laughed and we went back inside.
"I have a better idea. How about that welcome-home kiss?"
"Well. If there's nothing good on TV..."
Turns out, there wasn't.
14
My good mood Wednesday morning lasted all the way until I arrived at my shop, and then it died a horrible death.
The front window to the new addition to the building—Jack's office—was smashed, and his front door was hanging open.
I stayed in the car until his truck pulled up behind me. He jumped out of his truck, signaling me to stay back, and ran up to the building. I hit speed dial for Susan, not in the mood to go through the sheriff's office's crotchety dispatcher, but her phone went straight to voice mail.
"Susan, this might not be about the stalker, but somebody broke into Jack's office last night and—"
Jack walked back out of his office, his face grim.
"I'll call the office," I said, hung up, and climbed out of my car.
"What is it?"
"My office is trashed." His eyes flashed amber. "Spray paint creatively telling me to DIE, ANIMAL. And they ripped files out of the cabinet, yanked my phone out of the wall, the usual stuff."
"Oh, no. Jack, I'm so sorry. Do you think it's just kids? Or maybe—"
"Tess. It's not kids. There are peppermint wrappers on my floor, and you've got another surprise." He pointed at a large, gift-wrapped box on the wooden floor of our front porch.
I reluctantly climbed the steps, sure that I did not want anything to do with whatever was inside that box.
"Let's not touch it. Get Susan and Andy out here to do their thing, all right?"
I nodded. While he called the sheriff's office, I unlocked the door to the shop, almost terrified over what I'd find. At first glance, though, not a single thing seemed to be out of place.
"I don't understand why he would break your office window but leave my huge display windows alone," I said, frowning. "I mean, I'm glad, but I don't understand the logic. It seems like shattering these big windows would be more satisfying."
Jack bent over to read the card and then stood and nodded. "I understand the logic completely. Whoever this is wants something from you or is obsessed with you. I'm an obstacle."
"I'm so sorry, Jack," I whispered.
He took two quick strides over to where I was huddling against my door and pulled me close to him. "You have nothing to be sorry for. This psycho is the problem. It has nothing to do with you. We're going to find him."
I nodded and took a deep breath. "I know. I'm going to keep you safe, Jack."
He grinned. "I think that's my line."
"We're a team."
While we waited for Andy or Susan to show up, I went into the shop and made coffee. And then I made some phone calls. We needed a cleanup party and to get the window replaced. Within minutes, I had Dave Wolf on his way from his construction site with paint and replacement windows, and Lucky and Dallas on their way for labor and support, while Austin and some of the other guys stayed behind and ran the swamp boat tours.
Andy roared into the parking lot, siren blaring, and pulled to a neat stop between my car and Jack's truck. He shut off the siren and lights and walked over to us; a fierce scowl on his freckled face.
"Are you okay, Tess?"
I nodded. "I'm fine, Andy. Just a little bit freaked out."
"I'm fine, too, thanks for asking," Jack said dryly.
Andy pulled on a pair of gloves. "What's in the box this time?"
"We thought we should wait for you to open it."
When he glanced up at me, I shrugged. "We didn't want to disturb the evidence. It's not ticking or anything."
He froze for a second and then squared his shoulders. "Okay, step back, you two, just in case."
"It doesn't smell like explosives or chemicals," Jack said. "No blood this time, either, unless it's wrapped in plastic or something."
We all held out breath when Andy opened the box to find… a stuffed animal. A toy stuffed animal, not a taxidermied one.
A stuffed tiger, to be exact.
With a giant knife stuck through its head.
"Well, that's subtle," Jack said.
"I need to sit down," I said, suddenly feeling woozy. I had just had enough.
Enough threats, enough crime, enough danger.
I wanted to go back to my semi-ordinary life, running my pawnshop and baking pies for my friends. The problem was that I didn't know how to do that. The bad guys didn't seem to