Page 31 of In Too Deep

“Ms DuLoe, I presume?”

“You presume correctly. What do you need from me?”

Blake eyed her warily, clearly not having expected her to be so cooperative. She ignored him.

“I’d like for you to take a look around and see if you can spot anything out of the ordinary in this mess.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Well, I meanwhorewasn’t exactly a provocative art choice of mine.”

A slow nod was his only reply as Rose moved a little farther into her rooms, trying to look past the destruction for anything missing or notable while trying to remain detached from the destruction that seemed mostly focused on the lounge and kitchen area.

“Have you noticed any unusual activity recently aside from the recent break-ins?”

This was the question she’d been dreading most, because it made her feel like an idiot. Like she’d put Maia in danger and if she’d just been a little smarter then she could have figured this out before now. “I only recently got back into town. There was a note waiting for me on the counter that I assumed was from Maia, but I realized last night that she hadn’t yet arrived back into Cincy in order to leave it for me.”

The cop's bushy brows rose. “Had you received any prior communication?”

“No,” she hesitated before blowing out a breath. “But I also received some flowers with a note that I attributed to Mr Blake, and a message was left for me atThe Hummingbirdearlier tonight.”

“I didn’t send you flowers,” Blake said, his face darkening in either worry or anger.

The cop nodded. “Is there a reason you waited to report this?”

Her hands clenched as she fought to keep calm. A lecture really wasn’t what she needed right now. She knew she’d been blind and stupid, but why would a stalker be her first thought? Or even her second? “I didn’t deem it anything of importance before tonight.”

“We’ll need to collect the messages as evidence.” That’s what she had been afraid of. If the press got their hands on the note about Blake… she sighed but murmured her agreement. The flowers were likely still in the trash.

“I expect this to be handled with discretion,” she said, and he nodded.

“Is there anything else that stands out as odd to you either in the suite or otherwise?”

“Like I told Mr Greene after our first break-in – the only thing that might be different is the potted plant outside that Louis bought, but it could have been there for ages as I don’t often take the stairwell.”

“I didn’t buy that plant,” Louis said, his hands trembling finely until Noah took them in his.

For a moment they all stared at the innocuous-looking leafy plant, potted in a cheery peach planter. Then the officer seemed to leap into action as if he were coming back to himself.

“I want that plant checked for bugs and camerasnow, mark it,” he said, waving the photographer over, “dust the pot for prints too.”

One officer bent over after the photographer had snapped several shots, rustling the leaves of the plant as he searched through and came back with a small, square device that had the moisture leaving Rose’s mouth as she tried to swallow.

“Fuck,” she said, and four sets of eyes looked at her in apparent shock. “Is that a camera? How the hell did someone bring a whole damn plant up here?”

“Looks like it,” Noah said grimly when the officer in charge remained silent. “I’d wager it doubles up as a bug too. This guy obviously has access to the suite somehow.”

“So he’s been watching me? How many times do you think he’s gained access to the suite?” Had he been in there when she had? Lurking around the corner? Watching her sleep?No, breathe.She was just freaking herself out needlessly. Her earlier tide of shock still floated somewhere on the outskirts of her brain but her hands were steady, her voice even as she breathed out slowly. “So we’re assuming that this person is the one who got caught climbing out of the elevator, right?” She could only handle one crazed stalker at a time.

“I think it would be foolish to presume otherwise.” The officer in charge scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Given that we know for sure there was at least one bug here, I can’t allow you to take anything but essential medications from the suite, Ms DuLoe. We don’t know what else he may have planted.”

It was the second time in as many hours that she’d had her life upended. First by a stalker mad at her for fucking Blake, and secondly by the cops dictating what tiny pieces of her life she could reclaim back. “Sorry, officer,” she said, her icy calm starting to crack as a deluge of anger rolled in. Anger that this had happened in the first place, rage that she was going to have to rely on Blake whom she hated, helplessness about being uprooted, her security damaged, her safety compromised. “Remind me, who exactlyareyou?”

The man stiffened, his jaw tightening as his steely gray eyes fixed on her. “My apologies, Ms DuLoe. I’m Detective Jones. I’m leading this investigation.”

Blake’s hands were atop her shoulders in a flash, his fingers clamping down tightly on her skin as if to restrain her from pouncing on the man. What was her life turning into? “Get your hands off me,” she said icily and Blake laughed quietly as he stepped away. “Sort out this mess, Detective Jones. Louis, when they’re done, I expect the best cleaning crew you can find up here.”

Both men nodded tersely and Rose didn’t bother to look back as she made for the elevator, coming to an abrupt stop as Jones stepped into her path. She gave him her best haughty look, sneering down her nose until he stepped aside. Maybe she was a brat, but she’d had adayand it was only going to get worse.

“I assure you, Ms DuLoe, we’ll catch our guy. Fast.”

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