Forever Saved - Kathleen Brooks Page 0,53
know as they watched a person in a black hoodie, jeans, face covering, and gloves walk up to the house. It seemed they carried a plastic container with them as they approached the door. They set the container down and used a planter to break the window. They reached inside and unlocked the door. The white mark on Jimmy’s face could be seen in the darkness as he approached the door. Jace, Stella, and everyone else crowded around to see the person open the container and set it down in front of the barking dog. Jimmy paused, sniffed, and then gobbled up the food. The person picked up the empty container, shut the door, and ran off camera.
“Their sole purpose was to hurt something Stella loved. And that is far more dangerous than a burglar,” Nabi warned.
Jace’s whole body tensed at Nabi’s words. “How do you know it’s not Rick?”
“He was at an expensive restaurant downtown for a late dinner with his new girlfriend. There’s video of it, they posted pictures on social media of their dinner, and the owner swears he was talking to the couple at the time the security cameras caught the person sneaking onto Miss Winter’s property about an hour and a half ago,” Andy told them. “Detective Braxton of the Lexington police was able to stop Rick and his date as they were exiting the restaurant and question him and the staff, and view the surveillance video.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t hire someone to do this.” Jace noticed that Stella was quiet and turned to her. “What do you think?”
“I really don’t know. I know Rick is a no-sugar type of guy. He cares about his appearance a lot so he’s always eating salad and drinking kale smoothies. However, he doesn’t bake. He doesn’t do dessert. It’s as if for every clue that points to him, there’s a fact that says it isn’t him.”
Nabi cleared his throat and drew their attention back to him. “I know it’s not my investigation, but regardless of who it is, these incidences are escalating. Text messages to arson to attempted murder of a pet. You all know what that means.”
Jace nodded as his lips pursed together. “That Stella’s life in now in imminent danger.”
Stella’s whole body stiffened and Jace felt the shiver of fear that suddenly wracked her as he held her against his side. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Jace whispered against her ear before placing a kiss on her head.
“I don’t understand. Who would do this to me and why?” Stella’s voice grew louder as it cracked with panic and a trace of anger. “I’ve never done anything to purposefully hurt anyone.”
Katelyn came up beside her and wrapped Stella in a hug. Jace felt the loss of her instantly, but Stella needed some motherly support right now.
Katelyn ran her hand over Stella’s hair, trying to calm her as she held Stella in her arms. “Shh. It’ll be okay. We will track him down and cut off his balls. Don’t you worry.”
Stella pulled away and looked at Katelyn with confusion. “Did you say that you’d—”
“Neuter him. Nabi can hide a body better than almost anyone.”
Nabi bowed his head slightly. “Not as well as Ahmed, but I’m getting there.”
Stella looked over her shoulder at Jace with a “are they for real” look. Jace shrugged. They probably were for real.
“Now,” Katelyn said, bringing Stella’s attention back to her, “why don’t you go back to Jace’s apartment and get some rest? I’ll stay here with Jimmy for a while and I’ll call you after I do his morning blood work. Sound okay to you?”
Jace took the opportunity to put his arm around Stella again. The need to protect her was overwhelming. “Come on. Aunt Katelyn will take excellent care of Jimmy. Let’s get some rest. In the morning we can come up with a list of anyone who would be capable of these acts.”
“I’ll swing by before I get off duty,” Andy told them.
“Thank you, deputies, Dr. Davies, and Mr. Nabi. You’ve gone above and beyond to try to catch this person. It just seems so strange. I’m not a person to inspire such passion, neither love nor hatred. I’m just an ordinary woman.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Jace told her, not even caring that everyone was listening. “You inspire love, caring, nurturing, and kindness. But I agree I can’t think of any reason for you to inspire hatred.”
Andy frowned as if thinking and then turned to Jace. “Can you go start