Chapter 24
“She stepped out for a few minutes.”
Ethan’s pulse zipped. He’d arrived at the library and gone straight inside to find Paisley, but Megan was telling him that Paisley wasn’t there.
She also wasn’t answering her texts. Dread swirled in his gut but he forced it down.
It was a bright, sunny day out. If Trey was in Sutton’s Creek, and that was a big if, he wasn’t going to grab Paisley in the middle of the day. He’d wait until dark to act.
Darkness was a special operator’s friend. They could operate during the day, and did so when necessary, but night was preferable.
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No. She just said she needed to run out but she’d be back.”
Frustration hammered him. Why wasn’t she answering her phone? “Any idea which direction she went?”
“No, I’m sorry. Is everything okay?” Megan’s eyes widened suddenly. “Did something happen to Violet?”
“No, nothing like that. Violet’s fine.” He’d driven past the Park house without stopping. They didn’t know him, and he wasn’t going to scare Mrs. Park by knocking on her door, but he’d seen the girls in the backyard. They’d been playing on a swing set and yelling happily.
It wasn’t lost on him that Trey would also be able to see them if he knew where to look. But, again, he was unlikely to act during the day with witnesses who could identify him to law enforcement. If Trey wanted revenge, he’d do it silently and secretly.
Ethan thanked Megan and went outside to think it through.
Paisley’s car was in the parking lot, which meant she’d gone on foot.
Wherever she’d gone, it had to be close.
Maybe she wanted a coffee. He started in the direction of the town square because he couldn’t stand around and do nothing.
He’d look around there first. If he didn’t see her, he’d swing back to the library and hope she’d returned.
He punched the screen to call her and lifted the phone to his ear. It rang four times. He was just about to end the call when her voice came across the line.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Relief coursed through his veins. “Hey, babe. Where are you?”
She seemed to hesitate before she answered. “I had to run out for a few minutes. I’m just seeing your texts. Sorry I missed them. I’m on my way back to the library. I had to do something.”
He wanted to ask what, but didn’t. This thing with them was fragile and new and he wasn’t going to make demands. Unless it was about her safety. That was an area in which he planned to make demands.
“I’m at the library. Need to talk to you. Which direction are you coming from? I’ll meet you.”
“The square. Is everything okay? Did something happen?”
“Stay on the line and I’ll tell you in a minute.
” He covered ground quick, finally seeing her as she crossed the street from the park.
She looked worried as he approached. He tucked his phone away and she slid hers into her bag.
A moment later, they were standing in front of each other, and Ethan was so fucking grateful he wanted to drop to his knees and thank the Lord.
“What’s happened?” She looked fearful. “I’m going to assume Violet is okay since Mrs. Park hasn’t called me—and since you don’t seem panicked.”
“Violet’s fine. I drove by there and she was playing in the back yard. I’d like you to call Mrs. Park, though. Make sure everything’s good.”
“You’re scaring me.”
He huffed a breath. “Trey didn’t go overseas as planned. We lost track of him in Charlotte. Doesn’t mean he’s here, but since you had a trespasser last night that we haven’t yet identified, I think caution is wise.”
Paisley stepped closer to him and darted a glance around the area as if expecting a sniper to fire at any second. “He could be watching us now.”
“He could be. But he’s not going to act in daylight. Too many potential witnesses.” He looped an arm around her shoulders, dragged her in close. “Let’s get back to the library. Call Mrs. Park.”
“I should go pick her up.” She looked at her watch. “I can leave early. It’s only an hour, and Megan and Debbie can cover it. Fern was gone at three, but it’s Tuesday and we aren’t too busy.” She glanced up at him. “Do we need to find somewhere else to stay for a while?”
“I’ll be with you, Payz. And we’ve got surveillance. You can stay in your house.”
“Okay, that’s good. Violet’s had so many upheavals lately. If I drag her somewhere else, well, it’ll just be another one. I’m not unwilling, but if I don’t have to, I’d rather not.”
“I don’t think you have to. I’ll tell you when I think it’s necessary, okay?”
She nodded. “I trust you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad for that. By the way, your anonymous text was Fern. She has a burner phone.”
“Wow. How sick do you have to be to send texts like that to people? She doesn’t know my history, but that doesn’t give her a pass.”
“No, it really doesn’t. You could probably take it to the police. Or the library board.”
She was silent as they made their way down the street. “I’ll think about it.”
They made it to the library and she went to tell Megan and Debbie she needed to leave for the day. They assured her they had it covered. The library was open until seven and they had another volunteer coming in at five to run that evening’s book discussion about fantasy novels.
Ethan followed Paisley to her office where she shut things down and gathered up her tote bag. She called Mrs. Park while she put books in the tote.
“Hello, Mrs. Park. Yes, it’s Paisley Allen. I wanted to pick up Violet in a few minutes if that’s convenient. Okay, yes, thank you. See you soon.”
“Sounds like everything’s normal,” she said when the call ended. “I’m not panicking because there’s no reason yet. And I have you and your friends to watch over us.”
“You do.”
She nibbled her lip. “Emma and Blaze were going to take Violet tonight for a couple of hours so you and I could spend time together and talk. They were going to Rory and Chance’s so she could see the animals. I should call Emma and cancel.”
Surprise stopped him in his tracks. “You arranged for us to be alone?”
She faced him. “Yes. I-I wanted to talk about things. Without worrying that she could hear us or that she might need me when we were discussing something important.”
He didn’t know what that could be since they’d already talked about a lot of things, but he knew Paisley probably had more to say about her time with Trey. He wasn’t going to discourage her if it helped her feel better. Even though it was hard to hear it.
“I don’t think you need to cancel. She’ll be with Chance and Blaze, and they already know Trey isn’t in Charlotte. She’ll be safe with two soldiers to guard her. Unless you’d feel better having her near you.”
“I need to think about that,” she said. “On the other hand, I don’t want to stop living our lives just because Trey didn’t stick to his own itinerary. He could be coming for us, but he might simply be adapting to the client’s needs for the job.”
All of that was true, and he didn’t want to tell her to barricade herself inside her home and never come out.
He’d be there to protect her and Violet.
No way was he letting some fucking loser who’d gotten kicked out of the best special ops group on the planet beat him at his own profession.
Trey might be willing to play dirty, but so was Ethan.
When it involved this woman and her child, Ethan would do whatever it took to keep them safe.
“I’ll follow you to the Parks’ house,” he said, pushing aside thoughts of fighting dirty.
Paisley sucked in a breath and let it out with a smile that shook at the corners.
“I don’t know what we’d do without you. If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t know there’d been anyone in my yard last night.
I wouldn’t know where Trey was, though I’d be scared he was just out of sight, watching me.
Until you showed up and made me get a security system, that’s what I did.
I looked over my shoulder and prayed. This is better, even if I’m scared right now, so thank you. ”
He tipped her chin up and pressed his mouth to hers. He wanted to linger, but now wasn’t the time. He lifted his head, watched her lashes flutter upward to reveal pretty blue eyes.
“You’re welcome, Payz. Let’s go and get your little girl.”