Broadrick jumped in front of me, and I pointed at the box, stepping back with another brief scream.

"What the hell?" Broadrick pushed me into the house, and grabbed the box.

The door shut behind him and Broadrick peered into the white box. He lifted the flap with his gaze on me as I covered my mouth in horror. I'd only seen the contents for a second, but the image of the white dove with red blood splattered across its chest seared into my memory.

Broadrick glanced in the box and then twisted it further in front of him with a grimace. "What the hell is this, Vonnie?"

My eyes widened in astonishment. Like I went around sending myself fucking dead birds. "How would I know?"

"Who sent it?" Broadrick flipped the flap over and scowled at the address label. "There's no return address."

I stepped around his side and tried to grab the box from him. "Let me see it."

He jerked it away from me, the brown packaging tape sticking to his black polo shirt. "You don't want to see this, Von."

I reached again. "Well, obviously, but it's addressed to me and I want to find out what sick fuck sent it."

He twisted the box to the side just enough to read the top flap. "It's just your name without an address. Someone hand delivered this."

I guess that took the heat off the USPS and their shoddy delivery system.

Broadrick flipped the box back, and something fluttered on the edge. "Wait, B. What's that?"

With a disgusted look, Broadrick reached in and pulled out a small business-card-sized piece of paper. He flipped the card over for me to read it.

- Snowbird

"Who the hell is Snowbird?" Broadrick asked, handing me the card.

I took it so he could fold the flaps over and hide the dead bird. "How would I know? I don't hang out with bird killers."

What kind of woman did he take me for?

"You've never heard the name before?" he asked, taking the card from me and putting it on top of the box.

I shook my head. "Never."

He grabbed his phone from his back pocket with a nod. "I'm going to call it in."

"To Anderson?"

His eyes narrowed, and the little area between his brows furrowed. "No," he said with a quick snort.

I didn't think so. Nothing this big went to the police. He'd take the bird right to his boss and owner of the town's private security firm, Ridge Jefferson. Leader of the former SEALs, he'd invaded our small-town years ago and now heavily muscled men walked the streets like they'd been putting something in the water to raise beefy hotties.

"Can you do a scan around Vonnie's new place? We have a suspicious package with a dead bird," Broadrick said into his phone, with no formal hello first.

Ridge had almost the entire town covered by cameras. They'd catch the person who dropped off the bird and we'd finish the mystery.

"Right. I'll be there soon." Broadrick disconnected the call and stared at me.

"What?" I asked when I couldn't take his scrutiny any longer. The empty home was quiet. Too quiet to have the big guy and his bright green eyes staring at me.

He tipped his head to the side. "Are you sure you're not hiding anything? No secret cases? No one you've been spying on who might have caught you?"

I pinched my lips together in anger. "No."

"Vonnie?" he asked with too much question in his voice.

Weren't non-boyfriends supposed to trust you?

I popped out a hip and tossed my hair behind me. "I promise, B. The only case I have right now is the murder at the bed-in-breakfast." And the cat, but Frankie didn't do this.

Solving the case in January gave me great word-of-mouth. In the last two weeks, I'd closed out multiple cheating cases and a missing diamond bracelet, but nothing in the last few days. If the body hadn't turned up at the bed-and-breakfast, I'd have to worry about my next payday.

"Who knows you're moving into Katy's old place?" He rested his hand on my shoulder and I both loved and hated the touch.

I backed away a step to break the contact. We hadn't figured out what we were yet. Broadrick seemed to think we were falling right back into a relationship, but I wasn't ready to let him back into my life. Not after the heartless way he'd kicked me out of his last year.

"I told you. No one. My parents and the bakery girls. I haven't had time to tell anyone else."

Broadrick released a quick breath and rolled his eyes with a headshake. "So the entire town knows by now."

I opened my mouth to argue that we weren't that bad of gossips, but he might have had a point, so I quickly shut it again.

"If it didn't have your name on it, I might believe someone meant it for Katy, but they obviously wanted you to have this gift."

The heat turned on with a blast of air from the vent in the living room and made me shiver even in my coat. "What am I going to do?"

Broadrick rubbed my shoulder. "I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry."

"I'm not worried," I lied.

He brought me close and tucked my head under his chin. "I'll take the bird to Ridge and see if it means anything to him. I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks, B."

"I've got you, babe." He pressed a quick kiss to my temple that I felt all the way to my toes.

Broadrick turned toward the door and the room grew too large. Once he left, I'd be alone. But I couldn't show fear, and I wouldn't let some asshole bird killer scare me from my mission. At least not until we figured out who sent the bird and why.

"I'll let you know if anything weird happens," I said as he stepped outside.

Broadrick turned back with a smile gracing his lips. "Babe, your whole life is weird. Update me on the really freaky stuff."

I chuckled. "Okay."

He had a point. Things often had a way of becoming strange.

"You going to be okay today?" Broadrick asked, acting like he had second thoughts about leaving me.

To be truthful, the snowbird incident had me freaked right the fuck out. I had no idea who could do something as horrible as killing a bird to make a point that no one even understood beyond their sick behavior. But I was Vonnie Vines, and I didn't let stupid things scare me.

I might have been freaking out about it on the inside, but I wouldn't let Broadrick see me worried, so I did my best to act like everything was fine. It wasn't fine right then, but it would be eventually. I'd track down who sent the bird and put them to justice. First, I just had to find my list so I could add find bird killer to it.

I emptied the box of NB's stuff into the bottom of the empty front closet and thought hard about my situation. It was true that I didn't know anyone with a vendetta against morning doves, but doves weren't snowbirds.

A snowbird was someone who spent their winters in Florida. Retired people in Maine had been migrating south for winters since the invention of retirement. We knew that term.

And I just happened to have a Florida couple staying at the bed-and-breakfast at the same time they'd had a murder. Coincidence? I didn't believe in coincidences. Not when it came to murder.

Before heading back out into the cold, I had to check the facts. I circled in the empty living room while calling Katy.

"What up, sis?" she said in answer.

I stopped at the front window and peeked outside to see if someone was trying to sneak up on me now that Broadrick left. "That Florida couple staying at the bed-and-breakfast. Did they have any doves with them?"

There was a pause before she answered. "Um. No. That's a weird question. Why would they have birds?"

"You're sure?" I had to double check. A car drove down the road in front of my new home, but it didn't slow as it went past.

"Yeah, I'd remember if I'd heard any birds chirping. This is weird even for you. What's up?"

I dropped the curtain and stepped away from the window. "I can't go into the details right now."