Chapter 43
I dropped the kids off at Hal and Maggie’s place for a day on the farm. Both kids were nearly salivating at the chance of doing farm chores and playing on all the fun machinery Hal collected instead of going to school for a second day.
They were less impressed with me when I told them Frankie was sleeping, so they’d have to call her later at some point. I was going to have to get more creative with reasons why they couldn’t speak to her if this went on for any longer.
They were like bloodhounds and knew I was stretching the truth.
Plus, I hated lying to them.
But for the moment, they were safe, laughing, blissfully unaware of the turmoil coursing through the family at the moment. Which was exactly how I planned to keep them.
Now I needed to see to my own selfish needs, the desperation clawing inside of me to be near Frankie again. I needed to hold her, and care for her, and remind her how fucking much we loved her.
As soon as I pulled into Lucy’s driveway though, my skin prickled with trepidation as I parked behind a police cruiser that had pulled in right before me.
Chief Weller stepped out, hat tucked under his arm, with a grim look on his face that meant bad news, or worse truths.
“Morning, Elliot,” He said low, “I’m here to see Frankie, you coming in?”
My gut tightened, but I nodded. There was no way in hell he was going in without me.
Travis must have seen the cruiser pull in, because he met us at the door, an impenetrable force of protection standing between Frankie and the world, ready to hold the line, no matter the cost.
I nodded to him and moved around him to where Frankie stood in the living room, wringing her hands together, swallowed up in Trav’s sweater and with worry etched into every line of her tired face.
“Take a deep breath, Black Cat.” I murmured, kissing her temple and pulling her against my side as Lucy welcomed the chief in.
I didn’t miss the respect in the chief’s eyes as he greeted Trav and came in behind me. Trav joined us, taking Frankie’s other side, unified and steady.
“Ms. Blake,” Weller said gently, “I need to ask you some more questions about the alleged break-ins.”
Her throat worked, but she nodded. “Okay,”
I pulled her back to the couch and the three of us sat down, instantly, Travis and I both put our hands on her, his arm over her shoulders, my palm flat on her leg, and she curled into both of us even as she bravely faced the man in front of her.
Chief Weller opened a slim file, flipped to a page, and my stomach churned from all the different vile things we’d heard read off papers identical to that one the last few days.
“In the DCFS report, there’s an allegation that you leave,” He cleared his throat and looked at me briefly then back to her, “adult items out in the open. Around your kids.”
“Adult items?” Trav snapped.
“Toys.” Weller clarified, and I could feel Frankie stiffen in my arms.
“That’s a lie.” She replied.
“I believe you,” He said quickly, holding his hand up as Trav leaned forward in outrage.
“But here’s what doesn’t sit right with me.
The report is specific. I’ll save you the absurdity of the terms used by the source, but it references something being left on your nightstand.
” His eyes narrowed. “Yet in your interview, you told me you haven’t seen the father of your kids in years.
So tell me, Frankie—how the hell would he know about something sitting on your nightstand? ”
Her breath stuttered, tears flooding her eyes, “Because he—he put it there.”
Travis’s hand shot to hers, steady and grounding as he barked, “You knew he was in there?”
Her voice broke as she stared forward at the Chief, “He took it from my closet and left it on the nightstand. He—touched it. Violated it. And he left it for me to find. To mess with me.”
My fists clenched so tight I thought my bones would snap. Rage burned through me like fire, but the chief’s eyes only hardened.
“When was this, Frankie?”
She swallowed and took a deep breath, and I hated how it made her shoulders shake.
“A little over a month ago,” She cleared her throat, “The day that my brakes were cut.” She turned to look up at me with watery eyes, pleading with me.
“I forgot at first after the crash. And then—” She shook her head slightly, “I didn’t want to believe that he was back, and I buried it.
I’m sorry. I should have told you. I should have told you both, but I was so scared. ”
“Shh,” I leaned forward, pressing my lips to her temple, sending a very pointed and crystal-clear message to Travis on her other side, where his anger was radiating so powerfully she was bound to think it was at her. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not.” She crumbled a little more. “If I had told you guys that he—you would have made me go to the police way back then. And maybe we could have stopped him before it got to this point. Before I was the guilty one!”
“Ms. Blake,” Chief Weller interrupted her, “I believe you. But that means that Danny has been inside your home. And if he’s been inside once, odds are he’s been there more than you realize.”
