Chapter 8 #2
Kylee stood in the doorway, hugging herself. “This is really happening, isn’t it? He’s here. He’s close.”
Rio walked over, his presence filling the space. “Yeah. And that means I’m not taking my eyes off you. Or them.”
He brushed a strand of hair from her face, his voice low. “Let him try. He’s gonna find out real quick… I won't lose the people I care about.”
Back in Idaho, Jake was pissed. He wasn’t pissed because he loved Kylee. That’s why he fucked Rachel. He was pissed that he lost all control of her. He didn’t like the thought of her being happy or some other man
Playing daddy to Jake Jr. He wasn’t worried about the girls.
Jake Jr was his prized possession. The only reason he continued to stay with Kylee was to paint this perfect picture.
Jake's jaw started ticking as he was staring at a glowing map on his laptop. The map was set to Rio’s Mansion in a well-to-do neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills.
He didn’t find this on his own .The credit belonged to Darren, his “old buddy” from college who never managed to crawl out of the gutter. Darren wasn’t clean, wasn’t respectable, but he knew how to get information that wasn’t meant to be found.
Now Darren’s voice crackled over the speakerphone. “You want eyes on her? I can get you to L.A. in under 4 hours. Commercial’s too risky, you'll be seen. We take a private charter outta Boise. My guy owes me a favor. He’ll keep your name off the manifest.”
Jake leaned back, smirking. “And you’ll come with me.”
“You sure you want me that close to your family drama?” Darren asked, though Jake could hear the thrill in his voice.
“I need someone who can get in places without being noticed,” Jake said coldly. “You’ve got that gift.”
The next afternoon, at a quiet rural airstrip, a sleek black jet waited with its engines idling.
Jake wore dark jeans, a fitted black Henley, and sunglasses looking less like a suburban doctor and more like a man on a mission.
Darren, lanky and wiry, strolled beside him with a backpack slung over one shoulder.
“No weapons on the plane,” the pilot warned, eyes flicking to Darren. Jake said nothing, just slid an envelope of cash into the pilot’s hand. “Get us there fast.”
The jet lifted into the sky, cutting through clouds, carrying Jake closer to Rio’s world. Darren sat across from him, grinning like a kid on Christmas.
“What’s the plan when we land?” Darren asked.
Jake’s eyes darkened. “First, I find where she sleeps. Then… I will make sure she knows I was there.”
The jet touched down at Van Nuys Airport just after sunset, the sky bleeding orange into purple over Los Angeles. Heat rolled up from the tarmac even this late, sticking to Jake’s skin.
A matte-black car waited for them at the edge of the runway, windows tinted to near-black. Darren whistled low when he saw it. “Damn, your guy knows how to pick ‘em.”
Jake slid into the passenger seat without a word, eyes fixed forward. Darren tossed his backpack in the back and hopped behind the wheel.
“Rio’s place is about twenty minutes up in the Hills,” Darren said, tapping the steering wheel as they pulled out. “You’re not gonna believe this spread. The place looks like a damn fortress with high gates, cameras, guards at the drive.”
“Then we don’t use the driveway,” Jake replied coldly. “We go where they’re not looking.”
Darren smirked. “Thought you might say that.”
They wove through LA’s glittering streets before climbing into the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills. Mansions clung to the mountainside, their lights glowing like beacons. Finally, they rounded a curve and there it was. Rio’s mansion.
It was even bigger than Darren had described sprawling Black walls, floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a massive pool visible from the hillside. Security patrolled the gates, their black uniforms blending into the shadows.
Darren cut the engine and coasted into a darker patch of road. They sat in silence, watching.
Jake’s jaw tightened as he spotted movement inside Kylee. She was in the living room, hair down, wearing shorts and Rio’s T-shirt, holding Kayla on her hip. She looked happy. It made him sick.
“She doesn’t even look scared,” Jake muttered, his voice low, venomous.
“She’s in a damn castle with a rock star,” Darren said with a shrug. “Why would she be?”
Jake’s glare snapped to him. “Don’t push it.”
They waited until the security guard looped around the opposite side of the property before Jake stepped out of the SUV. Darren followed, pulling a small black duffel from the back.
“Won’t take long,” Jake said.
They slipped along the tree line until they found a break in the landscaping, a steep slope leading to the back corner of the property. Jake climbed it easily, heart pounding, until he reached the fence. A low section, hidden from the street. Darren gave him a boost.
Jake didn’t go inside. Not yet. Instead, he pulled a small object from his pocket, a pink pacifier. The one Kayla used to keep in her crib at home. He’d swiped it before she left.
