“It’s a lot of books. Heavy and not easy to move. Probably expensive if they were bought outright.”
“Check Kat’s book sales over the last year. Look for large purchases from her inventory, online, and all that.”
“This is interesting…” he murmurs. “The book you pulled from the mailbox was not personalized but itwassigned. About half the ones from the rental fire were signed as well.”
“Options?” I ask, my mind racing with the possibilities and trusting Royce to follow my line of thinking.
“Person uses fake or real names and addresses to directly ask for books to be signed and shipped, or it’s someone that owns a bookstore that she shipped signed books to that either never put them out or someone came through and cleaned out the shelf. Or maybe a resale site?”
“I don’t like any of those. What else?”
“She…”—his fingers fly across his keyboard—“sometimes posts in her videos that she leaves signed books in free libraries around Chicago and other places she visits. I talked to Colt, and he said sometimes he’ll take a stack of books on the road with him and do the same thing.”
“Videos too?”
“Yeah, he said he makes sure he’s not in them at all or he takes just pictures of the books in the free library and sends them to her. She posts them with the location tagged like a scavenger hunt.”
“Fuck.” Rubbing my hand over my hair, I let my palm fall to the back of my neck and squeeze, the muscles tight with tension. “Find the last three times they did it locally and see if there are any cameras within view.”
“People?”
“Probably not, but we might catch a glimpse of the sedan.”
“I’m on it,” he says confidently and I believe him. “You guys set for tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” I curse when my gaze lands on the clock at the top of the screen. “I need to get some sleep.”
“Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be standing by so I can drop what I’m doing if you need me to hack something on the fly.”
“You got it.”
“And remember to embrace that top-tier book?—”
I close my laptop before he can finish that statement.
I don’t need any distractions.
Especially not a gorgeous, blonde author that was naked and wet in the shower after pressing her body against mine.
Definitely not.
23
KAT
Ifeel like a princess.
The sentiment is so absurd, but I don’t care because it’s true. I’m no stranger to expensive or lavish things. Colt’s taken me to more than my fair share of galas and I’ve had a few of my own to primp for, but this is different.
It’s just for me.
Just because Tom Oakden could.
Because he cared enough to do more than just his job.
“How do I look?” I ask him as I smooth my hands down the front of my dress, the French manicure on my nails adding to my very elegant look.
“Stunning,” he murmurs, his gaze sweeping over me, a flash of fire in his eyes before it’s gone again. But I know what I saw, the intensity like a physical caress.What would that feel like?
