Page 21 of Nica (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #17)

“Positive. They mentioned her by name.” Gabe ran a hand through his hair.

“I’ve gone over and over it. I’ve never hidden what happened.

I was drugged by Dr. Marcus Richardson. In fact, he was supposed to perform the procedure, but called in sick.

While it wasn’t my specialty, I’ve done dozens of gallbladder procedures, so it wasn’t an issue.

He slipped ketamine into my coffee prior to a procedure which should have been routine.

Melissa Carpenter died on my table because of it.

I nearly lost my license, but the investigation cleared me when they found Richardson’s fingerprints on the bottle of ketamine, traces of the drug in my system, and a witness who saw him tamper with my coffee. ”

“We know it can’t be Richardson,” Mike commented, typing notes. “He committed suicide before he could be arrested.”

“But he has supporters,” Nica interjected. “People who think he was framed, that Gabe was covering for his own mistake.”

Mike looked up sharply. “You’ve received communications from these supporters before?”

Gabe shook his head. “Nothing direct. Comments online, the occasional letter to the administrator at the hospital at Stanford. Nothing since I moved to Texas.”

“Until now,” Mike murmured. “Tell me about the stalking incidents, Nica.”

She took a deep breath, and Gabe reached for her hand squeezing it gently.

“It started small,” she said. “You know the feeling you get when it seems like somebody’s watching you?

Then glimpses of someone out the corner of my eye.

The morning with the flowers, I first saw him outside Gracie’s Grounds. ”

“What’s Gracie’s Grounds?” Mike was making a note on the pad beside the laptop as he asked the question.

“Local coffee place in town. Best coffee in the county.” Nica smiled at the chorus of agreement from her brothers. They were definitely coffee snobs, and they also adored the store’s owner, Gracie.

“Gotcha. Go on.”

“A little later I noticed him when I stopped for gas on the way to school. I had run inside the convenience store at the gas station to grab a sandwich, and I saw him at the end of one of the aisles. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but I knew it was the same guy. Same build, same hair, same dark clothing. He always stayed at a distance, and he was already gone by the time I got outside.”

“Can you describe him?”

“Tall, lean. Always in dark clothing—jeans, dark hoodie, though he didn’t have the hood up. In our Texas heat, that would have raised a whole bunch of red flags. I never saw his face clearly.” Her free hand played with the pendant at her throat, a nervous habit.

“And the roses?” Mike prompted.

“Two dozen pink roses, delivered to the library at the middle school where I’m substitute teaching part-time. The card…” She hesitated, looking at Gabe.

He nodded encouragingly. “It’s okay.”

“The card said, ‘ Sometimes I wonder if Gabriel really sees me, or just the version of me he wants to see. ’ It’s a line from my journal, written verbatim. I wrote it a few nights ago.”

Mike’s expression darkened. “And you keep this journal where?”

“My locked bedside drawer,” Nica whispered. “Which means…”

“Someone’s been in your bedroom,” Mike confirmed. “Recently.”

“We’ve changed the locks,” Gabe added. “Installed security cameras yesterday. Alarm system, the whole works. Manager at the apartment building didn’t raise a stink when I demanded to put in the system, especially when he found out it was to protect Nica.

Nobody’s getting in without my knowing about it now. ”

“Good,” Mike nodded. “I want to see the journal, the card, everything you have. And I need to know everyone who’s new in town in the last six months. Anyone who’s taken an unusual interest in either of you.”

Nica stood. “I brought my journal. I figured you’d probably want to see it. Rafe has the card; we gave it to him yesterday. Gabe has the folder with everything I received in the mail.”

When she left the room, Mike turned to Gabe, his voice low. “This isn’t random, Gabe. This is someone with a personal connection to the Carpenter case, someone with a serious grudge. The level of planning suggests obsession.”

“I’ve been racking my brain,” Gabe admitted.

“Melissa’s parents eventually accepted the investigation’s findings; they even wrote to the medical board supporting my reinstatement.

Her kids are living with Melissa’s ex-husband and his wife.

I talked to him, and he said they are adjusting and are happy.

Her fiancé moved abroad after the case was closed. ”

“What about colleagues? Anyone who had a personal stake beyond the professional?”

Gabe shook his head. “Richardson’s brother blamed me for ruining his family. Made some threats during the trial. But that was years ago, and he called me, said he’d had time to calm down, and accepted that Marcus had problems, and I wasn’t to blame.”

“I’ll look into him,” Mike said, making a note. “Anyone else?”

Before Gabe could answer, the landline phone rang in the kitchen, and Ms. Patti and Rafe both stood at the same time. Nica called from the other room, “I’ll get it!”

