Page 18 of Hidden With You

“We have ten acres total,” she added. “There’s a pool, a pavilion, a tennis court, a ten-car detached garage, a helipad, a small orchard, and a huge garden with a walking path. Oh, and the koi pond.”

“All enclosed?”

She nodded. “A fence tied into the security system, and a hedgerow. And, yes, cameras.” She shrugged. “You probably could have gotten all that from Zillow, but happy to help.”

He shot a glance at her, then looked back down before she saw his smile. “Like I said, we’ll want the security feed.”

“You can have it,” she assured him. “But I already looked. I can access it all from my laptop. That’s what I was doing before you came.”

“And?” He glanced at Ryan to see if the other man had any comments, but his boss only lifted his phone, then motioned that he was stepping outside.

“Just you and me,” Zelda said once the door closed behind Ryan.

“And we have work to do.”

She took a step toward him. “Listen, Jasper. About last night…”

“We have work to do,” Jasper repeated. “Important work to keep you safe. So tell me what you saw.”

She drew in a breath, as if preparing for a new assault, but then her shoulders relaxed. “Fine. I didn’t see anything, honestly. Nothing odd along our fence line, and the only car that stopped at our drive was the mailman. I couldn’t see what he put into the box, but I can’t imagine he’d deliver something with no postage. Plus, the envelope only had my first name and the street address. No city or zip code.”

Jasper nodded. He’d noticed that as well. “My guess is that someone left it with the guard at the gate to the subdivision, and he brought it to your box himself or had a runner.”

She nodded. “Exactly. I talked to Frank—he mans the gate most days. He said someone gave him the envelope and asked him to put it in our box. He was going to bring it up at the end of his shift, but when Dalton Carrol rode by, he asked him to do it.”

“Dalton Carrol?”

“Next property over. He’s training for some hundred-mile bike ride, so he rides every day. He usually stops and chats with Frank. I guess Frank’s a biking fan, too. Watches the Tour de France and all that.”

“Any bad blood between your family and the Carrols? Property dispute?”

“Nope. Not a thing. I think he just ended up being the delivery guy.” She wrinkled her nose. “He’s going to feel really shitty about that. Do you have to talk to him?”

“We’ll see. What did Frank say?” He wanted to be irritated. To lecture her on the danger of going out in the world to play detective with a death threat hanging over her. And all of that was true. But the irritation was squashed by genuine respect. Whatever else she might be, the woman knew how to take care of herself. And she didn’t spook easily. Probably came from writing thrillers and getting into the heads of her characters.

“Unfortunately, Frank didn’t have a lot to go on,” she continued. “It’s not that uncommon for someone to drop things at the gate house. Invitations, documents that need to be signed or reviewed, even flowers. It’s easier to accept things at the gate and then have a runner take it to the mailbox. Otherwise, they have to vet every delivery person they let pass, and that’s a huge pain.”

She shrugged. “Despite me being the object lesson in exceptions, security really is tight around here. Like stifling tight sometimes.”

“In other words, Frank has nothing useful to tell us.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right.” She turned her head, making her braids swing. “He thinks it was a guy, and he thinks the guy was wearing a ball cap. But he wouldn’t swear to anything.”

“What about the footage at the gate? It’s still possible it was someone who entered the community legitimately. And statistically, most threats come from someone you know.”

“That might be statistically true, but when you factor in the picture, I think it’s someone who only thinks they know me.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?” he asked, then immediately held up his hand. “Wait. One thing at a time. The gatehouse camera feed. We need to request it.”

She shook her head. “I already reviewed it, too. Frank gave me the log-in. Nada.”

“No cars?”

“Only five cars in the last twenty-four hours that didn’t already have a bar code, and nobody in those vehicles rang a bell with me. I know a few of the others, of course. They’re neighbors. But we already know none of them stopped at our mailbox, driving or on foot.”

She smiled at him, the bright and perky smile he’d seen her flash at the party. “Listen, Jasper, I called you guys because I wanted another opinion, not a full-on Secret Service thing. I mean, surely this isn’t a credible threat, right? I mean, it’s just some asshole playing with me.”

“Why on earth would you immediately jump to that conclusion?” Jasper said, then did a mental rewind. “Wait. What did you mean earlier when you said that the picture means the sender is someone who thinks they know you?”