Page 10 of Forged By Fire (Danger in Destiny #9)

Chapter Ten

T he moment Clint saw what was in the photo, his blood boiled. The intruder had violated Leslie’s space, taken pictures, and was now using that to target her. And for what purpose? To show he had some level of control? Just to frighten her? Because they’d certainly accomplished that.

She’d barely said a handful of words since she first accepted the bouquet of flowers at the hospital.

Now they were at the police station, where he’d shown her to a quiet conference room.

She filled out an official report and was now nursing a cup of coffee that Tia, one of their dispatch personnel and self-appointed barista in residence, had brought her.

Clint sat down in the chair beside hers.

“I took the flowers and the note down to the lab for processing. I was hoping the flowers had come from the hospital gift shop. Instead, a man brought them into the hospital wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head. He told the volunteer it was supposed to be a surprise and wondered if she’d deliver the flowers for him.

She didn’t think anything of it and agreed to help. ”

Leslie set her coffee down on the table and pressed her fingertips against her temples. “And the hood prevented the cameras from getting a good look at him.”

“Yep. This isn’t the guy’s first rodeo. The volunteer couldn’t see his face well, either, but she said he was white, middle-aged, and five foot seven or five foot eight. She also commented that he wore black leather gloves.”

“Which means the lab isn’t likely to pull fingerprints off the flowers or the note.”

He hated the defeated undertone in her voice. Even still, she wasn’t wrong. At least they knew more about the person who broke into her home than they did this morning. He told her as much.

“The volunteer said the man already knew which room to have the flowers delivered to. Which means he got that information somehow. We’re going to go through footage from the hospital and see if anyone wearing a hoodie like that came through before. Maybe asked about Danny.”

Leslie slowly exhaled and leaned back in her chair. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

“We do need to talk about another possibility that we’re considering?—”

A knock at the conference room door interrupted him and drew their attention. Paris walked in and addressed Leslie.

“I’m Detective John Paris. I’m the officer assigned to Danny Bracken’s case.

I wanted to introduce myself and say that I was sorry to hear about the trouble you’ve been having.

” He circled the table and sat in a chair opposite Leslie.

“You’ve had your personal space invaded. No one should have to deal with that. ”

“I appreciate that.” She pulled her brown hair together at the base of her neck, then pulled it around to flow over one shoulder. “Everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours has been a nightmare.”

Paris caught Clint’s eye, and Clint shook his head. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about their latest suspicion.

“Between the shooting, the break-in at your home, and now the flowers, it’s hard to believe it’s all just a coincidence.

” The detective leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table.

“I think we need to consider the possibility that the man who shot Bracken may be the same one who’s targeting you now. ”

Leslie’s hand dropped to the arm of her chair, and she looked from Paris to Clint and back again.

Her brow wrinkled. “That can’t be possible.

I was right there in the warehouse, and he aimed at Danny.

If he was targeting me for some reason, why not just shoot me then?

Or wait in the house and take me out when I got home? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Clint ignored the irrational instinct to reach over and cover her hand with his. To offer her some kind of emotional support. It would be completely unprofessional, not to mention she might not appreciate the gesture. He wished she had someone here to support her, like her sister or a close friend.

“You’re right. It doesn’t make any sense.

” The detective leaned away from the table.

“The thing is, we’re clearly missing a big part of this puzzle.

Which means we’ll have to try different pieces to see what fits and what doesn’t until we get a clearer picture.

We’re waiting on several things right now.

Any one of those will hopefully get us even closer to some concrete answers. ”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” She glanced at the large clock on the wall. “I need to get back to my house. Technicians will be by in the next forty minutes to replace the broken window.”

Clint had already spoken about the situation with both Paris and Chief Dolman. “If you have no objections, I’d like to accompany you. I can help keep an eye on things today. Hopefully, having someone else around will deter the suspect from bothering you again.”

For now. The truth was, Clint would prefer it if Leslie weren’t outside in the open any more than necessary. If they were right, and the shooter was the same man who was terrorizing Leslie, then he had a gun and knew how to use it. Clint didn’t want her exposed.

Paris nodded. “We’ll have someone posted outside your house tonight, too. We want to make sure you—and the Brackens—are safe.”

Leslie certainly didn’t have to agree to the arrangement, but Clint prayed that she would. The idea of her being at the house without someone there to watch her back bothered him more than he cared to admit.

She shifted in her chair and cleared her throat. “Yeah. That would be great. Thank you. Both of you.”

“Good.” Detective Paris stood. “And we appreciate your help and cooperation. We’re going to figure this out, Miss Granger. I can promise you that.” With that, he left the room again.

Clint’s gaze swung to Leslie’s face. She didn’t look completely convinced, but the flash of hope he saw in her eyes was encouraging.

“Do you have someone coming to install the security lighting?”

“No. I’d planned to run into the home improvement store on the south side—I always forget the name—and pick them up.

I figured I’d install them myself if it weren’t too difficult, or I can always hire someone if necessary.

” She glanced at the clock again. “I’m not sure there’ll be time to go by before the glass technicians arrive. ”

“Maybe not. But we can look online while they’re replacing the glass, order what you need, and then swing by and pick it up. I’m more than happy to help you get everything installed.”

He would’ve missed her moment of hesitation had he not been watching for her reaction. With a nod, she rolled her chair away from the conference table and stood. “I would actually really appreciate your help. Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome. Come on, let’s get out of here and to your place before they arrive with the new window.” He touched the middle of her back and guided her to the door.

He followed Leslie to her house and then asked her to wait while he quickly checked the house to make sure no one else was inside. Once it had been cleared, he escorted her in.

An hour later, the technicians were working on replacing the glass in the window, and he and Leslie were seated at the little wooden table in her dining room looking at security options on her laptop.

“I was thinking this light would be good for both the front and back doors.” She clicked on the listing to bring up the description.

Clint had heard of the brand before and nodded in agreement. “That’ll work well.”

“Okay.” She added two of them to her online shopping cart.

“I was looking at these little window alarms, too. I know they’re nothing fancy, but I’d sleep a whole lot better if I knew that, should someone break into my house again, I’d at least be warned.

” She raised her shoulders against a visible shiver. “What do you think?”

He preferred full security systems complete with video cameras, but that was not only a major investment, but it wasn’t likely something they could get installed today.

An alarm would hopefully scare an intruder away.

Anything to discourage someone from breaking into Leslie’s house or bothering her was a win in his book.

“Get one for each window. They should also sell stickers that let people know there’s a security system in place. You can put one near each door. Simply seeing that might be enough to keep him—or anyone else—from messing with your place.”

“That’s a good idea.” She added enough of the window alarms to cover all the windows in her home and then chose several stickers to put up on the outside of her house. “Can you think of anything else?”

He really couldn’t. “I think you should be good to go.”

She paid for the items and was told she’d receive an e-mail when they were ready to pick up. With that, she closed the laptop and rested her hands on the table. “Now what?”

“We wait.”

For the window to get installed.

To pick up the security supplies.

For the suspect to strike again.