“Get out of Enchanted Rock, Jessica Long,” groaned the modulated voice into my ear. “Get out before I send you out on my own. Just a matter of time before I lose patience.”

Frozen in a moment of fear, I just slammed my work phone back down into its cradle, my breath coming out in wheezes. The sun was bright, but a sudden coldness gripped my soul, a feeling of someone walking back and forth over my grave.

I jumped, letting out a yelp as a hand gripped my shoulder.

My friend Sheila, who was standing right next to my desk chair, retracted her hand quickly in surprise. “Whoa there, girl. Was it him again? Your stalker?”

I nodded tersely, brushed a long, dark lock of hair from my face. “Yeah. Yeah, it was him.”

Sheila had been helping me out for the last week or so with the books at Curious Turtle, the little art gallery I co-owned and managed in Enchanted Rock. Blake Axelrod, my silent partner, had lately become my eternally silent partner.

He was dead—a heart attack got him. He was in his early fifties, and he'd just keeled over while out hunting one day. By all accounts, the white tail deer were all breathing a sigh of relief. His funeral had been last week, and I still hadn't been able to wrap my head around it.

The last thing I needed was death threats from some loony-tune while I was sorting everything out and trying to forecast where my business was going to be in six months, or if it was even going to be around at all. One more year with slow tourism, and that might be it. Rent was going up, but my profits weren’t.

Axelrod sure had left me a mess with the financials, too—which was where Sheila came into the picture.

Sheila Pearson had been one of my best friends since high school. We'd both been on the cheer squad, which is how we got closer. She'd gotten her master’s degree in accounting from Colorado State, but had never really moved out of town long term. As soon as she finished grad school, she was right back in Enchanted Rock, or the Rock as the locals called it. Her take on it: why would she leave the mountains? Even Denver was too far away from the Rockies for her, and it was over a mile above sea level. Of course, the wider corporate world's loss was certainly my gain. She actually enjoyed doing this accounting stuff, and I hardly understood it.

“Have you talked to the sheriff about it yet?”

“Yeah, of course,” I replied with a shrug and a long, tired sigh as I crossed my arms. “But Sheriff Peak says he can't do anything about them. All the calls have been from disposable cell phones and different numbers each time, as far as he can tell. He can't place a restraining order or threaten someone with charges if he can't find them.”

Sheila screwed up her face, frowning like she'd just bit hard into a lemon.

I drummed my fingers on the arm of the chair. “What about those guys your father hired last year?” I asked. “For those robberies?”

“The security guys?” Sheila asked, cocking her head to the side. “I guess. Maybe. I dunno, really.”

“Think they'd be able to do anything?”

“I don't know. Really think you need some extra help with this?” Sheila asked as she leaned against my desk. “I mean, if the cops can't do anything about it how could they?”

I sighed again in frustration. I didn't think this asshole would really do anything, but having it hang over my head like the sword of Damocles wasn't helping with my sense of wellbeing or my stress levels. “I'm just at wit's end here, then?” I asked more than said, wrinkling my nose. “I don't need a babysitter, Sheila, but I'd like something, anything.”

“I don’t know,” she said after a moment, “I mean, it’d probably just be a waste of your time to go in there. They mainly do corporate stuff, I think.”

“Well, maybe it’d be worth just talking to them?”

“Yeah,” she hesitantly agreed, “You need some peace of mind. The calls are getting more frequent. That's the second one today. I just don't understand why the sheriff isn't doing anything.”

I laughed. “Want him to bug my phone line or something? I don't think they even can. You've seen those old cars they drive around in, girl. They're not exactly Mission Impossible or James Bond over there.”

“Well, maybe they can watch out for you for a little while? Put a cruiser in front of your house or something? A deputy maybe?”

I grinned at her. “Worried about me?”

She smiled a little, but it quickly faded. “Jess, I'm going to be honest. I kind of am. This has been going on for weeks. Way too long.”

