Chapter Six #2
Callum eyed the two dogs and then Sherlock. “For discussion’s sake, let’s agree that you’re safe here for the time being. The bigger problem is that you’re hiding and that, in theory, Dominic knows your location.”
“I’m always going to hide from Dominic. That’s par for the course. I’ve accepted it. Now that he’s out of prison, I have to stay clear of him even more.”
“That doesn’t work for me, Grace. It wouldn’t work for your family if they truly knew what was going on.”
“What do you mean? They’ve known. I explained the risks of staying alive on my own and existing in witness protection where he could find me.”
He held out a hand as though she had presented his case for him. “Do you even hear yourself?”
“I’ve got it handled.”
“Bullshit. Hell, half the time you can’t even look me in the eye.”
“Maybe you should leave, Cal. There’s not much for you to do here.”
“I can’t leave you like this. I won’t.”
“Sure, you can.”
“Then I won’t for Hayden, who hired me to assess, locate, and if needed, protect you. The first two objectives are met. Done. Finished. But we’re not anywhere near the third. There is so much mess to clean up—”
“I didn’t make a mess that needs cleaning up. This is my life!”
“You need help.”
“Alicia helps. I have friends like Alicia. Places I can go. I’ve built a system to protect myself.”
“He found you at the grocery store. He’ll find you again. I found you, and if you seriously think Dominic wants to collect you as if you’re some ornamental belonging of his, then this is a problem that needs a long-term solution.”
She twisted the black tourmaline stones on her bracelet.
“He’s not wrong,” Alicia said quietly.
Grace turned to her friend, surprised by the sharp feeling of disloyalty. Alicia would never mean to hurt her, and she would never betray Grace’s confidence, but the idea of her siding with Callum hurt.
Alicia shrugged. “Well, he’s not.”
Callum was nothing like Dominic and would never harm her, but as big and tough as he was, he didn’t look like a safe harbor. He looked like the red flags that she had missed when she first fell for Dominic.
Safe harbor didn’t exist. It was mythical.
Which was why she was always on the run.
He shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “Let me help you figure everything out. You don’t have to hide.”
Grace picked up her iced tea. The ice cubes clinked against the glass.
There was no reason to be mistrustful of Callum, and she’d spent so many years wanting so much from him.
His time. His attention. Him to see her as anything other than Hayden’s little sister.
Now he was offering her his complete attention, and she was terrified.
Both dogs tilted their heads. A delivery truck rumbled to a stop in front of Alicia’s house. Alicia moved to the window. Callum joined her. They peered through the gauzy white linen curtains.
Grace’s stomach turned.
“It’s the FedEx lady,” Alicia said. “It’s fine.”
Argos and Toto sat on their haunches. Their heads turned toward the front door, and they barked after the doorbell rang.
“Expecting a delivery?” Callum asked.
“No.” Alicia pursed her lips, as though questioning the trust she’d put into Grace’s hiding skills.
“But I smash a preorder link on paperbacks like some people drink wine. Then there are review copies, book merch. I enter a lot of giveaways. It’s a constant stream, and unless it’s for work, I don’t track book release dates.
They arrive when they arrive and make my day. ”
Alicia was talking too much. Grace could hear her nerves. The dread curling in Grace’s stomach multiplied even as the delivery truck revved to life again and pulled away. There had to be a hundred reasons—a hundred books—why a delivery had arrived, but the timing didn’t help her feel safe.
Callum removed a gun from the small of his back, where it had been secretly tucked.
Alicia put her hands on her hips. “Oh, no, sir. We don’t do that in my house. No guns. No way.”
“Callum. Wait.” Anxiety spiked in Grace’s veins. “It’s nothing. Put that away.”
He stalked through the living room. “Stay put.”
“Telling me to stay put in my house.” Indignant, Alicia recoiled but didn’t move.
Neither did Grace. Adrenaline coated the back of her tongue. She needed to apologize to Alicia for bringing problems into her precious home.
Callum glanced over his shoulder to make sure they hadn’t moved.
The deep seriousness in his eyes drained Grace’s last remaining nerves. She and Alicia stepped closer together as he checked the door. Their elbows touched. Alicia grabbed Grace’s hand. “Everything is fine. He’s doing what he knows how to do.”
Callum disappeared toward the front of the house. Shouldn’t he call out something? The coast is clear? False alarm? Her heart hammered.
“Come on.” Alicia tugged them back to the couch. “It’s nothing.”
Argos and Toto repositioned to bookend them.
“I’m sorry I brought this into your home.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Alicia squeezed Grace’s hand. “There is nothing to be sorry about. Let the big guy with the gun check things out, and all will be fine. It’s probably not even a fun delivery of books. More like a tax return or something.”
“You’re such a shitty liar.”
Sherlock sailed onto the couch and exercised his paws on a throw pillow that once upon a time had an embroidered profile of Sherlock Holmes.
Callum returned with a standard delivery box in hand.
Thank God the gun was nowhere to be seen.
She couldn’t believe he had a weapon hidden on him.
He’d been expecting that level of danger—or maybe he had a gun on him all the time.
Was that comforting or terrifying? The Army had trained him to fire everything from handguns to tanks, but seeing it was something else.
“Who’s it from?” Alicia asked.
“A P.O. Box.” He snapped a photo of the address and tracking information, flipped the box around, inspected every side, then typed a message on his phone. The whoosh of a sent text message sounded before he looked up.
“That’s awfully bold of you to text someone a photo of my delivery,” Alicia said, but her voice wavered.
His lips pressed into a flat line. He assessed them like a general might inspect his troops, and judging by his deepening frown, he wasn’t incredibly pleased. “It wasn’t addressed to you. Maybe you should let me do my job.”
An uncontrolled wave of nausea rolled from Grace’s stomach into her throat. “Me?”
Callum didn’t answer.
That was all the confirmation she needed. “Oh, God.”
Part of her hadn’t believed Dominic could ever find her here. Callum had found her, though. If Callum could, Dominic could. He had more resources and money than she could imagine. Even after their divorce, she was certain that he’d ratholed gobs and gobs of crypto and money in offshore accounts.
Callum gave the box a little shake. Grace perched on the edge of the couch and listened for the contents. Nothing.
His phone dinged, and after reading the text, he stared at the box as though he were finally appreciating that Dominic Marino had unexpected resources. “The tracking information was legit, and the return address is the post office next to the Shop ’n’ Save that you ran out on.”
She wanted to vomit. “Everything’s a game with him.”
Alicia laid a hand on Grace’s back, rubbed it like a mother soothing a sick child, and asked Callum, “Well, are you going to open it?”
His index finger tapped on the box. Callum laid it on a chicly distressed accent table next to the tray of iced tea and removed a knife from his pocket. “Guess so.”
“Wait.” Alicia’s hand froze. “What if it explodes?”
“Too lightweight. The box sounds empty.”
“That doesn’t sound like a professional opinion.” Alicia scootched back. “What if it’s anthrax?”
Callum raised an eyebrow. His gaze narrowed on Alicia and bounced between the women. “If you two are legitimately worried about bombs and anthrax, it’s time to cut the charade and have more than a cat-and-dog menagerie to protect you.”
Grace’s lungs didn’t take in enough air. A lightheaded dizziness made the room tilt, and she couldn’t tear her eyes from that stupid box. “He doesn’t want to kill me. He wants to own me.”
“Well, fuck that.” Callum sliced the blade through the cardboard and tapped out the contents onto the coffee table. A folded piece of paper fluttered out. It didn’t take him long to read. He looked over.
Her gaze locked on the paper. “What does it say?”
“Until death do us part.”