Page 9 of Shadow Redemption
The conference room door opened and Trace walked in. He stopped, eyebrows winging upward. “Something I need to know about?”
Ben shifted to stand beside Ruth. “I only want to give an explanation once. We’ll wait until the others arrive.” He pulled out a chair for Ruth and seated her.
Within minutes, Nico Rivera, his team leader, and Joe and Sam Gray joined them. When they were seated around the table, Nico said, “Sit rep, Ben.”
He unfolded the picture that had been left on Ruth’s windshield and slid it across the table. Trace’s hands fisted as he stared at the picture.
“Where did you get that?” Joe asked.
“Someone left this on Ruth’s windshield this afternoon.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Did he or she leave a note?”
He shook his head. “This is only the latest in a string of contacts, each one more unsettling or threatening.”
Trace scowled at Ruth. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“They started right after we left for our latest mission,” Ben said. “Ruth’s been receiving emails with pictures of her. The first three were photos of her taken at a distance. The quality is lousy so I’d say they were probably taken with a cell phone camera. The next three were pictures of her while she was at public events.”
Nico tilted his head. “You’re sure this isn’t the work of an ardent fan? Ruth is well known all over the world.”
“Roxanne is well known,” Ben corrected. “Ruth is a small-town Tennessee girl, not a supermodel.”
Joe’s fingers played with his wife’s hair. “To the public, there’s no difference.”
“We’re not talking about an overly enthusiastic fan.” Trace’s words came out measured. “You think Ruth has a stalker.”
“She also received two gifts, each delivered to the photography studio. The first was a basket of strawberries.”
A snort from Trace. “Not exactly dangerous, Ben. Bridget eats them all the time.”
“They can be deadly when you’re allergic to them.”
His teammates shifted their gazes to Ruth. “You’re allergic to strawberries?” Sam asked.
She nodded. “I carry epinephrine with me at all times.”
Trace whistled softly. “Your co-workers know about the allergy?”
Ruth shrugged. “Word gets around when you refuse all strawberries, but eat other types of fruit.”
“What was the second gift?” Nico asked.
“A dozen black roses.”
His teammates exchanged grim glances. “What do you need?” his team leader asked Ben.
“Backup. Maddox assigned me as Ruth’s bodyguard.” He slid a glance at Trace. “And as her boyfriend.”
The silence was so absolute, the tick of the clock on the wall sounded loud.
Her brother-in-law stared hard at Ben, then shifted his attention to Ruth. “Look at me, sweet lady.” When she complied, Trace asked in a soft voice, “Are you okay with this arrangement?”
“It’s what Brent wants.”
“That’s not what I asked. If you’re not comfortable with this, I’ll talk to Maddox and we’ll come up with a different plan. So I’ll ask you again. Are you okay with this arrangement?”
Ruth’s chin lifted, that familiar stubborn glint in her eyes. “I trust Ben. It’s him or no one. The rest of the men in Shadow are married and it would be too uncomfortable to play out that role with you, Trace.”