Chapter 6
Chapter Six
L auren felt like she’d lived a thousand lives in the last few hours. She was exhausted, and the things coming out of her mouth were things she wouldn’t say if she was thinking clearly. At least part of her recognized she had been talking out of her ass when she’d told Reed that she could make Patrick leave her alone. It hadn’t worked out well for her in the past and would be unlikely to work well in the future.
Yet, Reed still sat on her couch, willing and ready to remain engaged to her in an effort to keep Patrick out of her life. Who was this man and why was he doing this for her? And why was she, deep down, grateful that he was doing this for her?
Nothing made sense, and exhaustion dragged at her. All she wanted to do was sleep but she knew the moment her head hit the pillow sleep would be elusive. Normally she felt safe in her little cottage tucked away from the prying eyes of the street. Now, though, being hidden felt more dangerous than ever before.
“It’s all going to be okay, Ren.”
Ren.
The first time he’d called her that she’d scolded him for shortening her name. The second time she hadn’t said anything and now, this third time, she acknowledged that she liked it. Liked the way he shortened her name, as if she was special.
Everything in her wanted to believe Reed’s quiet assurance. Believe the confidence she heard in his voice but in the last few hours her world had been turned around and she didn’t know what to do.
“Is it though?” she asked. Reed patted the cushion next to him. The draw to be near his strength was a pull she couldn’t ignore.
Once she sat, he fiddled with his phone. Why would he ask her to sit down and then ignore her by looking at his phone?
“It’s time I showed you what Wilt found out about Patrick.”
Somehow she’d forgotten he’d said he’d done this. They’d gone off on a different tangent, but now that he reminded her what he’d done, another thought hit her. “Did you ask him to investigate me and my past?” The very idea that he might’ve, horrified her. It was an invasion of her privacy and she didn’t like that at all.
“No.”
“But you thought about it.” Lauren didn’t know how she knew that, she just did.
His sigh said it all. “I did but then quickly disregarded it because I knew it was wrong to do that. I want to know everything about you but I want you to feel comfortable enough to tell me.”
Lauren got up again. Goodness she was acting like a yoyo, but she needed to put some distance between them, which was kind of impossible in her small place. “But you had no qualms checking Patrick out.”
“Of course not,” his voice was hard. “He hurt you. It’s lucky the guy is still walking after what he said to you.”
Lauren didn’t doubt that Reed could hurt Patrick. After everything he’d done to her in the past, the thought of Patrick being hurt didn’t sit well with her. She didn’t want to be the cause of Reed getting into trouble for something he did to her ex, because Patrick would go to the police. Lauren had no doubt he would. “Probably not a good idea to do that to him.”
“I know.”
Reed still held his phone. Had he looked at what Wilt found out? Or had he waited until he’d told her about it? “Have you read it?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because I wanted to tell you before I did.”
Exactly like she’d thought. “Why? If you had no issues asking Wilt to do it, why didn’t you look at it the moment the information came in.”
Reed shrugged. “Because I was enjoying my time with you and Charlee. I didn’t want anything to spoil it. Also I knew if I looked at it, Charlee would ask what I was doing and I didn’t want to have that conversation with her.”
How had this man read her daughter so well? He’d only met her briefly at Tabitha and Steve’s wedding. Today was the first time he’d spent any amount of time with them, but he’d pegged her daughter to a T. Charlee would’ve demanded to know what Reed was looking at, and even though he probably could’ve come up with a plausible explanation as to why he couldn’t show her, he’d prevented the situation from arising.
“Thank you,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
“Do you want to know what Wilt found out?” he asked after a few beats.
Did she want to?
“I don’t know.”
Reed got up and came over to where she stood. He looked like he wanted to pull her close for a hug, and she wanted him to do that so badly, but he kept his arms to his sides. “I know this isn’t what you’d normally do. What you would normally think to do. But with what you’ve told me about the agreement you had with him, and how it wasn’t legal, it seems, for whatever reason, Patrick wants to have a relationship with Charlee. Anything that Wilt found may be useful to you to prevent that from happening.”
God, the thought of Patrick getting his hands on Charlee had the pizza she’d eaten for dinner threatening to return. Reed was right, anything she had to help her case would be good.
“You’re right. Let’s look it over. Do you want me to get my laptop so that we can look at it on a bigger screen?” Her laptop was old, but it still worked. Sally and Terence were great and let her use their Wi-Fi, so that was an expense she didn’t have to find the money for. She was so lucky that she lived where she did, but how safe was it now with Patrick turning up again? If anything happened to the sweet couple who treated her and Charlee as if they were family, it would be devastating.
All the more reason to find out what she could about Patrick and use it to keep those around her safe.
“That’s a good idea. What’s your email?”
She rattled it off while she pulled out a drawer of the cabinet the TV sat on and grabbed her computer. It took a long time to fire up but when it did and she opened her email program, her stomach dropped at what greeted her. “No,” she whispered.
Immediately Reed was by her side. “What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t say anything just pointed to the screen.
“What the fuck? May I?” Reed asked, and she shoved the computer toward him, happy that she didn’t have to deal with it.
What would she have done if she’d been by herself? If she’d opened her email and seen that Patrick had sent fifteen emails—all with the same subject line You can run but you can’t hide . Beside each one was the symbol that there was an attachment.
The next moment she was surrounded by warmth; Reed was holding her. “I’ve got you, Ren. You’re safe. Nothing is going to happen. I won’t let it.”
