Page 34 of Island Refuge

“Your clothes were—”

She bolted. To her credit, she deftly tiptoed around the chaos to get to the bedroom. But the sound she made when she got there surprised him. No tears or fear, it was fury, pure and simple. She cussed a blue streak, but she didn’t touch a thing.

Standing in the doorway, her face was flushed with temper. “I heard you ask your assistant for clothes.” Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath, clearly struggling for control. “This?” She flicked a hand toward the mess behind her. “This was just mean. Rude.”

He hoped that was all. Profiling wasn’t his specialty, but he’d seen some dark and unpleasant things during his career as a protector. And that apparent mean streak bothered him.

The money tied up in the theft was motive enough for the thief’s persistence. But if they were dealing with a personal issue as well, they needed to find that connection ASAP.

The soft knock on the door had to be Jess. He opened it to see Will Frasier right behind her, holding a bottle of wine. “Thanks for the invite,” Jess said brightly. “We can’t wait to catch up.”

When the door was closed, the mood shifted immediately.

“Thanks for coming so fast,” Travis murmured.

Jess and Will took in the scene in silence, then stared at each other for a long moment.

“Comprehensive,” Will said.

“Mean,” Lila said. “The bitch shredded my clothes.Allof them.”

With a silent look, Jess and Will split up, Jess going to the bedroom with Lila and Will staying with Travis.

Will grilled Travis about the situation, start to finish, including Lila’s admission about her parents and why she couldn’t bear lying to Connie. “She shared a lot with the man whoisn’tthe boyfriend.”

He nearly admitted how much he wanted to be. That was between him and Lila. “Part of the protection plan,” he said.

“Uh-huh.” Will shook his head and took more pictures. “I’ll get someone in here tomorrow to dust for prints.”

“Good.” Travis tucked his hands into his pockets. “We have a new room ready.”

“Your group is efficient,” Will muttered. It didn’t sound like a compliment. “Girl should be with her grandmother.”

Travis rocked back on his heels. “You’d rather have them dealing with this alone?”

Will glared. “Hell, no.” He aimed a finger at Travis. “But you’re trouble.”

“True.” The older man had a point. “I am sorry for it.”

Jess walked out of the bedroom, Lila in her wake. Both of them looked grim. “We found a note,” Jess stated.

“Wedged into the lining of my suitcase.”

“A place where someone would’ve hidden stolen items?” Travis asked.

Lila shrugged. “I suppose.”

Jess, wearing gloves, held up the note. “Return what’s mine,” Jess read aloud. “Last ferry tomorrow. Cooperate or things will get messy.”

“Like this isn’t messy.” Lila grumbled.

Travis worried that whoever was doing this knew the best way to manipulate Lila was through the only family she had left. He glanced at Will and Jess and realized they’d come to the same sour conclusion. Thankfully, no one voiced any concern for Connie, but Jess did send him a text that she’d get protection in place.

“We’ll walk you to your new room,” Jess said. “We can trade keys there.”

“All right.”

“What about tomorrow?” Lila wondered.

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