He hugged her to him, and for a moment Caroline let herself absorb his heat and strength. Somehow she felt as though the words were written on her skin, rather than her home.
“Oh crap,” Mitch muttered from behind them.
Caroline and Josh spun towards him. She couldn’t miss the pointed look the two men shared. Josh placed his hands on Caroline’s shoulders. “You know, I could really use a cup of coffee.” He smiled. “Any chance you could make us one?”
Caroline straightened her back. Whatever Mitch had found, it wasn’t good.
“Of course I will. As soon as you show me whatever it is you don’t want me to see.”
Mitch sighed and nodded at the gate. Josh took her hand and led her to it. Caroline felt the blood drain from her cheeks as she spotted the little cloth doll. It was dressed in a grey suit and had a noose around its neck. Josh snarled beside her as Caroline’s stomach twisted violently.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say someone doesn’t like me.”
The looks of anger and pity on the faces of the men made her want to run.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Josh promised.
“I know.” Although she felt far from certain that they would. “I’ll make coffee.”
She walked past the nasty words that marred the home her grandfather had left her and, feeling slightly dazed, headed for the kitchen.
“I was on my way to see Caroline when I got the call.” Officer Donaldson was talking before he got out of his police car.
“It’s the same guy who sent the package to her office,” Mitch told him.
“What makes you think that?” Donaldson was all business.
Mitch pointed to the doll on the fence. Donaldson looked as disgusted as Josh felt.
“Aye, that would narrow it down.”
Without another word, he walked over to examine the wall. He traced a letter with his finger. “Dry. Must have happened late last night. Did you hear or see anything suspicious?”
“I wasn’t here.” Josh wanted to kick himself for letting Caroline sleep without him. “But my dad was in the front room.” He pointed at the window above the words. “He would have mentioned if he’d heard something.”
Donaldson nodded. “I’ll need to speak with him.”
Josh rubbed a hand over his face. “He’s gone to Glasgow to buy a suit and sex toys.” They stared at him. “Long story.”
“Fine.” Donaldson sighed heavily. “We’ll deal with him later. In the meantime, I need Caroline to write a list of women she thinks might be particularly upset about this wedding. It’s obviously someone she knows.”
Josh took a step towards the man. “What makes you think it’s a woman?”
Mitch and Donaldson both gave him identical “are you an idiot” looks. He shrugged. They were involved with the law. Josh wasn’t. What did he know about this stuff? He sang songs for a living. He bet they wouldn’t know what G-major looked like if it was painted on the wall.
“Josh.” Mitch sounded like he was speaking to a slow child. “The dolls are handmade—do you see a guy doing that? Or even knowing how to do that?” He gestured to the words on the wall. “The paint is sparkly purple. How many guys would have that around, or would buy it to graffiti a wall?”
“Has Caroline seen this?” Donaldson said.
“Yeah.” Mitch gestured towards the house. “She’s inside making coffee. She didn’t seem too upset.”
Josh glared at his best friend. How could he have missed how upset Caroline was? She’d gone into Ice Queen mode. Her back was so straight it looked like she was strapped to a board. Her skin was pale and her heart had been beating fast. She was freaked. Donaldson cast a wary glance towards the house. At least he seemed to be sceptical that Caroline was coping well. It put the guy up a notch in his estimation.
Donaldson rubbed his chin. “Maybe she doesn’t need to hear this right now.”
Josh nodded. Damn right she didn’t need to hear any more bad news. “Spit it out.”
The guy let out a long breath. “The roadblocks are coming down as we speak. One of the TV stations got their lawyers involved and they’re being given access to the town.” Mitch cursed, and Donaldson cast him a glance. “Let’s face it, they were barely legal anyway. We’ve been pushing our luck keeping people out of town. I’m surprised we got away with it this long.”