She nodded, her expression taut. “When I initially went into hiding, one of my neighbors reported it. I wasn’t expecting it to go viral, but it did. That only made things harder for me.”
Sothatwas why she’d looked familiar to Millie. It all made sense now.
Caleb leaned forward. “The PI in the woods. Did you kill him?”
“No!” Valentina’s eyes widened. “I promise, I didn’t. But—” She hesitated. “I fear someone associated with the gang might have. They could have followed me here. They could be watching right now.”
Caleb’s blood ran cold.
Sutherland cleared his throat. “We’re looking into it to see if there are any connections. If Los Espectros is involved, we’ll need federal assistance. But for now, she’s in my custody.”
Caleb turned toward Valentina. “Are you the one who’s been sabotaging things at Refuge Cove? Did you disable the cameras? Let the dogs out?”
“Me? What? No!” She shook her head. “Why would I do that?”
Caleb wasn’t sure he believed her. Who else would have been responsible?
Unless the sabotage had come from someone on the outside. He supposed that made sense.
“Are you the one who snuck out of the house on the night that PI was killed?” he continued.
She swung her head back and forth. “No. That wasn’t me. I promise.”
He had his doubts about that also. But again, maybe that person was someone from the outside. Maybe somehow another person had assessed their keycodes, snuck inside somehow, and then left again.
The questions pounded at his temples.
“So what now?”
“Right now, we keep her here. We keep her safe. We find answers.”
“And how about Refuge Cove?”
“I can send someone out to help keep an eye on the place until we know what’s really going on. And, of course, we’ll beavailable if you need us. Just say the word, and I’ll send more of my people out to help.”
Caleb stood abruptly, his mind racing.
If a gang was involved—and they thought Valentina was still at the Cove—then everyone there was in danger.
Including Millie.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Max.
It rang.
And rang.
And rang.
No answer.
His stomach dropped.
“I need to go,” Caleb said, already heading for the door.
chapter
forty-six
