Page 64 of What Doesn't Kill You…

Violet knew that look. "Don't even think about sidelining me. The stalker may be a loose cannon but my cover as Max's bride is too well established to pull me now."

"Might be a good idea if you stayed away from confrontation though," Rochelle said. "We don't want any more dead bodies turning up."

Violet wanted to scream with frustration. Instead, she stared at her boss and said, "I'll do what I can."

Violet had a job to do, and if it meant breaking a few bones to keep Max safe then that’s what she had to do. Who knows? Maybe one of those altercations would be enough to draw out her stalker so she could deal with him once and for all. The thought cheered her no end.

"I don't need the Irn Bru for anything else," Evan called over to her. "You can drink it if you'd like." He held up the can, still dusty from print powder.

Violet gave him an incredulous look. "Thanks, but I don't want to drink the gift my stalker gave me."

"I call dibs!" Harris snatched it from his brother, popped the top and glugged it down. "Ah, Scotland," he said before burping loudly.

Rochelle hung her head and muttered something Violet couldn't make out but sounded a tad despairing.

Katrina, who'd been sitting on the sofa, headphones on, listening in on the bugs they'd planted, suddenly called for silence.

"You need to hear this," she told them before disconnecting her headphones.

A second later, Damien's voice filled the room.

Violet smiled with satisfaction. At least something good had come from their visit to the florist.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"What the fuck happened?" Damien's voice filled the open plan living space of the rented house.

"As far as we can tell," a guy with a gravelly voice replied, "he left to get lunch and didn't come back."

"I thought you said he got suspicious about the Lee woman and her friend?" Damien said, making Violet and Katrina share a worried look. "Did they do this?" He didn't sound like he thought it was possible.

"Nah, boss," gravel voice replied. "This was after he checked up on them. That turned out to be nothing, just one of the resort guards being overly cautious because the chick with Lee was hanging around the delivery for the house."

"You scanned the delivery to make sure it wasn't tampered with?" Damien said.

"Yeah, it's all clear."

Violet felt a little smug when she heard that.

"Then what the hell happened when Merz went for lunch?" Damien snapped. "And where are his phone and radio?"

The entire Benson Security team looked at Evan. "They're on my list," he told them. "I'll hack them next."

Gravel was talking again. "We don't know, boss. We looked but we couldn't find them. We think the guy who did this took them."

"You think so?" There was the sound of something smashing. "Max Durant," Damien bellowed. "Where was he while this was happening?"

Violet glanced at Max, who was sitting on the edge of his seat, tense and alert. Staring into space as he concentrated on the audio.

"On the golf course," Gravel hurried to say. "With his friend, and Lee's father and brother-in-law. They were there for hours. Never went anywhere near the warehouse. They went straight from playing golf to having lunch poolside. We had eyes on them the whole time."

Violet suspected they were being closely watched. Now she knew for sure.

"Where are they now?" Damien said, his voice dark with fury.

"St. Patrice. We lost them when they entered the old quarter. You know what it's like in there. It's a maze of narrow streets, packed with market stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. We figure they ducked into one of the cafés to get out of the heat."

"But you don't know." Damien sounded threatening.