She cleared her throat as if getting ready to give an important speech. “Cookies or cake?”
“Cookies. Easier to bring with you wherever you go.”
Everly made a hmm noise in the back of her throat. “Lemonade or iced tea?”
“Depends on who’s making it.”
“Fair enough. I’ll always go for lemonade.”
“My mom makes the best there is. I’ll have to bring you some.” I pulled into a spot two down from Everly’s SUV. “I’m here.”
“Okay.”
Her voice was so damn soft, I wanted to hit something. That wasn’t the Everly I knew, the one I was falling for. Her voice was strong, never wavered. I slid out of my SUV, scanning the area. Nothing seemed out of place—the usual mix of tourists and locals peppering the streets, taking advantage of the late-summer light. I couldn’t pick out a single person who was focused on Ev’s vehicle.
I pulled a kit out of the cargo area of my SUV and started for Everly. She’d already climbed out and waited for me as I approached. She pointed to her passenger seat. “I put it down so I wouldn’t get a bunch of prints on it.”
“Smart.” I hadn’t even told her to do as much because the moment I’d heard her voice, that little hint of fear, I hadn’t been thinking straight.
I set my kit on the hood of the SUV and, instead of going for the note, I went for her. I pulled Ev into my arms and held on tight. The small hitch in her breath echoed around my rib cage like a cannon, pinging off my heart. “You’re okay.”
“I know.”
“Give me a sec to reassure myself of that.”
Her hands fisted in the sides of my uniform shirt. “I really am all right. It just spooked me, is all.”
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with fresh air and that hint of jasmine that was all Everly. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Everly hovered behind me as I pulled on gloves and opened an evidence bag. I opened the passenger door and picked up the paper by one corner. As I took in the angry slashes on the page, everything in me slowed to a crawl. My heart rate. My breathing. Even my blood seemed to halt.
I slid the note into the evidence bag and sealed it, placing it in my kit. I didn’t want Everly to even have to see it. Snapping off my gloves, I pulled out my phone and hit Young’s contact. She answered on the second ring. “Sheriff.”
“I need you to go by the Bar & Grill.”
“Got trouble?”
“Not there, I don’t think. But I need you to ask Cammie Sweeney if she received any notes. Make a drive-by at her parents’, too. See if they’ve gotten anything.”
The squeak of a chair in the background told me that Young was already moving. “What’s going on?”
“Everly got a threatening note on her SUV.”
“Shit. Is she okay?”
I looked up at Ev. “She’s hanging tough. Call me once you’ve talked to them.”
“Will do.”
I hit end and shoved my phone back into my pocket. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“I know you will.”
Something about the casual certainty in Ev’s words twisted everything inside me. “I need you to do me a favor.”
Wariness filled her features. “And what’s that?”
I picked up my keys and worked one off the ring. “Run by my house and pick up Koda. He’ll at least be an early warning system until I get off work.”