Inspecting the paperwork for the golf tournament, she opened her file drawer. “Oh, my God!” A bloody, dead rat sprawled across her files, dripping red liquid across her hanging folders. Pounding her feet on the floor, she rolled her chair back and let out a piercing scream.
Fear gripped her heart as her pulse raged out of control. Her hands trembled when she reached for the phone, but she didn’t know who to call first.
“Ryan!” A female voice rang out from the hallway. “What’s going on?” Her assistant, Cheryl, bolted through the door.
Ryan ripped her eyes from the nasty thing dangling on the metal file holder. “A rat.”
“A live rat?” Cheryl asked with wide eyes.
Ryan shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. “A very dead one.” She lifted the receiver to her ear. “I’m calling 911. Get Rick.”
A male voice answered.
“Jared?” She coughed, realizing she’d hit star nine instead of 911. Well, he was a cop, so this worked, too.
“Ryan? What’s wrong?”
“I think someone decided to play another prank on me.” Unable to look at the furry beast in her drawer, she stood and moved to the other side of her desk.
“What kind of joke?”
“There’s a dead rat in my desk. I don’t think he crawled in there and hung himself, either.”
Cheryl let out a gasp as she peered over the desk. “That’s disgusting.”
“I’ll call it in and I’ll be there in…about ten.” The line went dead just as Rick flew into her office.
“What’s going on?” he asked with concern in his voice. He stopped and stared into the drawer. “What the hell?”
“I called Sergeant Blake. He’ll be here shortly.” Ryan fumbled her way into the hallway. “Why would someone do something so…so…” There were no words, and no reasonable explanation.
“Cheryl,” Rick said as he paced in the hallway. “I’d like you to call a special meeting and ask everyone not to leave until I’ve had a chance to talk to them. I’m sure the police will want to question everyone, too.”
Ryan squared her shoulders. The thought of Jared questioning all of her fellow employees didn’t help her already fried nerves. He’d be suspicious of everyone. This was not helping her with her plan. She knew him well enough to know that when he was in the heat of a case that was all he could focus on, and that’s not what she wanted. She wanted him naked, not in the middle of an investigation.
She shivered, wondering how her stepfather could have hired someone to do such a despicable thing. All during the trial, George swore he’d get her for ruining his life. This had to be him. Nothing else made sense.
* * * *
The tires on Jared’s patrol car squealed when he pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. How could he leave Ryan alone now? This was the third incident, and he didn’t believe it would be the last. But he swore he’d never let anything stand in his way again, especially with regard to this promotion. Second chances didn’t come along very often.
He’d just have to make sure he took care of it before his two weeks were up.
With his hand planted on his weapon, he pushed back the doors and entered the main lobby. He didn’t remove his sunglasses as the sun shone brightly through all the incredibly tall windows. The plush red carpet sank under his work boots.
“Officer, this way.” A young girl waved to him.
He nodded and followed her down the hallway lined with beautiful picturesque paintings of the lake. Any other day, he might stop and enjoy the pictures, but not when someone was hell bent on terrorizing Ryan and making both their lives miserable.
“Jared,” Ryan said. “Thanks for coming.”
He tipped the brim of his hat, unable to take his eyes off her. She seemed so in control. So capable. She was very much a woman, not a little girl who needed protecting. “That’s what I’m here for.” Being the first on the scene gave him lots of wiggle room to check things out before the sheriff’s office and local PD showed up. There was always that manly pounding of chests where different law enforcement agencies were concerned. But this was personal; he wasn’t about to let anyone else handle Ryan.
He scanned the inside of Ryan’s office. The small space barely housed a desk and a few filing cabinets, but Ryan had put in all her finishing touches, giving the space a cozy feel. Her degree and a few awards hung neatly on the wall. Her spotless desk had plenty of room for a few pictures. He looked at one taken at a party last summer.
“We left the drawer open,” Rick said.
“Who else has been in here?” Jared questioned.
“Just Ryan and her assistant.”
Jared peered over the desk and caught sight of the furry critter covered in blood. “Any rat problems lately?”
“We have monthly checks by an exterminator, and the health department is in here on a regular basis,” Rick offered.
“I take it that’s a no.” Jared checked over the desk before kneeling so he could get a better look at the rascal. The fuzzy brown animal appeared tacky from the half-dried blood. It looked as if the poor thing had been mutilated for effect, then shoved into the drawer. “Ryan have any issues with other employees?”
“Not really.”
Jared lifted his gaze and stood. “What does that mean?”
“She’s a pretty girl. Half the male staff has probably asked her out,” Rick said. “She’s well liked by everyone.”
Ryan’s wholesome good looks only intensified her girl-next-door persona. “Know of anyone who might want to get back at her for something?” Jared rubbed the back of his neck and took a peek out to the hallway. “This isn’t the first incident.”
“Someone’s done something like this to her before?” Shock registered on Rick’s face.
Jared only nodded. He couldn’t give up the details, even to one of his closest friends.
“Excuse me.” A woman peered through the doorway. “There’s another officer here.”
Officer Jenkins and Detective Walter Kent rounded the corner into Ryan’s office. Nick Jenkins no longer sported the standard blue uniform.
“Jared.” Nick held his hand out. “I think you know Detective Kent.”
“You move up the ranks?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, well, got tired of driving around in a patrol car for hours,” Nick said. “Didn’t want to do undercover stuff, so detective seemed like the next best thing.”
“Will you excuse us?” Walter eyed Rick.
“I’ll be in my office if you need me.” Rick stepped into the hallway.
Jared pointed to the drawer.
“Nice.” Walter shook his head. “And this isn’t the first calling card she’s gotten?”