Lauren wanted to stay cocooned in his arms, but she knew that she couldn’t. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to keep Charlee safe.”
Her flight instinct was kicking in along with her mama bear one. Her daughter’s safety was her number one priority. She couldn’t let anything happen to Charlee, she’d never forgive herself if something did. Her daughter was her life. Nothing else mattered, not even her own safety. She would sacrifice herself if it meant that Charlee would never have to worry about anything for the rest of her life.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking but stop. You’re not alone anymore, Lauren.” Reed’s confident voice penetrated some of the bubble that had surrounded her. “You don’t need to run.”
“He can’t get Charlee,” she whispered. “He can’t get her.”
Reed’s arms tightened around her. “He won’t. I promise.”
Lauren pulled away and put some distance between them, needing the space to think. To breathe. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
She was used to people breaking their promises to her. Her parents had always told her that it didn’t matter what she did they would always love her. Apparently their word didn’t extend to her when she’d told them she was pregnant. She’d been scared—but confident because of everything they’d told her—that they would still love her and help her through her pregnancy, welcoming their grandchild with open arms. The opposite happened. The horror on their faces when she told them was etched into her memory. Along with the moment they told her they didn’t want anything to do with her and showed her the door.
She’d learned to survive on her own and she was stronger for it. But she didn’t feel strong now.
“I don’t. I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you or Charlee.” Reed sounded resolute and sure.
Lauren wanted to believe that. She truly did, but Patrick had escalated and she didn’t know why.
But there’s the report Wilt had put together. Maybe it will tell you something .
That was the reason she’d opened her laptop and had gotten lost in the aftermath of seeing Patrick’s emails.
God, she wanted this day to start over and be completely different. She wanted Patrick not to have turned up at the café. She wanted it to be a normal day. A boring day when there were no shadows hanging over her.
But if that was the case then she wouldn’t have Reed standing in front of her, and while everything else about the day had turned to shit, having him there was a highlight. Although, the only reason he was there was because of how her day had turned out, not because he wanted her.
“It’s all so hard,” she murmured. “I don’t know what to do.”
Again warmth surrounded her and she found herself pressed against Reed’s hard chest, a place she was beginning to like more and more. She shouldn’t get used to it though, because there was no guarantee he would hang around. That he would stay.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve got you. You’re not alone.”
He wouldn’t keep saying that if he was going to walk away, would he? She hoped he wouldn’t, and considering everything that had happened so far, he was still standing in her house. He could’ve run at any time, but he hadn’t. Considering how she’d been acting in the last half an hour, she would’ve run from herself if she could.
This wasn’t how she acted.
She didn’t let things defeat her. She hadn’t crumpled when her parents disowned her. She hadn’t crumpled when she had been struggling to stay awake on her job because Charlee had been sick and kept her up all night. She hadn’t crumpled when she only had fifty dollars in her bank account and her rent was due. Each time she’d faced it head on and defeated it. Like she was going to do now. No way was she going to let Patrick win.
“He’s not going to beat me,” she said out loud.
“No, he won’t.”
“Right, let’s open this report and find out what deep dark secrets Patrick has and then we can fight.”
“That’s my girl.”
The pride in Reed’s voice warmed her. She didn’t need it, but it was nice to have it.
Ignoring the emails that Patrick had sent, she opened the one from Reed, the one with Wilt’s report attached. She was aware that Reed had pulled the chair around from the other side of the table and was now next to her, his leg brushing hers. Despite everything that was going on, her body heated at the touch. She wanted to lean into it. Lean into him. Have more than his leg resting against her. She wanted to feel his lips against hers. To know what it would be like to be kissed by him. But now wasn’t the time to have those thoughts.
“This can’t be right. There has to be something,” Reed murmured, pulling her from her wild musings and back to the here and now, and the report on the screen.
“What?”
“Patrick is clean apart from a parking ticket three years ago and a speeding ticket six months ago. He’s had the same job for three years. There’s no reports of him harassing anyone.”
Disappointment flowed through Lauren. “Is it wrong to have wanted there to be something we could use?”
“Not at all. I was hoping for the same thing.”
“Could Wilt have missed something?” Now she knew she was clutching at straws but after everything he’d done to her, the fact there were no red flags didn’t make sense to her.
“Wilt is thorough. If there was something to be dug up he would’ve dug it up.”
“I suppose it’s too much to hope that there are numerous Patrick Stringer’s in the world and the one Wilt found wasn’t the same one.”
Reed chuckled. “If it was someone who wasn’t good at their job, then I’d say that’s possible, but Wilt is excellent at what he does. His computer skills are legendary. If there were multiple ones he would’ve narrowed it down to the one who turned up today.”
Lauren slumped in the chair. “What do we do now?”
There didn’t seem anything she could do to stop Patrick from getting close to her and Charlee. Were the emails and footage from the café enough to get some sort of restraining order against him? Not that they were effective, she’d read a few instances where people had been attacked even with a restraining order against them. Maybe moving was her only option. She could move to another state where he couldn’t find her.
But Lauren didn’t want to move. Didn’t want Patrick to be the one pulling the strings of her life.
Nope, she was going to stay and fight. No way was Patrick going to take everything she’d worked hard for away from her. And he especially wasn’t going to get his hands on Charlee. She would do whatever she had to do to ensure that never happened.