A few minutes later, he shot a glance in the rearview mirror to see that the road was empty. Were they gone?
He slowed the car to a normal pace.
“Did you lose him?” Elle asked quickly, an edge to her voice.
“I don’t know.”
Two more streets and he pulled into the sheriff’s office parking lot. No one pulled in after them. Still, he didn’t immediately get out, and when Elle put her hand on the door handle, he grabbed her other wrist.
“Wait.”
She frowned and looked behind her. There was still no one there.
“I’m gonna come around to your side.” He climbed out, his gaze continually shifting around the parking lot before stopping at Elle’s door. The second she was out, he slipped an arm around her and tugged her against his side. He didn’t let his guard down until they’d stepped into the building, and even then, his muscles remained tight.
The older woman at the front desk looked up. “Hi. Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see my brother.”
The words had just left his mouth when a door behind the desk opened and Eastern stepped out. “Come in.”
Jace’s hand shifted to the small of Elle’s back, and they moved into Eastern’s office.
Eastern lowered behind the desk. “I contacted the car place and got the details of the woman who hired the car.”
Jace frowned. “Woman?”
“Yeah.” Eastern clicked a few keys on the laptop. “Alice Kelly.”
Kelly…the name felt like a kick to the gut. “Dean’s sister.” Something Eastern would already know after looking into the family.
Why the hell would she be here, in Misty Peak, tailing him?
Eastern turned the screen around to show them an ID, and sure enough, the woman on the screen looked just like Dean, only female. Same eyes. Same hair color.
It was his sister.
“It’s her,” Jace said quietly, pulling the pieces of the puzzle together. “She’s the person behind the unknown number.”
She had to be. They already knew it had to be a family member, and it was the sister Eastern hadn’t been able to track down because she’d been out of town. Now she’d rented a damn car to tail him.
“She’s escalating,” Eastern said quietly.
“Jace,” Elle whispered. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Jace clenched his jaw. “I blocked her from my phone and she couldn’t reach me. Now she’s here to mess with me in person.”
CHAPTER 25
“Elle, I can tell something’s going on,” Sadie said quietly. “What is it? Are you thinking about the attack last week? Or the person who was tailing you?”
Elle swirled her cup of coffee. It was the first day they were open since Boyd’s attack. She was on a break with Sadie, who’d dropped by both for a coffee and to check in. The place wasn’t busy, and honestly, Elle was grateful.
She’d told Sadie about the car that had tailed them and the person who’d been identified as renting the car. But even if she hadn’t, Eastern would have told her, and Elle was fine with that. “I don’t want to make this about me.”
Sadie cocked her head. “Make what about you?”
“It’s going to sound silly and petty and like a non-issue after everything that’s been happening.”
