Page 15 of Blue Norther
“Don’t be ridiculous. I just want to know we’re safe. I’m thinking about having a security system installed, but that felt like overkill for a quiet place like Silver Springs.” Her lip slipped between her top and bottom teeth.
“You’re lying to me.” It wasn’t a question. I knew that was one of her tells. Apparentlythathadn’t changed.
“No, I’m not.”
I sat back, my arms folding across my chest. When it came to pulling a confession from someone, I was stubborn. I could wait. I could watch Vi squirm a little.
She cracked faster than I ever thought she would. “Fine. There was someone in New York.”
“Someone?”The baby’s father?Just say it, Violet. Tell me about him.
“I'm writing now.”
She didn’t know I knew all about her novels. That every single one she’d ever published sat on my bookshelf at home. That I’d read through them like a madman hoping to catch a glimpse, a nod, to something that we once shared.
“We think it’s a reader. A fan. God, I hate saying it like that. I don’t know who they are. At first, they reached out and were so sweet. Commenting on all the little clues I hid throughout mystories. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just someone who seemed to like my writing.”
She was beating around the bush. Something had spooked her. “Until?”
“Until they asked me how my pregnancy was going.”
My skin pebbled.Fuck. They were watching her.
“I haven’t announced that I’m pregnant, and I won’t be. So my readers wouldn’t—shouldn’t—know. And I know what you’re thinking…someone probably saw me out and about, but I’ve been seeing a midwife, and she comes to my apartment for my visits. I wasn’t ever at an OB office. I just couldn’t after everything.” Her voice caught and I nodded, shoving down my own emotions that were pushing up to the surface.
“Someone could have seen you shopping in the city, or running an errand? Hell, a book signing? What about getting an ultrasound for the baby?”
“No, no, and no. I had my meal plan delivered to my apartment. I haven’t had a book signing in over a year, and because I was on deadline, there was no time to run errands. I’m behind schedule, and writing is all I have time for. I did have an ultrasound. One. That was the only time I went to a hospital and I wore baggy clothes. I hid my belly. It was the first appointment of the day, and I was the only one there.”
Had she found out what she was having that morning?I knew it wouldn’t matter to her. It wouldn’t have mattered to me, either.
“Okay, so this person asked you about your pregnancy, and you said what?”
“I didn’t say anything. I deleted the message and blocked the person on social media. I was so freaked out that I told my business manager, but he thought it was just some spillover anxiety from the pregnancy.”
I already hated him, and I didn’t even know his name. “No. You were right to trust your gut.”
“I know. You taught me that the day Mary Lucas cut my bangs, pretending to be my friend, and then everyone laughed at me in gym class.”
“I don’t know why they laughed. I always like you with bangs.”
She smiled at that, but her hand moved to her belly, and I saw her face fall. “I am scared, Colt. I thought it would fade away, but more messages came. And they’ve become more…intimate.”
“What do you mean,intimate?” I bark at her so hard I have to clear my throat and cough.
That’s when she opened the envelope she’d been holding onto.
“These all went to my business manager’s office. It’s the only address on file for my pen name.”
She slid the packet across my desk, her eyes instantly dropping back down to her hand resting on her belly.
I saw the first page, and I wanted to vomit. Someone had been sending Violet the most violating messages. A predator watching over their prey. No wonder Vi looked exhausted—she was.
Fuck that. Normally, if a citizen of Clarence County came in with this, we’d set them up with a twice daily patrol, then someone in the tech department might dig a little deeper to see if they could get something off the person’s computer or device. But like hell was I about to leave Violet to the hope that someone so depraved wouldn’t follow her here.
I picked up the papers, shoved them back into the envelope, and pushed back from the desk.
“Let’s go.”
