Chapter Thirty-Two

Logan weaved in and out of traffic, speeding through the streets on the way to Jade’s house. He felt guilty for leaving in the middle of a meeting but knew Luke could handle it by himself. He called his partner from the car and explained the situation. Luke assured him not to worry and said he'd explain to the clients that Logan had a family emergency. Logan suggested a physically impossible feat for calling Jade family and then fumed when Luke burst out laughing.

Wanting to check out the scene first, he waited until he pulled into Jade’s driveway before phoning Detective Hurley. He jumped out of the SUV and leaped up the stairs to her porch two at a time. The door swung wide before he could knock and Jade flew into his arms. He reeled back from the force of her hit and wrapped his arms around her, feeling the overwhelming need to protect her even after her crushing betrayal.

He couldn’t let himself get dragged in again. He couldn’t trust her and he couldn’t trust himself around her. Her arms were wrapped tight against his waist. He tried to pry them off without hurting her but she just clutched harder.

“Jade, I need you to show me the delivery.”

“He knows where I am, Logan. He found me.”

“The police are on their way.”

“But how could he know where I am? How?”

“I don’t know. Let’s take this one step at a time. Can you show me the packages you received today?”

Without letting go, she led him in the house and pointed to the two white boxes on the floor. Carefully disengaging her arms, he guided her to a chair. Picking up the discarded scissors, he fished out an item from one of the boxes: a pair of tortoise shell frames.

“Glasses?”

Jade averted her gaze, clearly uncomfortable. “They were Nora’s, my assistant.”

“Were?”

Closing her eyes, she nodded. “Remember when I told you two friends of mine were killed right after my husband?” She didn’t look to him for his agreement, nor wait. “My assistant Nora and my agent, Sid.”

Logan deposited the glasses back in the box and extracted the other item. He held it aloft. “I take it this is Sid’s pocket watch?”

“Yes."

Jeez. Logan dropped the watch and stood. They were dealing with one sick, twisted individual. Three people were dead because of one man’s obsession with Jade.

Logan checked the label on the largest box. It was simply addressed to Juliet LaRue, no other information except for her name. The stalker definitely found out she was in Bloomington. She wouldn’t be safe here now that he knew exactly where she was staying. If Detective Hurley couldn’t arrange a safe house, he would need to book her a hotel room.

A siren’s wail cut through the silence. Logan opened the door for the officers and briefed them on the evidence. A crime scene photographer snapped pictures of the boxes and the disturbing contents. Another dusted the plain, brown box for fingerprints. Detective Hurley spoke with Jade, gathering information on the deaths of her agent and assistant.

“Ms. LaRossa, I know you're renting this house for the summer, but it doesn’t have great security. If you'd feel safer going back to California, I could contact the authorities out there and update them on the case.”

Jade shook her head. “I don’t want to leave.”

“Your safety has been compromised. This man has possibly killed three people close to you.”

"He knows where I live in California, too."

“Hurley.”

Logan jerked his head, indicating Detective Hurley should follow. When they were away from Jade, Logan asked, “Any way you can arrange a safe house?”

Hurley grimaced. “Doubtful, with our limited budget." He looked over at Jade. "But I'll see what I can do.”

“In the meantime, I’ll get her out of this house. She definitely isn’t safe here.”

Logan escorted the officers out, thanked Hurley for his assistance and then faced Jade.

She launched herself at him again and he sighed in defeat. She made it hard to keep his distance.

“I won’t go,” she said stubbornly, her face buried against his chest.

“Honey, you aren’t safe here.” Damn. The endearment just slipped out. “If you won’t go home, you need to move to a hotel.”

“I wouldn’t be safe in California -- he definitely knows where I live there.”

“What on earth is going on? Was that a police car I saw leaving?”

Logan and Jade both spun at the unexpected voice.

“Aunt Trudy?”

“Mrs. Edison!” Jade cried at the same time.

Logan watched as the woman who raised him hugged Jade as if they were old friends. She held out her arms for him and he crossed his and glared.

He smelled a rat.