I was hoping she hadn’t heard that part, because telling my baby that some psycho is trying scare her and intends to hurt her is not something I’m down with at all.
As the man, it’s my job to protect her and keep her from feeling fear.
“Yes. They started arriving a few months ago, along with a few dead animals, and once a letter that had traces of powder on it. It scared the shit out of me, and I only stopped sitting outside your apartment when Jared confirmed that it wasn’t poison of some kind.”
I’d thought anthrax at the time and been ready to snatch Ellie up and drag her home that very day. But Miah had convinced me to let it play out so Roman and the boys could gather more evidence before the culprit ran to ground.
When Jerry had been spotted outside her apartment, we’d run with the theory that it was him trying to exact revenge in some twisted way for the death of his son.
I know differently now, but that still doesn’t tell us a whole hell of a lot.
Ellie’s gone pale again and lost that indignant anger. I hate that it’s brining up all of the fear and memories I’ve been striving to get rid of by giving her all the security and happiness I can.
“Who is it? Jerry? Can’t we just tell the cops and—”
“It’s not him, Ellie. Jared and Miah questioned the guy he hired only to discover that Jerry had him on you as protection.”
Her face scrunches and she looks confused.
“Does that mean this is a new stalker? Oh god! What is it about me that just screams ‘ready to be stalked and murdered’! I swear to God, if they so much as come near me, I’ll murder this time.”
I feel my self-control snap beneath a spate of violent anger. I may not have been capable of killing my own kin, no matter how much I hate the guy, but it won’t be that way again and I know it.
This time I’ll annihilate the culprit, and now that I know it’s not Jerry, the stakes just got higher. I could watch and control Uncle Jerry, but an unknown is a dangerous entity and something else altogether.
“Hey, Wyatt! Sorry for interrupting, bro. Hey, Ellie, thanks for being such a cool chick and still loving the world’s biggest idiot,” Jared says, sticking his head into the room.
“Is there a reason you’re interrupting, asshole?” I snarl, still tripping over the fact that Ellie has yet to let me discuss her declaration of love.
“Uh, yeah. Duh. Roman just called and it’s not good, bro. Jerry was just in a huge car accident. Seems someone cut his break lines.”
“What?! Jesus, is he okay?”
“Yeah. A few bruises and a broken wrist, but he’s all good. They need to come in, bro. If this thing is getting this messed up, and we know he isn’t the bad guy, we can’t leave him and Aunt Lynnie out there unprotected.”
“Pop’s going to have a fit,” I groan, swiping a hand down my face.
“He’s the one who said I need to go get them. Family, bro, family. You know how Pop is about that shit, and Jerry’s still family at the end of the day.”
“Yeah, fine….go get them and make sure things at their place are okay.”
He nods and leaves without another word and I close my eyes tiredly. I’m all the way back to square one here, and instead of just having to protect Ellie, I now have to ensure that my whole family is out of harm’s way.
Chapter Fourteen
Ellie
Someone wants me dead. Not only are they still out there and well-hidden, but I’m not the only target.
George has gone off the deep end since hearing about Jerry’s near miss with death and has ordered all family members stay inside the house, all except the Lanes who aren’t in the state and Roman who’s unwilling to halt the investigation to cower behind closed doors.
Poor Jude had to cancel all engagements for the time being, including a meeting with the wedding planner she hired and decorators who’d been scheduled to come in next week.
The one bright spot in all this is that I’ve finally met the two people who produced that sack of excrement, Bolton, and I’m surprised to say that I actually like them. A lot.
Lynn is a little wacky and talks a mile a minute as if she’s afraid she won’t get a word in, and Jerry is a trip.
He’s pompous and rude and so ornery that I can hardly keep myself from laughing out loud most of the time. I like him, though, because I see some good in the guy and ignore his shit because I can tell how insecure he is around the Lanes.
I won’t lie and say we’re playing happy families or anything, that would be impossible with the way George and Jerry keep glaring at each other and throwing around insults, not to mention Wyatt’s rage that Jerry won’t say a word about what the hell is going on and why he hired someone to shadow me.