Page 89 of Blue Norther
“How? How the fuck is that possible? How does he know her room number?”
“I don’t know. I finally had a fucking minute to get back to Gage. I had him tracking an email the bastard sent, but I guess the signal was bounced through a VPN. He was able to get me the name used to register the email account, but it was a dead end.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. But I think this guy finally messed up. He called her a nickname. The same one Vi used in her very first book.”
“So your book theory holds up.”
I nodded. “I need to get my hands on a copy of it. I think the wild goose chase through all the clues in different stories was just for his amusement. The real answer is going to be in that book.”
Colt
It was going to be a beautiful day, sunshine and bright blue skies. Violet and I had been home for nearly two weeks with Connor, and things had been calm. Aside from the extra security I had Hawk install before we even made it home from the hospital and the way my family continued to monitor things on the ranch, Vi and I had been left to our happy bubble.
And God, how happy it was. Every day felt like a goddamn dream. We were tired zombies, at the mercy of our littlest family member, and yet even the late night feedings and endless diaper changes were bliss to me.
Now at the kitchen table, I rocked a very sleepy Connor in my arm, my free hand scrolling through the report Hank had just sent me. I’d already had the conversation with him about not leaving Vi until this stalker situation was sorted. Thankfully, he agreed, but I was ready to type up my resignation letter and hand deliver it myself if he had other thoughts about where my priorities should be.
And while life with a newborn and a postpartum wife were bliss, an eerie calm had settled over everything, too. Because there hadn’t been any more deliveries since the flowers in thehospital. No more ominous notes. No more threats, veiled or not.
Violet had been struggling. She was trying to be so strong for me, but I heard the gasps that came in the middle of the night when her mind convinced her the person behind all this was there to take her away.
And I fucking hated it. Because I found nothing in her book. No clue. No idea what the hell this sick person was planning next.
My eyes went back to the report. It only took a few days for the warrant to come through for the flowers at the gift shop. And just like I’d thought, we pulled a name from the receipt.Alexander Bishop.The billionaire finance mogul who swept Arianna Valentine off her feet in Violet’s first book.Amore Mio.The asshole had made his purchase with one of those prepaid gift cards that acted like a credit card, which unfortunately meant our trail ended there.
I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t popped back up since then. Surely, while we were distracted with Connor, it would be the perfect time to try something?
My brother’s picture popped up on the screen over the file, and I swiped to accept the call.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“I need you to talk to Lach.” Hayes’ voice was firm. He probably wanted to kick my ass a little for dropping family things as Vi and I settled into being new parents.
“You want me to leave my newborn baby and freshly postpartum wife to talk to our brother? The brother who couldn’t bother coming to the hospital when Vi almost died? Couldn’t bother driving to my house to meet Conner when we came home? He didn’t even fucking respond to my text when I invited him over. What’s Jessie doing? She could always get through to him before.”
“She’s tried. Look, we fucking all have. I wouldn’t be interrupting this time for you and Violet if I thought there was any other option. He’s not doing well, Colt. It’s gotten bad over the last few weeks.” Hayes cleared his throat. “He stopped talking to Mom and Dad. Won’t let them bring him over food. Won’t let them in to spend time with him. You know they don’t want to push, but I just barged in there…It’s not good.”
I ran my hand over my fucking unshaven face. I knew my time in our happy little family bubble was about to burst.
“Fine. Vi is sleeping, and I’m not missing out on bath time. I’ll go this afternoon when Connor is down for another nap and I’ll try to knock some sense into him. You have to come over here, though. Someone needs to be here for Vi and Connor, to keep them safe.”
“Fuck. I wish I could. You know I love them both, but I got called in for a shift tonight. I’m leaving in ten minutes.”
“Got it. I’ll ask Beau.”
“Good luck. Let me know how it goes with Lach.”
“Yeah. Stay safe tonight.”
“Always do.”
I chuckled, then groaned as I hung up the call with Hayes and watched Violet walk into the room.
“What’s wrong?” My gorgeous redhead, still so curvy and absolutely glowing although the dark circles under her eyes showed just how exhausting these last few weeks had been for her, walked over to me. Vi’s arms wrapped over my shoulders and crossed over my chest as her lips found mine the second I turned towards her.
I knew a lot of guys who said bringing home their first child put a wedge in their marriage. But the second we brought Connor into the house, it was like every last fear we’d been holding onto, every last little wire that had been holding us apart, dissolved. I hadn’t asked Vi, but for me, the energybetween the two of us felt the same—bubbly, electric,alive—as it had the day after we were married.
