“Nice.”
“Thankfully, that’s all they were. Threats.”
“Which is worse than what we have here. No one has threatened me. I’m not in danger.” Alex waved at the paint job. “This is just the work of a sad, lonely troll. You know what people are like.”
“Still.”
“Wade, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Wade’s hum sounded less than convinced. “I can put guards on you twenty-four-seven.”
“I don’t want to go down that road.”
“Alex…”
“I mean it. I don’t need a security detail. We have guards all over the hotel and I’m always here. It’s a non-issue.”
Wade scowled.
“I’m taking this seriously, I promise. I just don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill.” Alex peered at the painted message, shaking his head. “You’ll let me know if anything comes up on the security cameras?”
“Yeah. I’d like to see that letter.”
“Sure.”
Wade spoke to the guard on duty. Alex then led him back toward his office. Despite wanting to believe the messages were nothing more than the work of trolls, a bead of perspiration dotted his upper lip. In spite of himself, he looked over his shoulder a couple of times.
He’d been doing that a lot lately.
The anonymous nature of the messages had him on edge. If someone had an issue with him, he should be man enough to confront him and tell him to his face.
He tried to think of who might want to rattle him like that but couldn’t think of anyone who might hold that sort of grudge. As far as he knew, the only people who hated him were Shannon’s family, but they’d never been shy about telling him so. They told everyone they could. Subterfuge wasn’t exactly their style. The Deans, however, were in New York, not Nevada.
No, this was a hater, nothing more, and he’d already wasted too much time worrying about the pathetic loser. Now that Alex knew Liam had dealt with the same sort of deranged shit, it was easier to shelve his initial misgivings.
All he really wanted right now was to get back to Dana and make sure he hadn’t ruined everything with his “woe is me” routine.
He liked her. She made him smile. She made him laugh. Not too many people managed that these days.
Back at his office, Wade examined the letter. “We might be dealing with a real sick fuck. We need to call the police.”
“I don’t want any bad publicity. I mean it, Wade. I’m sick to death of it.”
“Alex, if this is the same person, there’s a chance he’s been on the property at least twice now. If that’s the case, not only is he a danger to you, he could be a danger to others.”
“You’re right.”
As Wade called the police, Alex texted Dana and let her know he might be a while. Without revealing all the details, he told her there was a situation in the hotel that needed his attention.
She didn’t text back.
Maybe she had her phone on mute.
The police arrived in good time. Alex listened as Wade recounted the details.
“Mr. Markov,” one of the officers asked, “can you think of anyone who might want to upset you?”
“Honestly? It could be anyone.” In building his company, he probably had offended numerous people. It came with the territory when one had to make decisions. Could this be the work of a disgruntled contractor or former employee? Somehow, he couldn’t credit any past or present associates with that much hate.
