The Men With the Golden Cuffs (14 page)

Chitwood sighed. “I know, Mikey. It was stupid. It was also kind of instinctive. I had the thing in my hand before I really knew what I was doing.”

“This is the letter you found?” Adam asked. He turned and looked back. Serena was standing at the vending machines. So much for his perfect lunch. She was going to have to eat chips and drink a soda. His gut was in knots. The minute they’d gotten Jake’s call, she’d paled and a fine tremble had hit her. They had been forced to cancel lunch and leave her agent’s office early. Serena’s life was being completely disrupted.

Chitwood nodded. “Yes. I am so sorry to have to give this to her.”

Hernandez looked over at Serena, his mouth a flat line. “I’d like to study her when she reads it.”

He would be looking for anything that wasn’t normal, anything that gave away the fact that she’d set this up herself.

“I’d like to point out the fact that she was with me when the note was left,” Adam said.

Hernandez shrugged. “So she has an accomplice. Have you met those friends of hers?”

No. He was scheduled to have lunch with them tomorrow. Liam had already forwarded files on both Bridget Slaten and Chris Roberts. He hadn’t read them, though. It was easy to see that at least one of the cops working her case thought Serena was a whack job.

He glanced back again. She had a green can in her hands. He could still feel her lips on his. She’d been so fucking sweet, her hands exploring his body with the awe of a woman on the verge of something amazing. He could still hear the hitch in her breath as he’d pulled their pelvises together. If Ian hadn’t stopped him, he would have put his hand up her skirt and teased his fingers into her pussy, rubbing her little clit until she was shaking in his arms.

He wouldn’t have fucked her. He wouldn’t do that without Jacob. The last thing he wanted was for her to bond to only one of them. He’d been down that road, and it led to heartache.

The door to the division office opened, and Jake strode through with Liam in tow. He watched as Serena looked up and almost immediately took a step toward him. And then she forced herself to stop. Jake’s eyes laser focused on her. His hand actually came up and then the big old coward put his hand back down. So close.

They said something, and Jake’s hand finally came up and found her shoulder. It was an awkward touch, but it was there. Liam looked over and rolled his eyes letting Adam know he’d probably already figured the situation out.

“So, she has three bodyguards?” Chitwood asked, studying the scene in front of him. “That seems like a bit of overkill.”

“It’s just me and my partner, Jacob Dean. Liam is our backup. But I think Lieutenant Brighton would prefer you ran everything by me or Jake. We’ll be with her twenty-four seven.”

Hernandez whistled. “That must be costing her a pretty penny. She’s way more loaded than we thought, Eddie. McKay-Taggart is one of those fancy security companies that handle really rich people.”

Adam was getting annoyed with the cops. “She’s very important to her agent. Now, I would like to know what’s going on.”

Jake walked up behind him, Serena at his side. There were only two chairs. Jake held out the remaining chair, offering it to Serena.

“It’s all right. I can stand,” Serena said.

Jake simply stared at her, and she sat down. They would have to train her to accept their courtesy. It went beyond mere politeness. It was their way of taking care of her.

“I would never sit while you were forced to stand,” Jake explained. “And is this the only food you’ve had? A soda and some chips.” He frowned Adam’s way.

Adam held his hands out. His first instinct was to bark back at his partner, but he had to admit he was happy Jake seemed so invested in her well-being. “I had reservations. You’re the one who called and told me to get my ass here.”

“I saw a sandwich place across the street. Is turkey all right?” Liam asked, giving Serena a little wink. “Don’t tell me no. Jake will Dom you to death. Just give in.”

A little smile curved her lips. “Turkey is fine. With mustard. Thank you so much.”

“I’ll take the same,” Adam said. “Except make it pastrami on rye and make the mustard hot.”

Liam shot him the finger. “You’ll be lucky to get anything at all.”

Liam walked off. Adam might have to hope he got a few of those chips of Serena’s. He turned back to the cops. “Now we’re all here. Explain why you called us in.”

Chitwood flushed slightly. He was very pale. Adam bet he burned all summer long. “It’s my fault.”

“Dude, I would probably have done the same thing,” Hernandez said, slapping his partner on the back sympathetically.

Adam was just about ready to scream when the detective started to speak. “I went by to take the report on Miss Brooks’ car.”

Jake stood behind Serena, looking like some sort of protective bird of prey. “Why would you do that? We had an appointment to meet with Brighton at two o’clock.”

“No one told me,” Chitwood explained.

“He was taking care of his wife this morning. She’s got cancer.” Hernandez’s face went grim. “His kids are off at college. He sometimes stays in when she has a bad morning. I cover for him with brass.”

Adam was sorry to hear that. “If you didn’t come in then how did you know anything had happened at all?”

“Mikey forwarded the report to me. I stopped by on my way in to work. I’ll be honest. I would have done it whether I had known about the meeting with brass or not. I would have stopped by to take some photos. But I knocked on the door, and when I did, an envelope fell. It started to drop, and I did something stupid.”

Adam closed his eyes. It was understandable, but didn’t help their case. “You caught it.”

A long huff blew from the detective’s mouth. “Yep. So we’re running it for prints, but you can bet mine will be on there.”

“It’s not a tragedy,” Hernandez said.

It wasn’t. It also wasn’t optimal. “Do you have a copy?”

He didn’t miss the fact that Hernandez focused in on Serena. While Chitwood grabbed a folder, Hernandez never took his eyes off Serena. She sat forward, obviously anxious about whatever was in that report.

“He knows where I live.” Her tone was flat, fatalistic. “I hoped the car was a coincidence, but it wasn’t. He has my home address.”

Adam reached over and placed his hand over hers. “It’s all right.”

She shook her head. “I’m careful. I have a PO box. I never put my real name out there.”

