Stalker In the Shadows by Carla Cassidy

Author:Carla Cassidy [Cassidy, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-01-12T20:44:31+00:00

Chapter Nine

Hunter raced across town to get to Ainsley’s place. Her tearful call had been nearly incoherent. All he really got out of it was that something had happened and she needed him.

Because there were few people out on the streets, he could push the speed limit to get to her. Unfortunately, he’d been on the other side of town when he’d gotten her call.

He wasn’t supposed to be on duty at all, but he had taken on an extra shift because of another officer being off for a family death. With so few deputies in the town, it wasn’t uncommon for all of them to pick up extra shifts to make sure the town was protected at all times.

He finally pulled up by her door. He’d barely gotten out of his car when she flew out of the apartment and into his arms. She cried into the front of his shirt, her body shaking as he pulled her close.

He let her cry for several moments and then he unwrapped her arms from around him. “Ainsley...honey, what’s going on? What’s happened?”

“I...we went to Melinda’s a-appointment and then g-got ice cream and wh-when we got home there was a p-present on the doorstep.” The words jerked out of her amid her tears.

“A present?”

She nodded and drew in several deep, long breaths in an obvious attempt to calm down. “It was wrapped up pretty like a present.”

“Why don’t we go inside so I can see it,” he suggested.

“Melinda is asleep. I wanted to scream, Hunter.” She grabbed his arm. “I still feel like screaming.”

“You try not to scream and I’ll try to keep it down so neither of us wake up your daughter,” he said gently. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her toward the door.

“It’s on the kitchen table,” she said. “I...I’m not sure what it is. All I saw was blood and fur.” A sob choked out of her.

He went directly to the table where a square cardboard box set next to some ribbon and pink wrapping paper. She stopped behind him.

He opened the flaps and almost jumped backward. He forced himself to lean in to get a good look at what was inside. He grabbed gloves out of his back pocket and pulled them on, then moved the contents inside the box to better identify what it was.

“It’s a dead rat,” he said softly. It was a dead, bloody rat with the throat cut. He closed the box and retaped the lid. “Do you have some sort of a sack I can carry all this out in?”

She went to the cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out a café takeout sack. “Hunter, please help me make sense of this,” she said, her voice shaking as she handed him the sack.

“There is no sense to make of it,” he replied tersely. Dammit, who was doing this to her? And why? A dead rat to him implied a threat even though no note was included. He quickly placed

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