7. Michael
CHAPTER 7
Reyna’s attacker stands frozen on my computer screen. I’ve watched the footage more times than I can count, searching for anything that might help us ID him. I traced his steps from off-camera through the parking lot, until he hid behind her car.
It’s not until she was distracted by the rain that the coward risked jumping out.
And she fought back.
I pop a fresh piece of gum into my mouth, barely noting the minty flavor as I refocus again on the scene that took place in that parking lot.
“Dude, you’re going to drive yourself insane staring at it,” Jaxson comments.
I look up at the former LAPD detective, who’d moved out here nearly a year ago to work with us full-time. “There has to be something here.”
“There’s not. Elijah’s run him through recognition software, but nothing has popped. There were no prints, he dropped nothing. Right now, Reyna is the only link we have to the guy.”
I lean back in my chair. “We have to find him.”
“We will. Sometimes it just takes a little time.”
The front door of our office opens and Lance strolls in, Elijah beside him.
“Full house today?” I ask, trying to get my mind off of the one woman I shouldn’t be thinking about.
“Did you not tell him?” Elijah asks, looking at Jaxson.
“Tell me what?”
Elijah looks back at me. “Reyna is on her way in with her brother.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I practically shoot up out of my chair.
“That’s why I didn’t tell him,” Jaxson says. “Because I knew he was going to go out of his mind the entire time we’re waiting for them to arrive.”
“Why are they coming?”
“They want to hire us for protection,” Lance says. His expression alludes to there being more, but he hesitates.
“What is it?”
“She didn’t want you here. I insisted on it, given that we’re partners, but I wouldn’t expect her to be willing to hire you.”
The stabbing pain is back. Straight to my heart. I shove it back down, reminding my foolish pride that her safety is all that matters. I’d trust any of the men here with my life—and hers. “That’s to be expected. When are they coming?”
“Should be here?—”
The door opens again, and Carter comes in first. We used to be best friends, despite him being two years older than me. But after what happened with Reyna, he wanted nothing to do with me. Until the hospital, I hadn’t seen him since that stifling day in Georgia.
Reyna comes in behind him, and a vise closes around my heart. Her beautiful face is bruised. Battered. Her chin is covered in a bandage. Just seeing her infuriates me all over again, and I have to bite back the surge of rage that pummels me.
“Thank you for coming,” Lance greets Carter. “Lance Knight.”
“Carter Acker. Reyna says she knows you.”
Lance nods. “We’ve met a few times.” He offers her a friendly smile. “This is Elijah Breeth, Jaxson Payne, and—you know Michael.”
“I know Michael,” Carter says, his tone clipped, his glare pinning me where I stand.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Reyna says as she purposely avoids eye contact with me.
Probably a smart move, since I imagine my face likely still reflects the anger I felt watching that man put his hands on her yesterday at the hospital.
Liam Hollander. A new-to-town finance manager. Thirty-seven. Never married. Elijah ran a background on him, and it came back clean, but I still don’t trust him.
I knew she’d date again. That she would find someone else. So why it caught me so off guard, I’m not sure.
“Please, sit.” Lance gestures to the couch.
They do, with Reyna keeping her gaze down and Carter shooting me a glare every chance he gets.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Jaxson asks as he flips open his notepad.
“She already went through this with Sheriff Vick,” Carter insists.
“We need her to go through it again,” Jaxson replies. “I’m sorry, Reyna. I know it’s hard, but we need to run back through it so we can ensure we’re covering all of our bases.”
“It’s fine.” She smiles and pats her brother’s knee, then takes a deep breath. “I was headed back to my car from the diner, and it was raining, so I was rushing. I slipped and fell. Or I think I slipped and fell. I’m not entirely sure now if I did trip or was pushed.”
“Pushed,” I tell her. “It was on the camera footage.”
Carter’s glare turns murderous.
“I guess it’s nice to know I’m not that clumsy.” She puts her hands in her lap and clenches them together. She’s nervous. Scared. And I want to chase all the monsters away. Except this time, I think I am what she’s afraid of. “Anyway, I was getting up when he grabbed me.” She reaches back and touches the back of her head. “It was all a blur.”
“Did he say anything to you during the attack?”
Her bottom lip quivers. “When he first grabbed me, he said, ‘I got you, Reyna Acker.’ Then when I fought back, he told me, ‘You’re coming with me and if you make it difficult, I’ll make it painful.’” She closes her gorgeous eyes and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m?—”
“Don’t apologize. Please, take your time,” Lance tells her. “What happened to you was traumatic, Reyna. It’s completely normal to feel spun out of control.”
She nods and attempts to regain her bearings. It’s all I can do to remain seated. To not reach out for her. “He told me that he was coming back for me,” she says. “After Michael arrived, right before he shoved me toward—” Now, her gaze finds mine and I hold it, wishing I could say more without actually speaking.
