Then Andi stopped cold.
Halfway down the corridor, a door stood slightly ajar.
A sliver of darkness visible through the two-inch gap.
That was one of their doors, if she remembered correctly. It was too far away for her to be certain whose. From this distance, they all blended together.
The door wasn’t wide open. Just . . . ajar.
A wrong note in an otherwise orderly hallway.
“Ranger,” Andi said.
He was already moving. “Everyone, stay back.”
Something in the air shifted—cold, electric, heavy with possibility.
Was she reading too much into this? They hadn’t been in town long enough to upset anyone.
But based on past experiences, they needed to be on guard.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“I wasn’t stalking her!”Colin gasped, his voice cracking with desperation. “I promise I wasn’t stalking her!”
Duke kept one knee pressed between Colin’s shoulder blades, steady but not crushing. Without missing a beat, he patted him down for weapons.
Nothing. Just a phone, a wallet, and a frantic heartbeat Duke could practically feel vibrating through Colin’s ribcage.
He loosened his hold just slightly. This man didn’t appear to be a threat, and Duke felt confident he could take him down again if necessary.
“Why were you watching us at the hotel?” Duke demanded.
“Pam hired you, didn’t she?” Colin’s breathing hitched. “She’s always hated me. She poisoned Gina against me!”
That tracked with Pam’s story.
“Answer the question,” Duke growled. “Why were you at our hotel?”
“Can I get up at least?”
Duke glanced around. A few people across the street paused, watching the scene with uncertain interest, but no one intervened. Typical for a downtown at night—curiosity but no commitment.
He released his hold on the man. Colin turned and sat up. He leaned against the fence and drew in a shaky breath.
“I—I got an anonymous text saying you guys were looking into Gina’s disappearance,” Colin stammered. “I wanted to see if it was true, see if you were looking into it. So I?—”
“You what?” Duke narrowed his eyes as he glared at the man.
He swallowed hard. “I went to your show earlier and then followed your tour bus back to the hotel. I just wanted to observe. I promise that’s all it was!”
Duke studied him closely. The panic. The shaking. The shame.
If this guy was lying, he was good at it.
“Let me see this text,” Duke demanded.
