Page 20 of Sachie's Hero

“I’d be more stressed not knowing whether or not you’re safe,” Kalea said. “Besides, security on the ranch has never been better. I insist you come and stay.”

“Just say yes,” Teller whispered into her ear.

“You knew about this?” Sachie looked up into his eyes, suddenly realizing just how close he was. Her heart fluttered and then raced, making her forget what she was about to say.

“I’ve been texting with Hawk,” Teller said. “He wants you to come as well. At least for a couple of nights until we come up with a plan.”

Her frown deepened. “I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to Kalea and her baby.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Kalea said into her ear, bringing Sachie back to the conversation. “The regional office of the Brotherhood Protectors is located here. They have access to computers, databases and anything you might need to figure outwho is making your life a living hell. It’s decided. Teller will get you here in time for lunch. I’ll see you then. And you can help me pick out what color to paint the nursery. I can fly a plane and help run this ranch, but I’m hopeless at interior decorating. See you soon.”

Before Sachie could say anything to the contrary, the call ended. She looked up into Teller’s serious face. “I guess we’re going to Parkman Ranch.”

A smile tipped the corners of his lips. “Good. We have more resources there to start this investigation.”

“That’s what Kalea said.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I want to find the bastard who’s doing this to me and put an end to this nonsense.”

“Then let’s go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can start working on a plan.” He cupped her elbow and led her to his SUV, where they’d left it in front of the auto parts store.

Even before they got there, they could see that the SUV wasn’t how they’d left it. Deeply scratched into the side of the door were jagged words.

YOU FAILED ME!

Sachie clapped a hand over her mouth and stopped. “Oh, Teller. I’m so sorry.”

His lips had thinned into a tight line, and his jaw had hardened to the point it twitched. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Someone else did this. Notyou.” He glanced around at the store and pointed. “They’ve got a security camera. Let’s check it out.”

Sachie marched with him into the parts store, praying the camera would give them a clear image of the person stalking her.

A bell rang over the door as they entered.

The young man behind the counter couldn’t have been more than nineteen. He looked up from his cell phone. “Good morning. Can I help you, or are you just interested in information about the fire down the road?”

“Have many people been in here since the fire started?” Sachie asked, leaning forward to read the man’s name tag, and added, “Johnny.”

The guy shrugged. “There have been more vehicles in the parking lot than usual, but mostly to turn around and head back the other direction. Is there something I can get you?”

“I was one of the people who parked in your parking lot,” Teller said. “Someone keyed my door while we were checking out the fire.”

Johnny held up his hands. “I don’t think we’re liable for damage to vehicles parked in our parking lot. You’d have to take it up with the manager. I just work here.”

“Is your manager in?” Teller asked.

Johnny shook his head. “He got a call saying theyhad a shipment to pick up at the airport. He left half an hour ago.”

“We’re not interested in suing the store for the damage. But we are interested in finding out who did it.” Teller tipped his head toward the entrance. “I noticed there’s a camera on the front of the store. Do you have a security system installed?”

“Yeah, it’s new, but it’s really awesome,” he said excitedly and turned to the computer monitor on the counter. “We can pull up the videos from any of the computers.”

Sachie leaned her elbows on the counter. “Can you pull up recordings from that front camera for the past two or three hours?”

“Sure can.” Johnny ran his fingers across the keypad, his brow furrowing in concentration. “It might take me a minute or two. My manager only showed me yesterday, and I haven’t had a chance to play with it since.” He turned the monitor halfway around so that Teller and Sachie could see the screen while he pulled up a menu and selected an application.

An array of live images popped up on the screen.

“It’s displaying real-time now,” Johnny said, pointing to the image on the left of the screen. “That’s the camera mounted on the front of the building.”

“You can see my SUV,” Teller said. “The black one on the corner of the lot, closest to the street.”

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