Page 54 of Splintered Memories
He glanced my way. “Roman called me.”
“When?”
“Not long before you texted us to meet you here.” His hand moved from his jaw to his hair, where he gently pulled on the wavy strands. “He noticed something weird on the front porch.”
I shook my head, having a hard time grasping new information. We hadn’t slept all night and the exhaustion mixed with the shock and adrenaline was starting to get to me. “Something weird?”
Graham looked back at Emersyn. “There was a pile of paper butterflies. Half of them were burned up, but some remained. It was as if someone had just bumped them. Some had even blown out across the lawn.”
Butterflies.
Beside her, Lark’s face drained of color.
Emersyn looked up at that. Our eyes met, and something heavy, like dread, seeped into those green pools. My chest constricted with the knowledge of what that meant. The only thing it could mean.
“Butterflies are the Shadow Stalker’s calling card.”
Graham gave a solemn nod. “Unless either of you have a good explanation for them being there, whoever did this wants to give the impression that the Shadow Stalker was involved.”
Emersyn shifted on her seat.
“Do you think that he did this or not?” I couldn’t tell by his statement what he believed.
Graham’s lips thinned, his gaze still on Emersyn. “I don’t know.” He sounded equally frustrated and intrigued. “From all accounts, this isn’t how this perpetrator works. He had an MO that he’s rarely deviated from.” He stepped closer to Emersyn, and she looked at him for the first time, as if she’d just noticed he was there. “What is it about you that would gain this much attention from him? If he is behind all these attacks on you, why?”
Emersyn didn’t answer.
Lark inhaled a shaky breath. The conversation about the Shadow Stalker had to be hard on her. He had claimed to be her father, after all.
“It should be me,” Lark breathed as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Reid’s grip on her knee tightened. “No.” He shook his head. “None of this is your fault.”
Lark bit her lip.
“I don’t know about that.” Graham shook his head. “The only reason the Shadow Stalker would go after someone is if he saw them as a threat. Lark, you’re his flesh and blood, according to him. In his twisted mind, you’re his legacy. He wouldn’t hurt you, if he had any other choice.”
Graham sounded completely sure of himself. It was a theory I’d heard months ago when we were assessing Lark’s safety risks, and so far, Graham had been right.
“He sees Emersyn as a threat,” I said. “He has to. She’s been going after him on her podcast, making video after video on him. It makes sense that he’d want her to stop. Maybe she’s getting closer than she realized.”
“Could be.” Graham nodded. “I’m not sure why he’d do it in this way, though. Why give her warnings? Why risk going into her house that islittered with cameras and alarms to burn the place down on the chance that she’ll die? Why not stick to his usual ways of operation and kidnap her, ensuring that he achieved his goal?”
Lark flinched at the word kidnap. Reid stood from his chair and sat on the arm of the couch next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
No one answered the question. We all sat in an ominous silence.
Graham was right. It didn’t make sense. We were missing something.
After everything, I wasn’t sure where to go from here. I scrubbed a hand over my forehead where the headache in my temple had spread. Maybe all I needed was some sleep to give my brain a fresh start.
As if sensing my thoughts, Emersyn spoke. “I’m tired.” She looked at me; a flash of pain crossed her face as if something occurred to her. “I—I don’t know where I’m going to sleep…”
I pushed off the wall I’d been leaning on. “You can stay here, if you’d like,” I said without hesitation. My house was about half the size hers had been, but it was safe here. Secure. “Or,” I continued, not wanting her to feel trapped, “you’re welcome to stay across the street at the bed-and-breakfast.”
My parents lived in a large Victorian home that they had turned into a side business after all of us kids had left the house. I’d bought the house across the street purely because it was close to the Heartstone office and convenient.
“You are more than welcome to stay with us, too,” Lark offered.