A moment later, she appeared in the doorway, face pale. “It’s for you, Gabe.”

“Who is it?” he asked, already rising.

“He didn’t say,” she whispered. “But he knows Mike is here. He asked to speak to Dr. Summers and his FBI friend.”

Gabe stood and headed to the kitchen, Mike hot on his heels. Taking a deep breath, Gabe pressed the speaker button and placed the handset back in the cradle. Mike pulled out his cell phone, presumably to record.

“This is Dr. Summers,” Gabe said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

Silence stretched for several seconds. Then a low, distorted voice—altered by some kind of device—slithered through the speaker.

“Do you think bringing in the FBI will save you, Doctor? Or your lovely wife?” The voice chuckled, a metallic sound that raised the hair on Gabe’s arms. “Nothing can stop what’s coming. You took everything from me. Now I’ll take everything from you—starting with her.”

The line went dead.

In the silence that followed, Gabe reached for Nica, pulling her against him.

By now, the kitchen was filled with her brothers along with Ms. Patti and Douglas.

Nica was trembling, but her jaw was set in the determined expression he knew well.

She wouldn’t be intimidated easily—it was one of the things he loved most about her—but this was beyond anything they’d faced.

Mike was already on his phone, stepping into the foyer to make a call. When he returned, his face was grim.

“The data shows the call came from inside Shiloh Springs,” he said. “I’ve got somebody checking to see if the signal was bounced around, maybe making it look like it came from town, but my gut says whoever this is, they’re close by.”

Gabe tightened his grip on Nica. “He’s watching us right now.”

Mike nodded, moving to the window to scan the quiet expanse of lawn in front of the house. “Whoever this is, they’re escalating faster than I expected. The fact they knew I was here means they’re surveilling you. They knew where you were.”

“What do we do?” Nica asked, her voice steadier than Gabe expected.

“We draw them out,” Mike said, turning back to face them. “But first, we figure out exactly who we’re dealing with. I need access to your computer, phone records, and a complete list of everyone who knew about the Carpenter case.”

Gabe nodded. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got.

It’s in the office at my…our apartment.” He listened to Mike talking quietly to Nica and Rafe in the kitchen, explaining security protocols, what to watch for, and how to stay safe.

They’d bring in extra deputies if necessary, set up additional surveillance.

All the right moves. But Gabe knew that procedures and protocols wouldn’t be enough.

This was personal. Whoever was targeting them had been planning this for a long time.

And he was done hiding in the shadows. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts to a number he hadn’t called in four years. A connection from his darkest days, when he’d been desperate to clear his name.

If Mike was going to help them officially, Gabe needed someone who could work unofficially. Someone who knew how to find information that wasn’t in any database.

He pressed the call button and waited, looking through the window and wondering exactly where his tormentor was, if they were still watching or had their morbid curiosity been satisfied with another taunt, another not-so-veiled threat.

In Shiloh Springs, everyone knew everyone.

Which meant the person threatening them had to be someone from outside, a visitor or somebody who’d moved here recently.

“Ramsey,” answered a gruff voice on the other end of the line. “This better be important.”

“It’s Gabe Summers,” Gabe said quietly. “I need your help again.”

There was a pause, then a low whistle. “Must be serious if the good doctor’s calling me after all this time. What kind of trouble are you in now?”

“The kind that’s threatening my wife,” Gabe said simply and explained exactly what had been happening. He didn’t leave anything out.

Another pause. “Didn’t know you’d gotten married, Doc. Give me a day, two tops. Don’t tell your Fed friend you called me.”

Gabe wasn’t even surprised that Ramsey knew he’d called Mike. Ramsey seemed to be omniscient sometimes. As the call ended, Mike appeared in the doorway, eyes narrowed.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Just making sure the clinic’s covered,” Gabe said, sliding his phone into his pocket. “And reminding myself what’s at stake.”

Mike studied him for a moment longer, then nodded. “Let’s get to work then. Whoever this guy is, he’s made two critical mistakes.”

“What’s that?”

“First, he’s become emotional—making threats, showing off that he knows about me being here. That means he’ll get sloppy.” Mike’s expression hardened. “Second, he threatened an FBI agent’s best friend and his wife. That’s a line you don’t cross without consequences.”

Together they returned to the kitchen, where Nica was already laying out a timeline of events on the table. As they began to work, Gabe felt a grim determination settle over him. Between Mike’s official investigation and Ramsey’s under-the-table methods, they would find whoever was targeting them.

And when they did, Gabe would make sure this threat to his family was eliminated—permanently.