Colby glanced toward the window, trying to picture what Georgia was up to right now—probably curled up and sleeping. Alone. “What d
o you mean?”
“She told me you were falling for me on that first night we were all together. She saw what was happening between us but couldn’t see that she was part of it. Do you think she pulled away from us to give us room to be together?”
Colby grimaced. “Y’all are a bunch of misguided self-sacrificing fuckers if that’s the case. But no, even if that’s in the back of her head, I don’t think that’s the main reason. I think she cares about us. And I know we could make her happy. But she can’t see past the trial. She’s protecting herself. And us. There’s a big possibility that sicko could walk. If he does, she won’t come back here.”
Keats’s jaw clenched. “If he goes free, that would be the end for her. She’d never feel safe again.”
“No, she wouldn’t, and this guy has murdered people who are close to her. That’s his M.O. So guess who’d be first on the list if she stayed in a relationship with us?”
“I’m not afraid of that shitbag. I wish he’d try to come after us. That’d give me a chance to take him out of her life for good.”
Colby rubbed a hand over his face, the urge to tear Phillip apart a recurring one. “Look, I’m with you. But Georgia’s not going to risk anyone she cares about. If he’s acquitted, she’s going to disappear again and not let anyone near her.”
Thinking of Georgia all alone, always hiding, locked in some house somewhere again, made Colby ill. And angry. And fucking helpless.
“God. We can’t let that happen,” Keats said, stricken.
Colby sighed. “I know. And it’s hard putting faith in our justice system—especially when it comes to a sociopath who has a lot of money and legal knowledge.”
“That’s like putting faith in fucking roulette,” Keats complained. “Maybe we should just go to Chicago and hunt that bastard down ourselves. Accidentally run him over with your truck. Oops, sorry, motherfucker, good luck in hell.”
Colby snorted. But then got quiet. Thinking . . .
Keats nudged him in the side. “Okay, you know I wasn’t serious, right?”
Colby tapped his fingers along his sternum, thinking, thinking, thinking. How hard would it be to make a trip to Chicago and draw Phillip out? If the guy was so fixated on Georgia, knowing she was seeing someone else could drive him to the brink again. If Colby could get him to try something, set him up, maybe he could get the guy caught in the act.
But before he could open his mouth to share his thoughts with Keats, there was a loud banging at the door.
“What the fuck?” Colby said, pushing up on his elbows and peering at the time. Past midnight.
“Want me to go?” Keats asked, sitting up.
“Nah, I got it.” Colby swung his legs to the side of the bed and reached down for his discarded pants and shirt. He stood and tugged both on. The banging came again. “Goddammit. I’m coming.”
He headed into the hallway and strode toward the front door, his body prickling with worry. Midnight house calls were never a good thing. The last one he’d gotten was when he’d been notified his brother had been arrested. He didn’t turn on any lights to alert anyone he was home. If the face on the other side of the door wasn’t a cop, a firefighter, or a friend, the door wasn’t getting opened.
But when he peered through the peephole, he went for the lock instantly. He swung the door open. “Georgia?”
She shook her head and tears leaked out her eyes.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
But before she could answer, he heard the gun cock. A man stepped out of the shadows from behind her. “Better let us in, baby.”
THIRTY-NINE
Georgia couldn’t stop shaking as she crossed the threshold into Colby’s house, Phillip’s gun at her back. Her panic was pounding at the doors, trying to break through, but she forced her breathing to stay steady. She couldn’t risk passing out right now. No way was she leaving Phillip alone with the guys. She’d done everything she could to persuade him not to come over here. But he’d been watching and waiting. As always, he’d done his homework.
At some point in the last month, he’d broken into Leesha’s office and had gotten Georgia’s information. And he’d sent a private investigator down to Texas to see what Georgia was up to. Georgia could imagine exactly how Phillip had reacted when he saw a photo of her with another man. He wouldn’t have been able to get it out of his mind. And clearly, he hadn’t been able to resist the need to come down here and take care of it.
Because he knew how to take care of these things.
He was going to make her watch while he killed the two men she loved.
Colby backed up, hands out to his sides but his eyes trained on the man behind her. “Let her go, Phillip. I know you don’t want to hurt her.”