Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
HECTOR
I didn’t know how we managed to keep things cool as Rhett and Coal left, but our forced smiles must have worked since neither of them questioned anything. As soon as I closed and locked the door behind them, the smile dropped.
“We need to call Clay,” I said, and went further into the diner to find my phone. Realizing I’d left it in the apartment, I went for the stairs, but Atlas stopped me.
“No, it’s late. We can deal with this tomorrow,” he said tiredly.
I turned to him, almost frantic in my insistence. “This can’t wait, Atlas. This guy is obviously off his rocker. What if he, I don’t know, tries to burn the place down?”
He frowned. “Are you worried about the diner? I can leave until…”
“No!” I said frustratedly and grabbed his arms just so I was touching him. “Love, I don’t fucking care about the diner right now. I’m scared for you. I’m scared he’s going to hurt you. So, no, you’re not going anywhere. And even if you do, I’m coming with you.”
A small smile peeked from his lips. He grabbed one of my hands and placed it on his cheek, his soft face nuzzling into my palm.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, sounding so sure of himself.
“You can’t know that,” I muttered, voice cracking.
He looked up at me with eyes filled with certainty.
“It’s going to be okay,” he repeated. “My gut is telling me he doesn’t want to hurt me.
Scare me? Maybe? But I don’t think his goal is to hurt me.
He has some sick, perverted obsession with me, but I think he’d rather find me in his bed than dead. ”
“Don’t even joke about that,” I grumbled. The thought of anything bad happening to Atlas tore at my insides.
I’d been resigned to life alone. Living every single day the same as the next, all by myself and Shadow.
But then Atlas came and showed me it didn’t have to be that way.
There was light and life waiting for me.
There was community and friendship, and most importantly, love.
So the thought that it could all be taken away, that the person who showed me all of this happiness could disappear one day, it felt like my heart was thrown into a grinder.
Atlas’ kiss snapped me out of that nightmare. “I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered the words onto my lips, as if to imprint them into me. “We’re going to catch the bad guy, then live our happily ever after. Have I ever been wrong before?”
“No, you haven’t.” I smiled even though I was still feeling like the floor could slip out from under my feet at any second. But it was hard not to smile around Atlas.
“Now let’s clean up and get to bed before that wine totally gets to your head. Let’s get some water into you too.”
He was already on his way to the kitchen before I could recalibrate myself.
I followed him with the dirty dishes and accepted the glass of water he poured for me.
He was quick with the remaining dishes. We’d already washed the pots and pans we used earlier, so all that was left were the few dishes we ate from.
I tried to help with the cleanup, but Atlas was pretty quick to finish everything and hustle me upstairs.
I was lost in thought as he took me into the shower and cleaned us up.
We stood crowded around the sink, towels around our waists, as we brushed our teeth.
And it was the familiarity of the routine that grounded me.
“Let’s head to bed, hmm?” Atlas murmured when he’d dressed in his PJ set—tonight’s was a black set with carved pumpkin heads printed all over—and I’d donned my sleepwear of boxers and nothing else.
Getting into bed and wrapping myself around Atlas sounded like heaven, but I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep tonight until I checked the tapes. I hesitated, and Atlas sighed. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could read my mind by now.
“We’ll look at the security footage, but quickly, okay?”
I nodded and was quick to grab my laptop and boot it up in the living room. Instead of sitting in the seat beside me, Atlas chose to stand behind me. He leaned over the chair and hung himself on my back like a warm backpack.
I wasn’t complaining at his touch.
We quickly checked all the security footage for the stalker, and thankfully, the only video of him around the diner was of him taping the note at the front door. He was bold and hadn’t even tried to cover his face, probably seeing no point as his face was pasted all over town already.
“See? He just wanted to fuck with us. I don’t think he’s suddenly gonna turn into an arsonist,” Atlas said and pressed a kiss to my cheek, as if to soften the sting of that imagery.
I meant it when I said I didn’t care what happened to the diner.
It was just a place. One that could be rebuilt.
But if the stalker did try to set the building on fire and we were inside…I shivered at the thought.
“Now let’s go to bed. Rhett and Coal said they’re coming over early tomorrow before they head back.”
I nodded and followed Atlas back to our room. Shadow twined himself around my leg, and to my surprise, he even brushed past Atlas’ leg on his way out of the room.
Atlas was stunned at the action. “Did you see that?” he turned to me and said excitedly. “He loves me!”
I laughed. While I wasn’t sure about Shadow loving Atlas so quickly, I had no doubt he was finally accepting the man as part of our little family.
I wouldn’t spoil Atlas’ excitement by voicing that. He snuggled happily into my arms, and I gladly held him against me as we drifted to sleep.
Rhett and Coal dropped by early the next morning as expected. Despite their being polite and trying to refuse, I cooked them a hearty breakfast that we all shared over coffee.
Rhett wasn’t as lively as yesterday, and I returned the sentiment. It was so good seeing him again after all this time, but the visit was too short. But this wouldn’t be a sad parting since we’d see each other again.
