingCatandValas a way to bring themselves up within the ranks.Showingloyalty, even to past members who were wronged, can bring you higher up in rankings.”

A few curses rang out from the room, one of them from my own mouth.

“I’ve called two people we have in your area, and they are going to be there in about half an hour to get you to a secure location temporarily.We’llput you back in protective custody until we can figure a few things out.”

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