27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
This too shall pass. It might pass like a kidney stone, but it’ll pass.
Still shaken, even hours later, Magnolia slid into the damaged SUV as she and Ezra left the police station behind.
A CCTV camera had caught Perry escaping the scene so at least they knew it was him for sure. Which only made her feel nominally better because the psycho was still out there.
“You’re not going to the office anytime soon,” Ezra said, his words tight.
She was surprised he’d wanted to keep the SUV but he said it was still drivable and that the company would take care of it. “I know.” Sighing, she let her head fall back. It got dark earlier here and they’d been at the police station for hours.
Dusk was settling in on another insane day.
“You’re not going to argue with me?” He shot her a surprised look before pulling out of the parking garage.
She was impressed he’d managed to even park the beast in one of the spots. “A lunatic tried to shove us into traffic. Anything that I need to handle can be done via phone or Zoom. I’m not putting myself, or you or anyone else in danger again. I just wish they’d catch him.”
“Berlin’s currently looking for him. She roped in a friend of hers to help as well. ”
“He already ditched that truck,” she muttered. So she wasn’t sure what Berlin could do.
The cops had told them the truck had been ditched less than a mile from their attack. He’d left it in a grocery store parking lot, then from the CCTVs they’d found, he’d headed out on foot, disappearing into a shopping center.
“Have faith, she’s good at what she does.”
Magnolia just sighed. She didn’t trust her voice not to break, so instead of calling, she texted Lucas. Have you eaten dinner?
Yep, grabbed some leftovers. I’m crashing early tonight.
She glanced at the time, surprised. But maybe she shouldn’t be because she was ready to crash too. He’d been through a lot of emotional turmoil too, and not just having to move to a safe house. His whole world had been turned upside down. Okay, we’ll be home soon. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you.
Love you too.
“Lucas is safe at least,” she muttered, more to herself than Ezra.
But he reached over, squeezed her hand. “You are too. Perry won’t be able to hide much longer, not after the shit show from today. That was stupid on his part, which means he’s getting desperate.”
“I just heard back from Perry’s ex-wife. He sent her a slew of wild texts. She thinks he’s either drunk or high. She’s currently safe in her hotel room and security is aware of the situation so they’re extra vigilant.”
“The cops are sitting on the hotel too. He won’t get anywhere near her,” Ezra said reassuringly.
“I know. I’m just ready for this to be over.” How many times had she said that or thought that over the last few days? “I keep thinking if I’d handled things differently—”
“Nope.” Ezra shook his head as he pulled onto another crowded street, maneuvering past two arguing bicyclists and a Santa Claus with a beer in his hand. “You don’t get to take that on. You handled everything the right way. This guy is violent and angry and there’s nothing you could have done to magically change that. Do you think if his ex-wife had done things differently, he’d have not been violent with her?”
“Of course not, Mr. Logic. I was just feeling sorry for myself and stewing.”
“You can stew, but don’t take on any guilt. I know we’ve got leftovers at the safe house, but do you want to order anything different?”
“Maybe I can cook. I’m tired of leftovers.”
He nodded as he glanced in the rearview mirror, shifted lanes.
“Are we being followed?”
“Only by Scarlett.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah, I asked her to tail us when we left the police station.” He glanced down at the incoming text on the SUV’s dashboard. “She says we’re good. No one attempted to follow.”
At least that was something.
***
“Adalyn’s going to be so mad she missed this.” Berlin sat at the island top, the only other one with them, and dug into her plate. “I didn’t even know pesto lasagna rolls were a thing.”
Adalyn and Rowan had gone home with Gumbo, and Tiago and Fleur were back at her place so it was just Berlin, Magnolia, and Ezra. And Lucas, who was still up in his room.
“They’re Lucas’s favorite.” Part of the reason she’d made them. And also they were incredibly easy compared to regular lasagna. “And I can teach you how to make it,” Magnolia said as she sat next to Berlin, picked up her glass of white wine.
“Or you can just marry me,” Berlin said around a mouthful of food.
