Page 92 of Stormswept Colorado

Made me think, oh-so-briefly, about what I would’ve done if I were in Silver Ridge. Like stop by the station to bring him dinner. Massage those tense shoulder muscles, kiss away his pensive expression…

I shook off that sliver of fantasy.

Another window popped up on the video call, and River appeared. He was wearing black-framed glasses, and it looked like he was in a dark apartment, his face lit by the glow of his computer. We greeted each other, and then River got right to his news.

“I’ve been working on tracking the sender of the email you received, Ayla. As we discussed in Hartley.”

I nodded, remembering the creepy message from Biggest Fan and the attached photo of me shopping on Main Street. “You found something?” I prompted.

River adjusted his glasses. “It’s taken longer than I would’ve liked. Your stalker took some elaborate steps to hide his identity.There are anonymizing programs you can download on the dark web, and unfortunately they’re easy to access. But after a lot of tracing back through different servers, I narrowed down his IP address to the west side of Los Angeles.”

I blinked, feeling that knowledge sink in.

Teller had a more obvious reaction, his fingers running through his hair and roughing up the short strands. “So he’s definitely in LA?” Teller asked. “Not Silver Ridge?”

“When the stalker sent the message, he was in LA,” River clarified. “Ayla, if he writes you again, I’ll be able to get a more current location, and hopefully I can narrow it down further. I’d rather the guy leaves you alone, but the more data points we have, the better. I’ve been monitoring the email account you showed me before. I assume he hasn’t tried to contact you some other way?”

Teller looked at me like he wanted to ask the same question.

“No contact at all,” I said. “Nobody on my team has mentioned anything either.” I hadn’t given my new security guys or Cheryl the exact details about the stalker, but if something suspicious had come up, they would’ve mentioned it.

Then my mind backtracked over what River had said. “Wait, you’ve been checking my email?” I asked. I rarely used email for anything. Definitely nothing sensitive or personal. I didn’t really care if River or Teller could get into the account. But I was still surprised. “I thought I was supposed to let you both know if the stalker wrote me.”

River shrugged. “I maintained my access to the email account so I would be able to keep an eye on it. If you’d rather I don’t do that…”

“No,” Teller cut in sharply. “We shouldn’t change anything at this point. River’s already made progress. If the stalker writes back, then River should be able to run with it immediately.”

“Fine by me,” I snapped. But my insides were all bunched up, and I didn’t even know why.

River’s eyes darted over his computer screen, his gaze dancingbetween me and Teller. After a pause, he said, “Okay then. I’ll let you know if I find out anything else.”

“Thanks, River.”

“Of course, Ayla. Have a good night.”

River’s window disappeared, but Teller’s stayed. His hand rubbed over his jaw. “You’re upset about the email thing.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Butsomethingfelt weird. “It just would’ve been nice to know that you could access my account.”

“I haven’t been reading your email, if that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t have access to it.”

“But you knew River did?”

“I…yes. I figured.”

I wasn’t even mad about the email. I didn’t freakingcareabout email. “It just makes me feel like you don’t trust me to make choices for myself.”

“Of course I trust you to decide things for yourself. I know I don’t have any right?—”

He cleared his throat. Color had crept into his face beneath his late-night stubble.

“I should’ve mentioned it,” he finished. “But you’ve been busy, and I can’t imagine how stressful it’s been for you lately. Still not knowing who the stalker is.”

I shifted, unable to get comfortable. “I guess. I’ve had a lot to focus on.”

---