Page 98 of Unseen Danger

“I don’t think anyone would have chanced tampering with the equipment when they could be seen anyway.”

Branson nodded at Sofia’s good point. “I agree. That would’ve been foolish, and someone would’ve remembered seeing it if the culprit had done it in front of witnesses. But I could see the perp being afraid Nevaeh saw something that wasn’t obvious to anyone but him.”

“If that’s true,” Sofia pushed her fingers through her thick black hair, “then having his cronies accidentally grab Nevaeh during the kidnapping attempt could’ve been his chance to get rid of her.”

Branson’s gut twisted at the idea. And the memory of finding Nevaeh locked in the warehouse. The way she’d thrown herself into his arms. He swallowed back the lump in his throat.

“I think he was maybe going to. I heard the men talking about waiting for someone to get there to find out what to do with me.” Nevaeh’s gaze landed on Branson. “But you showed up before they could do anything.” Her eyes softened, filling with trust, admiration, and another emotion he didn’t dare identify.

He stopped breathing. He’d never had a woman look at him like that before. As if he was…a hero.

“It’s a viable theory.” Phoenix’s statement made Nevaeh look away. “But not the only one.”

Cora seemed to take that as her cue, and she added a new section at the bottom corner of the board titled Nevaeh.

Branson’s chest tightened. Given the news she had a stalker, what kind of list was this going to be?

“I traced all of the inmates the record shows were at Whitlow Heights Prison when you were.” Cora glanced Nevaeh’s direction.

Nevaeh was in prison? Disbelief sucked Branson’s oxygen away as he looked at her. That couldn’t be possible.

“To boil down my findings to the most pertinent information, six who were released live in the Twin Cities area.” Cora rattled off six first and last names, and then wrote them under the new heading in neat handwriting. “Nevaeh, do you think any of these people would have a grudge against you?”

“No. I don’t even remember meeting three of them.” Nevaeh stared at the board. “And I knew all the inmates in the pods I was assigned to. But it’s a big facility.”

Of course. Relief soothed the tension coiling Branson’s insides. She must have worked there as a correctional officer, which would’ve given her security experience prior to Phoenix K-9.

“Should I still keep them on the board?” Cora looked at Phoenix.

Her baseball cap bobbed as she gave a short nod. “They could have grudges Nevaeh isn’t aware of.”

So they were considering that the stalker could be unrelated to D-Chop’s situation, too. Good to cover all the possibilities. His respect for the Phoenix K-9 Agency grew even more. They seemed skilled at investigating as well as security. It would be challenging to get the kind of information Cora was saying she’d tracked down.

“What about…” Nevaeh paused, her gaze dropping to her lap.

“The other possibility?” Cora’s vague terms perked Branson’s senses. Was he the reason she was being vague?

“All of our information still indicates Los Angeles. But we haven’t been able to obtain physical confirmation yet.”

“I’m putting more pressure on my contact to verify the current location.” Phoenix turned to the board, appearing to scan the contents. “In the meantime, we continue to pursue the possible connection to D-Chop. It may be the quickest way to eliminate Nevaeh’s problem.”

As if a stalker who could be violent was a minor, everyday type of difficulty she could solve without breaking a sweat. Branson hid the smile that wanted to emerge. This Phoenix Gray was great.

She rotated toward the group. “We need more information. Aaberg and Nevaeh, I want you to interview the primary suspects together. In the meantime, we’ll gather more intel through our sources.”

Phoenix’s last sentence was virtually lost on Branson as his gaze hopped to Nevaeh.

Her brown eyes were already on him.

“Aaberg, do you have time to interview Jill Jacquet with Nevaeh today?”

Branson couldn’t pull his attention from Nevaeh as he responded. “I have to bring our new security guard up to speed when his flight gets in mid-morning.” Travis Taylor had been on the security team when Branson had worked for Modella Hughes. The experienced protection specialist should have no problem covering the estate with Louis. And Branson wasn’t about to let anything keep him from spending time with Nevaeh. “Then I’m all yours.”

Nevaeh’s mouth opened in a brilliant smile.

This was going to be a very good day.

Twenty-Eight