He set it carefully on the doormat outside the back glass doors. Then, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket and wrote in thick, block letters:
“I can get closer than you think.”
He weighed it down with the pacifier so it wouldn’t blow away. From inside, through the sheer curtains, he saw a shadow move one of Rio’s security guards doing his rounds. Jake smiled to himself, then melted back into the shadows where Darren waited.
“Creepy,” Darren muttered as they jogged back to the SUV. “Even for you.”
“That’s the point,” Jake said. “I want her thinking about me every second she’s in that house.”
It was close to midnight when Rio’s head of security, Marco, appeared at the sliding glass doors to the bedroom. His knock was sharp enough to wake Kylee from the shallow sleep she’d fallen into beside him.
Rio sat up instantly. “What is it?”
Marco’s face was grim. “We found something on the back patio.”
Kylee felt the air shift in the room thick, charged. Rio climbed out of bed, pulling on sweats, and gestured for her to stay put. But she followed anyway, pulse hammering in her ears.
They walked down the hall, past the darkened rooms where the kids slept, to the living room. The curtains were drawn open to the moonlit backyard. On the doormat, under the soft pool of a motion light, sat the pink pacifier. Kylee froze, her breath catching in her throat.
Beside it was a folded sheet of paper, weighed down so it wouldn’t blow away. Marco knelt to pick it up, glancing at Rio before unfolding it.
His jaw clenched. “You’re gonna want to see this.”
Rio took the paper and read it aloud, his voice low and lethal.
“I can get closer than you think”.
Kylee’s knees nearly gave out. She grabbed the back of the couch for balance. “That’s” her voice cracked. “That’s Kayla’s pacifier. From home.”
Rio’s face went cold. The kind of cold that meant danger. He handed the note back to Marco. “Run the cameras. Every single feed. I want eyes on the perimeter now.”
Marco nodded and left at a brisk pace, barking orders into his earpiece. Rio turned to Kylee, stepping close, his hand warm against the side of her face. “Baby, listen to me. He was here. He touched our house. But he’s not going to touch you, or the kids. Not while I’m breathing.”
Kylee’s voice shook. “He’s not going to stop, Rio. He’s going to keep coming until..”
“Until I stop him,” Rio interrupted, steel in his tone.
Within minutes, more guards arrived armed, in plain clothes, blending into the shadows around the property.
Two SUVs with blacked-out windows pulled up and stayed parked at the gates.
Rio didn’t just increase security. He locked the place down.
Kylee stood at the window, staring at that pacifier still sitting in the pool of light, and felt something shift deep inside her.
Fear, yes but also anger. A quiet, burning rage at the man who thought she’d be easy to intimidate.
Behind her, Rio’s voice was quiet but firm as he spoke into his phone.
“Yeah. It’s time. I want him found.”
From the far end of the winding hillside road, Jake sat in the passenger seat of Darren’s rented SUV, the headlights off. The glow of Rio’s mansion stood out
Against the dark like a beacon, its massive glass windows now mostly obscured by newly drawn blackout curtains.
Jake smirked bitterly. “He’s scared.”
Darren leaned forward, binoculars in hand. “They’ve beefed up the perimeter. That’s at least six extra guys. SUVs at the gate, two walking the grounds.”
Jake lit a cigarette, the ember briefly illuminating his face. “That’s fine. Security’s just a wall. And walls can be climbed.”
“You’re not going to get in there now,” Darren muttered. “Not without getting shot at.”
Jake ignored him, eyes fixed on the mansion. He could almost see her Kylee, walking barefoot on polished floors, tucked safely behind Rio’s millions. It made him sick.
“She thinks she’s untouchable,” Jake said, his voice low, dangerous. “She’s wrong. They all are.”
Darren hesitated. “So… what’s the move?”
Jake took a long drag, exhaled slowly. “We stop playing nice. We get inside her head. I want her looking over her shoulder every damn second. I want her to be afraid to sleep.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black velvet box. Inside wasn’t jewelry, it was the charm bracelet he’d given Kylee years ago, the one she thought she lost. He turned it in his palm, smiling darkly.
“We’re going to give her something… personal. Something that says I’ve been closer than she realizes.”
Darren shifted uncomfortably. “You’re talking about breaking into the property. Again.”
Jake’s gaze cut to him like a blade. “I’m talking about finishing this. If Rio wants to play hero, he better be ready to bleed for it.”
In the distance, the faint movement of guards patrolling the grounds made Jake’s jaw tighten. He flicked the cigarette out the window, the sparks scattering into the night.