Colton's Secret Bodyguard

Trey was right. Blaine had chosen Rylan because he was the best. From now on, she would keep her distance, but she would depend on him to do his job.

“Who had access to these pictures?” Rylan asked.

“Um...” Kasey got to her feet, dabbing at her eyes with a Kleenex. “They were in boxes in the basement storeroom. It’s not locked, but it’s not easily accessible to the public, and there’s no reason for anyone to go in there unless they need to.”

“But technically anyone who entered the gallery could have gotten into the room where the pictures were stored?”

“I guess so.” Kasey nodded. “Even so, they would have to know what they were looking for. And the gallery is busy during the day, so whoever did this was taking a chance if they took a knife into the storeroom to damage the paintings while the building was open.”

“You mean he risked discovery?” Rylan squatted to look at the pictures.

“Yes,” Kasey said. “A member of the gallery staff could have walked in and disturbed him at any time.”

“Specifically, who from the staff goes in there?” Rylan asked.

“Most of us do at different times.” Bree was glad to find her voice sounded normal. “We exhibit artwork here, but our main purpose is to sell it. Once a piece is purchased and removed from display, we have to replace it. That’s when we take new stock from the storeroom. The craft and coffee shops also keep their supplies in there. And, of course, we often have items like these—” her hand shook slightly as she indicated her wrecked pictures “—ready for the next show.”

“David goes into the basement fairly regularly as well,” Kasey added. “His main job is security, but he sometimes does maintenance. He keeps his tools and ladders down there. Oh, and if there’s a show coming up, Lucas Brewer stores his lighting equipment in the basement.”

Rylan straightened. “Are the boxes clearly labeled?”

“Yes.” Bree turned to Kasey. “Can you bring one of the boxes that contained these paintings, please?”

As Kasey went to a corner of the room where she had stacked a pile of cardboard boxes, Rylan spoke quietly to Bree. “Stupid question, but are you okay?”

She didn’t want him to care about her. It was easier to think of him as the man who had abused her trust because he wanted to have sex with her. If she tried to step past that, to analyze his motives, she would get lost in a world of what-ifs.

She tilted her chin. “I’m not going to fall in a heap on the floor. But...” Her eyes went to the paintings. “These were mine.”

“I’m going to find out who did this, Bree.” His gaze snagged hers and held it. She read anger and determination in his eyes, and despite what had transpired between them, she believed he would see this through.

Kasey returned with the box. “This is the label we use for shows.” She pointed it out to Rylan. “It’s a different color to our standard stock items. It has the show details, the date and the name of the artist.”

Rylan nodded. “So anyone who wanted to access Bree’s paintings for the Spirit show would be able to find them without any problem.”

As her assistant’s face crumpled and more tears began to fall, Bree placed an arm around her shoulders. “No one could have predicted this would happen, Kasey.”

“Of course not,” Rylan said. “I’m just pointing out how easy it would have been. Even so, whoever did it must have had some idea of how Wise Gal works.”

Kasey gulped back a sob. “What makes you so sure?”

“You said yourself that the gallery is busy during the day. While anyone can come in here, the person who did this was clearly looking for Bree’s paintings. He had to know where the boxes would be stored and how they’d be labeled. It had to be someone who was familiar enough with your basement to know how you store your artwork.”

Rylan’s eyes met Bree’s over Kasey’s head, and she knew what he was thinking. The person who had done this wasn’t a random visitor. He had sent threatening emails and delighted in scaring her by entering her apartment and moving her property. He had also fired a bullet into a light over her head just the previous night. Rylan had warned her things would escalate. She just never would have foreseen this.