“They started out like any other fan mail.” Riot cringes. “But they’re written in blood.”
“You’re fucking with me.” And he didn’t think this was worth mentioning to us? I almost wish he was in trouble. At least we have a great lawyer who could have helped with that. But this…
“I have digital copies of all the letters. Photos from the scenes,” the agent says. “I’m here to get your firsthand account of each altercation you’ve had with the unsub.”
“Wait.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. All this new information is giving me a headache. “Could she have followed you here? Could she have killed the goat?”
Kelsey emerges from the bathroom in a pair of leather pants and a midriff baring corset. “What about a goat?”
Riot’s brow furrows. “The goat we spent the whole afternoon looking for—”
“Is dead,” I admit. “We found it with its throat slit and multiple stab wounds. Couldn’t work out why and didn’t wantto alarm anyone this close to the wedding. We hid the body and informed security to be on the lookout for anyone acting suspicious. But if this is why—”
Riot winces.
Oh shit. Probably shouldn’t have talked about hiding a dead body in front of the FBI. “You don’t—”
“I can’t say for sure that what you’ve just told me is related.” Agent Lane walks further into the room.
“But we also don’t know it isn’t.” It could be. This woman who is stalking Riot could be here.
“Or it could be Alec,” Riot says. “Or Nicole.”
He’s not wrong. The Hawthornes turned our world upside down. Alec almost killed Ivy. And that’s what worries me now. Whether this has anything to do with him… or Riot’s stalker… “We can’t underestimate someone like this.”
“I think you shouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” the agent says. “We have no reason to believe the two things are connected at this time.”
“Was there a letter? Any bad poetry left with the goat?” Riot asks.
“No.”
“Then it’s probably not her,” Riot says.
“I need to see the animal,” the agent says. “We might be able to tell if there are any similarities.”
“Slight hitch,” I say, as Riot takes Kelsey’s hand and tugs her down beside him on the crumpled comforter. “West took it to the pit. If it’s not coyote food by now, we will be if we try to go out there at night.”
“Fine. We’ll wait until morning and check to see if there’s anything left to analyze.” The man looks at his watch. “In the meantime, I need you to answer some questions.” He glances at each of us in turn. “This part really should be conducted in private.”
I plant my feet. “I’m not going anywhere. I have a few questions of my own.”
“That’s not how this works,” the agent says.
“You can ask in front of them. Kelsey already knows everything.” Riot takes Kelsey’s hand. He twines his fingers through hers, and they share a look. “And my brother needs to be filled in. If after that you have more questions to ask, we can do that.”
“All right.” The agent takes the only seat available at a small desk in the corner. He lights up his phone and starts recording. “Interview with Riot Maddox. Kelsey Peterson and Rebel Maddox in attendance.”
In the next twenty minutes I discover a lot about my baby brother. Like how he’s kept quiet about this stalker for the last four months. How at first she seemed like an overly obsessed fan, then slowly over time became increasingly worrisome and delusional. And that her behavior is becoming more erratic and violent with each interaction.
I learn that his relationship with Kelsey is serious. It’s obvious in the way he looks at her. In the tone of his voice. Everything has changed between them, and I still can’t believe I didn’t notice.
“And your relationship with Sonatina Savant?” the agent asks.
“I don’t have one,” Rogue says.
“You understand I have to ask due to the doctoring of the photo of you two together,” the agent says. “I’ve already studied her social media, and you were featured a lot in the last twenty-four hours.”
Kelsey looks away, focusing on the corner of the room.
