I would not allow it.
“He was at my house tonight,” she seethed. “He is the one who destroyed my home. It makes too much sense with the dogs. He knew Athena and she’s the leader of the pack. The other dogs would follow her reaction to anyone. Hell, he was there when I adopted Athena from the vet two years before it happened.” She blew out a breath and shook her head. “My question is, why? Why come after me again?”
“Revenge. He blames you for everything.”
“How do you know this?”
I told her about the letters Rees had written in prison that the warden had told me about. The letters that never got sent. She wasn’t surprised.
“Why not just kill me, then? Wait for me to get home and put a bullet in my head? Or, hell, burn the house down? Kill the dogs?”
“Fear. He gets off on it. He got out of jail and he wants you to know it. He wants you to know that he knows where you live and is watching you. Wants you to know he’s coming for you. He wants you to fear him.”
“But how does this play into my attack at the park? Weobviously know Kenzo wasn’t my attacker, because that was the pastor’s son. And it’s safe to assume he wasn’t the third person who ran up and saved my life and killed Griggs. Because why would he do that?”
“Truth?”
“Truth.”
“I don’t know, Sunny. But it’s no coincidence Rees was released from jail only a few days before you were attacked in the park. He’s been watching you, following you, knew you were at the park. He’s involved in your attack, there’s no question in my mind.”
I just had to find the connection between the pastor’s son and Rees. It was there, I felt in my gut.
“I know you think this all links with the Lieutenant’s death. Why?”
“You know that blue, four-door sedan you noticed parked across the street the night of your attack? It was also on camera at Lieutenant Seagrave’s shooting.”
“At Mystic Maven’s Art Shop?”
“Right. Whoever stole the Cedonia scrolls is the answer to all this.”
“The person people call the Black Bandit.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
She flashed me aseriouslylook. “You can’t step foot anywhere in this town without hearing the name.”
Damn gossip. “The question is…” I ran my hand over my chin. “Is Kenzo Rees the Black Bandit?”
A moment slid by as we watched the water.
Then, she asked, “Do you think the Black Bandit killed Seagrave?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“And when you find him?”
“He’ll wish he’d never been born.”
She popped her fist against the dock railing. “Ihatehim. Rees. I want to find him. Now. I want to end all this.” She looked at me, a new kind of fire blazing over those eyes now. “He’s got another thing coming, Jagger.”
“He does. But not by you.” I set down my beer and turned fully toward her. “You’ve got to promise me you’re not going to try to handle him yourself.”
She looked away.
“Sunny.”I jerked her chin toward me with a bit too much force, but I couldn’t help it. A sudden desperation clawed at me. “Guys like him don’t back down. It’s a pride thing. You push him too hard, he’ll kill you, Sunny. He’ll call it revenge, but it will be to prove to himself that he’s better than you are. I want you to look at me in my eyes, right now, and tell me you’re not going to be a sitting duck for him. Be the strong woman I know you are. Avoid the fight.”
She stared at me a moment, her face loaded with emotions. Then, the fire in her eyes slowly dissolved and was replaced with something that looked a lot like desperation.