I shook my head, a frown forming on my face. “Well, I don't think I need around the clock protection,” I said. “What I need is someone who can find this guy and get him to leave me alone. That's what I want.”

“Well,” Sheila said, going around the desk to sit down in the other chair across from me, “maybe they can? Maybe if they answer the call or something, they'll be able to scare these guys off? I mean, that's kind of what they do right? Secure things? Why would it matter if you’re just a person instead of a business?”

I shrugged and slumped back in my desk chair, tilting my head back. “Yeah, I guess.”

“And if anyone can do it,” Sheila continued, “it's these guys. I met two of them while they were working for Daddy, and they gave off this whole ex-military vibe. They had guns and stuff. Like, kind of scary.”

“Scary?”

Sheila grinned and brushed her short hair from her forehead. “Well, scary, but I don't know—kinda hot, too.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Oh, I see now. Your master plan.”

“Master plan?”

“Act all antsy about me going to them, to avoid suspicion…”

A look of shock came over her face, like I'd just shot her horse or run over her dog.

“…just so I can give these guys some more work and you can have an excuse to have them hanging around again.”

The look immediately faded and she laughed. “Dammit, Jess, that's so not it, and you know it. Shit, maybe I'm worried you'll meet someone and leave my single ass all alone. You thought of that?”

I shook my head, grinning. “Not likely. You know me, I can't get tied down. But have you thought that maybe he'd have a friend? A nice handsome one that you haven't known since you were in diapers?”

“At this point, I'd just be happy as long as he walks on two legs and is housebroken.”

I laughed a sad little laugh that turned into a sigh. It had been a while since I'd dated anyone. It just seemed that most of the guys I met up here were either wealthy assholes just passing through or total hicks I couldn't stand. But I was like Sheila. As much as I loved the oceans, big cities, and the wider world, I knew I'd never be able to drag myself from these mountains, the snow, the trees, the way the air smelled on a winter morning or a summer night.

“Look,” Sheila said after a moment, “I'm really worried about you. If you don't think Peak can help, maybe you should call.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding, “you're probably right. What were these guys called again?”

“Frost Detectives? Something like that, I think. I can get something from Daddy about them. I bet he kept their card in case he had any more problems.”

“Really that good, then?” I asked as I leaned forward and propped myself up on my elbows. “Seriously?”

“Absolutely. Best in the state is what Daddy told me.”

I waved her off and opened my laptop and began to sign in. “I can figure it out. How many Frost security firms could there be in Colorado? And in the Rock, no less?”

A few minutes later Sheila and I were both crowded around my laptop, looking through their website. It was well designed. No flashy ads or videos, just a straight rundown of the services they provided. And, wow, did they provide some services. Surveillance, counter-surveillance, missing persons, physical security, fire investigations. They were like a mini-police force, all fully licensed and bonded by the state of Colorado.

“No bios, huh?” Sheila pouted.

I playfully elbowed her in the side. “Wanted to see if your hotties were still working?” I teased.

“No,” she said with an exaggerated whine. “Well, yeah. Also, I wanted to see what their turnover was like.”

“Makes sense they wouldn't show pictures of the guys,” I replied, “especially if they're doing surveillance.”

“Good point,” Sheila agreed. “You gonna call?”

“Well, they look on the up and up. I guess it can't hurt to talk to them, right?”

“Right,” she said. “Call them and see if you can set up a meeting.”

A few minutes and two rings of the phone later I had their secretary on the line, a nice grandmotherly-sounding sort. “Frost Security, Genevieve speaking. How may I assist you today?”

“Hello, my name is Jessica Long.” I hesitated. “I think I have a stalker problem I may need help with.”

“Well, Ms. Long,” Genevieve replied without missing a beat, “briefly tell me what you can about the situation, and we'll see what kind of help we're able to provide.”

I sighed and smiled, then began to give her a brief sketch of my problem. Five minutes later, I had a meeting scheduled with Peter Frost, the owner of the agency, for later that afternoon.