He knew how this asshole had found her. He’d checked up on her yesterday, and with one little piece of information, he’d found her real name and home address served up right on the internet. “You have an LLC.”

Chitwood nodded. “I’m sure that’s how he found you. The state requires all businesses to have a physical address. If he knows what LLC you publish under, it would be easy for him to look it up on the web and pull your actual address.”

“God, I feel so dumb. Amber Rose LLC. Why the hell did I do that?” Tears were pooling in her eyes.

“You didn’t know,” Jake said. “It’s fine, Serena. Not a lot of people think about it.”

Adam already had a plan in motion. “I changed the address on her LLC this morning. I talked to a nice lady in the comptroller’s office. We’re going to use the physical address of the post office where her PO box is located.”

She turned to him. “You did that?”

Adam shrugged. Some women might see it as meddling. He merely saw it as taking care of a problem she didn’t even know she’d had. “You were working. I didn’t want to bother you. I explained to the woman that I was your assistant. She believed me since I had your passwords and all your information.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Yep.”

He waited for her to get upset, but the hand under his turned and clutched at him. “Thank you. Whatever Lara is paying you, it isn’t enough.”

Adam breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was reasonable. “Now, let’s take a look at this note.”

Chitwood frowned but opened the folder. “You can’t touch it. It still has to go through some more forensics, but as you can see, someone isn’t happy.”

Adam leaned forward. It was a single sheet of what looked like thick card stock paper. On it was the cover to Serena’s latest book–
Their Sweetheart Slave
. The cover was vibrant, showing a western setting with the three lovers featured in the center of a field. A man with long, dark hair sat on a horse reaching down to a pretty brunette who stood beside a man adjusting his cowboy hat. And apparently cowboys in Serena’s world didn’t believe in shirts.

And someone had taken extreme offense at the cover. The men’s faces were cut out and someone had written the word
WHORE
in bright red across the woman’s body.

“This is the one that’s coming out in a couple of weeks?” Jake asked. “Alexa, Caden, and Duke?”

Serena smiled up at him, her face glowing despite the circumstances. Jake couldn’t have cut through the tension any better. “Yes.”

Hernandez snorted. “You’ve read them?”

Jake stared down at the cover. “I’ve read one, but Alexa was in
Small Town Sweetheart
. She was Gabby’s daughter. Duke was the alpha hero’s long-lost brother. I kind of thought you were trying to get them together.”

Adam vowed to catch up on his damn reading. He knew he should be thrilled, but he was a little jealous of the way Serena was looking at Jake like he was a conquering hero. He’d only proven he was literate. Adam could read, too.

He just hadn’t imagined he would be reading something like
Their Sweetheart Slave
. “Where did they get the cover?”

“I posted it on my website the minute I got it. It’s also on the publisher’s site and several fan sites,” Serena said. She stared down at the cover, her whole body still.

Jake put a hand on her shoulder. “What kind of knife did he use to cut the faces out? Or is that scissors?”

Chitwood pointed at the offending marks. “I think it’s a knife. Note that the bottom of the marks are a little more ragged than the tops. That’s where the cut starts.”

Adam could see that now.

“I bet that’s from a utility knife,” Jake said. “Or a box cutter. Did you test the door for prints?”

Hernandez nodded. “The door and the storm door, though we’re going to find the Keystone Cop’s prints there, too.”

Chitwood sighed. “I didn’t know it was a crime scene until I opened the door and this fell out.”

Serena took a long breath and looked back at the cops. “I don’t understand any of this. Sometimes he or she or whoever it is seems like a disgruntled fan who’s pissed about the books and other times…”

Adam squeezed her hand. He wanted to hear her instincts. She was the center of this. She was the one being stalked. Her instincts could be an important clue. “Go on. Finish the sentence, sweetheart.”

She shivered a little. “Other times it feels more personal. Like this person hates me for who I really am. I’m scared of that person. I’m annoyed by the other.”

Chitwood leaned forward. “Oftentimes these types of perps can have several mental disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It’s not surprising that this person is unstable. But then, I would suspect you probably have researched those disorders. I’m right in saying that your books contain an element of suspense, correct?”

She nodded, though she didn’t light up the way she normally did when someone asked about her work. She seemed to understand that the cops were attempting to pin her down. “Of course. I had a character in
Sweetheart in Chains
. He was the bad guy. He had bipolar disorder. I understand the disease.”

Adam really didn’t like the look the cops exchanged. They were already filing her problems away as shit they didn’t need to deal with.

“Send us the forensics report when you get it. I’m sure Brighton won’t have a problem with it,” Jake said. He held a hand out to Serena. “Come on. We can go across the street and meet Liam and have lunch over there. I don’t think they need anything further from you. Adam, would you mind talking to Brighton? I need some air.”

Serena stood and looked to Adam who nodded Jake’s way.

“Go on. I’ll be there in a minute.” He didn’t protest, though his stomach did a bit. Jake had a barely leashed air about him. He needed to get away before he said or did something stupid. Jake could be deeply patient, but when he felt an injustice was being done, he tended to get nasty. They still needed the cops. Finesse was called for, and that was Adam’s middle name.

Serena walked away with Jake. What the hell had happened with her ex-husband to put Jake on edge like that? Whatever it was, Adam was grateful because Jake’s hand came out as he opened the doors for her. He rested his hand on the small of her back, guiding her through. Protective. A little possessive.

Adam turned back to the cops. “I understand that you firmly believe my client is doing this to herself, but I expect you to investigate each and every incident. I’m having cameras installed today. I’m actually happy this asshole is getting close. We’re with her twenty-four seven. If he comes close again, we’ll get him.”

Hernandez crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. “I hope you’re right, but something feels off about the whole thing. I don’t like the fact that it escalated just as we told her not to worry about it.”