She clicked around for a moment until she recalled the controls and brought me right where I needed to be. I didn’t want to be rude, but I also didn’t want an audience before I had a chance to review the footage myself. I hesitated, trying to figure out how to nicely word that I wanted to be alone.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do or if there’s anything I should know about.”
I held back my sigh of relief. Sheila was a damn good woman. I was oddly proud of my father for snagging her. “Thanks, Sheila. I’ll let you know.”
My broad shoulders filled the doorway, so I didn’t need to worry about someone walking by and seeing the footage. I hit Play and accelerated it to ten-times speed until I saw Scarlett pull into the spot. I quickly moved it back to regular speed, rewinding it a few seconds so I didn’t miss a thing.
Scarlett’s bright red hair and perfectly shaped ass hypnotized me. I watched her walk from the car into the building without taking my eyes off her. I had to rewind it so I could focus on everything else going on. The second time through, I still only had eyes for her though. Dammit. Third time’s a charm. This time, I was able to focus on the rest of the surroundings. Nothing of note happened for the next couple of minutes. Claire came into the frame from the right, and a moment later, Maeve, carrying Veda in her car seat, came from the left. Still, nothing was going on near Scarlett’s car. I moved it up to two-times speed.
About fifteen minutes later, I saw it. A hooded figure walked up from the right. Black sweatshirt, no logos, jeans, white sneakers. I rewound again and brought it to regular speed.
He approached the car with his head down.Keeping his back to the camera, he reached across her windshield and kept walking in the same direction, exiting the frame on the left. The entire thing lasted less than twenty seconds. I replayed the footage a dozen times, pausing it to analyze the person’s build, stature, height, weight.
There were no distinguishing marks, and they clearly knew where the camera was located to avoid it expertly. If I had to guess, I would say it was a man between five foot eleven and six foot one.
We didn’t have traffic cams, having only one stoplight in town anyway. Across the street from the diner were some smaller businesses. A cell phone repair shop, an accountant firm, and a vintage clothing store. I didn’t hold much hope that any of them would have cameras that faced the street, but I would check.
This, at least, gave me something to work with. Now, I knew that whoever left the note had done so intentionally. They knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them. And they knew which vehicle was Scarlett’s, even though she had been inside for the last fifteen minutes. It was possible they saw her exit the car and waited, but there wasn’t any reason to.
No. This person knew who Scarlett was, what she drove, and that she was working with me to dig deeper into the Karrigan case. And I knew one person who had all of that information.
I didn’t know what Monroe was trying to hide, but I was going to find out.
16
Scarlett
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
My heart rate spiked through the roof. Someone was banging on my door. I jumped out of the tub, quickly wrapping myself in a towel.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The banging sounded again.
My hands were shaking as I reached for my phone to call Luke. I was trying to be as quiet as possible, but my breathing was so damn loud I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be heard down the block.
“Scarlett? You in there? Open up.”
“Sebastian?” I asked. My phone was still in my hand, unlocked and ready to call for backup.
“Yeah. Unlock the door.”
I didn’t have a peephole to confirm, but I’d been friends with Sebastian Devereux for just about as long as I had been in Calla Bay. I knew he was safe. I shot a text off to Luke anyway, letting him know that I had company. I knew he would want me to keep him informed. I unlocked and opened the doorto let Seb in.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, hey now. I didn’t know we were doing naked greetings, but works for me,” he said with a grin. His eyes held a playful glint as I stood in front of him in nothing but a towel.
“Shut it. I was taking a bath when you started banging on my door.”
I stalked my way to my bedroom to throw on some sweats. I heard the text notification ding, and I looked down to see a message from Luke.
Luke: Sorry. I should have warned you. I asked Seb to keep you company while I’m on duty. You can let him in.
Me: I don’t need a bodyguard, Luke. It was just a note. I’m sure I’m fine.
That was a lie, but I didn’t want Luke to know how worried that little piece of paper had made me. I was trying to play it down like it was no big deal.
