Page 23 of Enchant Me

“He stayed for the ceremony?” Damien asked, pulling her closer. Needing to feel her near him.

“No. He left right before it began, then headed into the house. I meant to ask Alaine about it, but by the time we got to the reception, it had slipped my mind. Until I saw that,” she added with a nod toward the note.

Still beside him, Bree shuddered and hugged herself. He was about to say something to her when Ryan said, “Got it.”

Damien stepped aside to peer over Ryan’s shoulder, Nikki beside him. “Is that the guy you saw at the ceremony?”

“Hard to tell,” she said. “I can’t see his face at all here, so I can’t tell if he has a beard, and it’s hard to judge his height because of the angle. But his hair is dark, and he’s wearing the outfit, so the odds are good.”

They watched the screen as the man hurried up the stairs, taped the note, then disappeared back down the stairs, all without looking up. When he reached the ground floor, he exited through the front door, using a handkerchief on the knob. He’d been less careful with the note and tape. Maybe they’d get lucky and find prints.

“Exterior cams,” Damien said.

“Already on it.” A moment later, Ryan held the phone out again for all to see. Now it was showing the northeast parking area camera. The intruder slipped into a plain black Toyota, pulled out, and headed toward the guard station. “One second,” Ryan said, tapping the screen to switch cameras. A moment later they watched as the car exited through the automatic gate.

Damien pulled out his phone and dialed the gatehouse.

“Mr. Stark,” Charlie said. “I hope the wedding was nice.”

“It was lovely, Charlie. Do you remember a Toyota leaving earlier this evening? Driver dressed like one of the servers?”

“Yes, sir. I assumed he was off to pick up something the caterer forgot, but he never came back.”

“Can you find the still for his car?” Two cameras at the gatehouse recorded both the license plate and driver of all entering and exiting vehicles. “Then shoot me both images.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course. Is there a problem, sir?”

“Nothing we can’t handle, and nothing that reflects on your watch.”

“I see,” Charlie said, though of course he didn’t really. “I’ll get that to you right away.”

“Thank you, Charlie. Say hello to your wife and that little boy, won’t you?”

“Of course, sir.”

Damien ended the call, his eyes meeting Ryan’s. “Either one of Alaine’s, or someone who figured that was the best way to infiltrate. I’m guessing it will be the latter, but I’m withholding final judgment until we talk with Alaine.”

“The staff is still in the kitchen,” Ryan said. “They must still be packing up and cleaning. I’ll run and get him. And I’ll ask the staff to hang around a bit longer. Even if he did use the outfit as camouflage, one of them might have noticed him. Meanwhile, no one touch the note. I’ll text Mario and have him come dust for prints. Unless you want to get the police involved?”

Damien shook his head. “No. We’ll handle this privately. But I’ll have Charles call the station in the morning and explain the situation. Just so they have it on record.”

“Privacy’s one thing,” Jackson said, “but someone is harassing you in your home. I may not have had the best experience with the cops, but even I think they should be involved.”

“No,” Damien said, then glanced at Ryan, who nodded.

“All right. What else is going on?” Jackson asked as Nikki squeezed Damien’s hand in solidarity.

“Let’s go on in and sit down. I’ll fill you in while Ryan gets Alaine.” He frowned, for the first time noticing that Jamie and Sylvia had disappeared.

“They’re setting us up with bourbon and coffee,” Jackson said, nodding toward the third-floor kitchen that had become the heart of the home. “Right now, I’m thinking we’ll all be going with bourbon.”

“You got that right,” Damien said. He dragged his fingers through his hair. “This will fuck Alaine up if it’s someone on his staff. He’ll never forgive himself for not vetting his team well enough.”

“So would you in his shoes,” she told him. “But you’ll also tell him that you understand that.”

“I will,” he said, following his brother toward the sitting area. Nikki, however, held back, and he turned to find her with Bree.

“You can go on to your place,” she said. “Thank you so much for staying with the kids.”