Page 23 of Shadow Redemption
“Someone attached the license plate of another vehicle to the Camaro.”
“We’re at a dead end.”
“For now.”
“Someone was watching my house. With your SUV in the driveway, he knew I was home. Unless he followed us, he wouldn’t know you were here, too. Why didn’t he come after me again?”
“Your sister and brother-in-law drive the same SUVs as you and I do. With Cal’s SUV in front of the house, the watcher could have mistaken his vehicle for your sister’s. If this guy watches you much, he’d know Bridget stays here sometimes when Shadow is gone and you’re in town.”
Ruth smiled. “It’s like old times. I miss my sister the most when I’m here alone. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for her and it’s obvious Trace is head-over-heels in love with Bridget. I love that they’re together, but I miss spending time with her.”
“Life is about change. Some good, some not. You’ll adjust. One day, you’ll have a man in your life and Bridget will have to make the adjustment herself.”
Her smile faded. “Maybe.”
“Definitely.” Man, why did that thought make his heart hurt? “Any man lucky enough to win your heart will have a treasure worth protecting, Ruth.” Ben cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Do what you need to. I’ll be here if you need me.”
She pressed her cheek into his hand for a moment before turning away and going to the garage which had been turned into a workout room.
The heat of her skin still made his palm tingle by the time Ben finished the mug of coffee. He rinsed the dregs from the pot and switched the machine off. Assuming they wouldn’t return to her home after the meeting with Shadow, he checked her refrigerator for food that might spoil while she was in Mexico.
His eyebrows shot up when he saw the empty interior aside from a few condiments and bottles of water. Wow. The lady hadn’t been kidding when she said she wasn’t a cook. Curious, he peeked into the freezer. At least that was well stocked with frozen dinners. Looked as though Bridget had cooked and frozen individual portions for her sister.
Satisfied that she wouldn’t return to a science project in the fridge, Ben returned to the living room window. When the sun rose high enough, he slipped out the front door to scout around the perimeter.
He didn’t like that someone had been watching Ruth’s house. Yeah, he knew Cal would have sounded the alarm if the driver exited the vehicle and walked around the neighborhood or the house. Didn’t matter. He wanted to see that nothing had been tampered with for himself.
Ben walked the perimeter, looking for signs of egress, but found nothing that raised an alarm. As he returned to the house, Zane called. “You’re at work already?”
“Claire had an early morning photoshoot. Since I was already up, I decided to come in.”
“Have anything for me?”
“I tracked the green car on traffic cams until the driver exited Interstate 40 at Mt. Juliet. I lost the car when the driver went into a residential neighborhood.”
“Any chance of narrowing down the house?”
“Slim to none. It’s a big subdivision, Ben. I could try to narrow down the potential residences, but it would take too much time.”
He grimaced. “Don’t bother. He could have driven through the subdivision on the way to another part of the city. Anything pop on the fake plates?”
“The plates belong on a red minivan driven by a mom of four rambunctious boys who are into baseball. She was horrified to realize her license plate was missing. The Camaro driver stole hers without swapping with another vehicle.”
“All right. Any new activity about Roxanne on the Net?”
Zane grunted. “Her public relations people are working overtime to promote the new line of clothing she’s getting ready to model in Mexico.”
Ben grimaced. Great. That would generate a lot of attention to Casa del Mar. A boost for the hotel and a nightmare for Shadow. This was turning into a circus. “Anything out of line?”
“Not so far. I expanded the search perimeter for the bots. I’ll know within minutes if we have a new threat on that front. I traced the origins of the emails going to Roxanne. They came from different accounts. All of them were throwaway accounts closed immediately after the emails were sent. I can’t trace them any further.”
“Any new threats aimed at me?”
“Not yet.”
He sighed. “It’s coming.”
“As soon as the news media realizes you’re with Ruth,” Zane agreed. “I’ll let you know when the activity picks up.”