The Rogue Reviewer (Primrose, Minnesota Book 3) (17 page)

“No.”

“Dara, this is dangerous. Criminals don’t
like people poking around in their business.”

She literally wanted to smack his forehead
with her palm. The man thought her absolutely stupid.

“Yes, and you’ll be right there to protect
me. Either include me or I’ll just have to keep my knowledge to
myself. And, I’ll have to learn to protect myself. I can get a gun
–”

“Oh, hell no!
You
do not need a
gun.”

“Then agree.”

“Okay, I give. You can help.”

“You swear?”

“Every damn day,” he mumbled.

“Well, if you won’t take me seriously, then I
have nothing to tell.”

“Dara!”

“Calm down already.” She placed a hand on his
forearm. “I have this fan that has been emailing me for a couple of
months now.”

“A fan?”

“Yes. You know, people who really like you
and your craft?”

“I know what a fan is. What’s your
point?”

“At first the letters were just short and
sweet, telling me how much he or she likes my writing. I thought it
was just a shy lonely person who reads a lot. But today, the letter
mentions Evelyn being a gift to me.”

“Sonuvabitch.” He grabbed her elbow, pulled
her to the sofa and gave her a nudge, satisfied when she sunk into
the cushions. “Where is your laptop?”

“Right there.” She pointed to the computer
propped against the leg of the coffee table. “Why?”

“Open your e-mail.” He shoved the machine
under her nose.

She tapped her fingernails against the cover.
“Ask nicely.”

“Oh for —,”

“Relax.” She opened the unit and clicked
keys. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

He sat on the sofa next to her and took her
laptop. He read all of her emails from Romantically Devoted. Then
he read them again.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this
sooner?”

“I didn’t think it was connected to the case
until today. See why it’s important that I help?”

“Maybe.” He tapped the screen. “Why didn’t
you open this one?”

“It wasn’t there earlier. Open it.”

“That’s illegal.”

“Mace, just open it! You have my
permission.”

She leaned to look at the screen while he
clicked on the address:

Dearest Dara,

All these gifts I have given you and not once
have you thanked me. I even

gave you the ultimate sacrifice. Now I must
punish you.

I remain,

Romantically Devoted

“Wow.” She worked hard to hold onto her
composure. “I think I’ve angered him.”

“Don’t panic.” He closed the computer and
tossed it to the cushion as he stood. “We need to head to the
station. I need to bring the others up to speed.”

Suddenly, having information he needed didn’t
seem quite so important. “We?” she asked meekly.

“We. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“Okay, but there’s more.”

“More email messages?”

“No, I have more information.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.” She paused for several seconds,
attempting to convince herself he was intent on allowing her to
participate.

“Are you going to share?” he drawled.

“Bri and I agree the writer is male.”

“Bri knows about these messages?”

“All the DRAMA girls do. In fact, we’ve
totally dissected them.”

Mace groaned while he scrubbed a hand over
his jaw. “What else?”

“Apparently, he’s obsessed with me. In fact
after reading these messages, I’m sure he sent the flowers, paid
the lunch tab, and killed Evelyn.”

“Let’s go. Grab your computer.”

Dara didn’t even attempt to argue. In fact,
it may have been three seconds tops before she slid her laptop in
its case, slung it over her shoulder and waited at the door for
Mace to bark his next order. Deep in vigilant cop-mode, he simply
set the alarm and then invaded her personal space until she sat
buckled into the passenger seat of his sedan.

She watched him as they drove to the police
station, his eyes moving constantly to check the rearview mirror
and both side views. Their gazes met in the passenger mirror.

He frowned. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m not. I’m watching you.”

“Same thing.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is. Why?”

“No, it’s not and I’m watching you because
that’s what I do. Observe people. You’re in Supercop mode. It’s
very sexy.”

“It’s necessary.” Mace reached between them,
took her hand, and placed her open palm against his thigh while he
interweaved their fingers. His warmth traveled the length of her
arm until it radiated over her body.

