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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Olivia’s thoughts continued to race.

She couldn’t believe this had happened.

That such a lovely day had been ruined by something like this.

Tyson had tried so hard to distract her from everything going on. Despite that, this guy had pushed himself into the limelight, taking away the small victories.

Quietly, Tyson started down the road, heading back to his house.

After a few minutes of silence, Olivia blew out a shaky breath. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“I need to talk through some of my thoughts, and I might not make any sense. But I just need to say a few things aloud and get them out of my head.”

“Go for it. I’d love to listen.”

She drew in a shaky breath. “This guy . . . whether he’s the original killer or not . . . he started by killing six women in New York. Then he abducted me, and I escaped. The police supposedly killed him.”

“Correct.” Tyson gripped the steering wheel, his gaze on the road.

“But what the police in New York don’t realize is that at least five other women have been killed since then in similar manners as what I went through—except some of them had rose petals in their lungs.” Olivia still cringed at the thought of that.

“Also correct.”

“Whoever this person is, he knows I’m in Charlotte staying at your house—which wouldn’t be hard for someone to figure out considering I’m doing a story on your program.”

“That’s right.” Tyson’s voice sounded a little harder this time as he responded.

“This person knew enough about you to sneak into your office and leave roses there. He also knew how to disable the security cameras at your house. And he was smart enough to put a tracker on your vehicle so he could know wherever you—and maybe me—went.”

Tyson’s gaze darkened. “That seems to cover most of it.”

“This is someone who’s aware of the details of my life. Someone who’s able to come and go without really being spotted.”

“What are you suggesting?” Tyson asked.

She shook her head. “To be honest, I’m not really sure. I’m not really sure at all.”

* * *

Tyson reviewed Olivia’s words as he drove. He reached over and squeezed her hand, and kept holding it, not wanting to let go.

She was right. The person behind this seemed to have some type of inside connection with them.

He thought about all the security guards who’d come and gone. There were probably six on a rotation.

Plus, there were Hobbes, Mrs. Castillo, and the two cleaning ladies who came every week. Twice a week someone came to clean his pool. The landscaping crew came once a week.

Then there were the people he worked with at his office.

Then there was . . . whoever had been threatening him. Most likely, Damon.

What if Damon had heard about what happened to Olivia and wanted to distract Tyson by making her nightmare play out again?

His chest hardened with the thought.

It was another possibility he needed to consider. But Tyson didn’t want to broach the subject with Olivia. He didn’t want to tell her anything that might add more stress.

He had to figure out the best choice in this situation.