Chapter 44
Lark
A few hours later, we finish supper and I’ve just put the last of the leftovers in the fridge. Brandy and Candi are doing the dishes per usual, so at least I don’t have to worry about that. I like cooking, but I really don’t like doing dishes.
Stepping out into the main room, I feel myself lagging. Wanting a quiet night alone, and remembering Anthony’s request, I stop over by the table Devil’s at.
“I’m gonna head to the house, guys. See you all in the morning.”
Surprisingly, though it really shouldn’t be, Devil drinks the last dregs of his beer and gets up.
“I think I’m gonna turn in too. I’ll walk out with you.”
Not fighting it, since my nerves are still on high alert and its already pitch-black outside, I grab my coat off the hook and wait as Devil puts his on.
“Come on, Igor,” I call and he gets up from his doggy bed in the corner by the fireplace.
I shiver as we walk down the path leading to the houses, and I can’t help but scan the tree line as we walk. Igor stays close to me, and even his little body seems tense as we walk.
A few feet from our porch, I stop in my tracks. “Devil,” I hiss, my eyes glued to a package sitting in front of the door. I rack my brain, trying to remember if I ordered anything recently, but I can’t think of anything, either for here or at work.
“Fuck,” he curses and pulls out his phone.
“Drake, did you bring any packages to Reaper and Lark’s house earlier today?”
“No, nothing’s been delivered today. Why?”
Since I’m so close to him, I can hear Drake’s reply, and my hands start shaking as I look around more closely.
“Because there’s a package on their porch. Stay where you are but stay alert,” he tells him before hanging up.
Fucking hell, how did this get here? Reaching for my phone, I turn on the flashlight feature and look around at the snow, but the only footprints I see are those made by Igor this morning. I shut off my flashlight and it takes me a bit before I realized Devil had called someone else.
“Doc’s bringing Razor’s kit over. We’ll dust the outside and then see what’s inside.” He hesitates and I narrow my eyes at him.
“I’m staying, Devil. I need to know what this asshole is doing now that I’m ignoring him.”
His lips press in a tight line but relief flows through me when he gives me a curt nod.
As we wait for Doc, he exhales heavily. “Fuck, we need to tell Reaper.”
I nod glumly. “I know. I was planning to video call him when Doc arrives. I know he’ll want to see all of this.”
Just as I finish saying that, I hear someone walking toward us and look over my shoulder, relieved that it’s Doc, but he’s not alone. Cannon and Smithy came as well.
“Loki and Atlas are looking through the video feeds,” Doc says as he steps up on the porch.
Taking a deep breath, I video call Anthony.
“Hey, Darlin’,” he pauses and frowns when he sees my worried expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I was heading back to the house after supper and Devil said he’d walk with me.
We… There’s a package sitting on our porch.
Devil called Drake, but he said nothing’s been delivered.
Loki and Atlas are looking at the video feed,” my voice trails off as I hear more footsteps behind me and turn, seeing Loki and Atlas coming up behind us, each of them carrying a laptop.
Loki sees me talking to Reaper and steps up behind me. I tilt the screen so Reaper can see his face better.
“Pres, someone hacked into our system. We’re missing five minutes in the feed. Is Python and maybe Smoke available to dig into how they did that and prevent it from happening again?”
“Fuck,” I hiss, my eyes widening. “You don’t think they have access to watch everything we’re doing, do you?”
Everyone stills at my words and then Reaper’s moving. I chew nervously on my lip as I shift from foot to foot. My nerves are going into overdrive at what this could mean for us. I don’t know if the security systems we have are ones Python installed or if Smoke’s company did them.
I look down at the phone when I hear Reaper talking quietly to someone and realize he’s talking to Thor. Thank God for cuts, because I’ve only seen pictures of Thor and Dragon so it is going to take me a while to learn how to tell them apart.
“Head into Church. I’ll gather Wildcat and whoever’s here.”
Reaper gives Thor a chin lift and soon I can hear the sound of a bunch of boots walking across the wooden floors.
“Darlin, Smoke’s hooking something up to my phone so the guys here can see everything.”
“Okay, hang on and I’ll walk over to Doc and the guys. They’re dusting for prints on the outside of the box.”
I step around the guys as I turn off selfie mode and turn my phone sideways so that they can see what’s happening better.
I frown as I see Doc and Cannon lift some sort of paper but then a spark of hope ignites in my chest. Did they get prints?
