Chapter 26
Amelia woke, and confusion filled her for a second. She heard someone speaking in another room. Then she remembered Avery was home. Childish laughter erupted, and that made her smile. Avery and Lainey were in the kitchen together.
She checked the time, seeing it was almost seven-thirty. She sat up, panic hitting because Lainey had to be at the bus stop in less than thirty minutes.
She poked her head out the door, seeing Lainey dressed and sitting at the table, kicking her feet. She spied Amelia and flashed a wide smile.
“Mommy, Apple knows how to make good eggs.”
“Oh really?” she asked as she stepped deeper into the kitchen.
“Yes. His eggs are better than yours.”
“That’s good.”
“He made toast, too. And he’s going to take me to the bus stop.”
“Awesome. Let me get some shorts on, and I'll go with you.”
She shut the door and smiled to herself as she got ready to head to the bus stop with them.
Most days, Avery would already be at work, but because he'd just come home the night before, he wasn't headed to base today.
She liked this part of his job. Spending the day with him would be fun.
She was sure he had things to do, just like she had some stuff to take care of.
She had some paperwork she had to fill out and class material she had to go through. It wouldn’t take her long, and then they could spend the rest of the time hanging out.
They headed out, Lainey holding onto Avery’s hand. They were cute together. Seeing him be so nice to Lainey made her heart squeeze.
Avery glanced up, his eyes sparkling as he met her gaze. It was obvious he loved her daughter—their daughter. For the first time in a long while, she felt a sense of hope for her future.
The bus wasn’t there yet, but the other kids with their parents were waiting. They weren’t late, but they weren’t early.
She heard the brakes of the bus squeal and knew they were about a minute away. She squatted next to Lainey and pulled her close for a hug. “Be smart today.”
“I will.”
Avery hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “I want to hear all about your day when you get home.”
Lainey nodded. “So you’ll be home when I get there?”
“Yes. I will be home, maybe not exactly when you get out of school, but I will be home tonight.”
Lainey held onto his face and looked him in the eyes. “Be good.” With that, she turned and left, skipping her way to the bus.
Avery stood, shaking his head. “She’s funny.”
Amelia laughed. “She is.”
He took Amelia’s hand and led her back toward his house. She smiled to herself at the simplicity of walking down the street with Avery. She liked holding his hand as they strolled in the early morning sun.
It was like there were no worries in the world. They’d almost made it back to the house when she remembered the note she’d been sent. A chill slid down her spine.
“Everything okay?”
“Um, yeah, I think so.”
“That doesn’t sound like you believe what you’re saying.”
She let go a heavy sigh. “So I received an email.”
His eyebrows raised. “What kind of email?”
“Someone sent a photo. Said they would show it to you if I didn’t pay them.”
“Oh shit. No way. What did you do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t believe them. And you already know everything. It’s not like I’m hiding anything from you. What could they do?”
“I don’t know. But I’d like to talk to a friend of mine, see if he can figure out who sent it and if they’re going to be a problem.”
“Can they do that? Figure out who sent it?”
He nodded. “Yeah, Thario can figure almost anything out. He’s very smart and has learned how to track anything.”
Worry hit. How would Avery react to seeing the photo of her sitting on the guy’s lap, laughing at something he said? It was mostly fake. Sometimes there were customers who were truly funny, but usually they were boring men who thought they were witty.
“So before you see the email, you know what I did, right?”
Avery held her gaze and nodded. “I’ve been to those clubs before. I know what goes on. I didn’t go all the time, just for friends’ parties. I won’t be shocked or jealous.”
“Okay. I’ll pull it up, but you can’t be mad at me.”
“I won’t be. Let’s see what we can find out.”
Amelia headed over to the computer and clicked open her email. She bit her thumbnail, worry filling her as she opened the specific email that had been sent to her.
“Let me sit.”
She moved out of the way, her worry not abating as Avery read the message. Surprisingly, he didn’t say anything about the image of her sitting on the guy’s lap.
He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call Thario and see if he can gather some information on the sender.”
“Thank you.”
The phone rang twice before being picked up. “Hey, Apple. What’s up?”
“I’m sending you an email. If you could gather any information on the person who sent it, that would be great. Also, it would be good to know if they are a threat.”
“Sure. Send it now.”
Apple typed in Thario’s email address and forwarded the email. He heard clicking from Thario’s side of the call and waited patiently for Thario to say something.
“Okay, I've pulled up the email address, and I'm looking for the owner. They may think they're hidden, but—” Thario was quiet for a short moment. “And there it is. The guy who owns the email address is from Albuquerque. He worked at the club Amelia used to work at.”
“Shit,” Amelia said.
“Yeah, shit,” Thario said. “Well, he used to be in Albuquerque.
It seems like they don't work there now because the place burned down.
I don't know where he is now, but there's a complaint about the email address on a Reddit post. The poster doesn't know who it is, but they are being blackmailed. Similar photo, same background.”
Embarrassment slid through Amelia. She hated that Avery's friend had seen the photo. He hadn't made any comment about her, though. At least he had that going for him.
“I don’t know why the guy is doing this,” Amelia said.
Thario grunted. “Some people are just douche cannons. Don’t take it to heart. The bastard will be caught. I’ll slip the information to a contact I have with the state police.”
Amelia let go a sigh. “Thank you.”
Avery squeezed her hand. “You okay with this?”
“Yes. If he’s blackmailing more than just me, he has to be stopped.”
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you aren’t brave,” Thario said.
“I don’t feel brave.”
“You are,” Thario said.
Avery squeezed her hand again. “You are.”
She nodded as her throat closed with emotions.
Avery was willing to help her with everything.
She had known back then he was a good guy, but she hadn’t realized exactly how good he was.
He would keep her safe and take care of Lainey.
This problem would go away and she would be done with every bad thing associated with the club.