Page 54 of Unmasked

Everleigh stroked her fingers along the spines of the books lining the dark wood shelves as she made a slow circuit around the room. Some were new bestsellers, while others were ancient first editions. Her father was an avid reader, and he didn't discriminate when it came to genre.

She circled the desk and took a seat in the plush leather chair. Her father's desk was immaculate. Every pen, paper clip, and piece of paraphernalia was in its place. That was why the tiny sliver of white sticking out from beneath the black blotter jumped out at her. Barely more than a millimeter was exposed, and she touched the sharp corner of the object. She knew it wasn’t her place, but curiosity got the best of her, and she lifted the blotter.

Her breath suspended in her lungs, and she blinked, rendered motionless. For several seconds, she stared uncomprehendingly at the 5x7 black-and-white photograph. Just like the photographs that had been left on her car, her image stared back at her. She lifted the photo to find another one stacked underneath. Then another, and another.

Goosebumps raced over her skin as ice settled in her veins. Why would he have these? At first, she thought they were duplicates of the ones she had received. But these were all new. And very recent, judging from some of the locations.

She stood frozen, not quite sure what to do. All of a sudden, it occurred to her how long she had been there. Her father would be home soon, and if he walked in right then, he would catch her looking at the photographs. Working quickly but quietly, she stacked the photographs and returned them to their original position underneath the blotter. She grabbed her purse and peeked out of the office, then checked to make sure no one was around before quickly making her way down the hall.

She hadn’t encountered anyone on the way in, and if one of her father’s employees told him they’d seen her, she could always explain that something had come up. Quietly as she had come, she slipped out the back door and raced across the backyard, headed toward home. Toward Knox.

Her entire body shook, and her heart pounded as she ran through the woods that connected their land. Just as she reached Knox’s back porch, her phone rang. Her heart gave a little leap when she saw his name, and she fumbled to answer the phone. “Hello?”

“Where are you?”

She flinched at the hardness of his tone. “I… I’m home. Your house.” She wanted to tell him about everything that had happened. “Knox, I…”

“Don’t move,” he ordered. “I need to talk to you. I’m on my way now, so I'll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

“Okay.” She hung up and headed into the house, still deeply unsettled after what she had found in her father's office. On the way home, a dozen scenarios had swirled through her head, but not a single one of them made sense. She restlessly prowled through the house, unable to sit and relax. The sound of Knox’s SUV pulling into the driveway reached her ears, and she bolted out the door and onto the front porch.

Knox met her seconds later, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her right off her feet. She clung to him, loving the security he offered, like shelter from the storm. After a long minute passed, he set her back on her feet and ran one hand over her hair. “Is everything okay?”

She nodded and swallowed hard. “I’m fine. But I need to talk to you.”

“Me too. There’s something I need to tell you.” His expression was grim, and that bothered her nearly as much as finding those photographs in her father's office. He took her hand and led her inside.

“Remember I told you about the photographer Mason and I spoke to at the bar last week?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Knox continued before she had a chance. “We went into town today because he was supposed to make another drop for the photographs. The photographer was going to meet his mark at the gazebo. He dropped off the photographs, and the other guy came to pick them up.”

He paused, looking uncomfortable. “None of this makes any sense, and I don't even know how to tell you this, but…”

She studied his face, his eyes dark with pity and something else. The lightbulb suddenly clicked on in her head, and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. “It was my father, wasn't it?”

Knox blinked in surprise, then reached for her hand. “How did you know?”

“That's what I wanted to tell you.”

“I went over to their house today to talk to him. I know we're supposed to have dinner tonight, but I wanted to talk to him one-on-one and tell him how much I appreciated it. When I got to his office, I found a bunch of those photographs on his desk. Pictures just like the ones on my car.”

His expression turned positively murderous. “I don’t know how he’s involved, or why, but we’re going to figure out what’s going on.”

The way he said it told her that dinner that night was going to be nerve-racking in more ways than one.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-FIVE

Every cell of Knox's body was on high alert as he stepped through the large, wooden double doors of the country club. Beside him, Everleigh was quiet as a mouse, and he pressed one hand to her lower back in a show of silent support.

He couldn't begin to imagine how she felt right now. He still had trouble believing it himself, truth be told. Knox had no idea what Beaumont's motive was, but he was infuriated that Everleigh’s father had tried once again to manipulate her.

Over the past few hours, Knox had played several scenarios through his mind, none of which fit. He didn't believe it had anything to do with him this time, since the photographs had begun to arrive long before she had approached Vantage for help.

Knox had wondered if Conrad was punishing Everleigh for divorcing her husband and coming home. It was no secret that Beaumont was extremely fond of Fletcher, a fact that grated on Knox's nerves. Conrad had seemed to side with Fletcher instead of Everleigh, and she had been looked down on for leaving him.

Everleigh had told Knox she had no issues with Fletcher himself. Apparently, they maintained a good relationship, and she had spoken with him twice over the past couple of weeks. It irked Knox, but he refused to acknowledge it. It was a part of her life that he couldn't change, no matter how much he wished otherwise.