Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“No. There was no name, no stamp or address,” Quinn offered.
“A dove?” Ramsay scrutinized the bird. “Whoever did this had to have bought this dove from a pet store. They bought an animal only to kill it and leave it here as a threat to someone?”
“Threat? What’s going on?” Cammie stepped forward, anxious.
“A dove.” Ramsay’s voice was rough as he seemed to stare dazedly at the dead bird. “It’s a symbol of peace and freedom.”
“So … what? Someone is saying … they’re going to kill someone’s peace.” Cammie huffed. “What does that mean?”
It meant Halston Cole knew I was onto him.
It meant … if I didn’t leave the company alone in peace … I was next.
“Tierney, does this mean something to you?” Quinn asked.
I shook my head, unable to speak the lie out loud.
“Is there anyone unhappy that Tierney bought this place?” Cammie asked her brother. “I haven’t heard anything. Have you?”
“No. There was some pushback from members of the community council, but none of them would do this,” her brother replied. “It had to be an outsider. They must have ferried over today.”
Cammie hovered near Ramsay and Quinn. “Do you have CCTV up on the house?”
“No. We didn’t think we needed it. We can, though, if you want that, Tierney?”
“Should we call the police?” Cammie asked before I could respond to Quinn.
“And say what?” Ramsay rasped out, taking the bird by the pliers and placing it gently back in the envelope.
“There could be fingerprints on that envelope,” Cammie insisted.
“I’ll take care of it.” Ramsay stood, giving Quinn a sharp look that made his brows draw together. Then he turned to me. “Authorize the CCTV, Silver.” Then he walked out with the envelope that was my evidence.
Yet, I couldn’t stop him without admitting that I knew the threat was definitely for me and it had nothing to do with me renovating the B and B.
RAMSAY
There were no fingerprints on the envelope.
Or the poor wee birdie.
I tested both.
Dread knotted in my gut.
Jay texted back an hour ago to assure me there were no traces of me on the internet.
Yet, it seemed someone with a grudge had found me.
Frustration and fury mingled as I petted Akiva’s head and stared out at the surrounding woodland. Summer nights on Stòr lasted long into the evening, but this was the first night in August where the gloomy clouds above hadn’t chased the night into an early start. Sunlight filtered through the lush leaves and I already missed the peace the sight usually brought me.
I took a pull of my beer and scratched behind Akiva’s ears. She’d clung to me all day since I’d left the B and B, not only smelling the dead bird but sensing my dark mood.
There were multiple enemies who might have sent this.
If they came, I’d deal with them.
What worried me was the collateral damage.
Already, it had impacted Silver.
She’d looked like a ghost after opening that package.
I knew she had a soft heart, but after hearing her talk of her parents the other day, I realized how soft and vulnerable that heart truly was.
Whoever sent the package would pay for putting that look on Silver’s face.
The knot in my gut only tightened.
She was a problem.
I barely knew her, but she was a problem. The woman filled my mind more often than she should. If I didn’t find a way to banish her from my thoughts, she’d become a weakness.
When I came to Glenvulin, I had none.
Then Akiva became one. Then Quinn, Cammie, the lads in the band, the villagers.
I didn’t need the kind of weakness Tierney Silver could become.
The kind of weakness that would wreck me.
Maybe Silver’s grandmother had been right about knowing yourself.
Because before her … I didn’t think there was anything left of me to be wrecked.
11. Tierney
The next morning, I climbed the hill to the B and B, my limbs heavy, like they were filled with rocks.
I’d slept poorly to say the least.
My phone call to Perri had consisted of her reassuring me I didn’t need to put my name in the article if I was afraid for my life. I’d replied that I was only informing her because she needed to know about the threat. That I was scared, but it didn’t mean I would back down.
“Halston Cole can go fuck himself,” I’d whispered hoarsely into my phone.
I’d heard the pride in Perri’s voice when she told me to take care of myself and to stay vigilant.
Still, I hadn’t slept. I was worried that whoever had jumped on a ferry to deliver a dead bird to me was still in Leth Sholas.
Ramsay was working on internal cupboards in the bedrooms so my guests would have places to hang their clothes. I didn’t want bulky furniture in the guest rooms but rather clever storage solutions that would give the rooms a sense of spaciousness and allow us to create larger adjoining bathrooms for each. Previously, guests had to share two bathrooms in the guesthouse and that wouldn’t work for modern hospitality.