Chapter 194

I snatched my purse off one of the loveseats in Andrew’s private chambers and gave Andrew a kiss goodbye. After we wished each other a good day, I rushed out the door and down the hall.

For once, I was leaving earlier than Andrew to catch up on some errands. I needed to grab some things for Ever After Weddings before stocking up on toiletries and other necessities. Andrew had told me that he could have a servant do the latter for me, but I thought it an unnecessary luxury and insisted on running the tasks myself.

I waved to Parker as he held the front door open for me.

“Have a good day, Ms. Blanchard,” he called out.

“Thank you, Parker. You too!”

I ran down the steps, taking them two at a time. With such a busy day ahead of me, I was anxious to get it started.

I slid into the driver’s side of my Honda Civic and tossed my purse into the passenger’s seat. Blinking fiercely, I decided that my sunglasses were needed if I was going to be driving with the sun so low in the sky. I reached over and popped open the glove compartment.

When I put my hand inside to search for my sunglasses case, I immediately felt something furry and damp.

“Ew!” I quickly retracted my hand. “What was that?”

Hesitantly, I reached back inside and grasped at the furry thing. I pulled it out into the light so that I could get a better look at it.

My heart skipped a beat.

In my hand was a dead rat covered in its own blood.

I screamed loudly and dropped the rat on the floor of my car. My hands flew to my mouth. I tasted rat blood and realized that my hand had been soaked in it.

Vomit threatened to expel from my esophagus, but I forced it back down.

I stared at the rat as shock began to set in. I grew dizzy, and stars began to dance in the corners of my vision. I struggled to breathe, but I could scarcely drag in any air.

A knock on the driver’s side window tore my attention away from the rat. As I focused in on Jeffrey’s image through the glass, my senses began to return to me. I could clearly hear him shouting through the door.

“Crystal, are you okay?” he asked, one hand preemptively resting on his gun.

I shook my head and opened the door.

“A rat…there’s a dead rat in my glove compartment!”

Jeffrey almost looked relieved, until he saw the rat itself. Then his normally neutral expression turned grim.

“Get out of the car,” he commanded.

I obeyed.

Jeffrey climbed into my car and grabbed the rat. He sniffed it, and I barely controlled my nausea at the sight. He then reached into the glove compartment, searching for something.

A moment later, he pulled out a piece of blood-splattered paper.

“Does this look familiar to you?” he asked, holding the paper out to me.

“No! I wouldn’t keep something so…bloody in my glove compartment.”

I took the paper from him. It contained only a single typed line:

You’re not out of the woods yet.

I paled and gulped.

“What does it say?” Jeffrey asked, standing up beside the car. He gripped the rat in his right hand, which I tried to ignore.

I held the paper out to him. He accepted it and read the sentence. His mouth became a firm, straight line.

“The rat smells of Bob,” he said matter-of-factly.

I closed my eyes as I felt the dizziness returning.

Bob. Forever Bob. Eternally Bob.

“Please check my car for sabotage,” I said, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to remain strong. “I’m not going on any errands—or anywhere—until I know that Bob did not mess with my car.”

Jeffrey nodded.

“A wise decision.”

I could tell that Jeffrey wanted to say something else.

“Out with it.”

“You know what I want you to do now,” he replied. “Tell Andrew.”

If he was expecting me to put up a fight, he was going to be sorely disappointed. Bob had come too close to getting me this time for me to just ignore this threat. Besides, with both Jeffrey and the Special Guard there to witness my discovery of the rat, there were too many witnesses, all of whom would rather go to Andrew as their boss than keep a secret for me.

“You don’t have to twist my arm.”

While Jeffrey checked my car for any damage or bugs, I took the rat and the note into the dining room, where I knew that Andrew would be eating his breakfast at that moment. It wasn’t the best moment to bring up something this unsavory, but I didn’t want to wait another minute.

The second that I entered the dining room, Andrew looked up from his phone, sniffed the air, and crinkled his nose.

“What’s that smell?” he asked.

That’s when he noticed me and smiled.

“Hello, Crystal. You’re back early—”

And then he saw the rat.

His brow furrowed. He stood up and came over, taking the rat from my hand.

“What’s this?” he said. “Where did you get this?”

“It was in my glove compartment—” I held the note out to him— “along with this.”

Andrew accepted the note and read it. His eyes flashed. He read the note again, and again, his face growing darker each time.

Like Jeffrey, he took a whiff of the rat. Then he smelled the note.

“Bob,” he growled.

I nodded.

“He got really close, Andrew.” My body shook. “He could have planted another bomb in my car.”

Andrew’s eyes grew momentarily in realization.

“Did you have Jeffrey—”

“He’s looking at my car as we speak.”

Andrew nodded in approval.

“Good, good.” He turned toward the door. “Alexander!”

One of the guards rushed inside.

“Yes, Your Highness?” he asked.

Andrew held out the note and the rat to the guard.

“Please put these on the desk in my home office. Make sure that they don’t touch anything important.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Alexander carefully grabbed the rat and note, then took off for Andrew’s office.

Andrew returned his attention to me.

“What are you going to do with those?” I asked.

“Add them to the list of evidence for our investigation.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police? This was really, really close.”

“No closer than any other time—”

“That’s part of the problem, Andrew!” I ran my hand through my hair. “They have all been close calls.”

I put my face in my hands.

“It feels like I’m constantly standing on the gallows with a noose around my neck, just waiting for the executioner to drop the floor from beneath me.”

Andrew wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close. Reluctantly, I rested my head on his shoulder.

“We’ll get rid of him soon,” he whispered, stroking my hair. “I promise.”

“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.” I barely kept the tears back as I spoke.

“No one will, not on my watch.”

I knew that, for the moment, I had no choice but to trust Andrew’s judgement. Still, with the wedding fast approaching, we were running out of time—and I could feel the noose around my neck tightening.