“Alright, if you’re sure.”
Ridge released her cheeks and stepped away from River, moving toward the bed to scoop Delilah up in his arms.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” he exclaimed in an exuberant voice that never failed to make his daughter light up in joy.
As they made their way to the front of the house, River said, “Oh, I brought some mail by today. A lot of those blank white ones again.”
Ridge stilled in the hallway. He hadn’t disclosed to River that the blank letters had contained Penny’s signature embossed on the lower edge. Nothing had been written inside. But he had passed along each slip of paper to the Sherriff of Carson so that he could run it for fingerprints. So far, they had been unsuccessful.
“Something wrong?” River said from behind him and he shook his head as he continued to the kitchen where a stack of mail waited. He handed Delilah off to River, who quickly gathered the toddler in her arms.
Ridge stared in disbelief at the seven or so white envelopes with only his name scrawled across the front. Frustration had been building with each letter he received and he was almost at his wit’s end. And the fact that River had been receiving them as well was not sitting well with him.
“What are they? I figured they were a card or letter or something.”
He didn’t know if he should tell her that it was a way his ex was communicating with him, but he was starting to fear for Delilah’s and her safety now. Penny could be unstable and he wasn’t sure what she was capable of, especially if she was on drugs or any other illicit materials.
Ridge reached into a kitchen drawer before opening the envelope and tugged on a pair of latex gloves. River’s eyes widened in alarm as he reached fo
r the first envelope.
Slipping his finger beneath the flap, he reached inside for the single piece of white paper, but this time was different. Nestled inside was a magazine cut out of a single letter with Penny’s name still engraved into the paper at the bottom.
Panic welled inside him and he quickly sifted through the other six letters, laying out each paper with its individual letter buried inside.
“What is this, Ridge?”
“It’s a game,” he told her before delving into the series of letters he received previously. “These are either sent out of warning or fear. Preston, the Sheriff, has a team working on it and they’re not sure either. I’m going to let him know about these and maybe I can bring them to him tonight.”
River nodded as she reached into the drawer he had used and grabbed a glove, blowing it up like a balloon for Delilah to play with.
“You have a video alarm system, right? How come you haven’t been able to get an image of whoever is dropping these off?”
Damn, he was falling for her. Instead of freaking out, she went into full investigation mode, asking the same questions he had asked Preston.
“We’ve tried. Even Preston has staked out a few nights to see if he could find someone tampering with the mailboxes. But we haven’t figured out anything. The mail person is the only one we’ve seen at the mailbox. The post office hasn’t received these letters, or they would have stamped. Everyone is stumped.”
“So, you’re saying that someone is doing this, but we have absolutely no idea how it’s happening.”
Leaning onto his elbows on the kitchen counter, Ridge raked his hands through his hair. “Yeah, pretty much. And now I’m worried it’s going to continue to escalate.” Turning his eyes toward her, he hoped she felt the fear he had about this spilling over to her life as well. He didn’t want her to be involved, but unfortunately, it was far past that time.
“Well, there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it except what you’ve already been doing. If I see anything suspicious, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Sighing deeply, Ridge stepped away from the counter and approached River, placing his hand on her upper arm. “I’m really sorry about all of this. Let’s just add this to the long list of reasons that I’m bad for you.”
“Oh hush, this isn’t your fault, though I do wish you had told me about it sooner. I knew that your mood changed every time you received one of the letters, but now that I know why I can understand. You want to keep Delilah safe and this is all out of your hands. It’s that superhero complex you have.”
“Some superhero I am. Glad I didn’t go that route with my costume.”
“I don’t know, I would have liked to see you in spandex, but the leather will do. . .for now.”
Delilah chose that moment to reach over and smack Ridge in the face with her makeshift balloon and he laughed as he tenderly took the glove from her hand and placed it on the counter.
He couldn’t anything more except gather the letters as River took his keys and situated herself and his daughter in the truck.
Placing the letters into a gallon-sized bag, Ridge closed up the house and made his way to his truck. He hoped that they were able to locate Penny soon or at least get some answers because his daughter deserved better than that. He didn’t want her to live her life in fear and there was only so much he could do about it.
***