Page 51 of Storm Warning

“Apparently not. Ludlow hired a different attorney to represent him during the appeals process. She’s the one who caught the error.”

“Where is Mr. Ludlow?”

Something in her voice had Andre watching his woman carefully. Unless he missed his guess, Riley was doing some targeting of her own. “Don’t know yet.”

“Find him.”

“Chill, babe. If he’s the one making the inquiries, you’ll know.” He sent her a pointed look. “I better know the name of the person who funded the murder account when you dig up the information.”

Something else bugged him. Interrogator and his two flunkies had kidnapped Riley, yet someone had funded a hit on her. Were there two people or groups after Riley or just one person who had become frustrated with the kidnapping failure and turned the account into a murder fund?

He tucked that away to think about later and returned to his list of angry perps. He opened three more files. Nothing. On the fourth file, once again he stilled. Jared Brown. Andre sighed. Of course. He’d forgotten how long Brown had been in prison. He hadn’t forgotten the long string of vile threats against Andre and his ex-girlfriend, Eve. Those threats were the reason Eve walked away from him and never looked back.

He glanced at Riley. Would she bail on him too, or would her steel spine and unending supply of knives have her standing her ground?

She paused again in her work and looked at Andre. “What?”

“I found another serious threat.”

“And?”

“The last time I saw him, Jared Brown threatened to cut my heart out while it was still beating.”

She froze. “Is he capable of doing that?”

“He’d already done just that to two people when I arrested him. My ex-girlfriend heard him utter the threat that included me and her. She walked away and didn’t look back.”

Riley tilted her head. “I’m sorry she hurt you and didn’t have a spine. I’m not sorry she’s out of your life. Are you worried I’ll walk away too?”

His heart hurt. Riley walking away was unthinkable. What he’d felt for Eve was paltry compared to the overwhelming feelings he had for Riley. Andre hadn’t missed Eve. If Riley left him, he’d never recover. But he had to give her the freedom to choose. Boxing her in would destroy what they had together. “If you did, it would be understandable.”

“Andre, I have knives of my own, and I know how to use them. I won’t walk.” With that pronouncement, she turned back to her computer. “If Brown is out, find him. We’ll deal with him after we complete this mission.”

Andre continued to comb through his case files, looking for threats to him and Riley. By the time he finished, four case files were in a separate folder to examine more closely. He snorted. If they had time. Right now, the more pressing problem was the bounty on Riley’s head.

He closed his laptop lid and pushed back from the table. “I’m going for a perimeter walk. Need anything before I head out?”

“A kiss.”

“That I’m happy to deliver.” He bent and settled his mouth on hers for a long minute, his touch possessive. Riley was his, and he’d protect her with every breath in him. The person who orchestrated this bounty on his woman would regret it.

He broke the kiss and straightened. “I’ll be back soon.” After a brush of his fingers along her jaw, Andre walked to the back door and outside to the patio.

For the next 30 minutes, Andre walked the perimeter of the house, giving him a chance to memorize the surroundings ashe trekked around the property. He returned to the patio and quartered the area.

Something was off. He could feel it in his bones, but what was it? He slowly scanned the property again, letting his gaze linger on the places where the enemy could lurk if he evaded all the other security measures in place. Hard to do, Andre admitted, but possible.

On the third pass, he spotted an abnormality. A broken tree branch. His fingers trailed along the dangling branch. This was a fresh break. The leaves hadn’t wilted yet, and the branch was still pliable.

Had he or Elias broken the branch when they’d walked the perimeter earlier in the evening? He hoped that was the case. If it wasn’t, however, it meant someone had been on the property in the past few hours. Whether he was friend or foe remained to be seen.

Behind him, the patio door opened. Andre glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Riley. Instead, Elias stepped out and joined him. “You’re early. Something up?”

A shrug. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d help you keep watch until Iona and I take over in an hour.” Elias glanced at him. “Everything okay out here?”

“Don’t know yet.” He pointed at the broken branch. “Do you remember breaking that branch?”

“Nope. Let’s check it out.”