“I didn’t realize she’d do this,” Alice whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
Iciness slipped over his skin. “What are you talking about?”
The woman swallowed, dropping her chin to her chest before looking up again. “My best friend’s name is Stephanie Whales.She and Dean had this on-and-off relationship. She always struggled with her mental health, and he seemed to be the only person who could pull her back from the edge on her bad days and make sure she was okay.”
His brows flickered. “What does any of this have to do with me or the rental car?”
Alice sucked in a breath. “Before I left for the retreat, I told Steph about the trip and asked her to come with me. It was a grief recovery retreat, to help me deal with losing Dean, and I thought she could use that too. While she was at my place, she found the letter you wrote to my family.”
A sinking feeling churned in his gut.
“I stepped out of my bedroom,” she continued, “to find Steph hysterical. Saying that Dean shouldn’t have died. That…that you killed him by not protecting him. I told her that wasn’t true. That he was killed by a foreign enemy, but she wouldn’t listen. It was like sheneededsomeone to blame, and once she’d read that letter…that person became you.”
The air quickened in Jace’s lungs.
“The next day, I couldn’t find my driver’s license.” Alice lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, just assumed I’d lost or misplaced it, so I got a new one before my trip. But after talking to your sheriff, I’m pretty sure Steph took it.”
Eastern cleared his throat. “They look similar. It’s possible this Stephanie used Alice’s ID to rent the car that tailed you that day.”
“Do you have a photo of her?” Jace asked, the dread now spidering through his gut.
Alice looked to Eastern, who turned the screen of his computer.
Jace leaned forward to study the screen. “It’s her.” He looked up at his brother. “She did a tour of the skywalk, then went to the café. She also did a Pilates class with Elle.”
She was also the woman who’d been hovering around the skywalk when he’d first started. He’d told her about the tours.
Fuck. She’d been in town all this time.
“She’s unstable,” Alice whispered. “I don’t know exactly what her diagnosis is. She never wanted to share it, but she was on medication. If she’s off that medication…”
Jace stepped back, tugging out his phone to call Elle. He needed to hear her voice. Needed to know she was all right.
By the fourth ring, he knew she wasn’t going to answer.
Shit.
He called Kayden, and his older brother answered immediately. “Jace. Everything okay?”
“Is Elle still there?” A part of him already knew. She’d finished half an hour ago, so she’d be gone, but he needed Kayden to say it out loud.
“No. I walked her to her car like you asked about fifteen minutes ago. Why?”
Jace cursed and looked up at his brother. “I need to get to her.”
He hung up and without a word, ran out of his brother’s office and toward his car. He heard Eastern call after him, but he didn’t stop or slow. Eastern would follow, but Jace didn’t care about that. He was armed, and he just had to hope like hell that Elle had made it to his place safely.
CHAPTER 29
Elle’s feet pounded the dirt. Fear coursed through her blood, making her fast but unsteady.
Casper had beenshot. It didn’t feel real. Who’d shot him? Whowasthis woman? The same person who’d attacked her aunt? Why? All she’d seen was a flash of denim jeans and a white T-shirt on a slim silhouette. Not enough to identify her.
Distant footsteps sounded behind her. The person wasn’t close, but they weren’t far either.
Air soared in and out of her lungs as she neared the house. She didn’t have a key or her phone, but Jace’s words slipped back into her memory. About the lock on his old bedroom window still being broken. Was it possible he still hadn’t fixed it? Could she get inside and hide in the house? Maybe find a phone or a weapon?
She focused onthat, and not the person behind her. Not the gun that had fired or the bullet that had hit Casper.
