“Will you show me?” Without waiting for an answer, Ryder climbed into Zack’s squad car.

Zack and his father exchanged glances, and Sheriff Ballard nodded almost imperceptibly.

As the car crawled onto the road, Julia turned back to her violated house. “Are you going to get your evidence so I can clean up?”

“I’ll get my kit out of the car.” The sheriff grabbed his door handle and hesitated. “You don’t think Zack had anything to do with this, do you, Julia?”

She shrugged. “You said you couldn’t raise him on the radio before. Where was he?”

“I don’t know.” Sheriff Ballard clenched his jaw. “But don’t worry. I’ll find out.”

Zack Ballard didn’t seem like the stalking sort, but what did she know? She’d obviously married a man who turned traitor, a man who hit her, a man willing to threaten his so-called friend and colleague.

She opened her garage door and grabbed a bucket, a scrub brush, some detergent and a bottle of bleach. Once Ballard finished with her porch and door, she’d have to go inside, but the thought made her stomach twist in knots. Had the madman continued his sick pranks in her house?

When she rounded the corner, Ballard was standing back from the porch, clutching two evidence baggies and frowning.

“What is it?” She dropped her cleaning supplies on the ground.

“Someone left you a message in the blood.”

“What’s the message? Leave or die? That’s what he left on Ryder’s truck.”

“No, I think he wrote that message for Ryder.” Ballard scratched his jaw. “This message is for you-You’re mine.”

A chill snaked up her spine, but she shook it off and tossed back her hair. “Yeah, right. That’s the way to a woman’s heart. Don’t say it with diamonds, say it with blood.”

Sheriff Ballard cocked his head. “Are you all right? I’m thinking the next step here is to install a camera outside your house. Next time this Romeo comes calling, we’ll catch him in living color.”

Julia opened her mouth to respond when Zack’s squad car pulled up to the curb, and Ryder hopped out holding a soiled rag. Did he find that in Zack’s car?

“We found the spot where Zack hit the animal on the road, but the animal is gone. I mopped up some of the blood with this cloth, so you can test it against the blood on Julia’s porch.”

Zack walked to the front of his car and leaned against the hood. “Looks like someone came along, scooped up the animal I hit and smeared its blood on Julia’s door. Wouldn’t you say, Ryder?”

Julia told Ryder about the message on the door and Sheriff Ballard’s suggestion to install a camera.

Ryder’s lips tightened and a dark flame flared in his eyes when she told him what the stalker had written.

“You are not going to stay here tonight.”

“Nonsense.” She scooped up the bucket and swung it from her hand. “I’m not allowing some nut who plays with roadkill to scare me out of my house.”

“What about Shelby?”

Julia stopped and the bucket banged against her shin. “I don’t want her here.”

“Exactly. She can stay with my family. You can, too.”

“I think if she’s going to stay with anyone, it should be the Stokers. She knows them better than your parents, Ryder, and I can’t quite imagine your dad being happy with a little girl in the house.”

“Let’s discuss this later.” He tilted his chin toward the Ballards, taking pictures of the mess on the porch. Then he helped her measure detergent in the bucket and fill it with water.

“Okay, we have what we need.” Sheriff Ballard patted the bag hanging over his shoulder. “There’s not much evidence here, but once you get that camera up we’ll nail him.”

“Just look for someone toting a dead animal carcass around. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot.” Ryder pointed at Zack’s bumper. “You might want to clean off your car, Ballard.”

When the two squad cars drove out of sight, Julia turned to Ryder. “Do you think it’s Zack?”

“I didn’t see any blood in his car or on his uniform. If he hit the animal and then picked it up to use its blood to decorate your house, there should’ve been some sign of it.”

“He went missing. Maybe he had time to go home and shower.”

“If he took that much time, you’d think he would’ve wiped the blood off his bumper.” Ryder grabbed the scrub brush from her hand and charged toward the porch.

She laughed. “This is Zack Ballard we’re talking about.”

“I’m glad you can laugh about it.” He grinned at her. “How’d we miss that message on the door?”

“It’s small.” She pointed to the words smudged out in the blood, and felt a thrill of victory when her finger didn’t tremble.

Ryder sloshed the soap in the bucket of water and doused the porch with it. He crouched forward and began scrubbing the stains from the wood.

“Did you ever go inside the house?”

“Not yet.” She aimed the nozzle of the hose at the bottom of the step and shot a spray of water that carried the red-tinged soap in a tide down the walkway and into the grass.

“Don’t you think you should take a look?” He dipped the brush in the bucket again and sat back on his heels. “I’m surprised Sheriff Ballard didn’t have you check inside.”

“I think Sheriff Ballard was a little worried that I might find more evidence linking his son to these…tricks.”

“Maybe that’s why he suggested the camera. He meant it as a warning to Zack. Let’s finish up here, and I’ll go inside with you.”

Ryder scrubbed and she rinsed, and they vanquished most of the red streaks and drops. She stepped back, hands on her hips. “I’m going to have to paint that door. Maybe I’ll paint it red this time to save myself the trouble next time.”

Ryder dropped the brush and peeled off the rubber gloves. “There’s not going to be a next time, even if I have to stake out your place myself.”

She liked the sound of that, but her mouth quirked at the irony. Just when she found a man ready and willing to protect her, she’d rediscovered her backbone. Knowing more about her past and what she’d survived gave her courage. After escaping from her traitorous ex-husband and his killers, she didn’t fear a garden-variety stalker. Did she?

“Are you ready?” Ryder gestured toward the newly scrubbed front door.

Julia tried the handle first and blew out a breath when she discovered the lock engaged. She inserted her key and pushed the door open, but Ryder stepped in front of her, shielding her with his solid form.

She trailed after him through the house as he checked every room and every closet. Looked like the new, heavy-duty locks kept the weirdo out this time.

“Now that we’ve resolved one issue, can I have a look at this on your computer?” Ryder waved the CD that he’d shoved in his jacket pocket at her.

Julia swallowed. Cleaning up the mess hardly resolved the problem of her stalker, and now they had to move onto the next issue. This one would be easier to handle. At least the disc never made it into the hands of the bad guys and now it looked like it never would.

She led Ryder to her computer where he sat down and inserted the CD. The computer allowed him to access the CD and even open the file, but that’s where it stopped. Lines of symbols ran across the document, which was locked for editing.

Ryder peered at the screen and grunted. “That’s ours. Jeremy must’ve stolen this CD from Black Cobra and hidden it in your apartment in Paris. When he was ready to sell it to our enemies, he called you to bring it to him in Arizona.”

“He hid it under a loose floorboard.” Wedging her hip against the chair, Julia caught her lower lip between her teeth. The Paris apartment flooded her senses-the gleaming hardwood floors, the way the sun spilled across the dining room table, the scent of roses that filled vases scattered across a brightly furnished room, the sea-green comforter that almost floated above the antique bed.

The bed. Love and warmth emanated from that bed, so strong Julia longed to sink into it, wrap herself in its pleasure. She must have loved Jeremy at one point. They shared that bed together as husband and wife.