✔Vengeful Valentine

Thirty: Adam

Back at Everly's home out in the countryside, I breathed a sigh of relief. We dropped Archie's ass off, and I all I wanted to do was curl up in bed with my girl. Tomorrow I'd be back on the job, hoping to find more evidence that proved Annie was not only the White Dragon but Everly's stalker too.

Everly parked my truck in the driveway and handed me back the keys. We grabbed our suitcases and headed up to the porch, where an unwanted gift awaited us on the little table. A bouquet of red roses.

"Don't tell me that's from who I think it is," I grumbled, dropping my suitcase so I could check the little tag attached to them.

It had the Flora's Flower shop logo followed by: You'll never escape me in black ink. While there weren't any visible prints on the vase, I made sure not to touch it and told Everly the same thing. I doubted the bitch would be stupid enough to leave DNA behind, but I needed to be sure. Annie's prints would be on file too, since she works for us. If it was her. My suspicions went back to Dylan, but as far as I was aware, he was still locked up. Nobody bothered posting his bail either.

"She's never gonna leave us alone," Everly said. "First, she followed us all the way to Crittendale and now back home. It's like she always knows where we're at. Why play games like this? Why not attack me again? I don't understand."

I pulled my phone from my breast pocket, ringing my sergeant. "She probably gets a kick outta intimidating us. She's a fucking psycho," I told Everly.

Before long, Sergeant Davidson arrived at the doorstep with two other senior officers in their unmarked cars. They came to collect the roses left behind by Everly's stalker. I allowed them inside, where Everly was perched on the couch sipping a cup of tea.

"Y'all just got home?" Sergeant Davidson asked.

"Yeah, and then we found those fucking roses on the porch. Card said they're from Flora's Flower shop. Maybe the florist would remember who bought them. I was thinking about driving over there to see. You know, just as a curious civilian."

"You know damn well I won't stop you from looking into this," Sergeant Davidson said. "But be careful. You're dealing with someone unhinged, most likely. It's better if you have someone with you."

"Chris is off today," I replied. "I'll see if he'd be up for a ride with me."

Sergeant Davidson nodded, then lowered his voice. "We've been looking into Annie too. Nothing is foolproof yet, but she's been driving out to this sketchy neighborhood down in Viper Valley the past few days. I know you've considered her a suspect in what happened to Everly, but we've had a tail on her this entire time. She hasn't left New Syracuse."

"You shitting me?" I asked. "There's no way she could've sneaked past you for an hour or so? Nobody slacked off on surveillance?"

"No, Adam. I'm sure of that. Annie couldn't have been in Crittendale when someone tried running your girl and mother off the road," Sergeant Davidson said. "Could be that was a random incident, or maybe, Annie just isn't the one who shot Everly."

"Then who the hell is it?" I clenched down on my teeth, struggling not to scream in a fit of rage. Just when I thought I'd figured out everything too.

"I don't know. I'm sorry. Hopefully those flowers will get us closer to the truth," Sergeant Davidson said. His optimism didn't convince me though.

We were back to the drawing board. Everly's stalker still lurked in the shadows, and it wouldn't be long, I feared, when she would try to kill my girl again. The mind games wouldn't last forever. There were just to throw us off track.

After Sergeant Davidson and the other officers left, I snuggled up on the couch with Everly. I hated how I couldn't find her stalker. The bitch always seemed to be a step ahead of us. She had to be someone close to us, someone who knew exactly where we'd be.

"I just don't understand. I swore Annie was responsible," I said. "She's the White Dragon. I thought... I guess I just ran with my theory and didn't consider the possibility she had no involvement."

"You can't beat yourself over this." Everly rubbed my back. "We're going to catch her. I know we will. We now know it's probably not Annie. Honestly, my guess is that we're on the right tack by looking at it being gang related. It sucks not knowing, but we're getting closer to the truth."

I sighed. "I know, baby. I just thought I'd found her. If it's not Annie, then who else would it be?"

"It's a long shot, but I've considered Rylee. You know, from the Voiceless Rebels. She dates Emmett's right hand, Alfie. She's always had a thing for you too," Everly admitted.

"Rylee. That's the emo-looking chick with her head shaved, right?" I asked.

"Yep, that's her. She's an addict too," Everly replied. "Maybe she could be jealous of us together? I dunno. It's hard to imagine her being that petty, especially since she has a boyfriend, and I don't feel like she'd have the guts to betray Emmett. But I could be wrong."

"It's easy to second guess people," I told her. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her. Chris should be here soon, and we'll head out to the flower shop. I'm hoping the florist remembers who bought the roses. I'm sure they were just bought today too, since the bitch was in Crittendale."

"Can I come too?" Everly asked eagerly, fetching her coat before I even responded.

"Before they collected those roses as evidence, I took some photos of the flowers," I explained. "I'm thinking we might be able to see who made the order for those stupid roses. The owner should have a record of her sales, hopefully."

Little did the local florist know, she supplied a murderous woman with her lovely roses to use as a threat.