Chapter 10 #2
Trick reached for me, cupping my chin as he tipped my head up to see my face. His gaze roved over me, as if making sure I hadn’t been harmed. He was apparently satisfied with what he saw, because he released my chin, then took my hand and led me to the couch.
“Tell me what happened,” he instructed, taking a seat next to me.
I picked up my phone and showed him the email I had pulled up on the screen.
“It’s nothing, really. Like I tried to tell you on the phone, I just overreacted.”
His jaw clenched as his eyes flicked from the screen, to me, and back to the screen.
“Is this the first time he’s sent emails like this?”
“No,” I admitted, “but it’s the first one that felt like a threat.”
“The night I brought you home because of your flat tire, I told you to let me know if that asshole kept harassing you. Why didn’t you tell me about this Your Soulmate shit?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t even open the first few I got, assuming they were spam messages. The last one used my name in the subject line, so I was curious and opened it. It was just something stupid about trying to make him jealous, so I deleted it.”
Trick cocked his head, studying me thoughtfully. “What makes you think it was from Beau?”
I explained about the earlier email, after Dustin had posted the picture from our first date. “He sent it from his regular account, and then I got the Your Soulmate email with a similar message shortly after that.”
“Do you still have those emails?”
“Probably. I deleted them from my inbox, but I didn’t bother emptying them from my trash folder, so they should still be there.”
“Show me,” he demanded gruffly, scooting closer to look over my shoulder at my phone. The scent of leather from his cut, and whatever cologne he was wearing wafted over me as he moved, and it was strangely comforting.
I pulled up the deleted email folder and handed the phone to him. He scrolled through the list, opening each one that had Beau or Your Soulmate as the sender.
With each email he read, his grip on my phone tightened, to the point that I half expected to hear my phone screen crack at any second.
He looked up at me, pinning with a glare. “This Soulmate bullshit has been going on for weeks, Lauren. You didn’t bother opening any of them?”
“No, because I thought they were ads from some kind of a dating service,” I explained defensively. “Then, when I realized it was just another account Beau had set up, I blocked it.”
“You blocked the original Your Soulmate account, and then he set up another one? Persistent bastard,” he muttered. “Did you block his regular account, too?”
“I can’t,” I confessed. “We’re still trying to sell the condo, so he does have legitimate reasons to contact me. I blocked his calls and texts a week or so ago – that’s why I thought it was him when your call came up as ‘Unknown Number’ tonight – but I had to at least keep the email available.”
Trick grunted, clearly not happy with any of my answers.
“I’m gonna forward these emails to Bull. He’s a computer genius, so he can probably check the IP addresses and whatever the fuck else he does, to confirm they were sent by your ex.”
“And then what?” I asked, pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Then I’ll have a talk with the fucker, darlin’.”
“Just a talk?”
He smirked, and I could sense the danger behind it.
“To start with, yeah. Then I’ll reinforce the message in a way he won’t forget.”
“Trick…” I protested.
“You’re worried about that asshole?” He bit out angrily.
“No,” I snapped back. “I’m worried about you going to prison for assault, you dumbass, especially since you’ll have to cross state lines to do it. He’s not worth it, believe me.”
He flashed a cocky smile. “I won’t go to prison, babe, but I appreciate your concern for me. Now, I need that fucker’s full name, address, and birthdate so I can get Bull working on this.”
I reluctantly gave him the information, and he pulled out his phone and sent off a text to Bull, receiving a reply almost immediately.
“He’s on it,” he told me, setting his phone on the coffee table next to mine. Before he could say anything else, the roar of straight pipes coming down the road caught our attention.
“You told Uncle Bill?” I recognized the sound of that particular bike. He’s been riding the same one since I was a little girl and kept it in pristine condition.
“He needs to know, and I’m not gonna keep it from him. I called him as soon as I got off the phone with you. He fucked up his back again last night, otherwise he would have been here sooner.”
I got up and opened the door, watching as he gingerly dismounted his bike and hobbled up to the porch.
“What did you do to your back this time?” I asked, greeting him with a kiss on his cheek.
“Nothin’,” he grunted. “Now, what the hell is this I hear about an email?” He carefully lowered himself onto the highbacked chair next to the couch, wincing in pain as he sat back.
“I’m going to get you a heating pad,” I said, hurrying down the hall before he could object.
Once I had him settled with it, I asked again what he had done. He scowled and shook his head, but Trick volunteered the information.
“He decided Tony wasn’t getting his beer fast enough, so he reached over the bar for it himself, and almost fell off the bar stool in the process.”
“I was thirsty, dammit,” my uncle muttered, pouting like a little boy, rather than a seventy-something year old biker.
I bit my lip to hide my smile, then schooled my expression when he pinned me with a glare.
“Enough about me and my old bones, girlie. Now, somebody better tell me what the fuck is goin’ on.”
Trick gave him the rundown, reading each email aloud to him.
The earlier ones that I had deleted without reading were varying forms of “I love you and I’ve missed you,” nonsense, none of it containing my name or personalized in any way.
When he read the last email containing the threat, Uncle Bill cussed a blue streak, threatening to disembowel my ex.
“I’m gonna rip out his intestines and choke the shit out of him with ‘em!”
“I just sent his info to Bull to check into him, and hopefully he can track the emails to confirm who sent them.” Trick paused for a moment, then traded looks with my uncle, having some kind of silent conversation.
Judging by the somber looks on their faces, it wasn’t a friendly conversation, either.
“We need to consider the possibility that this may not be Beau, darlin’.”
That made me pause for a second. The thought hadn’t even entered my mind.
“Is there anyone else you’ve had an issue with?”
I shook my head at Trick’s question.
“Anyone who’s paid you a little more attention than they should?”
“No,” I insisted.
“What about that Dustin guy?” Trick pressed.
“Who the hell is Dustin?” Uncle Bill asked, and I quickly explained, adding that he’d never been anything other than nice, even after being turned down for a third date this morning.
Trick gave a satisfied smirk at that news, then said, “Well, we’ll have Bull investigate him anyway. Give me his info, too.”
“Dustin Ellsworth,” I shared reluctantly. “I’ve never been to his place, so I don’t know his address. It’s a condo somewhere downtown. I don’t know his birthdate either, but he’s thirty-one.”
Trick’s fingers flew over his phone screen, presumably texting the information to Bull.
“You’ll need to stay at the clubhouse at least for tonight,” he said absently, focusing on sending the text.
“No,” I immediately responded, shaking my head. “There’s no reason for that just because of a stupid email.”
“There’s no way in hell we’re leaving you alone, unprotected, after you got a threat like that…and make no mistake about it, Lauren, that email was a threat. ”
“I’ll make sure everything is locked and the alarm is on. Beau lives over five hours away from here, anyway. It will be fine.”