“Dead rose on her birthday with a threatening note, then someone broke into her home and stole all her undergarments,” Nick added.
“She break up with a boyfriend lately?” Walter asked while Nick picked up the rodent and dropped it into an evidence bag.
“Last long-term relationship she had that I know of was about six months ago, but I think that was a mutual split.”
“What about men she’s turned down? Or a woman who might be jealous of her?” Nick asked.
“I don’t keep track of her boyfriends.” Jared felt an unwanted surge of anger course through his veins. He wasn’t sure where it came from, or why. And he sure as hell wouldn’t deal with it, either.
“Well, let’s go talk to her and get a list,” Nick said, sealing the bag.
Jared stood next to Ryan while she answered Nick and Walter’s questions. She downplayed any problems she might have had with past boyfriends and jealous friends, but cooperated fully. Jared promised to fax them a list of anyone who’d had contact with her stepfather on the inside. He wouldn’t rule out George hiring an old friend to scare her. Or worse.
“Want me to drive you home?” Jared asked after the two detectives had left.
“I’ve got some errands to run.” Her usual happy-go-lucky demeanor had been replaced with a sudden sadness in her eyes.
“Please be careful. Call me if something seems out of the ordinary. You’ll probably beat me home, so let yourself into the main house.” Placing his hand on the small of her back, he edged her toward the main doors. “I bet you’d enjoy a nice bath.”
The sun hit his face, along with a gust of warm air that carried her fresh, rosy scent as he opened the lobby doors. Lifting his sunglasses from his pocket, he glanced out over the lake. This would be the first summer in years he wouldn’t be working the lake patrol. It would be the first summer since he’d been a small boy that he wouldn’t be fishing on a Saturday morning.
“I’d love a long, hot bath,” Ryan said, snapping him out of his trance.
Mentally, he reminded himself that his new job would more than make up for losing the scenic beauty of Lake George. Besides, Rochester had a couple of Finger Lakes, and Lake Ontario.
Maybe he could find a nice place on Canandaigua Lake.
“I’ll pick up some steaks for dinner.” He opened her car door. “Call me as soon as you get home. Make sure you lock the doors, and don’t open them for anyone but me.”
“I don’t like being scared. And I don’t like you telling me what to do.” She slammed the door shut, rolling down the window. “I spent the first year George went to jail afraid of my own shadow. I refuse to live like that again.” She squinted at him. “And I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you.”
“I’m only asking you to be safe, babe.” He ran his hand across the back of his neck.
“And don’t call me that. I’m not your
babe.
” She rammed the gearshift into drive, jerking the SUV.
He reached over her, put the car in park, then opened the door and yanked her into his arms.
Shock registered in her eyes. “Let me go.” She struggled to break free.
“This isn’t a joke,” he said, cupping her chin.
The determination he read in her eyes only heightened his awareness of her as a woman. A woman he desired, and that just pissed him off. “I don’t know what the hell I did, but don’t push my buttons,
babe
.”
“Push your buttons?” She gaped at him. “Don’t treat me like a child.”
“I’m just reminding you to use good judgment. You have to take these threats seriously.”
“You think I don’t know how to lock the doors after everything that’s happened? I’m not stupid.” She managed to shrug herself from his grasp.
“You wouldn’t come with me the night George decided to snap.” Jared clenched his fists. “I know he raped your mother, but she wouldn’t press charges. She wouldn’t let me take him in and when I got back, his dirty hands were all over you.” Bile seeped to the back of his throat. Every time he thought about that night, uncontrollable rage boiled in his bloodstream.
“Your clothes were torn and he was touching you,” Jared said. “You were just a kid.” He blinked, trying to force the pictures from his mind, but it never failed. The memory of her kicking and screaming, struggling for life, always crashed with visions of his son lying lifeless in his crib. Two very separate incidents, but both were his fault. “I should’ve made you come with me.”
Soft fingers glided across his jaw. “I couldn’t leave Mom. Things were out of control, but I knew you’d be back.” She palmed his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”
“I know that.” Taking her wrists in his hands, he kissed the soft swell of her palm. “But being an adult doesn’t make you less vulnerable to some psycho.”
“I’ll lock the doors, okay?”
He opened the car door for her, confused by his conflicting emotions. “And call me.”
She nodded and pulled the seat belt across her lap.
He watched as she waved, then pulled out of the parking lot. Moments later, he got in his patrol car and headed back to his office. He needed to gather information, but more importantly, get her, and the effect she had on him, off his mind.
Once he’d settled behind his desk, he started going through the files Frank had collected on every man who’d served with George and had since been released. One name jumped out at him. A sex offender named Rudy Martin, who now resided in Troy, New York, just an hour south of Lake George. It seemed Rudy got his jollies picking up unsuspecting women in bars, tying them up, and then jerking off. “Now that’s just sick. Harmon, get your ass in here.”
“Yes, sir. What can I do for you, sir?” Once again, Harmon stood at attention.
“This isn’t the damn military.” Jared closed the file, but kept the rap sheet out.
“No, sir. We’re Triple A with guns.”
Jared coughed. “That’s not funny. Don’t ever refer to state troopers as anything less than the highest form of police protection. Unless you want to find yourself hogtied to the back of my pickup with ‘honk if you think I’m a moron’ tattooed on your ass.” The Triple A with guns was such an old jab that it was almost funny, especially when a pimple faced kid used it wearing the trooper uniform.
“Sorry, sir. My friend at the sheriff’s office said that once, and it sounded funny at the time.” Harmon stiffened even more, if that was possible.
“You can tell your friend he’s a volunteer firefighter with a badge.”