Page 79 of The Desperate Warrior

“Was he able to locate Steve Randall?” Leo asked.

Jules nodded. “He did. Over the weekend, Leroy tracked Steve to a remote cabin in Eagle Mountain Lake.”

“That’s good,” Dr. Caldwell said. “My wife will be relieved. Were the police able to arrest him?”

Jules braced herself. “No. Before they could get there, Steve Randall shot and killed Leroy.”

Shocked gasps rippled through the room. Voices erupted in a swell of horror and disbelief.

“Please,” Jules raised a hand. “It gets worse.”

Silence.

Steve Randall had photos in the cabin … of all of us. And notes on our routines. He’s been studying us.” A blistering terror streaked through her, causing her throat to go dry.

“I knew it,” Mindy exclaimed. “I knew someone was watching me.”

“I knew someone broke into my house,” Asher muttered.

Bree whipped around to Asher. “What? Someone broke into your house?”

He nodded grimly. “Nothing was taken, but someone was there.”

Jules swallowed hard and pushed forward. “Steve had a stash of guns, assault rifles, and ammunition.”

“Oh my gosh,” LouAnna said hoarsely. “What’re we supposed to do? He’s crazy.”

“I don’t know,” Jules said, “but I had to tell you the situation. Brock’s taking me away to someplace safe. Steve had photos of all of you—but he had more of me. A lot more.” Emotion clogged her throat. She didn’t try to hide the tremble in her voice. “He already came after me once. I can’t take the chance that he’ll try again.”

Charlotte nodded. “Of course. We get it.”

“I don’t want to leave you all vulnerable.” Jules looked around the room, realizing just how fond she was of these people. They were her friends, and she was deserting them. “But Brock says it’s no longer safe for me to stay here, and I … I agree.”

A long silence stretched out, the weight of what she’d said settling heavily over the room.

LouAnna finally turned to Bree. “Well, what do the rest of us do?”

“I don’t know,” Bree said. “Maybe we should all hire bodyguards.”

“Yeah, like I could afford that on my salary,” Mindy muttered.

“On mine, either,” Charlotte chimed in.

After the meeting, Jules was emotionally spent. Her coworkers had been kind and understanding, but she could see the fear in their eyes.

Asher came up to her. “Hey,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck. “About the other night … I overreacted. Seeing you and Brock together caught me off guard.”

“It’s okay,” Jules replied. “I’m just glad you know that he’s not my cousin.”

He studied her. “So, you and Brock. You’re a thing?”

She paused. “We used to be.”

“But it looks like it’s happening again?”

“Yeah … it looks that way.” She wanted to give it to him straight so that he wouldn’t entertain any false hope that they could be anything other than coworkers or friends.

He nodded and tried to mask his disappointment with a smile. “I’m happy for you. I hope everything works out. And I hope you’ll be able to come back soon.”

---