“No, no, no.” Bianca set the glass down and wiped her hands on the towel. “I enjoy planting shrubs and flowers in gardens. I don’t want to own a florist shop, and I don’t want to be a landscape designer.” She shook her head, trying to explain it clearly. “I just like to garden and plan a movie scene or two.”
Adam nodded slowly. “Oh.” His shoulders lifted in a faint shrug. “It was just a thought.” He seemed to withdraw without being obvious about it.
“Yeah,” Bianca said, clearing her throat. “Speaking of flowers, I received more this morning at Mrs. Shiller’s. Red ones.”
Adam frowned. “That’s getting weird.”
“You have no idea.” Bianca reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded card, handing it to him.
Adam took it and read the message. Every muscle in his body seemed to visibly tighten. “What the fuck?”
“That’s what I thought,” Bianca said quietly.
He looked up, his gaze burning. “You didn’t think I sent this, did you?”
“No,” she said immediately. “Honestly, not for a second.” She wrapped her arms around herself, the uneasiness that had been creeping through her all morning settling deeper now. “Somebody knows we spent the night together. I’m a little creeped out.”
Adam’s jaw tightened. “I’m a little creeped out too.” He set the card on the counter between them. “I think we should call the sheriff.”
Bianca hesitated. “It’s not exactly a threat, though. Can the sheriff really do anything?”
“Quinn can do a lot,” Adam said. His voice carried quiet certainty. “And we’re pretty much family. At the very least, he needs to know.” His phone buzzed on the counter. He glanced down at the screen. “Oh,” he said. “It’s about your car.” He answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hey, Elbert, what’s up?”
Bianca watched his face as he listened.
For a moment he didn’t say anything. Then his expression shifted sharply. “Are you shitting me?” He straightened, one hand bracing against the bar. “Okay. Yeah.” Another pause. “No, I need to go down and talk to Quinn anyway.”
Bianca’s stomach tightened.
“Yeah, thanks, buddy. See what else you find out.” Adam ended the call and lowered the phone slowly.
“What’s going on?” Bianca asked. “Is it just destroyed?” She should have bought the insurance.
“Yeah,” Adam said, his eyes glittering with a hard light. “It’s not looking good. The front and side are pretty crumpled. Elbert’s going to give us a bid and then you can decide what you want to do.”
Bianca swallowed. “Okay?”
“But he did find one other thing.” Adam spoke through clenched teeth.
She gave an involuntary shiver. “What’s that?”
Adam held her gaze for a second before answering. “Your tire was blown out with a bullet.”
Bianca stilled from head to toe. “What?”
Adam rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “We didn’t see it last night because the tires were all muddy when I pulled you out of the ditch.” He glanced down at the phone still in his hand. “But once Elbert washed everything off and really looked at it, he found the hole.”
The air left Bianca’s lungs.
“Somebody shot out your tire,” Adam said quietly. “They made you wreck on purpose.”
CHAPTER 14
Bianca soon found herself sitting across from Sheriff Quinn Lodge at a heavy wooden desk stacked high with papers and thick file folders. The room smelled faintly of coffee, leather, and the clean bite of disinfectant that suggested someone had wiped everything down that morning. A wide window behind the sheriff looked out over Mineral Lake’s small main street. Sunlight filtered through the glass, catching on dust motes drifting lazily in the air.
Quinn Lodge filled the chair behind the desk with quiet authority. He was well over six feet tall with black hair cut short and even darker eyes that missed very little. His shoulders were broad beneath a plain dark T-shirt, and the hard lines of muscle along his arms suggested he spent plenty of time working outside rather than sitting at the desk. His badge rested beside a yellow legal pad where he was taking notes as Adam spoke.
Bianca took a moment and appreciated the guy. The men in Mineral Lake were seriously good-looking. She’d already noticed that fact several times since arriving in town. Ranch work, clean air, and long days outside apparently did wonders for them. A few of them would make fantastic extras in the film. Of course, that could be a problem too. If they were too good looking, theymight pull attention away from the actors. Hollywood didn’t always appreciate competition from real life.