“Is this part of your
to-protect-and-serve
oath?”

He shook his head and chuckled as he pulled
into his assigned spot in the Primrose Police Department parking
lot.

“No. Only
special
victims get VIP
treatment.” He pulled his phone from its case on his belt and
dialed. “Meet me in interrogation,” he said before
disconnecting.

He gave her a wink as he climbed out of the
car, opened her door, pulled her close, and then rushed her inside
to interrogation.

Jake and Jackson waited at a conference table
when they arrived.

Jake nodded. “Hey, Dara.”

“Hi, Jake – Jackson.”

“What’s so important? Jackson raised a
questioning eyebrow.

“We’ve brought you two some reading
material,” Mace told them. “Fire it up, Dara.”

As soon as she pulled out her laptop, Jake
scooted his chair backwards, both hands in the air in surrender.
“Whoa, wait a minute. Bri says your novels are great reading but
that’s just not my style.”

Jackson actually jumped up out of his chair.
“I don’t need any pointers, but thanks anyway.”

Mace frowned. “It’s her email you guys need
to see.”

“You could’ve just said so,” Jake
mumbled.

“Here we go.” Dara opened the page and
stepped back out of the way while the two detectives quickly
skimmed the messages.

“Damn.” Jake turned to look at Mace. “Looks
like this is our guy.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Mace agreed.

“And that last one,” Jackson added, “proves
the guy is pissed.”

“Dara needs to be protected.” Mace folded her
hand inside his.

Jackson nodded in agreement. “Can she fire a
weapon?”

“She doesn’t need one.”

“Yes, I do.” Hadn’t she suggested that
earlier? “Show me how.”

Mace drew her closer. “You don’t need one
because I’m always armed.”

“What about when you’re not with me?”

“Until we catch this guy, you won’t be
alone.”

“What about my book signing?”

He frowned. “You didn’t mention that to
me.”

“I’m scheduled to appear at a book signing at
Maverick’s Books
tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Although his offer chased away most of her
fear, she still couldn’t bring herself to totally give in. “I still
need my alone time.”

“I hate to interrupt,” Jackson said, “but we
should get her computer to the department tech gurus so they can
trace the messages.”

She extracted her hand, gave Mace a smug
grin, and then moved a few inches away before she dropped the next
bombshell. “That’s not necessary.”

“We need to know where they came from,
Dara.”

“I agree.”

“Then what the hell is the problem?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I
already know.”

All three hunky detectives fell silent and
suddenly she felt very, very powerful.

Mace pursed his lips and then released them.
“How do you know?”

“I traced them.”

“I repeat, how?”

She lifted one shoulder in a dismissive
shrug. “Just a hobby.”

“Um, Dara,” Jackson prompted, “where did the
emails originate?”

“Thank you for asking, Jackson.” Although
Jackson asked the million dollar question, she continued to glare
at Mace. “They were sent from the IP address belonging to the WiFi
router at the coffee house around the corner.” She then turned to
address the other detective. “
Café Latte,
the one you and
Alex visited.”

Jake whipped his neck to stare at Jackson.
Jackson only grinned.

She fully expected a whole new rash of
questioning from Mace, pleasantly surprised when he spoke. “The
manager needs to be questioned.”

“I’ll go there now.”

“
We’ll
go,” he growled.

“Okay. You said I can’t be alone,” she
reminded him.

“Jackson and Jake – “

“Actually, I’ve got about two hours of
paperwork,” Jackson said.

“I promised Bri a night out.” Jake smirked.
“Looks like you’ve got a new partner.”

“Fine.” Mace released a hard sigh. “Let’s go,
Dara.”

They covered the distance between the station
and the coffeehouse in record time, and when he finally opened the
front door, she thought she may have to ask for oxygen.

“You sure don’t waste any time, do you?”

He placed his hand at the small of her back,
and nudged her inside in front of him as he reached in his pocket
and pulled out his badge. “Let me do the questioning.”

