Ivy narrowed her eyes at him, probably trying to decide if he meant that to be a compliment or not. He did. But he wouldn’t get into it with her at the moment.
There were more pressing issues for tonight. “Faith is on her way here.”
“What? Why?”
“Two reasons. The main one is that Emily ran her mouth at church and told Tessa, who told Zane, who told Luke, who told Faith . . .” He shook his head in clear exasperation. “This makes us sound like we’re in middle school. Good grief.”
“What did Emily tell them?”
“That I haven’t slept much the last two nights, and they decided that needs to change. Faith won’t be here to crash. She’ll be up all night on the couch.”
“They’re worried about your sleep?”
“Yeah. It’s ridiculous. Faith is crazy protective, and you wouldn’t know it to look at her, but Tessa’s a mother hen. When we all got banged up last spring, she took it hard. She’s working that out, and part of the way she’s doing that is by being all up in our business. Emily knew if she told Tessa, she’d make sure I had some backup tonight.”
“You seem frustrated, but that’s beautiful, Gil. To have friends who care that much and who know you that well. That’s a gift.” He didn’t disagree. He also didn’t comment. “But why Faith?”
“They picked a number.”
“What?”
“I know. More middle school. Faith won. The way I heard it, they all wanted to volunteer, and the number system was employed to keep them from fighting about it. Emily thought it was hilarious.”
“You don’t?”
“No. But I get it. If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same. Bottom line, you’re here again tonight. We should be able to get back into your house tomorrow, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you didn’t go over there alone.”
She shuddered.
“I can take you to work in the morning, then pick you up at the end of the day and take you home. In the meantime, police officers will be around. Morris called this afternoon while you were asleep. He’s got some buddies who plan to make it their mission to show up. They may park in the parking lot. On the street. Might come inside and get eyes on you. That kind of thing.”
Ivy’s eyes had gone huge. “That seems like overkill.”
“That’s the point. Anyone watching will see it. Will know there’s no rhyme or reason to it. No schedule.”
“Do you think someone might come after me at work?”
“I think it’s telling that they didn’t try to get to you inside your building. I was impressed with the security you have. The fact that they wanted your passwords and computer info makes me think they want you alive and they want your business operational, meaning they’re unlikely to shoot up the place to get everyone out.”
Ivy’s porcelain skin paled.
“I’m not trying to frighten you.” That wasn’t true. He was trying to scare her. Not enough to give her nightmares, but enough to keep her vigilant. “If we have a law enforcement presence, you should be safe inside. If you need to leave the office for any reason, I would appreciate it very much if you would call me first.”
“I appreciate the way you asked instead of telling me I would be calling you.”
“I appreciate that you noticed. I’ll be talking to Morris again in the morning. I’ll also be diving into the law firm that did your dad’s will, and I’m sorry to have to say this, but your mom and the new husband are also on my radar.”
Ivy flinched but didn’t comment.
“It would also help if you could give us permission to see your dad’s will.”
“Anything you need.”
“And then, finally, we’ll be checking the video footage you have from your fundraiser.”
“What?”
“The reason I showed up at your door Friday night was counterfeit money. I still need to figure out what’s going on there.”