Ezra knocked into her once before sitting on the other side of Magnolia. “Shut it, B.”
“Yeah, yeah.” But she sighed happily as she continued eating.
Magnolia turned to Ezra, still reeling from the day, but glad it was a smaller group tonight. She just wished Lucas hadn’t gone to bed so early. At least she hadn’t had to tell him about what had happened earlier.
“How’s your mom doing?” Ezra asked in that deep whiskey voice that reverberated to her core.
“Good enough. Still mad at my dad, still making him sleep in the pool house. She’s busy this time of year with her friends and different groups so I think that’s helping, but…” She shrugged. “Still trying to figure out what Christmas is going to look like. You know, if we can even go home by then.”
“You’ll be able to, I’ll make sure of it.” There was a promise in his voice she took to heart.
“So…if you want to come over for Christmas—like I said, if we can even have it—we’d love to have you. We do a big lunch with friends and family. There might even be flag football in the backyard.”
“Ah…” Ezra got this weird look in his eyes.
And it was like a punch to the gut. “Oh, no worries if you can’t. No pressure,” she added, feeling her face heat up. Clearly they weren’t on the same page. “I’m sure you have plans with everyone already but I just wanted to throw it out there. Lucas would love to have you over.”
“Is that invite for everyone? Also, will you be cooking this?” Berlin asked, thankfully giving Magnolia a reason to look away from Ezra (and not die of embarrassment from his oh so clear rejection).
Magnolia shoulder-bumped the other woman. “You’re definitely invited and I’ll cook for you anytime you want. You’ve done so much for Lucas and me, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you.”
“I take payments in pasta.” Berlin grinned again before polishing off her food. “And I’m about to go for seconds.”
Magnolia smiled even around the lump in her throat. Ezra had made it clear that he didn’t want anything more than friendship but now she wondered about even that. The man was hot and cold and she couldn’t exactly push him about things.
Well, she could, but they were stuck under this roof until further notice and she wasn’t going to stir things up with nowhere else to go. Sure, she could get a hotel room for her and Lucas, but she also didn’t want to uproot him again.
“That’s weird.” Leaning against the countertop by the stove, Berlin glanced down at her phone, then looked up. “Ezra, did you open any of the windows…ah crap.” She hurried from the kitchen without further explanation.
Ezra moved quickly after her, and since she wasn’t hungry anymore, Magnolia did the same even as a sinking sensation settled inside her. It grew as she realized they were headed to Lucas’s room on the second floor.
She sucked in a breath when she saw his bed was empty. Oh, he’d tucked a couple pillows underneath the covers, but he was gone. And…she didn’t see his cell phone anywhere either.
“Did someone break in here?” Feeling panicked, she whipped out her phone, ready to call Lucas.
But Berlin stopped her. “I’m pretty sure that little shit snuck out. No offense,” she added.
“None taken.” She’d rather he’d left of his own accord than… Oh god, she couldn’t even go there. “What happened?”
Berlin didn’t look up from her phone as she spoke. “When I was working on tracking Perry’s face through different systems, I think Lucas must have disabled one of the window sensors. Because the activity log is showing that the window in his room,” she jerked a thumb behind her, “was opened right after he came up here and said he was crashing. No wonder he was asking me about the placement of all the security cameras.” She groaned. “I’m so dumb.”
Magnolia pulled up the location app she shared with Lucas and frowned. “He must have turned off his location.” Even as she said it, a burst of panic exploded inside her. Taking someone the size of a grown man would be difficult, but what if…
“I’ve got his location,” Ezra said right as Berlin said something similar.
Oh right, they’d added a tracker to both their phones.
Ezra was already moving toward the door. “I’ve got this, Magnolia. Stay here with Berlin. I need to know you’re safe. ”
She wanted to argue with him—hell, storm out with him—but he was right. “Okay. Just call me as soon as you find him.”
She hoped Lucas had simply done something stupid like gone to meet his girlfriend. Not…
No, she couldn’t go there. Because something happening to him was unthinkable.