Page 12 of Bridles and Bribery

“Lemme guess,” Dave cut in. “The Prophet?”

“Bingo.” Gil pointed at him with both forefingers. “How did you hear about it?”

Dave mimed zipping his lips closed. “Attorney-client privilege.” A potential client, at any rate.

“Anyhow,” Gil continued in exasperation, returning his attention to Jillian, “The Prophet might be nothing more than a hashtag. A joke, basically. Not a real person. Just astupid idea someone pulled out of the air and thought it would be funny to make it go viral on social media.” He dug his own cell phone out of his pocket and waved it at her. “If you google it, you’ll find all sorts of bizarre memes flooding the Internet.”

Jillian looked puzzled. “Memes about what?”

“Mostly threats about crimes yet to be committed, which is why the police are calling him…or the idea…the Prophet.” Gil shook his head in disgust. “Not sure why anyone ever thought a prank like that would be funny.”

Dave jumped back into the conversation. “According to one online article I skimmed, a few pranksters have taken it a step further and started texting threats to individuals.”

“Like me.” Jillian pointed at her cell phone that he was still scrutinizing. She looked pretty unnerved by it, and he didn’t blame her.

His eyebrows rose at the amount listed in the ransom demand she’d received. “Looks like we can make all of this go away for a measly one million dollars. Good to know.”

“I’m so sorry, Dave,” Jillian babbled in distress. “I don’t know how I got on this person’s radar. I don’t make many online purchases and?—”

“Don’t you dare apologize!” He ran his hands up and down her arms to soothe her. Pregnant women didn’t need this kind of stress, did they? “Nothing about this is your fault. Not one blessed thing.” He gentled his voice. “I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you or our baby, you hear?”

She nodded, still looking pale.

He took a screen shot of the ransom demand, then forwarded it to his cell phone for good measure. “To make things even weirder about the whole situation, I’ve got anold friend on hold. She claims her family has been receiving grisly messages, too.”

“More ransom demands?” Jillian squeaked.

“Death threats, actually.” He shot Gil a grim look over her head.

His friend scowled. “All feathers and no chicken?”

Dave slowly shook his head. “Unfortunately, this one comes with a body. Might be a suicide. Might be something else.” He was beginning to fear it might actually be something else.

Gil gave a long, low whistle. “If that’s true, it may be the first prophecy that came true.”

Dave was thinking the same thing. He spread his hands. “I won’t know unless I take the case.”

“Of course, you’re taking the case!” Gil looked at him like he was crazy. “Why wouldn’t you?”

Dave blew out a breath. “It would require flying to Dallas tonight, and we’re supposed to start our honeymoon in the morning.”

“It’s definitely not ideal.” Gil ran a hand through his hair, tousling it in all directions. “But someone’s threatening Jillian and the baby, the police aren’t taking it seriously, and this case could be your inside ticket to what’s really going on. Can you honestly affordnotto take the case?”

“Good question.” Dave felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on his chest as he caught and held Jillian’s gaze. “Any chance you’d be willing to give me a raincheck on our trip to Hawaii? We might have to delay it for a few days or even a few weeks.” He’d purchased refundable tickets, so the dates could easily be adjusted.

“To be honest?” Her voice had a suspicious catch in it. “I’d rather wait and go to the beach when I’m no longer pregnant.”

That was over three months from now! “Really?” It didn’t sound like her sentiments on the topic had anything to do with the case. They were purely female. How had he missed this?

“Really.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I didn’t want to say anything before, because you were so excited about our trip, but…” Her voice dwindled uncertainly.

I’m an idiot.He gave a mirthless guffaw. “I take it you don’t relish the idea of being in a swimsuit while five-and-a-half months pregnant?”

“Or in the middle of winter,” she added wryly. “I’d much rather go next summer, hire a babysitter, and enjoy our honeymoon alone. Just the two of us.” Her voice grew shy. “If that’s okay with you?”

“Uh…yeah. More than okay.” Just the thought of having her alone like that made his heart thump harder. He let out a resigned breath as his last excuse for not taking the case went up in smoke.

“Guess I’ve kept my client on hold long enough.” He reluctantly left her side and returned to his desk to lift his phone to his ear. “Are you still there, ma’am?”

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