Travis turned to the man, eyebrows pinched in anger, “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” Weller replied, taking a deep breath, “I want to walk through your old rental next door. Yesterday, Ms. Blake, you said you still have belongings there, that you haven’t moved out completely yet.
You said there was still furniture and other things there.
I believe that if he was bold enough to leave his DNA evidence on something, he may have been bold enough to leave more than just that behind. ”
We didn’t waste any time, moving as one, all of us walked down the driveway to the rental next door that we hadn’t made the time to clean out yet.
When we moved in together over a month ago, we packed clothes and the kids' special toys but left everything else.
We had three households worth of furniture, and nothing Frankie had in the rental was anything she wanted to bring with her.
The cabin was a fresh start for all of us.
Our black cat trembled the whole way over to the house, sandwiched between us. No matter how tight I held her, or how reassuring Travis was with his words and affirmations, she couldn’t stop shaking.
The moment we stepped through the front door of the rental we had fixed up for her, I could tell he had been there after all. It didn’t feel warm and inviting like it had when she lived there with the kids, the air now felt wrong.
Cold.
Violated.
We stood off to the side, watching the Sheriff walk around and look at things as if he was looking for something. But none of us had any clue what he was hunting for.
Until he found it.
Under the television.
A small pinhole camera, tucked under the light bar for the screen, pointed right at the couch. Then another one in Frankie’s bedroom aimed directly at her bed.
Frankie crumpled, hand over her mouth as she realized how violated she had been. Trav caught her before she hit the ground, but the damage was done.
Weller cursed under her breath, ripping them both free and shoving them in an evidence bag. “Jesus, Frankie, he’s been watching you. For God knows how long.”
The bile rose hot in my throat, but underneath it, something else stirred. Something that felt like hope. It wasn’t just Frankie’s word against Danny’s anymore. There was the proof she needed to confirm everything we’d been screaming into the void.
“Now what?” I barked as I mentally replayed every single conversation, every touch, every moment of passion that we shared in the fucking house, angry that we ever exposed Frankie to them under the watchful, sadistic eye of her ex.
As Weller snapped the bag shut and handed it off to an evidence tech as we all watched.
Behind the weathered and professional mask he wore as he did his job, I could see the anger on the man’s face.
I respected him as Sheriff and worked several cases with him during my time in the fire department.
And I hoped that this would help me regain some of the respect I lost in him, watching him stand by as someone destroyed the woman I loved.
“This isn’t just harassment anymore,” He said, “This is stalking. This is criminal. This is dangerous.” He glanced at Frankie, his voice softening but firm. “And it’s enough to open doors that your claims against him alone couldn’t.”
Frankie clutched Travis’s sleeve, her eyes glassy and hollow, “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Weller said, “I’ll be updating DCFS with this evidence. They need to know you’re not the problem—you’re the victim of a predator. It changes everything.”
Frankie’s breath hitched, a sob choking her throat, but she pressed her lips together to smother it before asking the question we all wanted to. “Does this mean I get my kids back?”
The chief shifted, squaring his shoulders, “By the end of the night, you’ll all be under the same roof.
I just need some time to get the paperwork squared away.
” He said, and Frankie sagged into us with relief.
“I’m also calling Danny in for questioning.
We’ll get him in a room, put pressure on him, see how his story holds up against the cameras we found.
If he’s stupid, he’ll slip. If he’s careful, we’ll keep tightening the noose until he cracks. ”
Travis’s voice rumbled low beside me. “And in the meantime?”
Weller turned back, his gaze steady. “In the meantime, you live your life. You go to work. You keep your head high and let the people who know you see that you’re not hiding.
That’s the best thing you can do—for yourself and for your case.
The news will break soon enough that you’re the victim in all of this. ”
Frankie’s head shook, “But he’s out there. He’s watching me.”
The chief’s jaw flexed, “Not for long, Elliot was right last night when he said people don’t come into my town and fuck with my people,” Then his tone gentled, “We’ll increase patrols near the rink and by the cabin.
You’re not alone in this anymore. I’ll get to the bottom of it, Frankie. I promise you that.”
She clutched my hand with her trembling one, holding on like I was a lifeline as Travis kissed her temple, tucking her into his side, the three of us locked together with fresh hope burning inside of us.