James didn't react. Not a single flicker of emotion passed over his face, not even surprise or confusion.
Kody pulled a printout of the photo from his folder and slid it across the table to James. "Wanna explain that to us?"
James looked down at the image, then sighed heavily. He didn't respond immediately, taking his time staring at the photo. "This photo..." he said in a husky voice. "Where'd you get it?"
My temper flared. "What does that fucking matter?"
His eyes met mine, and they were awash with guilt. "It matters, MK, because this photo was mine. It was in my wallet for..." He trailed off, shaking his head as his gaze returned to the image. "I don't even know how long. But I was mugged one night outside a bar, my wallet stolen. I’d never made a copy of it."
My brows shot up, and I gave my guys an uncertain look. Was James telling the truth? Because that would be awfully convenient...
"James," Kody said in a slightly softer tone, "explain that to us. We've trusted you with a lot, but right now all signs are pointing at you for being Deb and MK's stalker."
James's eyes widened. "Seriously? I'm going to take a leap here and assume this photo was gifted by the stalker. Right? Well why would I out myself if that was me? Doesn't make sense, and you know it. That's why I'm sitting here right now and not being tossed off the back of a boat with rocks in my pockets."
He was right. If we really thought he was my stalker, he'd be dead. Except he'd be digesting somewhere in a pig's belly, not getting tossed overboard.
"James," Archer growled. "Start talking. Maybe you're not the stalker, but you're sure as fuck not telling us the whole story."
The groundskeeper blew out a long breath, then ruffled his fingers through mid-brown hair. He was a good-looking guy, no question. I could see why my mom had been into him twenty-odd years ago.
"Yeah, I knew Deb," he admitted, but carefully avoided eye contact with me. "We were briefly involved while I was home on leave after my first tour. I met her at Murphy's when I went to see some buddies play."
"Scruffy Murphy's?" Kody asked. "The live music venue over on the south side of town?"
James jerked a nod. "Yep, that's the one. Anyway, Deb was there with some girlfriends for, she told me, her friend's bachelorette night." He grimaced.
"You hooked up," Archer commented, his tone flat and pointed.
"Yeah," James admitted with a sigh. "That night. Then we ended up seeing each other almost every day for the next two weeks."
"So what happened next?" I asked, my voice cracking as I processed this. James didn't strike me as an unbalanced nutcase. He sure as fuck wasn't coming off as a deranged serial killer with an unhealthy obsession with me.
Instead, he just seemed to be a guy reminiscing on a lost love... and that made me sad.
James met my eyes briefly, then looked back down at the photo. "Then... nothing. I was deployed, and by the time I made it back, Deb was married to Samuel. She seemed to have the perfect life here in Shadow Grove, with her filthy-rich husband and adorable little girl." He flashed me a short, bitter smile. "Turns out, that night was Deb's bachelorette party. She married your father the day after my leave ended."
Oh shit.
The conversation we'd had about Samuel not being my real father flickered through my brain, and I shot a startled look at Archer.
He was on the same wavelength, though. He placed his hand on my knee under the table and gave me a reassuring squeeze.
"Why come and work here, James?" Archer asked, instead of the question burning on my tongue.
The groundskeeper shrugged. "Honestly? Fate or something. If you remember, I took the job as your groundskeeper, Arch. Not Samuel's. When he turned up and started his charade as lord of the manor, I just stayed under the radar. Samuel and I never had any bad blood; hell, we’d never even met. But I couldn't bear to face the man who'd held onto Deb for so long."
"Sounds like my mom had some serious issues with remaining faithful," I muttered under my breath. Sure, it wasn't fair considering I was currently in love with three guys, but god damn. First Zane, now James?
James just cocked a brow at me. "Can you blame her? Samuel Danvers is a right piece of shit, girl. I don't think Deb loved him for even a second."
Good point.
Kody tapped his fingers on James’s folder. "If we look into your stationing over the months when Deb was stalked and murdered, will we find an alibi?"
James gave a half smile. "As if you haven't already done that. I'm still breathing, aren't I?"
Kody smirked back. "That you are."
James turned his attention back to me. "I'm sorry I wasn't more upfront about knowing your mom, MK. But she died some time ago, so I simply didn't think it relevant. I can't shed any light on what's happening to you, but I am doing my best to help your boys any way I can."
I pursed my lips, weighing his sincerity. Kody and Archer had filled me in on James before we called this meeting. I knew that he'd spent the better part of the last twenty years in the marines, in some highly classified division. He'd been upfront with the boys when he took the job as groundskeeper, and they'd hired him because they liked the idea of having an extra layer of security in plain sight.
"Okay," I said with a sigh.
James nodded, then frowned. "Except now I'm wondering why your stalker has drawn your attention to my relationship with Deb. It was so brief, barely a couple of weeks. Deb would have—no offense—undoubtedly had other affairs over the years, ones that lasted much longer than mine. So why point the finger at me?"
"Maybe just because you're here, right under our noses? If you hadn't been so forthcoming with your military records and locations of deployment, then maybe that would have caused us to be suspicious of you." Kody seemed to be mostly thinking out loud. "Or he thought we would shoot first and ask questions never."
James hummed a thoughtful sound. "It'd strip one more layer of your defenses away, even if you just fired me and didn't kill me."
"He laid low while Danny and Leon were here, too," Archer commented. "Like he knew we only had them for a short time period and that he was no match for their skill."
"Who were the other guards the mercs flagged as suspicious?" James asked.
Kody flipped a few pages to check. "Grant Silas and Niell Grosmon. Both had doctored their employment history in some way. Sampson released them from employment yesterday and is already interviewing replacements per Leon's list of possible candidates."
"So one of those two could have still been feeding info to my stalker," I murmured, frowning.
James shrugged. "Or they're totally innocent and had something embarrassing to cover up. Did all the other guards check out?"
Kody grunted. "What few were left, yeah. Nothing hinky about any of them. Sampson, Gill, and Dave all trained with Phillip when he ran the camp, then went on to law enforcement or private security. Ryan and Adamson both came from the marines, same as you. All aspects of their files are squeaky clean."
James let out a sigh and scrubbed his hand over his face. "So much for a nice, quiet retirement pruning roses," he muttered with a short laugh. "I knew I should have taken the job for Mrs. Greenborough instead of this mess."