Page 37 of Hiding Rose
Niko stood. “Here’s what we know. The flower was mailed from the mainland three days ago. He used a flat rate box, because he could purchase the postage online from a public computer. When the flower arrived here it went through our mailroom, and they asked one of the new pool boys to drop it at your office on his way by.”
“Which is why I didn’t recognize him,” Sawyer interjected.
“Was it mailed from Snowberry?” I asked.
Niko shrugged. “No, it was mailed from California, even though the return address was Kansas.”
“Wait. He was in Kansas and then went to California?” I asked as Sawyer’s arm tightened on my waist.
“He used a fake address in Kansas,” Niko explained. “If you ship flat rate you can print the label and drop it at any post office. What he didn’t think about, or care about, was the package would be scanned at the post office he dropped it at, which was in California.”
“It doesn’t matter where he mailed it from though, does it? If he mailed it here, he knows where I am. For all we know he could already be here.”
All their heads bobbed in unison. “Too bad you’re smart,” Niko quipped.
We all chuckled, which broke the tension a little bit. I held my hands up and shrugged. “I think we all knew this day was coming.”
Gideon rubbed his temples. “We did, but after all these months, it’s hard to jump back into the high alert we were in back at the beginning. We did finally track down his finances, though.”
“He had a good job, but I’m not sure he would have had access to the money if he had to leave Snowberry,” I said.
Niko set a folder down on the table. “I did some digging and found his bank accounts. He couldn’t make withdrawals since the cops were looking for him, so he had to have worked odd jobs as he traveled from the Midwest to the West Coast. Once he got to California he went into a branch of the bank from Snowberry and withdrew all his money. It didn’t matter if he popped up on the radar in California, he would be gone before they could find him,” he said, throwing down a photo on the table.
I stumbled backward and Sawyer caught me, tugging me up tight against him, his arms around my waist. “You’re okay. He’s not going to hurt you with all of us here to protect you,” he whispered.
Niko grimaced. “Sorry, I should have warned you. I wanted you to see what he looks like now.”
I held my hand close to my mouth and glanced at the image. I avoided his eyes and concentrated on the rest of him. “He bleached his hair and grew a beard. The beard could easily be changed back and forth, and he has an earring in the left ear, which he could take out.”
Niko was writing as I spoke. “I’ll add all of that to the description I’m putting together.”
“Why a description?” Sawyer asked.
Gideon answered instead of Niko. “We know he was in Cali three days ago and withdrew enough money to buy a ticket here with no problem. He probably drove or jumped a bus directly to Seattle and flew over, or is in the process of doing it.”
Niko nodded. “Exactly. I have to assume he’s going to show up here. I can’t say when. He might decide to taunt you more, which only helps us if he does. If you get any more packages, emails, letters, or anything you aren’t sure about, don’t open them. Give them to me, Gideon, or Sawyer. In the meantime, I’m going to take the first image you gave me, and this image, and make a flyer with his information.”
I shook my head back and forth hard. “No, I don’t want anyone here to know,” I whispered.
He held his hand out to calm me. “Don’t worry. I’m going to give one to every employee and tell them he’s a scam artist. If they see him I’ll instruct them to call law enforcement and follow him at a safe distance until security can take over. It’s our only chance to get him before he gets to you.”
"We have to be proactive, Rosie. I don't want to see you hurt again," Gideon said
"Which is why we think you should stop working until we find the guy," Kate finished.
I swung my head back and forth like a pendulum. "No, absolutely not. We don't even know if he's going to come here. I could be sitting around for months. I'll go crazy. He's stolen enough of my life. I don't want to give him endless more hours of it."
Kate frowned. "I understand how you feel, but..."
I waved my hand. "No buts, Kate. You need me here right now getting the center ready. I'll do whatever it is you want me to do to stay safe, but I won't stay locked up in my apartment."
"You said no buts," Kate joked, even though I could see she was genuinely worried.
Sawyer spoke next. "Gideon, can Mr. I.T. and Flynn wire a closed-circuit camera in here? If they could, even temporarily, and in her office, security could keep eyes on her at all times."
Gideon looked to Niko who nodded. "Great idea, we need a system for the center anyway. We can hook it up without installing it until the center is complete."
"What about when she's walking between the office and center?" Kate asked. "She's vulnerable with her crutches."
