Page 127 of Guarding Over You
He turned his head to the neighbor. Mike and Cassidy. “They’ve got bird feeders on their porch. Out front too.”
“Jesus. I like being in the country,” Clay said, moving off of Arden’s porch and going to the neighbor’s.
“What are you doing? I don’t need my neighbors pissed at me. It’s bad enough they know what is going on and asked last night after you and Ford left.”
Getting Gracie to bed and lying that his brothers just came for a visit hadn’t felt right. But what else were they going to do? Scare the child that she might be in danger?
Blaze didn’t want to believe that. He wanted to think that whoever this was wouldn’t harm a child.
But he didn’t know. He didn’t know shit about anything it seemed.
Whoever this was obviously didn’t think he was competent.He can’t save you. He doesn’t know how.
What the hell did that mean?
And all it did was fuel him to prove them wrong!
“It looks like one of those bird cams.”
“What?”
He jogged closer and looked at the bird feeder hanging on a pole in the front yard.
“Shit,” Clay said. “I wonder if this is live or recording?”
“Do they record?”
“They do,” Clay said, pulling his phone out and looking up the model of the one in front of them. “This one has the ability if it’s set up. How well do you know the neighbors?”
“Well enough. I’ll ask when they get home tonight.”
“You don’t have their number to call now?”
“No.”
“What’s their name?” Clay said. “Maybe I can find them.”
“I want to, but we need to dial it back. Let me call Ford. We don’t even know if they have the service and if they do how long it lasts. What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that Gracie rode her old bike last Thursday. So it was tampered with Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Today is seven days. Hopefully, it’s there. It’s our best bet for any lead right now.”
“I hope so. This waiting is killing me. I’ve got an abundance of patience, but it’s all gone.”
“It always is for those that are in your heart.”
His eyes popped open wider than they’d been in his life. “Clay Ridgeway, the meanest sibling, just made some sentimental statement?”
His brother shoved him. “Don’t piss me off. I don’t need my wife on my case if I come home with a scratched up knuckle if I hit you.”
He laughed. “I’d have to patch you up after I retaliated, so you wouldn’t dare. Be honest with me, what’s your gut with this?”
“I’m torn,” Clay said. “Could be empty threats.”
“Or not. I’m leaning toward not.”
“You have to be prepared.”
“How dangerous do we think this person could be?”
