Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Oh God.
She was going to be sick.
“He doesn’t recruit close to home. Not that I know of, anyway.”
So what did he want with Derick?
“If he comes back, you get away from him. In fact, I don’t like this. I want you to call Freddy. Promise me you’ll message him. He can let Vega know that you have protection.”
“All right.”
She might wait and see if Vega turned up again, though. No need to contact Freddy unless she really had to.
Devi didn’t take the bus home.
She got on a bus that headed into the city.
Anger was pulsing through her. Demanding justice.
Getting off at the stop she wanted, she walked another four blocks. She hadn’t gotten off at the closest stop for a reason. Putting a cap over her head, she tucked all of her hair into it. Then she zipped her jacket right up so the collar covered the bottom of her face.
She pulled on gloves before opening her backpack. She drew out a piece of paper, envelope and a pen. Then she wrote a quick note and stuffed it in the envelope. She didn’t need to check the address, she had it memorized. The envelope was a prepaid one so she didn’t have to bother with a stamp. Walking up to a mailbox, she popped it in.
Instantly, she felt better.
She always did after sending him a letter. It was . . . cathartic or something. There was always a tinge of something else. Guilt?
Why would she feel guilty, though?
That asshole had ruined her brother’s life. She was just giving him a bit of a taste of what Rohan had to suffer.
She wouldn’t do it forever.
She’d actually decided to stop. But just one more time.
What could it hurt?
13
Hayes stared at the latest threat.
Like all the other times, it was written in block capitals in pen. The person who wrote it was trying to disguise their writing. Not that it mattered since their handwriting would only help if they had a suspect’s writing to compare them to.
This note was quite graphic about how they wanted to kill him. There were details about where he worked and how they would find him.
How he would never be safe anywhere. Hayes understood why Stein was on edge.
Donovan sighed and sat back.
“It’s got to be someone related to a case of Stein’s,” Liam said through the computer screen.
They were on a video call with Kent, Liam, Zeke, and Dominic. Kent wanted to throw as many minds at this as possible.
“I’m going to send everything we’ve got to Zander,” Kent said suddenly.
“Zander?” Donovan said, sitting up. “Are you crazy?”
“Well, last time I checked, no,” Kent said dryly.
“I just mean . . . he’s nuts. Zander is crazy. And how will he help?” Donovan asked.
“Sometimes he sees things that the rest of us don’t,” Kent replied.
“I don’t understand the timing of the notes,” Zeke said. “There hasn’t been one in weeks. Why now?”
“This is the only one since we started guarding the Steins,” Hayes said. “I thought we must have scared them off.”
“Maybe you did. But they couldn’t help themselves?” Dominic said. “Perhaps the urge was too strong. Or maybe there’s a trigger.”
Liam sighed. “It’s all guesswork. We still have no clue. Each letter is sent from a different location around Denver which indicates it’s someone living there or close by. If we’re working on the theory it’s someone related to an ex-client of Stein’s who ended up being incarcerated that narrows it down to around twenty-five people.”
“Awesome,” Donovan muttered.
“It has to be from his more recent cases,” Kent said. “These letters have only been coming for two months. Let’s only look at people from the last three cases that he’s lost.”
Hayes flipped through the cases. That left eight people.
“Unless it’s a former client who recently got out of jail and is looking for revenge,” Donovan suggested.
“Shit,” Kent said. “That too.”
“Wouldn’t someone like that do something more than send a few threatening letters?” Zeke suggested. “Stein defends murderers and rapists. Those guys don’t send handwritten notes. They spray bullets at your house or firebomb your car.”
“Nice thought,” Donovan said dryly. “I’ll be sure to look out for firebombs the next time I’m driving that douche to work.”
“Donovan,” Kent said with a sigh. “Can we please try not to refer to the client as a douche?”
“I’ll try,” Donovan told him. “But the fact is that he’s a douche.”
“It’s true,” Hayes said. “He’s condescending and rude. And really jumpy. For someone that deals with hardened criminals all the time, he’s surprisingly rattled by a few letters.”
“Agreed,” Donovan said. “I understand that getting death threats is scary, but this seems to be something more.”
“And it isn’t the first time he’s received threats,” Liam said. “However, it is the first time he’s ever hired security. Which I find interesting.”
“So he likely knows something more than he’s letting on,” Kent said. “Liam, is there anyone who has recently gotten out of jail or from his past who could be behind this?”