She rolled her eyes. “As long as you don’t
forget any of the important questions.”

“Every question I ask is important.”

They walked to the end of the counter where
the teenaged clerk blew a bubble with her chewing gum and then
popped it.

“Sorry, Sir, Ma’am, the line starts at the
other end of the counter.”

Mace flashed his badge. “Primrose PD. I need
to speak with the manager, please.”

She wasn’t certain, but Dara thought the
clerk may have swallowed her gum. “Uh, okay. I’ll get him.”

Dara elbowed him in the ribs. “Do you think
she’s even old enough to work?”

“I don’t know. Would you like me to ask to
see ID?”

“No, I was just curious.”

“What would it take to make you
un-curious?”

“Do you really want to discuss this now?”

“No. Definitely not,” he said quickly as a
tall, thin, middle-aged man approached.

“I’m Gerald Smith, the manager. How can I
help you?”

Mace again presented his badge. “Detective
Mace Turner, Primrose PD.” He exchanged his badge for a notebook
and pen. “I understand you have Wi-Fi here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All of your customers have access?”

“Yes. We offer free Wi-Fi to paying
customers.”

“Is there a password?”

“Yes. It’s printed on the receipt. We change
it daily.”

“Have you had many customers connected
today?”

“We don’t have any way to trace that.”

“Has anyone in the last several hours today
caught your attention for any reason?”

“No.” The manager frowned. “What’s this
about?”

“Murder. Someone used your Wi-Fi to email
threatening messages.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any way to
prevent something like that. Pornographic and gambling sites are
blocked, but otherwise we have no control over what our customers
do on the Internet.”

A muscle ticked at the base of Mace’s jaw and
Dara wondered if he might just blow a gasket. The questioning was
going nowhere, in her opinion.

“I understand that. Here’s my card. If you
think of anything that might help, please give me a call.”

The manager took his card. “I will. Sorry I
couldn’t help.”

Mace nudged her back to the door and she gave
him the courtesy of waiting to doubt him until they were alone.

“That’s it? You don’t have any more
questions?”

“Nope.”

“But he was no help at all.”

He simply shrugged. “Just be patient. I’m
just as frustrated as you. If we had an idea of who the suspect is
or what he looks like, we could have shown pictures to the manager.
We don’t have anything concrete.”

As much as she hated to admit it, he had a
valid point. Not even research could change his reasoning. “I need
a break.”

He grasped her hand again and steered her
back to the police department parking lot where he parked the
sedan. “I’ll take you home,” he said as he opened the car door.
“We’ll get your computer later.”

“You’re going to ask forensics to analyze
it.”

“Yes.” He didn’t even bother to explain as he
closed her door and entered the driver’s side. “Just to confirm
your evidence.”

***

He released a hearty laugh that shook his
insides. The dumbass cop managed to uncover the establishment from
which he emailed Dara. Well, so what? Hundreds of patrons used that
particular network daily and besides, he was so far above
suspicion, no one would ever identify him.

Turner had balls of a brass monkey to force
himself on Dara, using his arrogant manner to control her. She was
so far above him she couldn’t even see it. Yet, she continued to
tolerate the domineering detective.

Dara belonged to him. Only him. If she
couldn’t see that on her own, he would have to point it out to her.
Because if he couldn’t have her, no one would.

Once they were back inside her condo, Dara
dropped her bag on the floor, flopped down on the sofa, and kicked
off her shoes, ready to relax and attempt to forget all about email
and murder. And then Mace had to go and act all caveman again.

“Pack a bag.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s too dangerous for you to be here. We’ll
get a hotel room.”

“Are you insane? I won’t let anyone chase me
from my home.”

“Dara, this is not up for discussion.”

“You’re absolutely right. I’m not going
anywhere.”

He sat beside her, took her hand, and rubbed
her knuckles with his thumb. He moved his other hand to cup her
cheek and pulled her close.

“Baby, if something happens to you –”

She drew back just a smidgen while her heart
skipped a beat. “Did you just call me
baby
?”