LITMIR.BIZ

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wasn’t a strong enough word for Deacon’s reaction.

      “Is that blood?” he asked, voice a mile past concerned. Careful not to rumple the letter inside, he took the bag and set it on the counter.

      “It’s made to look like it, but if it’s like the last one it’s synthetic.” His eyes widened.

      “The last one? You mean you’ve gotten one before this?”

      Kate gave one more sigh. She’d hoped to avoid this conversation with her father until after her trip, when she was sure the letters would stop altogether. Sitting on one of the bar stools opposite him, she explained.

      “Over the last few months I’ve received a handful of letters here and at the office,” she admitted. “Only this one and the last one were covered in what looks like human blood, but we tested and confirmed it to be fake. Though, I still wouldn’t touch that without gloves on.” She pulled another set out of her purse and passed them to her father—a man curious enough to want to pull the letter out. Silently he slipped them on and did just that. Kate quickly put down a paper towel so the blood—fake or not—wouldn’t touch the granite.

      “It’s covered front and back with writing,” he observed, squinting at the handwritten letters. It was identical to all of the other notes she’d received. “But it’s only one word, repeated. Zastavit.” He kept saying the word, as if tasting it to figure out its root.

      “I think it’s Czech,” she said after a moment.

      “Are you sure?”

      She shrugged. “No, but I can guarantee it means ‘stop.’”

      His eyebrows rose in question.

      She held up her index finger and made a quick trip to her bedroom. There she picked up a small box and brought it back to her father. Sitting back down, she waited for him to open it and extract the bundle of letters.

      “Only a handful of letters? How many hands are you talking about in this scenario?” The letters numbered eighteen in total. Each had a single word repeated over the paper’s entirety.

      “They are all in different languages, but they all roughly translate to the word stop,” she explained. “Plus, the first one was in English. I suppose to help me out just in case I didn’t understand...or, you know, use a translator or the internet.”

      “Stop...stop what?” Realization lit his features before Kate had time to answer. “Your research.”

      She shrugged. “I suppose so. That’s the only thing I really have going on in my life. Unless they want me to stop drinking coffee. Which, I’ll be frank, isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

      “Dammit, Kate!” Her father slammed his free hand down on the counter, making her jump. “Stop joking about this!” He waved the note closest to him—the Hungarian one—in the air. “These are threats, not some love letters. Someone obviously invested a lot of thought and time into these.”

      “But they aren’t threats, Dad,” she insisted. “They are simply eclectic suggestions. No threat of harm has been given in any of them.”

      “But they’ve been delivered to your home, Kate!”

      “And that’s what I told the cops after the second one I received.”

      He was surprised at that.

      “What did they say?”

      “Exactly what I just said. They aren’t really threats and nothing else has happened. They suggested putting a camera on the front porch, but...” She quieted.

      “But what?”

      “But I’ve been so busy preparing for the convention that I keep forgetting.” Her father seemed to be trying very hard to keep his anger at his daughter’s apparent lack of concern under control. He placed the letters back in the box and the newest one back into its bag. He slid that one over when done.

      “You will test this as soon as possible to make sure it is in fact fake. I am calling in to the store and taking off the rest of the day. Make me that coffee you mentioned.” He picked the box up and walked to the eat-in table. “I’m going to look through all of these in silence while I try to figure out what I did to deserve such a stressful child.”

      * * *

      KATE PINCHED THE bridge of her nose and hoped the pain behind her dark brown eyes was a tease and not the beginnings of a headache. Sprawled out on her bed, amid her suitcase and carry-on, she called upon every entity there was and begged that the headache would stay far, far away.

      She didn’t need any more complications than she was already dealing with.

      “Having a bodyguard is not that big a deal,” her father said from the doorway. Since learning about the notes a week ago, she’d had constant supervision and parental advice. “Stop being such a baby!”

      Kate, often referred to as brilliant by her supervisor, stuck out her tongue before responding.

      “I’m not being a baby,” she retorted, trying to keep the whine from her voice. “I think I’m reacting normally given the circumstances.”

      “Most daughters would be grateful, you know.”

      She laughed.

      “Most daughters don’t have their fathers go behind their backs and hire bodyguards to supervise their trips to life-changing work functions!”

      He managed to look momentarily guilty before shooting back with a response. “Well, most daughters don’t—” He held up his hand, stopping himself. “Listen, we can sit here and fight about this all day while you lie next to your empty luggage, or you can just take the gesture with graciousness and understand that I only have one baby girl and that’s you.” His voice took on an edge that Kate recognized as vulnerability from the almost always strong man. It killed the less-than-nice reply she’d had waiting on the tip of her tongue. He walked over and took a seat next to her. She sat up to look him in the eyes.

      “It’s because of that fact that I can say this without getting into trouble,” he started. Kate swallowed, unsure whether or not she was about to get into more trouble. However, when he continued, his voice was kind. “You’ve spent most of your life fighting to help people you’ll never meet by doing research and working tirelessly in labs. Along the way you’ve achieved a level of greatness I never could have, and for that I’ll be forever proud... But your drive—your dedication—often puts blinders up, making it hard for you to see the big picture. While your research is important, you are, too. You’ve tried to keep your work a secret, but what have I told you about secrets?”

      “They don’t exist.”

      He smiled.

      “Someone will always tell someone else. It’s the law of the land. And one that your mother tried to teach us. Someone obviously knows something, and whether or not it’s the truth or some half-baked version of it, they have set their sights on you. Now, you’ve told me this convention will change everything. Well, I want to make sure you’re there to see that through and continue to see it through long after it’s over. Because even though you won’t see the big picture—and its danger—I’ll tell you right now that it’s there.” He patted her knee. “So, please, accept this protection, if only to give your old man some peace of mind.”

      Kate watched as a range of emotions played across her father’s face. It reminded her of all the sacrifices he’d had to make to raise her on his own since she was nine. Never once asking anything of her.

      Until now.

      “Because I love you and can see your point, I’ll make a deal with you,” she offered. “I will humor you by accepting the protection of only one bodyguard. Any more than that will bring unwanted attention and, well, freak me out a little. So one and that’s it, okay?”

      He looked like he was ready to fight her again, but after a moment

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