“I won’t let him get to you,” he promised on a whisper. He held her close and stroked her back.
She settled closer, but then, as if thinking better of it, pushed away from him and crossed over to the cap.
“Don’t touch it,” he warned. “We need to preserve the evidence.”
She leaned closer to the dresser. “The card’s from the Willamette Bank.”
Reid grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and grabbed the card from the very bank Megan had worked for and the one Fowler had robbed.
She wrapped her arms around her waist. She was afraid and trying to soothe herself. Her fear was justified. Her home had been invaded by the man who’d threatened to kill her.
How he got in was the question Reid needed to answer in order to stop him from doing it again. There’d been no sign of forced entry on Reid’s very thorough sweep of the place. Fowler had to have a key or gotten someone to let him in. Things Reid would ask Megan, but not yet. He would give her time to regain her composure.
Then Reid had to do everything within his power to keep Fowler from terrorizing her again. And if he wanted to succeed, he had to step up his game. Not miss little details like a baseball cap. Not miss anything.
Fowler had already proved to be a worthy foe declaring war, and Reid needed to be ready for battle.
6
Reid clicked End on his cell phone. He’d called Russ to warn him to be extra vigilant and phoned Micha Nichols to report here to Megan’s house. Now that Fowler had breached her private sanctuary, Reid would take no chances, and no one was better to assess the situation and offer protection advice than a weapons expert like Micha.
At least one thing had gone in their favor. Russ confirmed Fowler owned a white pickup and located the plate number, so it could be used in an alert if Gleason agreed to issue one. Gleason hadn’t committed yet. He wanted to talk to his officer before he did anything and would get back to Russ.
Megan sat shell-shocked on her sofa, and Reid didn’t think she heard him make his calls. He’d failed her today. Big time. He could’ve prevented her from seeing the threat. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her down again.
He crossed the room to the sofa.
Her face deathly pale and her hands clasped between her knees, she rocked and let her gaze dart around the room as if she expected Fowler to return any moment. Even with Bandit curled by her side, she seemed so alone and afraid. What a kick to the gut.
Please give her peace and comfort. Let her know You’re here beside her. And don’t let me disappoint her again. Ever.
She looked up and blinked as if just noticing he was in the room.
“Did you talk to your brother? Is Ella okay?” Her words rushed out on top of each other.
“Ella’s fine. Russ said she’s playing a board game with Jessie and having a good time.” Reid sat in a club chair across from Megan.
She nibbled on her lower lip. “But you told Russ to be extra careful, right? I mean now that Fowler’s been here and all.”
“Don’t worry about Ella.” Reid put as much confidence as he could muster into his words. “Russ won’t let Fowler get to her.”
Megan shrunk into her chair. “So what happens next?”
“When Micha—one of the Shadow Lake Survival team members—gets here, we’ll make a thorough search of your house.”
“Why wait for him?”
“I don’t want to miss anything. Another pair of eyes will help with that.” Plus, Micha had a rare calming effect on people in turmoil, and if the search located anything more, Micha could make things easier for Megan. No need to share that and unnecessarily worry her, though.
She tilted her head. “What about the police? Won’t they do the same thing?”
“Yes, but odds are good that Micha and I have more experience and training in evaluating the situation than the locals, so we’ll do a search before I call them. Since Fowler got in here without any sign of forced entry, we need to bring our A-game.”
She resumed rocking. “He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?”
“Trust me, I won’t let that happen. But we also need to consider that he has other motives. He might not have any intention of really hurting you, and he’s just trying to scare you.”
“Well, he’s doing a good job.” She shuddered. “Iamscared.” She clasped her arms around her middle, much like at the bank robbery and her terror for months afterward.