Does she know I still love her?
That I would do anything for her?
That I would sacrifice everything for her?
“Did he give you any idea as to why he was after you?” Jaxson jots some notes down on the notepad he almost always has.
She shakes her head. “He took my purse though. So I told Carter it could have just been a mugging. Maybe he was saying that to scare me.”
“That’s not a risk you can take,” I tell her. “He has your driver’s license. Which means he knows where you live. Given that he knew your name when he attacked, makes it highly unlikely it was a mugging. This was a targeted attack at your place of employment.”
“Targeted attack?” Carter questions. “You think this guy was after her specifically?”
“I do. Otherwise, how would he know her name?”
“It’s a small town.” Her voice is barely above a growl now. “It’s possible he was mugging me and knew me from around here.”
“Unlikely,” I reply. My cool tone is a direct contrast with her anger.
Ice to her fire.
“I still think a bodyguard might be overkill.”
“Has anything strange happened over the past few weeks? Anything that seemed unusual?” Elijah asks.
“I did get a weird phone call. But I brushed it off. It’s likely a prank.”
“When?” I demand.
“Um, I guess the morning before the attack? It was after I ran into you at the beach.” Her tone changes, turning annoyed.
“What did they say?”
“Nothing,” she replies. “They just breathed into the line.”
Stalker. It’s a common first step toward communicating with their target. They start with something small. A phone call. A note.
“Can you tell us what you did earlier in the evening?” Jaxson asks.
“I was out running errands between meetings at the school. Then, I worked for a few hours before having dinner with friends at the diner.”
“We’ll check with Alex and Lilly. See if anyone they didn’t recognize came into the diner today or if any of the regulars happened to follow you out.” Lance makes a note.
“Did Liam know you were going to be alone in the parking lot?” It’s a low blow, but I can’t keep the accusation from spilling out of my mouth.
“As a matter of fact, no.” She sneers.
“You don’t tell your boyfriend where you’re going to be?”
“Michael,” Lance warns.
“No, it’s okay.” Reyna turns her full attention to me, her glare furious. “As a matter of fact, he is not my boyfriend. We’ve had one date, which—in case you were wondering—has nothing to do with this case and therefore is none of your business.”
My thoughts travel back to the way he’d hugged her. To the fear in his expression and the way he’d wrapped his arms around her without hesitation. “You only had one date?”
“Yes,” she snaps the word.
“He seemed awfully familiar with you for one date.”
“That’s how emotionally healthy men are.” She glares at me. “They’re not afraid of their feelings.”
“If that’s?—”
“I’ll pay for it,” Carter says, interrupting me. Which is probably for the best given I have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth when it comes to her. “Whatever it costs.”
I take a deep breath, knowing a tangent is the last thing I need to go off on. Especially when it comes to her dating life.
“Do you already have a security system through another company on your house?”
Reyna shakes her head. “You guys monitor the school, but I don’t have one at home. I’ve never needed one.”
“You do now,” Carter says. “You can install one of those as well?”
“We can.”
“How soon?” he asks Elijah.
“As soon as this afternoon,” he says. “We’ve got a lean day.”
“As far as protection goes, we will monitor the house at night from here and have someone shadow you during the day.”
“Not Michael,” she says.
It’s another hit. A blow to my already tattered soul.
“I can’t do it, anyway,” I reply. It’s not entirely true. I could—and would—drop anything and everything for her. But my plate is full as it is. With my trip to L.A., I’ve got things here to catch up on. “And since it doesn’t seem like I’m needed here, I’ll be going.” I push up from my chair and head outside to suck in a breath. Everything hurts. The walls are closing in. I’m eighteen again, signing over my life as I leave behind the woman I love because I didn’t feel good enough.
I still don’t feel good enough.
“Michael.”
I turn, surprised that Carter follows me outside. “What? Come to take another swing?”
His jaw tightens, and he walks down from the porch. “I hate you for what you did to Reyna. But I know you still love her.”
He’s got me there, so I don’t argue.
“She won’t give you another chance,” he says.
“I gathered that,” I snap, turning away from him. The ocean is stormy today, a direct reflection of what’s happening inside of me, too.
“But I’m asking you to not turn your back on my sister.”
I face him again. “Why would you think I’d do that?”
“You messed up, Michael. We were friends. I was thrilled for you and my sister, and for whatever reason—I don’t need excuses—you turned your back on all of us. I’m begging you not to do that again. I’m asking you, as someone who used to love you like a brother, to watch over my sister.”
“Doesn’t sound like she wants me to.”
“She may not. But I do,” Carter replies. “Because even though you broke her heart, you’re still the only other person I trust with her life.”