Page 40 of The Rebel Billionaire

She swallowed her burger and asked, "What's a panicbutton?"

"It's a device you keep on you at all times. If anything happens, you hit it and it alerts your security team, and the police, that you need help immediately. I'll have them wire it to my phone, too, since I'm right next door. I can get here faster thantheycan."

"That sounds like a good idea,"shesaid.

"Charlie, you need to be careful. That wasn't a mugger. A mugger would've knocked you down and taken off with your purse. Whoever that was, they wanted to hurt you. That's a hell of a lot more dangerous than someone who's out to steal something. Hopefully, it's thisHaywardguy."

"Why are you hoping it's Hayward?" sheasked.

"Because weknowhe's a threat. This crackpot who's targeting your family is a complete unknown. I take it the Sinclairs have been trying to track down the source of thepictures?"

"Yeah. Since Jacob got the first one a few months ago. They haven't found anything. No fingerprints, and they said that whoever dropped the pictures off seems to know where the security cameras are, at least the cameras in Jacob's building, because we have them on video but they couldn't identify who it was. We don't even know if it's a man or awoman."

"There's no one you can think of with a grudge against your family?" I asked, not surprised when Charlie rolled her eyesatme.

It was a loaded question when talking about the Wintersfamily.

"No one specific I can think of," she said. "But between people who have a problem with Winters Inc. and the way my cousins and brothers have slept their way through the state of Georgia, you could probably put together a very long list of people who don'tlikeus."

"True. But sending pictures of the crime scenes is unusual. That's going back decades. Both cases are closed. Why bring themupnow?"

"To mess with us?" Charlie asked. "I can't think of anotherreason."

I turned the problem over in my mind. I doubted it was about money. Normally, when a wealthy family was targeted like this, money would be my firstthought.

But there was no blackmail here. Crime scene photos of the deaths weren't a secret. Someone who wanted money would be better off getting pictures of an affair or the company doing somethingunderhanded.

The only reason I could think of to send the crime scene pictures was to cause emotional upset. Someone wanted to scare them orhurtthem.

"We've been hoping they'd make a mistake," Charlie said, "but so far, we haven't gotten another picture since Vance's. Maybe theygaveup."

"Maybe. And there's no one other than Hayward who might have a grudge against you? An ex-boyfriend? One of those fiancés you didn'tmarry?"

Charlie's eyes flew wide. "How did you knowaboutthem?"

"You're a Winters," I reminded her. "It's common knowledge that you've been engaged four times and dumped all of them. Are you sure one of those guys isn't out forrevenge?"

"Pretty sure." Charlie took another bite of her burger and studied the takeout container on her lap, rearranging what was left of her French fries as shechewed.

Pink flags of color stood out on her cheeks. She was embarrassed. I wascurious.

"Really? Getting dumped by his fiancée is one of those things that can push a guy overtheedge."

"Not these guys," she said after she swallowed. "Maybe if I'd messed with their golfclubs."

She shrugged one shoulder and tookanotherbite.

"What does that mean?" Ipushed.

I should've let it go, but someone had attacked her and it had been personal. A discarded lover was at the top of the list in this kind ofcrime.

I wanted to know why she was so sure not a single one of her four fiancés would be hurt or angry enough to comeafterher.

There was no future for me and Charlie, no engagement waiting around the corner, no white wedding followed by the pitter-patter oflittlefeet.

We were the world's worst fit, but I knew if I'd been in love with a woman like her, if I'd had that face and that body and that attitude, and it was all mine and then she walked away . . . I could imagine that kind of loss breakingaman.

"So?"