Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [90]
“No, Jacob isn’t forcing me to do anything,” Diamond was saying. “And that’s the reason I love him so much. He’s always given me a choice. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I don’t want to be late for dinner.”
“Well, Diamond sure set those guys straight, didn’t she?” Blaylock was saying.
Jake only nodded. He then stood and left the room.
Two days later, Jake received an unmarked letter. Recognizing the California postmark as the same one that had been on the box he had received nearly a week ago, he called Alex.
Alex came to the ranch immediately and after scanning the letter he gave Jake the okay to open it. The letter read: “I won’t let Diamond give up her career for you. No more warnings. You’re a dead man, Jacob Madaris.”
Chapter 23
J ust like all the other warnings Jake had received, Alex Maxwell was taking this one seriously. He sat on the sofa in Jake’s office and closely studied all the reports he had gotten back over the past week.
He shook his head. One thing was for certain, the individual wasn’t doing a whole heck of a lot to cover his tracks, which meant he had a few screws loose or he just didn’t care. Pushing the last of the papers he’d been reading aside, Alex concluded the person fit both categories, and nothing was worse than dealing with someone who felt he had nothing to lose.
Alex glanced across the room at Jake, who was standing looking out of the window. Beneath the tan Stetson was a man who was a brilliant businessman, an expert rancher and a person with nerves of steel. He was also a man who had a stubborn streak a mile wide. It was that stubborn streak that Alex hated dealing with most of all. Jake was determined to protect Diamond, but was bucking all of Alex’s pleas to protect himself. He was putting his life on the line for the woman he loved. Alex shook his head. He would never, ever understand that kind of man-woman love.
“All right, Jake, I’m ready to discuss what I’ve come up with,” Alex’s deep voice said in the quiet room.
The broad brim of Jake’s hat shadowed his eyes when he turned away from the window. Walking across the room he sat down on the sofa, slumped back against it and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Okay, what do you have?” he asked wearily, annoyed. He didn’t like this digging, searching and the not knowing. Never in his forty-three years had he been in this sort of predicament. It was a bloody uncomfortable feeling, one he didn’t care for. He’d been in danger before of getting trampled by a herd of spooked cattle or getting buried under shifting boulders, but not from the insanity of a madman.
“I have information on a number of things,” Alex said. “Let’s start with the camera that was used to take those pictures.” He shifted in his seat. “I was right. The camera used to take those photos is one that would be owned by a professional photographer. It’s a very sophisticated model that has a scope that’s great for close-up shots. It’s the latest model. I’ve asked the manufacturer to provide me with a list of everyone who filed a warranty deed on that particular brand of camera within the last three years.”
Alex met Jake’s gaze. “The type of shots that were taken leads me to believe that those photos were originally taken to be printed in the newspaper or a magazine. The poses were too precise for anything else.”
Jake nodded. “What else do you have?”
“The next thing I checked out was the post office where the box and letter were mailed. Lucky for us a number of the larger post offices have installed video cameras for security purposes. I was able to determine exactly what post office in Beverly Hills the items were mailed