Mandy put a hand to her forehead. “As much as I hate to admit it, Doug’s right. I should have checked with my neighbors.” She walked off the porch and around the house. Danny followed. He stood in the background, watching, as she knocked on the houses on either side and talked with the homeowners. The house on the left was owned by an elderly couple, the Kanes, who were too old to be a threat to anyone. Nor had they seen anything or anyone skulking around the inn. On the right, a frazzled young woman opened the door. She jiggled a sleepy toddler on one hip. A baby wailed in the background. Her husband was in Florida on business, and she hadn’t slept since he left. There was no way she’d been delivering flowers in the middle of the night. Strike two. The neighbors weren’t stalking Mandy.

They returned to the inn. Mandy stomped across the lawn between the houses. In the backyard, she whirled. “I swear, one of these days if Doug Lang ever calls my brother that…that name again, I’m going to punch him right in the nose.”

“Whoa.” He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder. “You need to calm down. Bill is upset enough already.”

Mandy jerked away. She climbed the steps and sat on the porch swing. “You’re right. Doug is such a jerk.”

Danny sat next to her. “Lang’s a dick. No doubt about it. If it makes you feel better, I wanted to hit him, too. But he would’ve enjoyed arresting me too much.”

Mandy huffed. “You have that right. It would have made his day.”

“You can’t let people like Doug Lang get to you.”

“I hate how he bullies Bill.”

“He bullies everybody he can.” Danny wrapped an arm around her. He pulled her head to his shoulder. She resisted for a minute, then relaxed with a sigh.

Danny’s eyes drifted to the pot of purple blooms. Where else had he seen flowers like that?

“There’s something else I never considered.” Mandy sat up. “You know who was really close to Nathan?”

“Let me guess,” Danny answered. “Lieutenant Doug Lang.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Doug followed Nathan like a loyal dog.”

Why hadn’t Danny thought of it before? Doug was the perfect person to help Nathan. He would have information about the manhunt and would know where to hide.

“It’d be pretty tough to investigate a cop.” Danny rubbed his chin. “Maybe Reed can help us out on this.” As a former policeman, Reed would at least know where to start.

“Good idea,” Mandy said.

“I’ll call him today.” Danny tucked her back onto his shoulder.

“Why do you understand my brother better than I do?”