Page 111 of Duty Unbound

“What do you mean?” Ty asked.

“The dead roses with theEnd your career so someone doesn’t have to end it for youwas clearly for Nova.”

Ty’s eyes got big. “But theDon’t worry, there’s nowhere you can go that I can’t reach younote was for Mel?”

Logan nodded. “Makes sense since that was a live red rose, rather than the dead ones for Nova.”

Silence fell as the implications sank in.

“Pull up the Barbie dolls,” I instructed Jace, who quickly complied.

The images appeared on-screen—one doll mutilated with a knife through its head, fake blood splattered across its frozen smile.

“I’m not toying with you. Cancel the tour.Definitely for Nova,” I said, the pieces aligning with terrible clarity. “But the other pristine doll was for Mel.I’m never far.”

“Holy shit. Same with the roadkill,” Logan said, catching on. “Dead animal for Nova, teddy bear for Mel.”

I finished, cold dread settling in my stomach. “Tommy has been obsessed with Mel for months. The stuff geared at Nova was just to get her out of the way.”

“Most of it, Nova never saw,” Logan added. “Because Mel was shielding Nova from the stalker threats.”

The irony landed like a punch—Mel had been protecting Nova from threats, never understanding the danger was actually to herself.

I ran a hand over my face, fighting against the exhaustion and rage threatening to overwhelm me. “Timeline. What do we know?”

Jace pulled up a calendar. “Tommy met Mel approximately six months ago. They went on two dates, then she stopped responding to his texts about two weeks later after explaining multiple times that she wasn’t interested and too busy helping with Nova.”

“When did the stalker incidents start?”

“Nova started getting messages about five months ago. There were a couple of packages delivered to the house that might have been from Tommy in the weeks after that. Then the dead flowers incident was about six weeks ago. That brought us in.”

“And when did Tommy start sending the fake coupons?”

Jace checked the data. “First one appeared about three months ago. They increased in frequency over time.”

“He’s been escalating,” I said, the pattern clear now. “Getting more desperate for Mel’s attention.”

“But why target Nova?” Ty asked. “If he wanted Mel, why not go after her directly?”

“Because Nova is what’s keeping Mel tied down,” Logan answered before I could. “From Tommy’s perspective, if Nova’s tour ends, Mel would be free. Available.”

“It’s more than that,” I said, pieces clicking into place. “I talked with Mel about her future the day before she disappeared. She was planning to tell Nova she wanted to quit after this tour. Start her own life.”

“Did she mention that to Tommy?” Jace asked.

“I don’t know. But if she did—even casually during one of their dates—and he’s been fixated on her all this time…”

“He might have taken it as encouragement,” Logan finished. “A sign that his plan was working.”

Jace’s fingers continued flying across the keyboard as we talked, his expression growing grimmer by the second.

“I’m finding more about this guy,” he said, eyes never leaving his screen. “And it’s not good. His family is from Louisiana—old money, very wealthy. Parents died in a car accident two years ago.”

“Anything suspicious about the accident?” I asked.

Jace nodded. “Police report indicates potential tampering with the brakes, but no charges were ever filed. Tommy inherited everything—we’re talking tens of millions.”

“Where does he live?” Logan asked.