Page 114 of Protecting Love

Ian shrugged. “There are leftovers in the fridge.”

“Thanks.”

Shit, he was getting better and more home-cooked meals from his son than he ever did his wife.

He popped his earbuds in, hit Paris’s number and then walked to the fridge. Opening it up, he saw a full container of food that wasn’t there this morning.

“Fletcher,” she said. “Did you get anything?”

“A woman dropped the envelope off,” he said.

“A woman?” she asked.

He pulled the top off, saw pasta and a mixture of vegetables with chicken and Parmesan cheese on top, spooned some out and put it on a plate to toss into the microwave. “Is there an echo?”

“Did you just crack a joke?”

“Not a good one.” He set the time and braced his hands on the counter. “No cameras there. Do you know an old woman? In their forties.”

She burst out laughing. He’d added that part hoping for that response. “Did that hurt to hear?”

“I’m used to it. Woman in her forties, forgettable by this kid’s description except for straight brown chin-length hair that was cut blunt and sharp.”

There was silence for a second. He figured she was thinking. “Did they leave a name?”

“You think I didn’t ask that? Jane Smith.”

“Sorry. I know one person with that style.”

“Who?”

“Debra Holding.”

He stilled, the beep of the microwave going ignored. “The HR Director at MHT?”

“Yeah. And if I’m honest, I guess it fits with my jobs lately. When this all happened. But I’m not sure that she’d do that. The rat especially.”

He picked his phone up, went to MHT website, found Debra’s picture, noticed the hairstyle fit the description and sent it to Paris.

“Is this her?”

“That’s her.”

“I’ll get it verified with Brad tomorrow.”

“Brad?”

“The kid who thought Debra was old.”

“I don’t know why I feel kind of relieved that it might be her.”

“Never feel relieved until we have all the answers. Never let your guard down.”

“Really, Fletcher,” she whined. “I was just relaxing.”

He hated this for her. “Don’t.”

“Do you feel it’s a big threat?”