Doc pulls out a pocketknife and turns toward my phone. “We got a couple of prints. We’ll run them through Razor’s system.” He pauses as he looks around at us before his gaze settles on me. “Step back, Queen, I don’t want you getting hurt in case he rigged something. In fact, all of you step back.”
“Doc…” my throat tightens at what he’s implying.
He gives me a tight smile but then Smithy shoulders past us and puts his hand out. “Not happening, Doc. None of us have your skills, so hand over the knife. If it is rigged, then I’ll need you to fix me up.”
My breath hitches again and tears sting my eyes.
Fuck, I hate this.
I don’t want any of them to get hurt because of this asshole.
Doc hesitates but then puts his pocketknife in Smithy’s hand.
My feet are frozen in place. Someone gently takes hold of my shoulders and forces me to step back.
My gaze stays glued on Smithy as I try to steady my shaky hands, though I don’t think I’m successful since someone takes the phone out of my hands a moment later.
Smithy carefully cuts the tape and we all breathe a collective sigh of relief when nothing happens.
He slowly opens the flaps of the box and my chest tightens at how pissed he looks.
He lifts his head and his gaze immediately locks with mine.
He gestures for the phone and I realize then that it was Devil that had taken it out of my hands.
Even though he doesn’t say anything to me, I also step forward with Devil and walk up the steps.
Looking into the box, I gasp as I cover my mouth.
Inside the box are a bunch of what look like black rose petals, a naked Barbie doll that has my picture taped over her face, and below the doll are pictures of Reaper and me.
“Smithy, take that inside and get everyone out of the cold. Spread out everything on the counter but use gloves. We’ll need prints done on everything,” Reaper says, his voice hard and cold. “Give the phone back to Lark.”
Devil hands me the phone and I switch it back to selfie mode. I swallow hard and somehow manage to find my voice. “S-Should we set up the laptop or do you want us to continue using the phone for this next part?”
Reaper’s face softens, though I can still see the muscles ticking in his jaw. “Have one of the guys set up a laptop. Are you sure you want to see this, Darlin’?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Hell yes, I want to see this. I’m sick and fucking tired of this stalker messing with us.
I need to know what he’s threatening me with so I’m not caught off guard.
And even though I don’t know what all is on those pictures since some of them were covered, the guys all need to know as well so they know what we’re up against.” I pause, hesitating to say this next part, but then decide to just put it out there.
“And Reaper, when we catch this fucker, he is going to pay for all this bullshit. Even more so if he’s behind these fires that have been popping up lately.
I understand we might not get to do justice our way, especially if the stalker is the arsonist. But if we do get to do it our way, it’s going to be painful. ”
Reaper grins darkly and I hear a feminine laugh from off screen.
“Knew you were a good egg, Lark!” Levi calls out and I can’t help my grin despite the dark cloud hovering over me.
“Thanks, Levi. Reaper, I’m going to hang up and one of the guys will call you on the laptop. Should they connect with Smoke or Python?”
Reaper looks around and after a moment nods before he looks back down at his phone. “Have them call Smoke. I’ll talk to you after this is all done, Darlin’.”
I give him a small smile. “Sounds good, Hercules.”
Ending the call, I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves.
Even though I said everyone could see the pictures, I’m still nervous about them since I haven’t seen them all yet.
Fuck. He doesn’t have any nude pictures of me, does he?
I shake that line of thought off. I won’t worry about that unless I have to.
Smithy picks up the box and after I unlock the door and shut off the alarm, we all pile into the house. I hang up my coat and head into the kitchen.
“Um guys, can I look at the pictures first before showing them to you all?” I ask hesitantly. Each of the guys’ faces soften, but I can tell they are all clenching their jaws when they catch the unspoken meaning behind my question.
Doc reaches into his bag and holds out some gloves. “Put these on first though, Lark. Then you can handle them. If there are any pictures you want to be looked at discretely, just face them face down on the counter for now.”
Shakily, I take the gloves and slip them on. All the guys except for Cannon take a few steps back to give me some space.
“Give me just a moment, Lark, to get the call hooked up and then you can start going through the contents,” he says.
“Good idea,” I mumble as I wait for the video call to connect.
When it connects, I can see most of the Forest Creek members as well as the guys from our club. Reaper’s sitting right smack dab in the center, and I bet that was on purpose.