Agnes rose to her feet with surprising force. “Well, that settles it. The Eagle River Ladies’ Auxiliary is now the Eagle River Counter-Stalking Unit.”
June picked up the colander. “We’re already armed.”
Mabel snapped her lighter. “And dangerous.”
Despite everything, Nora laughed weakly. “Thanks, you three.”
I moved closer to her, lowering my voice. “Nora.”
She looked up at me.
“You’re not going to be one of his cold cases,” I said. “Not while I’m breathing.”
Her eyes shone. “You can’t promise that.”
“Watch me.”
For a moment, we just stood there—the women, the books, the sunlight, the danger pressing in around the edges.
Then she straightened her shoulders. “Okay,” she said. “What do we do? I’m not going down without a fight.”
It was the same question as before. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her right there in front of the Magnolia ladies. I didn’t care who saw us. I was staking my claim to this woman right now.
She licked her lips and smiled. “Well, what do we do?”
But now she asked it like a partner, not a victim.
“We control what we can,” I said. “You keep working like you always do. You don’t walk anywhere alone. When the library closes, you don’t go home to an empty house.”
Her brows lifted. “Where do I go?”
I held her gaze.
“Upstairs apartment at the tavern,” I said. “At least for a while. There are seven bedrooms; we have tons of room up there. We’re almost finished. It’s secure. And you’ll have four Rangers and half the town between you and his line of sight.”
She hesitated, chewing her bottom lip.
Leaving her house meant admitting this was real.
Meant rearranging her life around a ghost.
“Is this really necessary?” she whispered.
I stepped closer, close enough that my voice didn’t have to carry.
“You want the truth?” I asked.
She nodded.
“It’s beyond necessary,” I said. “If this is who we think it is, he’s not going to stop because we ask nicely. He’ll stop when he’s forced to. And until then, I’m not giving him a second where he can get to you without going through me.”
Her eyes filled, but she blinked the tears back. “Okay,” she said again. Stronger this time. “Then I’ll go.”
Agnes clapped her hands. “Good. We’ll bring dinner.”
“Cookies,” June added.
“Pepper spray,” Mabel chimed in.
