My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,5
sweeping it away with the end of his baton to reveal a scrap of paper that was taped to the wall behind it.
When Rachel reached for it, he stopped her. “Don’t touch that.”
“Why not? You said you didn’t find any fingerprints on the last note.”
“No, but there’s tape on this one,” Jace said. “It’s possible that your stalker left a print on the sticky side of that.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. She stared at his face. There was no sign that he was exaggerating, nor was there even a hint that he might be joking. “A stalker? You think that’s what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. It just seems to me that this whole series of attacks is directed at you, rather than at the shop.”
For the first time since she’d received the dead flowers the day before, she was ready to admit a possible pattern. Could he be right?
“I want to at least get close enough to read that note,” she said flatly. “I won’t touch it. I promise.”
To her relief, the broad-shouldered officer gave ground and allowed her to step nearer to the paper, although he didn’t walk away.
She leaned in past him, sensing his protective presence and surprisingly glad for it. The scrawled, printed words came into focus. She swayed when she read.
You are just like the black widow, my darling Rachel.
But I will kill you before you can kill me.
Jace took her arm and steadied her. “See what I meant? This isn’t about the card shop. It’s personal.”
“I—I can see that now.” She raised her gaze to his and was struck by the empathy there. “What can I do? What should I do?”
“You can start by telling me who’s so mad at you that they’re going to all this trouble,” he said.
“I don’t have a clue.”
“How about ex-boyfriends?”
“I have one, Lance Beech, but he shouldn’t be upset. Breaking off our relationship was as much his idea as it was mine.” She paused. “He has been saying some unkind things about me to our mutual friends. You know, like sour grapes. But he’d never resort to this kind of harassment. I know he wouldn’t.”
“What about others?”
Rachel sensed that he was assessing her, judging her honesty. “Nobody serious. My dad keeps trying to fix me up with men of his choosing but I refuse to go out with any of them.”
“Yet he keeps insisting? Why?”
She huffed in disgust. “Once my father gets it into his head that he’s going to handle something his way, there’s no stopping him. He’s always treated me as if I was less than competent. When he learns there’s a crime involved here, he’ll probably camp on the doorstep of the shop and scare away what few customers I have left.”
“Maybe he’s just looking out for you.”
“Not in my opinion. That’s one of the reasons I stuck with Lance Beech for way too long and ended up hurting his feelings when I didn’t mean to. As long as Lance was in the picture, Dad backed off and let me live my own life.”
“You don’t like any of his choices? Maybe you just need to give a few of the guys a fair chance. You know. Get to know them.”
Rachel bristled. “Now you’re starting to sound just like Dad. Some of the men he’s suggested recently are so unsuitable I’m beginning to wonder if he’s actually trying to help or just make sure I’m single forever.”
Jace chuckled, making her even more irate.
“I hardly think it’s funny,” she declared.
“I’m not laughing at what he’s been doing, it’s your reaction to it that’s so hilarious.”
“Ha-ha.” Rachel straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. Truth to tell, if her father suggested she date any particular man, it was akin to waving a red flag in front of an angry bull. There was no way she was going to agree. Period. Why, she’d sooner date this new cop than accept any of her father’s choices.
That notion made her grind her teeth. Date a cop? No way. Not in a million years. She didn’t care if he was the best-looking man she’d met in ages—which he was. His occupation would never allow her to see him as anything but a clone of her father and that was enough to keep her from letting him get too close.
Although he did seem to be the current answer to her problems, that didn’t mean he’d ever be anything more. She’d see to that.
Glancing back at the note taped to the wall, she shivered. She might not