HER: Puh-lease. Like there are any single guys in Swift Rivers who are date-worthy.
HIM: Ouch. Just ouch.
HER: *** rolling eyes emoji *** Have you changed your mind about relationships? Have you suddenly decided you’re up for love and forever after?
HIM: *** person screaming in horror gif *** Believe me, this is not one of your romance novels. I’ll be single till the day I die.
PRESENT DAY
Once Maisey called the dispatcher, Istood guard over the sweatshirt and tried to let the fury rolling through me subside. It was the same rage as I’d experienced with each of the notes but amplified with a horrible sense of foreboding. Whoever this was, they’d escalated each time, and I was terrified the next time someone would be hurt. That it would be Maisey who paid the price…
My heart hammered against my rib cage. I couldn’t let Maisey be hurt.
But what could I do to stop it?
As we were waiting for Cleaver to show up, Delilah appeared, coming from the tiny parking area in the back of Frank’s. My jaw tightened as I scanned her. It was Sunday, so she wasn’t wearing her business uniform, but I was surprised to see she wasn’t in a skimpy dress or shorts either. She was wearing black jeans, low-heeled cowboy boots, and a sleeveless blue top that made her eyes pop.
What new version of Delilah was this? What new role was she playing?
When she got close, she started to smile and say hello, but I cut her off with a snarl. “Was this you?”
Her lips tightened as she looked from me to Maisey and back. “This again? What did I supposedly do now?”
I closed the distance between us, towering over her. “Stop with the games, Del. Stop before something bad happens.”
Hurt danced across her face. Hurt that usually had me feeling like shit and backing off. “You actually think I’m wasting my time terrorizing poor little Maisey?”
I grunted out a sound of displeasure, and Maisey grabbed my arm, holding me back from doing something stupid, like shaking the truth out of Delilah. The wounded look on Del’s face disappeared into a scornful smirk.
“Whatever’s going on, I’d say the Campbell girls earned it.”
Her careless, hard remark only increased my fury. Maisey had never done one thing to Delilah. She’d been nice to her, had even tried to counter Chelsea’s rumors, but Del had never once seen it that way. Guilty by association. I leaned my face toward her, dark with a promise I meant. “I swear, Del, if this is you—”
“You’ll what?” she tossed back just as Maisey said, “Beckett, stop.”
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Carter strolled up in jeans and a lavender button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His eyes darted between us, and he rubbed his nose with the back of his knuckles. “Do I need to call the sheriff? This looks pretty intense, Romero.”
Vader had relaxed enough that I’d let go of his collar, but now he gave a low rumble of warning and stood in front of me, protecting Maisey andme.
“It’s against the city ordinances to have your dog down here without a leash,” Carter said, looking at my dog and spinning his expensive watch around on his wrist.
Cleaver’s sheriff vehicle rolled up to the curb with the lights going but no siren. He hustled out of the driver’s seat and over to where we’d gathered in front of the bench.
Carter lifted his chin in greeting. “Perfect timing, Cuz. You need to cite Romero here for his unleashed dog. Maybe intimidation. He was going at Del good before I stopped him.”
I scoffed. As if he could stop me from doing anything. Even if he wasn’t high on whatever, he’d never be able to prevent me from cleaning the ground with his face.
Cleaver stepped into the middle of us, blocking Vader from Delilah and his cousin and shooting a warning at me. “How about we all calm down.”
A deep rumble in Vader’s throat had Cleaver frowning at him.
“Put your dog in the back of my rig, Beckett.” His voice was calm but deadly serious, and when I didn’t budge, he sighed. “Now, or I will have to cite you.”
“Beckett,” Maisey pleaded.
I reached down and grabbed Vader’s collar. My dog wasn’t happy about leaving, dragging his feet enough that I had to pick him up, open the back passenger door, and shove him inside. “Stay.”
While I was taking care of Vader, I heard Maisey start to explain to Cleaver that we thought the sweatshirt on the bench had been left behind by the person who’d been leaving us notes.