Read Online Paper Bullets by Annie Reed - Free Book Online

but I didn’t think that was likely. In fact, I wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen my car outside of the few times she’d been home when I’d dropped Samantha off for a weekend visit with Ryan.
    I wasn’t close enough to see the expression on Mr. Muscles’ face.
    I grabbed my camera from my purse and turned it on. Hell, if he was going to pose for me while he was staring at me, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity.
    I balanced the camera on my steering wheel and zoomed in so that his face filled the display on the back of the camera. I snapped off a couple of shots before I realized that he was no longer talking on his cell phone. He had it held up in front of him.
    He was taking my picture with the phone, and he wasn’t being any more subtle about it that Justin Sewell had been standing in front of the cafe taking pictures of Melody as she headed for her car.
    Only Mr. Muscles was doing something that Sewell hadn’t done.
    He was smiling.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 9
     
     
    I COULDN’T REACH KYLE on his cell, and the desk clerk who answered the phone in the detective division told me that he wasn’t available. Either he was still meeting with his witness or he’d gone out on a call. I’d have to give him the details about Mr. Muscles later.
    I didn’t want to call Ryan until I had information from Kyle, but given my little argument with Melody in front of the gym, I didn’t want her to ambush him as soon as she could get him on the phone. Or, worse yet, pay an unannounced visit to his office and ambush him there.
    I hadn’t programmed Ryan’s office number into my phone’s auto dial. I’d told myself it was just one more snip of the ties that held us together. That was bull, of course. I knew the number by heart.
    I waited until I finished pumping the little bit of gas I actually didn’t need right then into my car. I drove out onto McCarran, found a McDonald’s a few blocks away, and pulled into the drive through for a large iced tea. While I waited, I called Ryan.
    “I’ve got good news and bad news,” I said. “Which do you want first?”
    Ryan sighed. “It’s been a bitch of a day. Give me the good news first.”
    “I’ve got two possible stalkers for you.”
    “Two?” Ryan asked.
    “Possibly. I’ll email you pictures when I get back to my office.”
    I gave him the information I had on Justin Sewell and the driver of the white SUV. I didn’t tell him yet that the driver might be an undercover cop. I wouldn’t pass that information along until I could confirm that fact with Kyle. For all I knew, Lewis Richards could have sold the SUV to someone else who hadn’t reregistered it yet.
    “You couldn’t narrow it down?” he asked when I was done.
    There it was, that slightly disappointed tone of voice I’d come to know so well during the last few years of our marriage.
    “They were both doing stalkery things. It’s not like I caught anyone hiding in a bush with a camera while wearing a raincoat and nothing underneath.”
    He was quiet for a beat. So was I.
    “Sorry,” he finally said. “It’s been—”
    “—a rough day.” He hadn’t apologized to me for a long time. It actually made me feel worse for what I had to tell him next. “You ready for the bad news?”
    Another sigh. I could almost see him pinching the bridge of his nose.
    “I ran into Melody at the gym,” I said. “To say she wasn’t happy to see me is an understatement.”
    “She saw you.” He bit off each word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
    “I didn’t plan on it.”
    “Did you plan at all?”
    Did I...
    An angry retort popped into my head. Luckily for Ryan, the people in the car ahead of me in the drive through finally got their order, and it was my turn to pay for my iced tea.
    Dealing with the cashier gave me a minute to cool off.
    Ryan knew how to push my buttons. He’d learned well from my mother during our marriage. One of the favorite buttons he pushed, especially toward