Atlas and I would visit him at the circus.
After breakfast, Atlas shooed us away and insisted on cleaning up and getting ready for the day. Coal wandered off somewhere, saying he was going to check on the car.
I had a suspicious feeling that the two of them wanted to give us time alone together.
Rhett and I glanced at each other and laughed. Their plot was so obvious, but it wasn’t unwelcome. We stared at each other for a few seconds, silent but not uncomfortable.
“You happy, kid?” I asked him quietly.
Coal was a lot more intense in person than over video call, and my gut felt a little uneasy around him, like prey facing a predator. But I’d seen the way he looked at Rhett, and I’d witnessed how the tall man cared for Rhett, and something told me he was safe with him.
I remember asking Rhett if Coal had made him happy when they first told me they were together, but seeing them together in person reassured me he hadn’t been lying. But loving someone and enjoying your life were two different things.
“So happy,” Rhett said with lightness in his voice, and I knew he wasn’t lying. “You look happy too. I like him for you.”
I beamed because after getting together with Atlas, I didn’t think there was a better person for me than him. I knew it was cheesy, but I felt stronger with him by my side. Like we could take on the world as long as we were together.
We could definitely take on a stalker. There was no doubt about that.
Coal soon returned, and with one last, non-man-hug, they were on their way back to the circus. Atlas came out and wrapped himself in my arms, his head resting on my shoulder, as we watched them drive off.
“We should plan when we’ll go visit them,” he commented. I loved how we were always on the same page.
“And our trip to Christmas Falls too. We should visit Aunt Polly soon,” I murmured in reply. Atlas beamed and took my hand as we returned to the diner to start the day.
Becca entered right before our official opening hour, looking a little frazzled. I heard her telling Atlas something about her husband having a last-minute business trip out of town, which had her all out of sorts.
Tuesday mornings used to be slow, but now they were pretty busy, with customers coming in for cravings they couldn’t fulfill yesterday.
That had been an unintentional benefit of having Mondays as a rest day.
I guess it was kind of like a scarcity tactic.
They couldn’t get their diner fix on Monday, so now they were all rushing here on Tuesday.
I was soon too busy in the kitchen to pay much attention to the front, but I had no doubt Atlas and Becca had everything handled. As I flipped burgers on the griddle, it dawned on me just how much my life had changed from even a few months ago.
Having a diner full of happy customers, mostly people from my community who accepted me, and even hiring staff outside of misfits like me who didn’t fit in town, those were all things I never would have imagined for myself.
Yet here I was, living all those things. And…struggling, just a bit, to keep up in the kitchen. Maybe it was finally time I listened to Atlas and hired some help?
When things started settling down, Clay came in for lunch with Dan. Between the orders, I saw Atlas pulling Clay to the side to chat. I figured he was telling him about the newest note, and I trusted they had a handle on it.
What I hadn’t expected was the bomb he dropped on me later that night when we slid into bed. Shadow had opted to stay in the bedroom tonight and was curled up in one of his many beds that were scattered around the apartment.
“What did you say?” I asked, mostly from shock. I heard every single one of Atlas’ words. I always did.
“We’re going to lure him out.”
“With you as bait? No. Absolutely not. That’s way too dangerous.”
“You haven’t even heard the full plan yet,” Atlas said, voice full of exasperation.
“Any plan that puts you in danger is a no in my book,” I told him adamantly.
“I’ll be perfectly safe,” he insisted. “You, Clay, Dan, Ryan, Sam, Jones, and Ryker will all have my back. Clay and I already discussed it with them, and they’re all on board.”
“And what exactly is this plan of yours?” I grumbled and sat up in bed. This didn’t feel like a discussion we should be having while lying down. Atlas sat up and placed my hand on his knee.
“We’ll all head to the bar just outside of town.
The one with the giant patio that leads into the forest. It’ll look like it’s just friends having a good time.
I could slip away, go into the woods to get some fresh air, maybe, and if the stalker is there, he’ll probably strike then.
And if he doesn’t take the bait, then it’ll be a fun night out,” Atlas said with a one-armed shrug.
“Wouldn’t that be too obvious that it’s a trap? I mean, he’d probably get suspicious when you wander off alone when all your friends are there.”
“I think it’ll work because you guys are there.
He’ll probably think I felt confident with my friends around and let my guard down.
And he’s probably desperate to make a move soon, now that the entire town knows his face.
” He paused and squeezed my hand. “And even if it doesn’t work, even if it’s too obvious, we have to try.
We can’t let him continue with his psychological warfare on us.
I’m ready to move on with our lives and put this asshole behind us. ”
I looked at Atlas. He sounded so confident—and a tiny bit angry—but I knew this couldn’t be easy on him. Knowing this guy was out there, ready to fuck with his mind, must be exhausting.
“Okay, love. We’ll do whatever needs to be done to catch him and put him behind bars. When are we doing this?”
Atlas let out a sly grin. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”